The Société pour l’étude des Langues Romanes (SLR), founded in Montpellier in 1869, was the first scholarly society devoted to the study of Occitan. Established during the historical and philological revival movement of the langue d’oc, it brought together félibres, public personalities, academic and non-academic researchers, teachers, and philologically-trained librarians. Of the five founding members Paul Glaize was responsible for general philology, Anatole Boucherie for the langue d’oïl, Charles Tourtoulon for the history of the langue d’oc, François-Roman Cambouliu for Catalan, and Achille Montel for the language of the troubadours. By 1870, the Société had 226 active members, each paying a minimum contribution of 10 francs.

The Société aimed to study both the ancient and the modern Romance languages of the south of France, and aimed to “revive the tradition” as well as perpetuate the taste and knowledge of the region’s language and literature. Its literary approach followed that of Raynouard and Fauriel, in that the literature of the troubadours was seen as the expression of its underlying language and society. It was stimulated by the triumphant renaissance of Provencal literature as well as the development of Catalan letters. Its academic interest thus spilled over into a concern for contemporary literary culture, and contemporary developments of the language were studied in their dual form, popular and literary.

Although it was aligned with the revivalism of the Félibrige, the Société distinguished itself on account of its scholarly interest in language issues and its intent to forge a modern language common to all the south of France, beyond mere dialectal differences. In 1875, it organized the first philological and literary contest, where all the dialects of the Occitan language, as well as Catalan, were allowed to compete. It also organized the great 1878 Fêtes Latines. These celebrations, which took place in Montpellier on May 22-29, 1878, paid homage to the “Latin song” (Chant du latin) with a contest, and strengthened the bonds of mutual friendship based on common linguistic backgrounds established between all the nations of Neo-Latin race or language. The celebrations coincided with the second philological and literary contest organized by the Société, as well as with the Félibrige Floral Games (Jeux Floraux). The climax of the celebration was the crowning of the Romanian poet and diplomat, Vasile Alecsandri, who was honoured for his Cântecul gintei Latine. The Société also organized the First Congress of Romance Philology, which was held in Montpellier on 26-27 May, 1890.

The Société also took a leading role in the campaign for chairs in Romance philology (langue d’oc and langue d’oïl) in the south of France. In 1878, two lectures courses on the language and literature of the Middle Ages were established at the Faculty of Arts of Montpellier. One was devoted to the langue d’oc, and was held by Camille Chabaneau, the other to the langue d’oïl, and was held by Boucherie. Both of them were members of the SLR.

The Revue des Langues Romanes, the working instrument of the Société, was the first French periodical to be entirely devoted to works on Romance philology and linguistics. The periodical is still being published.