From ‘luck’ to ‘wealth’
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Bruno Courbon
Abstract
This chapter examines the semantic development of fortuné in Modern French, charting its sociostylistic variation from the 18th to the 21st century. It focuses particularly on the increasing use of fortuné in its current sense of ‘rich/wealthy’, and the negative reception of this new sense in most lexicographical works up until the 20th century. The study aims to show how this semantic innovation produced a lexical stylistic division, opposing a traditional usage (considered standard) to a ‘neological’ one (considered non-standard). Having undergone a shift of meaning from ‘lucky/happy’ to ’wealthy’, fortuné is currently most commonly understood as a euphemism for ‘rich’.
Abstract
This chapter examines the semantic development of fortuné in Modern French, charting its sociostylistic variation from the 18th to the 21st century. It focuses particularly on the increasing use of fortuné in its current sense of ‘rich/wealthy’, and the negative reception of this new sense in most lexicographical works up until the 20th century. The study aims to show how this semantic innovation produced a lexical stylistic division, opposing a traditional usage (considered standard) to a ‘neological’ one (considered non-standard). Having undergone a shift of meaning from ‘lucky/happy’ to ’wealthy’, fortuné is currently most commonly understood as a euphemism for ‘rich’.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Section I. Phonological variation and leveling
- Introduction 3
- Perception and production in French dialect leveling 9
- The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories 25
- Prosodic style-shifting as audience design 43
- The immigrant factor in phonological leveling 63
- A prototype-theoretic model of Southern French 77
- The law of position revisited 95
-
Section II. Stylistic and syntactic variation
- Introduction 115
- Variation in first and second language French 121
- French preadolescents’ perceptions of stylistic variation 141
- Sociolinguistic variation in African French 159
- Register variation in the non-standard use of non-finite forms 177
-
Section III. Lexical variation and semantic change
- Introduction 195
- Discourse markers and regional variation in French 201
- Sociolinguistic factors and the pragmaticalization of bon in contemporary spoken French 215
- From ‘luck’ to ‘wealth’ 231
- Index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Section I. Phonological variation and leveling
- Introduction 3
- Perception and production in French dialect leveling 9
- The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories 25
- Prosodic style-shifting as audience design 43
- The immigrant factor in phonological leveling 63
- A prototype-theoretic model of Southern French 77
- The law of position revisited 95
-
Section II. Stylistic and syntactic variation
- Introduction 115
- Variation in first and second language French 121
- French preadolescents’ perceptions of stylistic variation 141
- Sociolinguistic variation in African French 159
- Register variation in the non-standard use of non-finite forms 177
-
Section III. Lexical variation and semantic change
- Introduction 195
- Discourse markers and regional variation in French 201
- Sociolinguistic factors and the pragmaticalization of bon in contemporary spoken French 215
- From ‘luck’ to ‘wealth’ 231
- Index 253
