Les exposants morphologiąues et syntaxiques de la symétrie en français
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Date
2003
Authors
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Journal Title
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Publisher
Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM
Title alternative
Morphological and syntactic exponents of symmetry in French
Abstract
The present paper deals with the exponents of symmetry in contemporary French. Apart from
expressions that do not bear any markers of this type of relation, there are others where this property is
closely related to their morphemic structure. It is argued that such a morphological exponence holds
when verbal stems are preceded by the prefixes entre- and co-. The forms with these markers are
carefully scrutinized with regard to their combinatory and derivational features. It is claimed that the
verbs with the entre- prefix are, as far as the word-formation is concerned, more regular than those with
co-. If the morphemic analysis fails in explaining the semantic value of an affix, it is necessary to fall
back on the description of syntagmatic properties of lexical items that incorporate it. Of special
importance among syntactic exponents of symmetry is the adjunction of prepositional phrase
introduced by avec. This operation establishes unequivocally the semantic value of verbs with co-.
Furthermore, if such a prepositional phrase is attached to one-place predicates, it adds a new argument
and becomes, jointly with the verb, the exponent of a symmetric relation. The last syntactic exponent of
symmetry dealt with here is the expression l’un l'autre. Once it is added to the verb phrase, it
emphasizes the presence of such a relation in the meaning of the predicate. The paper attempts to cast a
new light on the way syntactic structures of the phrases with predicative expressions that designate
symmetric relations are modified.
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Keywords
Contemporary French, Morphological exponents, Syntactic exponents
Citation
Studia Romanica Posnaniensia, 2003, vol. 30, pp. 107-122
ISBN
83-232-1270-8