Referring to an avenue as an ‘artery’ ( artère ) in French
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Thomas Bertin
Abstract
This study draws on lexical semantics to support a discourse analysis perspective (Gosselin 2018; Galatanu 2018). It examines the use of the French noun artère ‘artery’ (a common word from the lexicon (Maingueneau 2021)) to refer to a street-like entity (street, avenue, boulevard, etc.). The empirical investigation was based on an analysis of 150 utterances (extracted from three full-text databases). On the one hand, the study shows that selecting artère to refer to a street-like entity is a discursive strategy targeting a significant representation of the referent, especially when this referent is not a prototypical urban street. On the other hand, it supports the idea that this discursive choice strongly relies on the lexical signification of artère (Bertin 2018).
Abstract
This study draws on lexical semantics to support a discourse analysis perspective (Gosselin 2018; Galatanu 2018). It examines the use of the French noun artère ‘artery’ (a common word from the lexicon (Maingueneau 2021)) to refer to a street-like entity (street, avenue, boulevard, etc.). The empirical investigation was based on an analysis of 150 utterances (extracted from three full-text databases). On the one hand, the study shows that selecting artère to refer to a street-like entity is a discursive strategy targeting a significant representation of the referent, especially when this referent is not a prototypical urban street. On the other hand, it supports the idea that this discursive choice strongly relies on the lexical signification of artère (Bertin 2018).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Speakers, addressees and the referential process 1
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Part I. New insights into referential conventions
- Anaphoric potential of bare nominals, incorporated objects and weak definites in German 27
- Is ambient it truly non-referential? 53
- Lions, flowers and the Romans 71
- Genre and reference chains 89
- A linear approach of chain composition 107
- When referents are seen and heard 127
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Part II. From conventions to pragmatics
- Human collective nouns and plural definite noun phrases 153
- Electric vehicles in the press 171
- Referring to the self and the addressee overtly 185
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Part III. From conventions to pragmatics
- Leaving this unsaid 213
- Referential conventions as compromise 233
- Referring to an avenue as an ‘artery’ ( artère ) in French 249
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Part IV. From conventions to pragmatics
- Who creates reference? 269
- “ peut-être on peut improviser un peu ” 287
- Temporal reference in oral narratives produced by French learners of English as a second language 305
- The choice of referring expressions in adult-child dialogues 323
- Index 347
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Speakers, addressees and the referential process 1
-
Part I. New insights into referential conventions
- Anaphoric potential of bare nominals, incorporated objects and weak definites in German 27
- Is ambient it truly non-referential? 53
- Lions, flowers and the Romans 71
- Genre and reference chains 89
- A linear approach of chain composition 107
- When referents are seen and heard 127
-
Part II. From conventions to pragmatics
- Human collective nouns and plural definite noun phrases 153
- Electric vehicles in the press 171
- Referring to the self and the addressee overtly 185
-
Part III. From conventions to pragmatics
- Leaving this unsaid 213
- Referential conventions as compromise 233
- Referring to an avenue as an ‘artery’ ( artère ) in French 249
-
Part IV. From conventions to pragmatics
- Who creates reference? 269
- “ peut-être on peut improviser un peu ” 287
- Temporal reference in oral narratives produced by French learners of English as a second language 305
- The choice of referring expressions in adult-child dialogues 323
- Index 347
