Introduction The Dictionary Lexicographical challenges Theoretical challenges

A historical dictionary of invariable adjectives in French:

lexicographical and theoretical challenges

Anna Gazdik

anna.gazdik@uni-graz.at

Karl-Franzens-Universität GrazInstitut für Romanistik

June 6, 2014

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Introduction The Dictionary Lexicographical challenges Theoretical challenges

Aims

aim: present the project "A historical dictionary of adjective-adverbs in

French"

terminology

Adjective-adverbsthe masculine singular form of the adjective takes over adverbial functions

(for instance, the modification of verbs) in languages that have distinct

morphosyntactic categories (adjectives and adverbs)

(1) JeanJean

parlespeaks

honnêtement.honestly

(2) JeanJean

travailleworks

dur.hard

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Adjectives and adverbs in the modifier function

usual assumption: adjectives modify nouns and agree with them

adverbs modify the other categories and are always invariable (no

gender/number features available)

modified category adjective adverb example

noun 4 8 une jolie fille

adjective 8 4 très grand

verb 8 4 il court rapidement

adverb 8 4 bien rapidement

preposition 8 4 exactement à 9 heures

sentence 8 4 Franchement, il est...

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Reality

adverbs can sometimes modify nouns

modified category adverb example

noun 4 très gentleman

adjectives can modify all the other categories as well

modified category adjective example

adjective 4 tout(e) ému(e), grandes ouvertes

verb 4 refuser net, la fleur sent bonne

adverb 4 fort bien

preposition 4 aller direct à la gare

sentence 4 Effarouchée, elle s’en va.

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Adjective agreement in the modifier function

with the directly modified noun

adjectives modifying another adjective, or a verb: with an accessible

noun

modified category adjective agreement example

noun 4 jolie fille

adjective possible tout(e) ému(e), grandes ouvertes

verb possible refuser net, la fleur sent bonne

sentence 4 Effarouchée, elle s’en va.

adverb 8 fort bien

preposition 8 aller direct à la gare

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Adjectives as verbal modifiers

modified category adjective agreement example

noun 4 jolie fille

adjective possible tout(e) ému(e), grandes ouvertes

verb possible refuser net, la fleur sent bonne

sentence 4 Effarouchée, elle s’en va.

adverb 8 fort bien

preposition 8 aller direct à la gare

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Adjective adverbs

Usual assumptions in the grammars:

AAs are always invariable (?)

analyzable as back formation from the corresponding adverbs in -ment

hautement → aimer *haute, aimer haut

franchement → parler *franche, parler franc

AAs are a restricted group

new phenomenon

→ to be refuted in the Historical Dictionary of Invariable Adjectives in

French

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Outline

1 Introduction

2 The Dictionary

3 Lexicographical challenges

4 Theoretical challenges

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The results of the previous FWF project

the online Databank (Hummel & Stiegler)

(http://languageserver.uni-graz.at/dicoadverbe)

13000 citations (mostly from the Frantext corpus, from the 11th century

until the present day)

698 verbs

291 adjective adverbs

2081 verb − adjective-adverb combinations

→ continuity with late Latin and old French

a preliminary version of the dictionary entries of the 1928 verb −adjective-adverb combinations (Martine Bosson, Céline Gasrel)

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The present project

FWF

October 2013 − September 2016

members

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The aims of the present project

correction and development of the databank

preparation of the lexical entries for publication

completion of the grammatical remarks

verification of sources

compilation of the bibliography

new citations from contemporary language

new examples from Frantext

Internet sources (chat forums, googlebooks, ...)

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The microstructure of the lexical entriesexamples in chronological order under the different significations of the verb − adjectiveadverb group, and further according to the syntactic properties of the verb (transitive,intransitive, emploi absolu, pronominal); one example per century is kept, and thoseillustrating linguistically relevant information (tertiary modification, word order variations,collocations, etc.)

Remarques (Remarks): two parts

semantic information: type of adjective-adverb, specifications of the contexts in which it is used

grammatical properties: complement/adjunct status of the adjective-adverb, possibility of tertiary

modification, (in)variability of the adjective-adverb, register

Anglais (English), Langues romanes (Romance languages): eventual equivalents inEnglish and other Romance languages

Voir aussi (See also): synonyms and antonyms in the dictionary

Documentation complémentaire: examples coming from the Internet, illustratingcontemporary spontaneous speech/writing, the rules of orthography and prescriptivegrammars are often not respected (ex. agreement)

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Secondary predicates or adverbial use?

the adverbial use of the adjective cannot always be clearly distinguished from asecondary predicate (in Documentation complémentaire)?

resultatives

(3) Sy n’y eurent guieres esté, quant Patroclus le bon archier descocha sa saiette

sus la dame si droit qu’il lui en percha la gorge et morte l’abaty au prez de

Jason, et puis il s’en issy de son embauche moult joyeux. (Raoul Levèvre,

L’Histoire de Jason, 1464)

(4) Et verité, qui nul ne flate,

Que tricherie abat juste plate. (Christine de Pizan, Le livre de la mutacion de

fortune, 1400)

descriptives

(5) Tous les beaux discours qu’ils me pourraient débiter n’y feraient rien. Je sais

d’avance ce qu’ils vont dire, et j’achèverais toute seule. (Théophile Gautier,

Mademoiselle de Maupin, 1836)

(6) Elle s’en alla toute droite, sans se retourner, en emportant son ouvrage.

(Émile Zola, Le docteur Pascal, 1893)

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What comes into the headword?adjective-adverb always (?) modified by an adverb or a quantifier

(7) Viens! Le jour va s’éteindre... il s’efface, et je pleure. N’as-tu pas entendu la voix? écoute l’heure; c’est ma voix qui te nomme et t’accuse tout bas; c’est l’amourqui t’appelle et tu ne l’entends pas! (Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, Oeuvrespoétiques I, 1833, via Frantext)

(8) Voilà cet instinct qui l’annonce plus haut que l’aurore et la nuit. Voilà l’éternelleréponse au doute qui se reproduit! (Alphonse de Lamartine, Harmoniespolitiques et religieuses, 1830, via Frantext)

collocations

(9) Non, le drame ii n’est pas restreint à la vie privée, il s’agite ou plus haut ouplus bas. Ne vous attendez pas à de la passion, le vrai ne sera que tropdramatique. (Honoré de Balzac, Les Paysans, 1850)

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Lexicalized expressions: separate definitions?

aller beau, s’en aller beau

s’en aller bien et beau Carême (jouir à nouveau des plaisirs défendus au

temps de carême)

(10) je te viens adorer, à l’escharbot le brun, à je vous prens sans

verd, à bien et beau s’en va Quaresme (François Rabelais,

Gargantua, 1542, via Frantext)

aller droit son chemin (agir selon sa propre volonté)

(11) Oh! les jeunes filles, aujourd’hui vont droit leur chemin, même

si ce n’est pas le droit chemin. (Henry Bordeaux, La Vie est un

sport, 1950)

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Unique/ad-hoc formations

one example, in a separate headword?

(12) M. Chu, chinois, peint abstrait mais aime figuratif.(France-Soir, le 9 avril 1960)

creative and productive use of adjective − adverbs not a restricted

group in the grammar

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Frequent adjective-adverbs: separate headword?

fort : combines with most of the verbsabattre, aboyer, accoler, accorder, accroître, afficher, agréer, aimer, aller, appeler,appresser, approcher, aprismer, ardre, armer, arrêter, assaillir, assener, baiser, baisser,battre, blesser, boire, bouter, bruire, brûler, causer, chanter, chasser, cheminer,chevaucher, clamer, cogner, combattre, connaître, corner, coudre, courir, courroucer,crier, croître, demander, dessiner, destreindre, dire, disputer, dormir, douloir, douter,dresser, défendre, délier, détester, embrasser, empeindre, empoigner, enamer, endormir,enfler, ennouer, enserrer, entendre, entortiller, entr’aimer, entreférir, estimer, exclamer,faire, frapper, frotter, fâcher, férir, grever, guerroyer, gémir, heurter, hâter, imaginer,joindre, jouter, jurer, lacer, lamenter, lancer, lier, louer, luire, maintenir, marcher, menacer,merveiller, monter, moquer, murmurer, mêler, navrer, neiger, nier, nouer, nuire, ouvrer,parler, penser, piquer, plaindre, plaire, player, pleurer, pleuvoir, poursuivre, pratiquer,presser, prier, priser, puer, randonner, redouter, regarder, respirer, rire, réjouir, répondre,sentir, serrer, siffler, sonner, souffler, souhaiter, soulever, soupirer, soutenir, supplier,taper, tendre, tenir, tirer, tonner, traire, trancher, travailler, troubler, venter, vivre, vêtir,écrier, écrire, émerveiller, émouvoir, étonner, étreindre, étudier

separate lexical entry? 17 / 26A historical dictionary of invariable adjectives in French: lexicographical and theoretical challenges

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Invariability

too few examples from Old and Middle French

(13) De ceulz meimes qu’elle a hault acreü,Trebusche tost, et ce voit on souventQue ce joyes ne sont fors que droit vent. (Christine de Pizan, Cent Ballades, c.1400)

new contemporary examples in Documentation complémentaire

(14) le montant du paiement divisé augmenté à un rythme croissant, ce qui montrequ’il ya eu une augmentation de la rentabilité de l’entreprise et cela est dû àdes efforts accrus haut externaliser le travail pas cher dans d’autres parties dumonde. (http://freefrencharticles.com/education/limpact-de-lexternalisation-sur-honeywell-performance-de-lentreprise)

(15) Le phare 190PS Land Rover Freelander SD4 accélère de repos à 60 mph en8,7 secondes avec une vitesse accrue haut de 118 mph. (http://land-rover-france.blogspot.co.at/2011/03/2011-land-rover-freelander-2.html)

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Adjective-adverb or modifier of a preposition

in most cases, droit is followed by a prepositional phrase→ part of

the PP?

relevance in the dictionary?

(16) acheminer droit

(17) J’adressai le paquet droit chez vous, et comme je n’en ai point eu de

réponse, j’en suis en peine et meurs de peur qu’il n’ait été perdu. (Mme de

Sévigné, Correspondance: 1646-1675)

(18) Il s’en alla droit vers la rue de la Paix, acheter à Mme d’Asti un rang de

perles, un souvenir de plus de deux mille louis! (Paul Bourget, Physiologie

de l’amour moderne, 1890)

(19) Que l’on te dise: "va-t’en", c’était assez pour que tu reviennes; et que ce

soit ta femme qui te le dise, assez pour que tu accoures, tout droit, sans

rien voir, fou perdu. (Maurice Genevoix: Raboliot, 1925)

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Two groups of adjective-adverbs

Abeille & Godard

no other complement possible: manger sain

other complements possible: refuser net la proposition (the adjective

adverb is an adjunct)

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Two possible analyses of complement

adjective-adverbs

the adjective-adverb is the complement of a transitive verb

the transitive verb is used intransitively, and the adjective-adverb is a

modifier of the existentially bound but non-overt object: manger chaud

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Agreeing adjective-adverbs I

some adjective-adverbs show agreement with a subject or object

nominal

most of them are adjuncts

interpreted as manner adverbs and not as depictive secondary

predicates

analysis as hypercorrection not always possible (20)

(20) Lathe

lampelamp

brûlaitwas burning

trèsvery

haute.high-fem

(Rougon-Macquart: Une page d’amour, 1878, via Frantext)

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Agreeing adjective-adverbs II

(21) Car,as,

quethat

latha

pluierain

tombefalls

légèrelight

ouor

drue,thick,

[...] lesthe

[...] spectateursspectators

[...]

n’abandonnent pasdo not leave

lathe

position.position

(Roger Caillois ed., Jeux et sports 1967, via Frantext)

(22) Cettethis

fleurflower

sentsmells

bonne.good.fem

(Noailly, to appear)

(23) JeI

suisam

suron

lethe

pointpoint

d’arrêterof stopping

netteneat

mamy

consoconsumption

deof

cannabis.cannabis

http://egeria.overblog.com/faites-taire-votre-gremlin (06.12.2013)

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Agreeing adjective-adverbs III

(24) CelaThat

signifiemeans

qu’ilsthat they

vontgo

facileseasy

suron

lesthe

articulationsjoints

desof the

jambeslegs

http://www.articles-lib.com/gras-et-chauve.html (08.11.2013)

(25) L’entraineurThe coach

[...] exhorteencourages

lesthe

joueursplayers

[..] àto

continuercontinue

par seto

battrefight

durshard

pourfor

lethe

matchmatch

[...].

http://www.livefoot.fr/afrique/egypte.php?p=5 (10.02.2014)

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Tentative analysis

the agreement pattern suggests that these adjective-adverbs are

reanalyzed as predicative VP adjuncts

as predicates, they show formal agreement with a nominal: they agree

with the object of transitive verbs or the subject of unaccusative verbs

(never with Agents) (see Ledgeway on Southern Italian)

as opposed to depictives, they precede the complement(s), whereas

depictives follow it/them

(26) JeanJean

louelets

sonhis

appartementflat

vide.empty.

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Further issues

adjective-adverbs as part of the basic vocabulary of the language

the adjectives the most frequently used in everyday communication

usually monomorphematic

paradigmatic oppositions:

aimer : haut − bas; fort/double/ferme/profond/plein/cher − suave/petit

Dixonas part of jargon and slang

(27) Les Autrichiens jouent dur (Sélection du Monde 10-16.12.1959)

(28) K baisons utile, baisons futile, mais baisons à fond! Ca rend moins cons!

(http://fr.rec.sport.vtt.narkive.com/AXN66e4i/video-jeu-a-la-con.2)

tertiary modifications:

affirmer très haut, aimer plus cher, accuser tout bas, annoncer bien haut,

boire si fort, chanter trop haut

fleurs fraîches écloses, portes grandes ouvertes

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