Compounds and multi-word expressions in French
(2019) Complex lexical units. Compounds and multi-word expressions — ISBN: [978-3-11-063244-6], p. 127-152, published
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- The notion of compounding generally has a more extensive scope in French morphology than in the literature on Germanic languages. In this chapter, we focus on [N1 N2] units in French, but before doing so we present the different approaches to complex lexical units in French and show how true morphological formations (i.c. compounds) can be distinguished from multi-word phrases. We outline three different approaches dealing with compounding in the French tradition: non-restrictive, scalar and restrictive (lexicalist). Although we believe morphological formations should be distinguished from syntactic formations, it is insightful to highlight their shared potential for expressing the same denominative functions. We therefore add a fourth approach: we believe a constructionist, non-modular approach to the language system provides a more appropriate account. From this perspective, both compounds and phrasal structures with a naming function can act as conventionalized form-meaning pairings or ‘constructions’ and we should accept the existence of what Booij (2010: 190) calls ‘lexical phrasal constructions’, namely phrasal constructions that are stored in the (mental) lexicon. Furthermore, we show that [N1 N2] lexical units turn out to be the most problematic case in French since it is not easy to determine whether this formation belongs to syntax or morphology. A specific subtype, that of subordinative [N1 N2] units, is examined in detail because the latter most severely challenge the morphology-syntax divide. Whereas Fradin (2009) considers these formations to be true compounds, we show that this only holds for the classifying subtype, and not for the qualifying one. Finally, we show how a constructionist account can be fruitfully applied to qualifying subordinative [N1 N2] formations. References Booij, Geert (2010). Construction Morphology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fradin, Bernard (2009). IE, Romance: French. In: Lieber, Rochelle and Štekauer, Pavol (eds.): The Oxford handbook of compounding. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 417–435.
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Van Goethem, K., & Amiot, D. (2019). Compounds and multi-word expressions in French. In Barbara Schlücker (ed.), Complex lexical units. Compounds and multi-word expressions (p. p. 127-152). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110632446-005