Miscellaneous Notes on Word Order in the French Language (1760)

The article presents a comparative analysis of the sentence structure of the French language in comparison to English and Russian, described are differences and similarities for the three languages. English and French, are important languages of international communication, trade, cooperation and business. As for the Russian language, it is the fifth language in the world in the total number of speakers and the second most popular language of the Internet. Traditionally, the French and English languages are considered as analytic with strict fixed word order in a sentence, at the same Russian is a synthetic language with free word order. Recently, however, linguists are increasingly beginning to assert that there are no languages purely synthetic or analytical. The analysis gives grounds to state that despite the fact that the French and British sentences have a fixed word order in their development there is a trend of occurrence of certain "liberties", in particular, modern French interrogative sentence violates the strict word order; It is constructed both with inversion, and without it, and the circumstances occupy not only postposition or preposition, but also interposition in relation to the predicative basis of the sentence. The practical value of the work lies in the fact that the results obtained can be used in the classroom whiles teaching second language, and that would ensure a much easier and faster learning.

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On the issue of word-order in Modern French sentence syntax

Services in Russia and abroad ◽

10.12737/3589 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 81-88

Author(s):

Магомед Газилов ◽

Magomed Gazilov

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Structural Type ◽

French Language ◽

Position Distribution ◽

Sentence Position

The article summarises the author’s research into one of the most challenging and relevant issues of the theory of the French Language, namely, the in-sentence position distribution of secondary parts of the sentence in Modern French. The position of secondary parts of the sentence is determined by a multitude of factors, such as, for example, the stylistic colouring, the structural type of a sentence, the syntactical function performed by a secondary part and its morphological characteristics. The concept of position distribution of parts of the sentence, in its turn, has a certain bearing on the concept of a detached construction, which validates any change in position distribution within a sentence. Acquiring and developing syntax-interpretation and position-distribution skills are an important requisite for a French language learner’s success.

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The Structure of Interrogative Sentences with a Nominal Subject in the French Language in a Diachronic Aspect

Vestnik of Northern (Arctic) Federal University. Series Humanitarian and Social Sciences ◽

10.37482/2287-1505-v102 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 47-54

Author(s):

Mariya Zubkova ◽

◽

Elena Kopylova ◽

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

French Language ◽

Personal Pronoun ◽

Subordinate Clauses ◽

The Subject ◽

Characteristic Features ◽

Structural Option ◽

The Right ◽

Simple Inversion ◽

Inversion Phenomenon

The article is focused on the study of interrogative sentences with a nominal subject in the French language in terms of structural criteria in a diachronic aspect. The purpose of this study is to reveal the features of the so-called complex inversion in interrogative sentences. Special attention is paid to terminological problems. Pronominal reprise is recognized by the authors as the most correct term for an interrogative construction with a nominal subject duplicated by a personal pronoun. The lack of uniformity in terminology indicates a multidimensional nature of the inversion phenomenon in the French language. For instance, in addition to interrogative sentences, it can be used in other contexts: in simple declarative sentences after certain adverbs, in subordinate clauses after some conjunctions, in exclamatory sentences, etc. The authors highlight and describe the characteristic features of interrogative sentences with a nominal subject in terms of diachrony. Pronominal reprise appears in interrogative constructions as early as in the 16th century, mainly in general questions, subsequently extending to special questions. In the 16th – 17th centuries, the subject did not regularly precede the verb; the same applied to interrogative words, which could be placed both to the left and to the right of the subject. In sentences with a nominal subject, reprise was not the only possible structural option. The following were also used: direct word order, construction question word + est-ce que, and simple inversion. The authors come to the conclusion that pronominal reprise had finally replaced simple inversion of the nominal subject in general questions in French by the end of the 17th century.

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ЈЕЗИЧКА НОРМА И ОДНОС ПРЕМА ЈЕЗИЧКОЈ ВАРИЈАЦИЈИ У НАСТАВИ ФРАНЦУСКОГ КАО СТРАНОГ ЈЕЗИКА: ПРИМЕР УПОТРЕБЕ ДИРЕКТНОГ ПАРЦИЈАЛНОГ ПИТАЊА СА УПИТНИМ ПРИЛОЗИМА

TEME ◽

10.22190/teme180703030r ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 339

Author(s):

Nataša Radusin-Bardić

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Word Order ◽

Spoken Language ◽

Foreign Language Teaching ◽

French Language ◽

Linguistic Variation ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative ◽

Quantitative Analyses ◽

The Difference ◽

Definition Of

Different attitudes towards the definition of linguistic variations are noticeable in contemporary teaching of French as a foreign language. The difference depends on whether it is viewed from the perspective of traditionally understood exemplary linguistic levels le bon usage, from the standpoint of propositions – the “basic French language” the SGAV methodology is based on; or with the emergence of a communicative approach in foreign language teaching from the perspective of a moderately conservative and flexible attitude towards conservative linguistic norms. In order to study how linguistic variations in the teaching of French as a foreign language are treated, our research was based on an analysis of the use of different forms for expressing a direct partial question with interrogative adverbs où, quand, comment and pourquoi in seven selected methods published from the middle of the last century until the present day. The results of the qualitative and quantitative analyses of the abovementioned interrogative forms in the selected methods, illustrate significant oscillations in terms of the representation of interrogative forms derived from inversion and those which, contrary to the conservative linguistic norm and in accordance with the general tendencies in the French spoken language, preserve the word order characteristic of a statement. The obtained results indicate an expressed need for a more consistent pragmatic definition of linguistic variation in the contemporary teaching of French as a foreign language.

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French Language and Literature (Including Provençal)

PMLA ◽

10.1017/s0030812900130378 ◽

1935 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 1295-1299

Author(s):

H. Carrington Lancaster

Keyword(s):

French Language ◽

Language And Literature

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Processing cost and its consequences

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x15000916 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

Author(s):

William O'Grady

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Proximity Effects ◽

Processing Cost

AbstractI focus on two challenges that processing-based theories of language must confront: the need to explain why language has the particular properties that it does, and the need to explain why processing pressures are manifested in the particular way that they are. I discuss these matters with reference to two illustrative phenomena: proximity effects in word order and a constraint on contraction.

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Phrase-Learning in Deaf and Hearing Subjects

Journal of Speech and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.1003.600 ◽

1967 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 600-605 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Penelope B. Odom ◽

Richard L. Blanton

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Fifth Graders ◽

English Word ◽

Normal Hearing ◽

Twelfth Graders ◽

Memory Processes ◽

Study Test ◽

The Mean

Two groups each containing 24 deaf subjects were compared with 24 fifth graders and 24 twelfth graders with normal hearing on the learning of segments of written English. Eight subjects from each group learned phrasally defined segments such as “paid the tall lady,” eight more learned the same words in nonphrases having acceptable English word order such as “lady paid the tall,” and the remaining eight in each group learned the same words scrambled, “lady tall the paid.” The task consisted of 12 study-test trials. Analyses of the mean number of words recalled correctly and the probability of recalling the whole phrase correctly, given that one word of it was recalled, indicated that both ages of hearing subjects showed facilitation on the phrasally defined segments, interference on the scrambled segments. The deaf groups showed no differential recall as a function of phrasal structure. It was concluded that the deaf do not possess the same perceptual or memory processes with regard to English as do the hearing subjects.

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