Soutenance de thèse : Patty Garet

Monday 15 February 2021, 12:30
Organisation: 
Patty Garet (LLF)
Lieu: 

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Patty Garet (LLF)
The French Verb -IR ; The Morphosyntax and Phonology of French verbs built on root √i s/z

This thesis is a study of the morphosyntactic architecture of French ‘second group’ (or -ir suffixed) verbs, as well as ‘first group’ -iser verbs.  The analyses are couched in the theoretical framework of Minimalist Syntax, and the “Strict CV” model of Government Phonology.

Among ‘second group’ inchoatives (traditionally viewed as ‘de-adjectival’), we find three types of behavior: faiblir/affaiblir ‘become weak/weaken’, *lourdir/alourdir ‘*become heavy/make heavy’, salir/*asalir ‘to soil/?’.

The presence or absence of directional prefix a- is my point of entry into the structure of change of state verbs, indeed of the entire second group. The suffix <-i/-iss>, responsible for the verbal nature of the objects under study, is then analyzed in relation to the prefixation of a-.   

Compatibility with a- is indeed key to understanding the contributions of each of the ingredients of those verbs: a) the prefix itself, which forces the transitivity of the verb and induces effects on its telicity; b) <i/iss>, the verbalizing element; c) the radical bases and their associated argument structure. My proposals allow for an account of the SE-pronominal constructions present in the group.

My analysis leads up to a unified account of 2nd group -i(r) and 1st group -is(er) verbs. Both are built on the same root, √Is/z. When √Is/z selects single roots (thus before categorization) a 2nd group -i(r) verb emerges. When the same root selects categorized objects, an -is(er) verb of the 1st group surfaces.

Jury

  • Caterina Donati (Professeure des Universités, Université de Paris/CNRS) - Présidente
  • Sabrina Bendjaballah (Directrice de Recherches, Université de Nantes/CNRS) - Rapportrice
  • Mohamed Lahrouchi (Directeur de Recherches, Université Paris 8/CNRS) - Rapporteur
  • Antonio Fábregas (Professor, University of Tromsø) - Examinateur
  • Alain Rouveret (Professeur émérite, Université de Paris/CNRS) - Examinateur
  • Jean Lowenstamm (Professeur émérite, Université de Paris/CNRS) - Directeur de thèse