Le rôle de la sémantique dans l’interprétation de aucun

Les syntagmes nominaux déterminés par l'indéfini AUCUN – que l'on peut envisager comme un quantificateur existentiel intégré dans le champ de la négation – reçoivent deux interprétations distinctes, surtout en position de sujet, suivant qu'ils apparaissent dans un énoncé déclaratif ou existentiel.Une lecture non référentielle s'impose en proposition existentielle, où ces SN contribuent à asserter la non existence ou l'absence d'objets (ou de substances ou d'ensembles d'objets) de la catégorie désignées par le nom tête. L'énoncé Dans cette région, il n'y a aucune classe maternelle de plus de quatorze enfants en constitue un exemple caractéristique.Dans des énoncés déclaratifs, comme Aucune maison n'a été épargnée, ce quantificateur négatif opère sur un sous-ensemble fini et spécifique d'objets de la catégorie dénotée par la tête nominale (c'est-à-dire maisons). L'existence de ce sous-ensemble étant présupposée, cette lecture est qualifiée de référentielle.Le problème traité dans cet article est celui d'identifier les facteurs responsables de la sélection de l'une ou de l'autre lecture. En fait, il n'existe pas de critère formel simple permettant de décider si un énoncé donné doit s'analyser comme déclaratif ou existentiel, sauf quand celui-ci fait intervenir une construction impersonnelle comme il y a. L'approche adoptée ici consiste à explorer les possibilités d'une analyse purement sémantique cantonnée dans la phrase. Une éventuelle analyse pragmatique interviendra à un stade ultérieur pour rendre compte des cas demeurés ambigus au niveau phrastique. Un examen des données fournies par un corpus informatisé a donné les résultats suivants :Un SN déterminé par AUCUN et sujet d'un verbe passif accepte seulement la lecture non référentielle, lorsqu'il a un nom tête syncatégorématique marqué [abstrait] et qu'il s'accompagne d'un verbe support. Quant aux SN en AUCUN sujets d'un verbe existentiel, ils manifestent une forte tendance à recevoir une interprétation non référentielle. En revanche, la lecture référentielle s'impose dès que le nom tête du SN sujet est catégorématique et marqué [animé] ou [concret] et que la structure sémantique du verbe est suffisamment riche pour lui assurer une certaine autonomie. En combinant un verbe qui impose peu de contraintes sémantiques à son sujet – ou aucune – à un SN sujet dénotant un référent concret ou animé, on obtiendra souvent une phase ambiguë, dont l'ambiguïté ne sera levée que par une prise en compte de facteurs discursifs ou pragmatiques.This study is concerned with the interpretation of French noun phrases containing an instance of the indefinite determiner AUCUN, which may be seen as existential quantifier in the scope of negation. Such noun phrases give rise to two distinct readings according as they appear in existential or declarative sentences, particularly in the subject position.In existential propositions an NP of the structure AUCUN N is used to asset the non existence of entities, substances, or sets of the category denoted by N relative to a specific location in time and space, as in Dans cette région, il n'y a aucune classe maternelle de plus de quatorze enfants. This reading of AUCUN N is being refused to as non referential.In a declarative sentence like Aucune maison n'a été épargnée, the negative quantifier operates on a finite, specific subset of entities of the category N (i. e. maisons), the existence of which is presupposed. It is asserted that the action, process, or state denoted by the verb does not hold for any of the members of this subset. This reading is claimed to be referential.The question addressed here is that of identifying the factors which determine the interpretation of an actual utterance. In fact, ther exist no simple formal criteria for deciding whether a given utterance containing a noun phrase of this structure should be analysed as declarative rather than existential, except where an explicit use of an impersonal construction such as il y a is involved. This problem must clearly be solved in order for a parser to work out valid inferences from this type of sentences. My approach is exclusively semantic, but an analysis along pragmatic lines may prove necessary in the end to account for certain cases. An analysis of the data obtained from a computer readable corpus yields the following results.A non referential reading is alone available for a subject NP of the type AUCUN N inpassivized sentences, if its head noun features the properties abstract and syncategorematic, and if it takes a verb which typically collocates with this noun (a « support » verb). Furthermore, there is a strong tendency for any subject NP containing AUCUN to be interpreted non referentially when combined with an intransitive existential verb, although a referential reading is shown not to be entirely excluded. On the other hand, the referential reading obtains whenever the nominal head of the subject NP is categorematic and subcategorized animate or concrete and combines with a verb whose semantic structure is sufficiently rich to gurarantee its autonomy. The combination of a verb, which imposes few semantic constraints on its subject – or none – and a subject NP denoting a concrete or animate referent, tends to produce an ambiguous sentence, which may only be disambiguated by taking pragmatic factors into account

Sur la quantification négative

Heldner Christina. Sur la quantification négative. In: Langue française, n°94, 1992. Les négations, sous la direction de Bruno Callebaut. pp. 80-92

Entre indifférence et sarcasmes : Sur la réception en France de Tomas Tranströmer, Prix Nobel suédois

The object of this paper is to describe the reception in France of the works of the Swedish poetand 2011 Nobel Prize Laureate Tomas Tranströmer and to discuss plausible interpretations of the fact that, whereas the French – with certain exceptions – reacted to Tranströmer’s being chosen as a winner with either indifference or hostility, the rest of the world, including Sweden, the U.S.A, China, Japan, and Europe reacted with enthusiasm. The poet’s work having been translated into over sixty different languages is a clear indication of its world-wide popularity, as is the support from significant international personalities in the world of poetry, like Wisława Szymborska, Adonis, Robert Bly, Seamus Heaney, or Bei Dao, to mention just a few.Two hypotheses are presented in the paper to account for the greatly diverging patterns of reception observed. Both are being discussed at some length. The first of them concerns the quality of the translation, the merits and defects of which are scrutinized as for parameters like versification and metric form, alliterations, repetitions, semantic errors, metaphors, metonymies,poetic humour, and referentiality of denominations connected with culture and topography. My conclusion being that in spite of certain weaknesses found in Jacques Outin’s version of Tranströmer’s Collected Works – which is the only translation available so far – this is not enough to explain the poet’s reception in France. The second one concerns what he talks about in his poems; in short, various aspects of his poetic universe. An important characteristic of this poetry is the fact that most, if not all, poems start from a definite point in time and space, often located in the Stockholm archipelago where the poet’s ancestors were born and where the poet himself has spent most of his summer holidays since he was a boy. Thus, the reader is frequently confronted, on the one hand, with magic pictures of a typically Swedish landscape, on the other with sensations of an existential or metaphysical character, intertwined with such physical descriptions. It could be, that the combination of details from the flora and the fauna and the landscape with mystic experience is simply too much for a French mentality of today,impregnated as it is with intellectualism in general and a Cartesian type of rationalism. However,the problem remains to be further investigated

Svenska översättningar av Dantes Gudomliga komedi – la Divina Commedia

This paper is devoted to the Italian 14th century poet and scholar Dante Alighieri and his poetic and narrative masterwork La Divina Commedia, usually considered to be one of the highlights of Western literature. More specifically, its object is to examine and characterize the quality of the hitherto seven complete translations into Swedish as for semantic equivalence, equivalence in a number of formal aspects connected with language, style, and versification constraints, and, finally, acceptability of target text language to a contemporary readership. The translations taken into consideration are those of Nils Lovén, 1856-57; Edvard Lidforss, 1903; S.C. Bring, 1905; Aline Pipping, 1915, 1924; Arnold Norlind, 1921, 1930; Åke Ohlmarks, 1966-1969; Ingvar Björkeson, 1983

Entre indifférence et sarcasmes : Sur la réception en France de Tomas Tranströmer, Prix Nobel suédois

The object of this paper is to describe the reception in France of the works of the Swedish poetand 2011 Nobel Prize Laureate Tomas Tranströmer and to discuss plausible interpretations of the fact that, whereas the French – with certain exceptions – reacted to Tranströmer’s being chosen as a winner with either indifference or hostility, the rest of the world, including Sweden, the U.S.A, China, Japan, and Europe reacted with enthusiasm. The poet’s work having been translated into over sixty different languages is a clear indication of its world-wide popularity, as is the support from significant international personalities in the world of poetry, like Wisława Szymborska, Adonis, Robert Bly, Seamus Heaney, or Bei Dao, to mention just a few.Two hypotheses are presented in the paper to account for the greatly diverging patterns of reception observed. Both are being discussed at some length. The first of them concerns the quality of the translation, the merits and defects of which are scrutinized as for parameters like versification and metric form, alliterations, repetitions, semantic errors, metaphors, metonymies,poetic humour, and referentiality of denominations connected with culture and topography. My conclusion being that in spite of certain weaknesses found in Jacques Outin’s version of Tranströmer’s Collected Works – which is the only translation available so far – this is not enough to explain the poet’s reception in France. The second one concerns what he talks about in his poems; in short, various aspects of his poetic universe. An important characteristic of this poetry is the fact that most, if not all, poems start from a definite point in time and space, often located in the Stockholm archipelago where the poet’s ancestors were born and where the poet himself has spent most of his summer holidays since he was a boy. Thus, the reader is frequently confronted, on the one hand, with magic pictures of a typically Swedish landscape, on the other with sensations of an existential or metaphysical character, intertwined with such physical descriptions. It could be, that the combination of details from the flora and the fauna and the landscape with mystic experience is simply too much for a French mentality of today,impregnated as it is with intellectualism in general and a Cartesian type of rationalism. However,the problem remains to be further investigated

Mästerverk eller studentspex? : Reflektioner kring en berömd text av Jacques Derrida

This paper investigates into the background of the spectacular success of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004), which seems to remain strong considering the fact that, as late as 2007, Derrida was still among the most quoted authors in the world, in humanities. The start of his career was the publication in 1967 of the extremely influential book On Grammatology devoted to the presentation of his chief idea known as deconstructionism. To put it shortly, this term alludes to the practice of reading and interpreting texts – whether literary or philosophical – against the intentions of their authors, so as to make them say what they were probably never meant to say. This method or doctrine soon became extremely popular, especially indepartments of comparative literature or literary criticism, both in the U.S.A., in France and the rest of Europe. Along with it came an attitude of radical scepticism which came in handy in cases of opposition.What I try to do here is a close reading of De la grammatologie, in order to highlight flaws in Derrida's own text and argumentation. The conclusion reached is entirely in keeping with the spontaneous impression one gets from reading Derrida'stext. Apart from its tiring verbosity, his style is most of the time unbelievably obscure and even void of sense. Another recurrent problem is lack of referential exactness.But when, at times, the text becomes a bit less vague, it turns depreciatory and disdainful, as if to compensate for a lack of argumentative strength by hitting below the belt. Given these circumstances, the question is whether this text was originally meant to convey a serious theoretical discussion at all. An alternative interpretation discussed here consists in viewing it as a hoax played upon the reader to confuse him, the way the traditional "canular" was used in the famous École Normale Supérieure where Derrida was trained as a philosopher. (There exists a more compact version of this article in French on the following site: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/30607pp. 333-345