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The concept of 'minority' has already received much attention. In this article, Mourad Ali-Khodja and Annette Boudreau remind us of its importance and its relevance, while also highlighting the political, ethical and epistemological dimensions that have emerged as a result of economic and cultural globalization. Using the concept of 'exiguity' - introduced in and applied to the field of literature by François Paré (Paré, 1992) but still largely unknown outside of Canada - the authors show in what way it can be of use in the social sciences and humanities (Ali-Khodja, 2003) and in particular in the study of language practices in minority settings. In their brief examination of the conceptions that are inherent in the definitions of 'la langue française' and 'la francophonie', they reveal how these conceptions have always implied a rejection of linguistic and cultural diversity and show what consequences this has had on the political, ethical and epistemological dimensions that underlie language practices in minority settings. They conclude by offering a few alternative ways of thinking about language and linguistics.