Deleting what can be missed:
indefinite and definite null complements
An analysis of object deletion in contemporary French
Thesis rMA Linguistics
Universiteit van Amsterdam
August 2012
Tilly van Paassen
6208371
[email protected]
Supervisors:
dr. A.P. Sleeman
prof. dr. W.J.J. Honselaar
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Table of contents
General Introduction
3
Chapter 1: Null complementation in English and French
6
1.1 Introduction
6
1.2 Null complements in English
7
1.3 Null complements in French
10
1.4 Outlines
19
Chapter 2: Focusing on French lexicographic representation
21
2.1 Null complements and lexicography
21
2.2 Hypotheses and predictions
25
2.3 Methodology
27
2.4 Corpora and research methods
28
Chapter 3: Analysis and classification
31
3.1 Non-habitual INCs
3.1.1 Tests
32
3.1.2 Data
33
3.2 Habitual INCs
3.2.1 Tests and subtypes
36
3.2.2 Data
37
3.3 INCs with a subtype construal
3.3.1 Tests
38
3.3.2 Data
39
3.4 Lexically licensed, frame-induced DNCs with a deleted direct object
3.4.1 Tests
41
3.4.2 Data
41
3.5 Lexically licensed FNCs that have the role of experiencer
3.5.1 Tests
45
3.5.2 Data
45
3.6 Lexically licensed FNCs that have the role of causee
3.6.1 Tests
46
3.6.2 Data
47
3.7 Productivity of object deletion in French and English
47
2
Chapter 4: New corpus data for French
51
4.1 Definite null complementation with verbs selected from previous literature
52
4.2 Corpus data for INC and FNC
56
4.3 Conclusion
60
Chapter 5: Lexicographic representation: transitivity and labeling
62
5.1 Comparing the two dictionaries
66
5.2 Analysis of the entries
68
5.3 Towards better structured examples of null complementation in the
Grand Robert
5.4 Concluding remarks
Chapter 6: Discussion
73
75
78
6.1 Research questions
78
6.2 Further research
80
References
81
Appendices
1. Indefinite null complements
84
2. Free null complements
95
3. Five prototype entries
100
4. Verb entries in the Grand Robert with absolute use
123
3
General introduction
Over the past year, two main topics have been at the center of my linguistic interest: object alternations
and referentiality. Two of the topics that object alternation entails are object change and object deletion
(null complementation). Object deletion is a cross-linguistic phenomenon speakers daily use under
different conditions. Lexical semantic properties of the verb, a specific linguistic situation or extralinguistic factors allows the speaker to delete an object of (di)transitive verbs.
Some of these utterances with an unexpressed object can come out of the blue, without a supporting
context, such as ‘Did you shave today?’, or ‘Simon is still drinking’. Speakers of English would
suppose right away that the respective objects that are deleted are ‘yourself/your beard’ and ‘alcohol’.
Other utterances require a context from which the hearer can pick the right referent (object) that is not
expressed. In ‘I proposed him to borrow my car but he refused’, the deleted object ‘proposal’ can
easily be easily reconstructed by the hearer: he/she fully understands what is the missing object in this
utterance. Still, this phenomenon is not fully productive : object deletion is restricted to the choice of a
specific verb, since the verb refuse cannot be replaced by reject in this speech situation: ‘I proposed
him to borrow my car but he rejected’ clearly misses an expressed object (‘my proposal’).
Referentiality is a closely related topic because deleted objects are still referential although they are
expressed by other means than null noun phrases or pronouns: for example, the referent of a nonuttered object can be set up by the (non-)linguistic context as well. In addition, to what extent the
object meant is concrete (specific) and relevant (salient) determines to what (set of) objects the deleted
object refers, because the speaker chooses how important defining the object is. As for what Simon of
the preceding paragraph is exactly drinking, is culturally defined : in English (and French), the
transitive verb drink by itself means drinking alcoholic beverages. The object is only specified to a
little extent: the set of possible objects referred to contains only alcoholic drinks. In addition, the
speaker can choose to specify his or her utterance, for example ‘Simon is still an alcoholic’ (having the
habit of drinking alcohol), ‘Simon is still drinking liters of beer every day’, etc. The specificity of
reference, distinguishing definite and indefinite object deletion, is mostly focused on in this thesis.
My study aims at (re)defining the restrictions of object deletion in contemporary French. Especially, I
focus on verbs that are susceptible of occurring with object deletion: in what classes of verbs, object
deletion occurs more often? In what way a verb has to be flexible in order to allow object deletion?
Are restrictions on object deletion language-specific? And are verb use and verb meaning of utterances
with deleted object present in dictionaries of contemporary French and how are they classified?
In this sense, the past year with a tutorial on object alternation and a course in definiteness
(referentiality) has been a good preparation for this study on verb flexibility and argument realization.
I thank Wim Honselaar, Josefien Sweep, and Jeannette Schaeffer for sharing their ideas and work
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about these topics, Wim Honselaar for thinking with me about the structuring of classifications and the
analysis of lexicographic data and Petra Sleeman for delimiting this large and complex topic. All
translations of French occurrences and eventual mistakes in them are mine.
5
Chapter 1 : Null complementation in English and French
1.1 Introduction
It is a widespread cross-linguistic phenomenon that complements that are required by (di)transitive
verbs can be left out, but English and French are known for the fact that primary grammatical
functions (subject and object) cannot be deleted in general (Lambrecht and Lemoine 2005: 13,
henceforth abbreviated by L&L 2005). For example, Italian and Chinese respectively allow subject
and object drop. This study focuses on the phenomenon of deletion of the direct object in French
compared to English. Two large but different classes of deleted objects are identified by Fillmore
(1986): verbs such as ‘sew’ in (1)a in which object deletion is freely allowed and phrases such as in
(1)b in which the deleted object can be retrieved from the (extra)linguistic context (L&L 2005: 22):
(1)a
Mom is busy, she is sewing.
(1)b
(question to a shop employee)
At what time do you close?
According to Katz and Postal (1964), the direct object of (1)a ´stuff´ or ´something´ is freely deletable.
In (1)b, the deleted object, ´the shop´, can be retrieved from the context. For the former group of null
complements, the question arises how these characteristics are encoded in the deep structure in which
the predicate selects possible direct objects (i.e. Fillmore 1986: 96). For the latter group, the main
problem this phenomenon poses is under which conditions the object can be deleted (i.e. Larjavaara
2000). The main test for this distinction is to determine whether it sounds odd for a speaker to admit
ignorance of the identity of the referent of the missing phrase. It is acceptable to utter (2)a while (2)b
sounds odd:
(2)a
He was eating/reading.
I wonder what he was eating/reading.
(2)b
They found out/blamed me.
*I wonder what they found out/blamed me for.
In this study, freely deletable null complements, as (1)a and (2)a are called are referred to as Indefinite
Null Complements or INC, opposed to Definite Null Complements or DNC in (1)b and (2)b. The in
indefinite vs. definite distinction is not based on the presence or the nature of the determiner of the
deleted object but on the referentiality of the deleted object: in (1)b and (2)b, the deleted object refers
to a specific entity.
In addition, a third subgroup is distinguished: Free Null Complementation (FNC). FNC allows both
specific and non-specific referents: depending on the context , the referent can either be specific (‘me,
you’) or non-specific (‘one’) (L&L 2005: 35):
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‘It does (me/one/them) good’
(3)a
Ça fait du bien.
(3)b
Cela permet de mieux dormir. ‘That allows (you/me/one) to sleep better’
The deleted experiencer in (3)a, receives a (sensory) impression that involves no change of state ,the
reduced form ça. The deleted causee in (3)b undergoes the action of the agent and is both indirect
object of the main clause and subject of the embedded clause (SIL Glossary of linguistic terms). Both
deleted objects are encoded as indirect objects, but I want to investigate the lexical influences of verbs
or idiomatic constructions in this subclass like in the other classes of INC and DNC. The number of
INC is said to be limited and lexically specific: according to Fillmore & Kay (1995), INC is found in a
small class of verbs, including eat, drink, sing, cook, sew and bake. However in specific contexts, the
class can be extended within a given linguistic context (Fillmore 1986: 21):
(4)
Il ne mange pas, il dévore.
‘he doesn’t eat, he devours’
The verb devour would not be accepted with a deleted object in a context-free situation and it can be
questioned if the deleted object is lexically licensed. DNCs are generally said to be not lexically
licensed but contextually licensed. Whether lexical influences are playing a role in the licensing of null
complementation in FNC, is analyzed in sections 3.5 and 3.6.
According to the classification of null complementation by Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005), the main
classes of INC, DNC and FNC can be divided in different subclasses. Before presenting an overview
of their classification, a selection of articles that preceded Lambrecht and Lemoine are analyzed. In the
next two sections, a state of the art is given for English and French literature on null complements.
1.2 Null complements in English
In this section, two articles that propose a classification of null complements in English are introduced.
First, in the article by Fillmore (1986) an analysis of definite null complements is proposed based on
semantic frames. A frame consists of semantic concepts introduced by the verb that are all activated
once one concept is introduced in the linguistic context. The concepts of the prototypical verb to eat
is ‘who eats’ and ‘what is eaten’ (Fillmore in Larjavaara 2000: 45). Secondly, in the article of Levin
(2006) the syntactic structure of events is analyzed and it is shown that event structure is related to
indefinite null complements.
Before discussing DNCs, Fillmore starts off with a sub-classification of INC between instances with ‘a
semantic object of considerable generality’ and ‘requiring the specification of various degrees of
semantic specialization’(Fillmore 1986: 96-7). The latter group of direct objects are all prototypical
objects of verbs such as eat (a meal), drink (alcohol) and bake (bread, pastries). The specificity of the
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verb is shown by the fact that for the latter verb, potatoes and hams are less accepted as prototypical
objects than bread and pastries. After having introduced INC and DNC, Fillmore focuses exclusively
on DNC which he classifies as:
‘the potential of having a contextually definite interpretation, cases where the speaker’s
authority to omit a complement exists only within an ongoing discourse in which the missing
information can be immediately retrieved from the context, and at the condition that the
omission is authorized by a particular lexical item or grammatical construction in the
language’. (Fillmore 1986: 97)
With ‘lexical item’ Fillmore denotes the deleted object in question that needs to be present in the
context of utterance. In addition, Fillmore observes that some verbs both occur with DNC and INC:
(5)a
I contributed to the movement.
INC
(5)b
I contributed 5 euro.
DNC, indirect object
(5)c
I’ve already contributed.
DNC, direct object, indirect object
The meaning of (5)a is equal to I contributed something to the movement whereas the receiver direct
object of (5)b ‘to the cause in question’ can be recovered from the context. In (5)c, not only the
receiver but also the gift (‘a certain amount of money’) can be deleted.
There are some lexical restrictions on the application of DNC as pointed out by Fillmore. First, some
deleted objects with certain verbs do not have specific reference. The example in (6) does not refer to
the door in question (Fillmore 1986:98):
(6)
Did you lock?
Fillmore bases this claim on the basis of English, but Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005) put this into
question for French. The question arises if a deleted object can be definite but non-specific, and if this
would be DNC or INC. I come back to this claim in section 1.3.
Secondly, semantically equivalent predicates do often not all allow direct object deletion, as is the case
for the verb insist. A possible reply to the question ‘Why did you marry her?’ with a deleted object has
only one option:
(7)a
Because mother insisted
(7)b
*Because mother required
(7)c
*Because mother demanded
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Fillmore enumerates an interesting list of lexical occurrences of semantically equivalent verbs with
DNC such as I looked everywhere/*I sought everywhere and She found out/*She discovered. (Fillmore
1986: 99, 101-102).
There is a third group distinguished by Fillmore, namely the mixed category of verbs that do
sometimes allow DNC and sometimes not. The verb win has two clear valency patterns:
(8)a
He won the first prize / the gold medal / the blue ribbon.
(8)b
He won the election / the race / the game.
(8)c
He won.
(Fillmore 1986: 100)
The direct object of win can either be a prize as in (8)a, or the competition like in (8)b. In a DNC, as in
(8)c, the deleted direct object can only be the ‘contextually given competition’. The verbs loose,
accept, and arrive (locative indirect object) behave the same way: the deleted object in (9)c can only
refer to the summit and not to the answer.
(9)a
She arrived at the summit.
(9)b
She arrived at the answer.
(9)c
She arrived.
An important observation is that DNC of indirect objects also occurs for verbs of manner of
locomotion: drove, walked, drove my bike, took the bus, swam accept the omission of the source and
goal. In addition, Fillmore confirms that the semantics of the verbs that allow DNC cannot explain the
behavior of object deletion, but he poses the question why some semantic features are more easily
accepting DNC (Fillmore 1986:104). For example, Fillmore reports that no DNC occurs with change
of state verbs like break, bend, create, destroy, move and lift. On the other hand, DNC does occur in
the category of leave, go, take and come, arrive, bring and enter, in which the missing complement is
a PP that denotes the point of origin or the destination. Fillmore leaves these remarks open to further
investigation.
Levin worked on object alternation for a long time and also came across unspecified objects (object
deletion) that occur with the same classes of verbs. Object alternation (object change, Sweep 2010),
which is a term that covers double object constructions amongst others, is related to unspecified
objects, because the same verbs of English verb classes of removing and putting alternation (‘sweep’)
and material/product alternation (‘carve’, ‘sew’, ‘knit’) allow unspecified objects, or indefinite null
complements (INC) in context-free utterances such as in(10)b:
(10)a
Shelly swept the room/the dust from the floor.
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(10)b
Shelly swept (scratched/?hit/carved/sewed/knit).
The verb hit exhibits a special type of object alternation, and it can be argued that this verb does not
allow INC. The classes of verbs mentioned here are also called means/manner verbs, since the verb
root (= core meaning) conveys means or manner. Levin argues that the event structure of
means/manner verbs is related to the fact that indefinite null complements are allowed: a verb must
have a simple event structure in order to allow object alternations. This claim is extended to object
deletion as well.
In order to illustrate event structure, verbs are decomposed. An example of a simple structure, an
activity is showed in (11)a:
(11)a
Wipe: [ X act <wipe> Y ] (Levin 2006: 14)
(11)b
Jan wiped the counter.
(11)c
Jan wiped.
(11)d
Break: [ [ X act ] cause [ become [ Y < RES-STATE> ] ] ] (Levin 2006: 15)
(11)e
*Kelly broke again tonight when she did the dishes. (Levin 2006: 17)
An example of a complex structure with two sub-events is the verb break in (11)d. This verb
represents a change of state. The complex structure of the break verb is decomposed as a complex
event structure with two sub-events, here X act and Y <RES-STATE>. (Levin’s) Structure Participant
Condition requires a syntactic realization of each argument (‘structure participant’) but this does not
apply to the root of ‘two-argument simple verbs’ of means/manner verbs (Levin 2006: 8). In other
words, The Structure Participant Condition requires both realization of X and Y, except for simple
verbs such as means/manner verbs. As a result, the verb wipe in can be used intransitively as in
exemplified in (11)c with an indefinite unspecified object interpretation (Levin 2006: 15-16). Change
of state verbs such as in (11)e do not allow indefinite unspecified objects. Levin’s explanation for this
behavior is that for the complex event structure of verbs like break, ‘their objects must realize the
structure participant of the second sub-event [=Y]’ (idem: 16). Levin states that unspecified object
sentences (INC) are ‘clearly eventive, even episodic’ and have a simple event structure. Therefore,
indefinite object deletion is allowed with means/manner verbs.
Since the objective of this study is to compare null complements in English with French, I present a
selection of the literature on object deletion in French in the next section.
1.3. Null complements in French
The terminology surrounding null complementation varies by author and by language. In French,
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object deletion is referred to by the term ‘absolute use’. To start with, when looking up the French term
‘absolute use’ (emploi absolu) in a French grammar, the following definition of absolute verbs can be
found (Riegel et al. 1994 : 220) :
‘[within the group of] verbs of which the meaning differs per construction, (La colle a pris,
Pierre a pris le livre) many transitive verbs are sensitive to absolute use, i.e. without explicit
direct object and change in meaning related to this absence. Two types can be distinguished:
verbs of which the direct object can be retrieved from the context (i.e. ‘je vois’, ‘je sais’,
‘repète’, ‘regarde’) and verbs that allow to stress the verbal process but ‘have a different
meaning’ [than the transitive construction with a realized object](‘Il faut manger pour vivre
et non pas vivre pour manger’)’ (own translation)
These classes correspond to DNC and INC respectively. Null complements are also mentioned as
‘unspecified objects’ (idem: 221) The direct object can be left implicit either because an explicit
realization of an object is not required (jugée pertinente) or is left unspecified in order to imply a
whole range of possible direct objects. The inverse process, adding a direct object a prototypically
intransitive verb (vivre sa vie) is denoted by ‘internal objects’.
The articles of Larjavaara (1997, 1998) and her dissertation (2000) enter more into detail on both
absolute use and internal objects. In addition, transitivity alternations that involve a change of the
agent (Jean culpabilise Claude/Claude culpabilise) are analyzed. This alternation is characterized by
the change of the place of the patient: Claude is encoded as the direct object in the transitive phrase
and as the subject in the intransitive phrase, while both go with the same verb. These ‘labile verbs’,
named after the discontinuous valency pattern of the verbs, are analyzed by Larjavaara as a separate
class of transitivity alternations. This subject is left aside in this study but discussed in chapter 6.
Larjavaara (1998) also defines ‘transitive’ and ‘intransitive’ as syntactic labels that are given either in
instances of the use of the verb or as a classificatory device in dictionaries. For her, the latter does not
interfere with discourse or context influences, and therefore she claims that DNC is not concerned
with transitivity distinctions (Larjavaara 1998: 307). The main focus of Larjavaara is on the transitivity
of predicates: she claims that the referents of DNC are extra-linguistic factors. Furthermore,
Larjavaara claims that both DNC and INC do not have an effect on verb valency since the verb form,
function and semantic content remain unchanged (idem: 310).
A more seminal work is covered by Larjavaara’s dissertation (2000). From a functional perspective,
she elaborates a comparison of data from the literature with a corpus she composed of (detective)
novels and magazines. Her analysis still has to be compared to the work of Lambrecht & Lemoine,
since the article of the latter authors dates from 2005. She argues that many more verbs can occur with
DNCs, if they are placed in the appropriate contextual setting. This claim and her data will be
11
presented in chapter 3.
Fonágy (1985) also published valuable remarks on deleted objects but his analysis is not very well
structured. Amongst other smaller topics, he discusses several influencing factors such as stylistic
differences between full predicates and predicates with a deleted object, left dislocation and the
distinction of free utterances and bound utterances, although no definitions are given for the latter
categories (Fonágy 1985:10). Some verb meanings of INCs are mentioned : prendre (take a playing
card) and ouvrir (opening the door or shop) are some well-known examples.
In the lexicographic part of his investigation, Fonágy distinguishes four monolingual dictionaries of
French on how absolute use is marked and concludes that none of these dictionaries labeled
intransitive verbs from transitive verbs with a deleted object in a consistent way. In addition,
lexicographic labels such as ‘absolument’, ‘verbes neutres’ are not only assigned to transitive verbs
with object deletion. Fonágy does not insist on DNC, since the use of DNC relies on context and is
not lexically specific. Analyzing French data in dictionaries could be a valuable starting point in order
to obtain more information on the normative analysis of transitivity properties of verbs, but this would
only give information on INC for one would expect DNCs to be less represented in dictionaries.
The article of Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005) provides an overall pragmatic classification of object
deletion with 14 subcategories from a Construction Grammar perspective. The article of 2005 is a
modified and revised version of Lambrecht and Lemoine (1996) and therefore I will use the most
recent article only. The authors distinguish three main classes: indefinite null instantiations(INI),
definite null instantiations (DNI) and free null instantiations(FNI). In this analysis, I will replace these
notions by respectively indefinite null complements (INC), definite null complements (DNC) and free
null complements (FNC). First I want to highlight a selection of observations on null complementation
that will be addressed in my own study, such as productivity, and syntactic and semantic factors.
Secondly, along some general remarks I will delimit the sub-classes that I am going to investigate in
my own study and motivate the choice for these subclasses.
Lambrecht and Lemoine’s main cross-linguistic observation is that object deletion is more productive
in French than in English. Fillmore’s example in (12)b is perfectly acceptable in French (L&L 2005:
15):
(12)a
Tu as fermé?
(12)b
?Did you lock?
The authors also observe that object deletion is ‘fully productive’ in spoken French but it’s use is
‘strongly stigmatized’ however (L&L 2005: 15). The authors argue that in normative grammars,
deleted object are underrepresented according to how often they occur in contemporary language data.
12
The question to what extent English and French differ in accepting object deletion will be addressed in
sections 3.7, 6.1 and 6.2.
Secondly, in French, some syntactic properties of the deleted direct object remain phonologically
realized, for example in the French causative construction: where the object of the infinitival phrase
remains dative case (lui, the dative clitic form ‘him’ in (13)a) when the direct object of the main verb
is deleted (l’, the accusative clitic form ‘him’ in (13)c). For gender as well in (13)d, the adjective still
agrees in gender and number with the unexpressed direct object of the main verb (Koenig 1993 in
L&L 2005: 19):
(13)a
Je l’ai fait manger.
‘I made him eat (something)’
(13)b
Je les lui ai fait manger.
‘I made him eat them’
(13)c
Je lui ai fait manger.
‘I made him eat them’
(13)d
Je lui ai fait manger chaudes.
‘I made him eat them hot’
Third, in DNC and FNC, semantic constraints are at play. Native intuitions (Frei 1979 and Kihm 1988)
point to a distinction between individuals and generic types, for (14)a is interpreted as referring to the
work of Corneille, whereas (14)b could only refer to a living individual. (L&L 2005:41)
(14)a
Corneille, je connais.
‘Corneille, I know (his work)’
(14)b
Corneille, je le connais.
‘Corneille, I know (him)’
The authors are not convinced yet that this fully accounts for the choice of the null complement but
Lambrecht and Lemoine claim that there exists a link between unmarked form (deleted object) and
generic reference, like the omitted pronoun ça (‘it’) in (12)a in a generic environment. Specific
reference goes then with the marked form (a clitic pronoun) such as in (12)b (L&L 2005:42). DNC
examples in the article however, show that outside of these minimal pairs, DNC can be both specific
and generic. This semantic factor will not be studied for the limitations of this frequent phenomenon in
French, left dislocation, but in order to distinguish specific reference form definite reference.
Although specific pronouns can sometimes also be omitted, Lambrecht and Lemoine observe a
stronger avoidance strategy of the pronoun ça in object position (L&L 2005:39)
(15)
A : Alors tu détestes, ce magasin Sam’s ?
13
B : Je déteste pas. Ça me fait peur. (Corpus Romero)
‘A: So you hate (it), that store Sam’s?
-B: I don’t hate (it). It scares me.’
This avoidance strategy seems to occur in both DNC and FNC. The main observation of the authors on
the semantics of null complements is that as a result of the fact that clitic pronouns are interpreted as
animate, inanimate objects are more often deleted. The often-cited prototype of this phenomenon is the
object of aimer: A clitic pronoun in Je l’aime is not likely to refer (L&L: ‘inappropriate’) to an
inanimate object, neither the neutral form J’aime ça is a preferred option, and therefore, J’aime is the
preferred option with a null complement (L&L 2005: 40). The argumentation of Lambrecht and
Lemoine (2005) and Larjavaara (2000) heavily relies on the assumption that the neuter ça is not
preferred as an alternative:
(16)
Je vais avoir trente ans.
‘I’m going to turn thirty’
-J’ai déjà eu, moi.
‘I already did’
The verb aimer ‘to love’ is the verb where the object is most frequently deleted, according to Fonágy
(1985:7), and the central theme of the conversation is often the semantic object of the conversation.
With the verb aimer, only a non-human direct object can be deleted, human objects are reduced to
pronouns (L&L 2005: 40)
(16)
(Tasting a wine)
J’aime. / *J’aime ça. / *Je l’aime.
‘I like (it).’
The influence of animacy of the object has been proposed by Dubois (1967) and states that object
deletion is allowed when the subject is animate and the object is inanimate. Fonágy concludes that this
is more a tendency than a strict rule: 62 of his examples of DNC follow this animacy postulate but 20
occurrences provide counter-evidence (Fonágy 1985: 14). For an analysis of the presumed correlation
between object deletion and animacy, a corpus research would shed more light on this phenomenon.
However, this topic will not be addressed in this research.
In order to motivate the choice of types of null complements that are selected, the whole classification
presented by Lambrecht and Lemoine is presented in figure 1. The original abbreviations are taken
over here and the classes that are not selected for this study are given in grey.
14
Figure 1: the types of null complements according to L&L (2005: 37)
INI
NH
HB
DNI
SUB
CON
REL
FNI
LEX
IMP
DO
FRA
CON
TOP
PASS ARB
LEX
EXP
CAUS REC
OBL SIT ENT
The original terms in L&L are null instantiation and therefore, INI, DNI and FNI are the abbreviations
for the main categories. The constructionally licensed subcategories (CON) such as relative
constructions (REL), imperative constructions (IMP), passive construction (PAS) and uncontrolled
subjects of the infinitive (ARB) are not selected for this study. Topical referents (TOP) are subdivided
in situations (SIT) and entities (ENT). The analysis of topicality exceeds my interests in lexical
semantic effects, the topical constructions being a thesis subject on itself, and these subclasses are
therefore not selected. Only the direct object is taken into account but the subclasses of experiencer
(EXP) and causee (CAUS) will constitute noticeable exceptions. Since FNC is a category that lacks
lexicographic research for so far, these categories of EXP and CAUS are included in order to enable to
add more lexicographic data.
For six subclasses of null complementation, I will investigate to what extent they are subject to lexical
influences. These subclasses are: habitual INC (HAB), non-habitual INC (NH) and INC with a
subtype construal (SUB), DNC of direct objects with a frame-induced referent and FNC with the role
of causee (CAUS) or experiencer (EXP). Every category is motivated below. In addition, the
classifying oppositions between constructionally and lexically licensed null complements, and frameinduced and topical referents are analyzed in the next paragraphs.
For INC, the referent of the null complement is ‘markedly indefinite’(Fillmore 1986), independent of
the context, and can be replaced by a non-specific construal: someone/something/stuff or
people/things. Goldberg (1995) points out that the referent of the null element lacks discourse
prominence and is neither topical nor focal (L&L 2005: 20). About the size of the verb class of INC,
Fillmore and Kay (1995) state that INC is ‘found in a fairy small class of verbs, including eat, drink,
sing, cook, sew and bake.’ Subclasses of INC are the non-habitual type (4) replicated in (17), the
habitual type (18) and a subtype of direct objects (19).
15
(17)
Il ne mange pas, il dévore.
’he doesn’t eat, he devours’
(18)a
Mon chien ne mord pas.
‘my dog doesn’t bite’
(18)b
Marco construit / traduit / écrit.
‘Marco builds / translates / writes’
(19)a
Il a encore bu.
‘He drank again’ (alcohol)
(19)b
Ça rapporte.
‘It brings in (money)’.
Example (18)a is a prototypical example of habitual meaning, but professions, answers on the question
‘what does Marco do for a living?’ in (18)b are also very common. A subtype construal (19) differs
from (18) and (17) in that a selection of objects allows indefinite object deletion and corresponds to
Fillmore’s category of verbs that only allow object deletion when the object is prototypical (Fillmore
1986: 97). In French, ‘drink’ has the subtype construal ‘drink alcohol’.
In the classification of null complements of DNC and FNC, Lambrecht and Lemoine adopt a
distinction between lexical licensing of complement deletion and constructional licensing (Fillmore &
Kay in L&L 2005: 20). Lexical properties of the verb that determine the possibility to delete a
complement in the first category are more pragmatic factors than semantic factors, although the
terminology would leave a semantic interpretation only (see discussion in Larjavaara 2000). In the
second group, the null option is given by the grammatical construction in which the verb occurs, not
by the specific verb. (L&L 2005: 20).
The classification of lexically licensed DNC is based on degrees of discourse salience and the
‘dimension of the pragmatic relations of topic and focus’(L&L:25). The lexically licensed DNCs are
subdivided into frame-induced and topical DNC. Constructionally licensed DNC in relative
constructions contrasts standard French to non-standard French for example: Le truc que j’ai mangé
<> Le truc que je l’ai mangé ‘The thing that I (it) ate’. Another category is the infinitival imperative
(Secouer avant l’emploi ‘shake before using’). Both types of topical null complements are left out in
this study as well: the authors state that Topical DNC do not constitute a natural lexical class.
Lambrecht claims that in English the definite null complement cannot have the role of patient but in
French this is possible (see note 17, p.51 Lambrecht 1997) The topic of topicality is too vaste
(Lambrecht 1994, 2001) and is therefore left aside in my own study.
In lexically licensed DNC, omission of a definite object is favored with certain verbs in a given
speech situation via semantic frame relations: the phrase in (20) is uttered within a context in which
the doorbell rings (L&L: 28) and therefore, the object in question is the door. Null objects of frameinduced DNC are always things, rather than persons (L&L:29):
(20)
Va ouvrir ! (la porte)
‘Go open up (the door)’
16
With free null instantiation (FNC), the referent can either be specific or non-specific, the choice of
interpretation is left up to the reader (L&L: 20). In contrast to Larjavaara (2000:101), I do contend that
this third category of FNC is not superfluous: the classes of causee and experiencer, do not have a
DNC or INC counterpart, so it will be useful to maintain this subcategory of null complements. In
addition, the class of FNC has not yet been analyzed lexicographically. In Larjavaara (2000), the
category of FNC is established as a category on itself. Lambrecht and Lemoine add that the referent
tends to be human ‘or at least animate’ (L&L 2005: 33).
There are five subcategories of FNC distinguished. Constructionally licensed FNC are the passive
construction in (21)a in which the agent is left out and an uncontrolled subject of an infinitive such as
in (21)b, in which the theme is left out:
(21)a
Nous avons été attaqués.
‘We have been attacked’ (by …)
(21)b
Il fallait partir.
‘It was necessary to leave’ (for them, us)
As is stated before, I will not take into account the constructionally licensed null complements in my
research. Lexically licensed FNC have either a deleted object with the role of experiencer (22)a or
causee in (22)b (L&L 2005: 35):
‘It does (me/one) good’
(22)a
Ça fait du bien.
(22)b
Cela permet de mieux dormir. ‘That allows (you) to sleep better’
The lexical nature is demonstrated in the limited productivity : ?ça ennuie ?ça réjouit. Both roles of
FNC in (22) will be analyzed in my own study. The third subclass of lexically introduced FNC are null
objects that denote a recipient of a communication, with verbs such as raconter (to tell), rappeler (to
bring to one’s memory), répondre (to answer), objecter (to object), and annoncer (to announce) but
not communiquer (to communicate), informer (to inform), décrire (to describe), and confier (to
confine), which do not allow recipient omission. The semantic role of goal or recipient is encoded as
an indirect object as well, but these constructions are not as interesting lexicographically as the other
two classes of lexically licensed FNCs.
In the fourth part of the article, Lambrecht and Lemoine analyze into detail the structural ellipses that
result from a choice on the part of the speaker in DNC. Their main question is:
‘what are the formal or functional conditions determining a speaker’s choice between nullinstantiation of a referentially specific argument and overt representation in full lexical or
pronominal form[?]’ (L&L 2005: 38)
The preliminary answer of Lambrecht and Lemoine is that DNCs are dependent on heterogeneous
17
factors of their morpho-syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. An important pragmatic factor is pointed
out with the help of Ariel’s (1990) Accessibility Theory: ‘the linguistic representation of the topic of
conversation progresses [in a particular context] from full lexical NP to demonstrative pronoun, to
personal pronoun and finally to null instantiation’(L&L 2005:43). The main interests of Lambrecht are
topic-focus structures and therefore topicalized DNCs receive a lot of attention in the article. They
offer an alternative account for null complements to the current government and binding framework,
being ‘part of the grammar of individual languages, and must be learned as such by the native
speaker’(L&L 2005:49). In this research, topicality will be left aside as well.
Noailly has written several articles about null complements in French (1997a, 1997b, 1998). She
considers that there are three levels at play with INC: the level of argument structure, the semantic
level with ‘actants’ and a logical-discursive (pragmatic) level, at which the deleted object can be
derived from linguistic context (Noailly 1997a: 40). Her terminology of INC and DNC are
respectively emploi absolu and zero anaphora. She rejects the notion of ellipsis because she argues that
ellipsis is a too weak device to explain object deletion, for example in (23), (Noailly 1998: 131):
(23)
Docteur, ma fille ne mange plus.
‘Doctor, my daughter doesn’t eat anymore.’
The absolute use (INC) of the verb manger is e.a. influenced by the use of ‘plus’, the medical context
and the present tense by which the habitual use ‘eat a meal’ is rejected. Secondly, she rejects economy
of lexical means as a possible explanations, suggested by the grammar of Le Goffic (1993: 235-236).
One of her claims is that in French, cases of zero anaphora are often classified as absolute use (Noailly
1998: 132). This could be verified in grammars and dictionaries of verbs. In the article published in
1997b, she also analyzes the limits of acceptability of deleting personal pronouns in phrases such as Le
vin, j’aime (‘Wine, I like (it)’) and VP to N reduction of the type arrêter de faire du chant/ arrêter le
chant (‘stop singing’) (Noailly 1998: 134). The French verb arrêter (‘to stop’) is treated in section
4.1.
Like Levin, Noailly insists on verb types, and uses the terms introduced by Vendler (1969): INC
changes activity verbs (‘sew’) to state verbs (Noailly 1998: 135) while change of state verbs (‘break’)
are acceptable to a little extent. Therefore, in a particular context (such as Don Juan, cited by Noailly
1998: 139):
(24)a
Il a épousé facilement.
‘He married easily.’
(24)b
?Il a épousé hier.
‘He has married yesterday.’
It is difficult to accept (23)a and especially (23)b in French, but in English the equivalent verb ‘marry’
allows object deletion without problems.
18
Even though an object is deleted, Noailly argues that it remains semantically present such as in (25)a.
Even INCs sometimes would sometimes allow anaphoric (specific) reference , such as in (25)b
(Noailly 1997b:40) :
(25)a
Antoine lisait, et ça avait l’air passionnant.
‘Anthony read, and it looked like a passionate book.’
(25)b
?Antoine lit, (et) même à la plage.
‘Antoine reads, (and) even at the beach.’
For Noailly, (25)a is an argument in favor of a syntactic realization of the ‘indefinite actant’
(argument) as the pronoun ça. However, locative complements need to be taken into account as well (à
la plage). Noailly observes that zero anaphora can freely occur with optional arguments. On the other
hand, the zero anaphor is not syntactically presented such as in (25)a. In addition, one would be
inclined to fill the gap with a complement ‘everywhere’ (partout) instead of the object. The articles of
Noailly are used in the comparison between INC and DNC with respect to specificity in chapter 3.
Noailly observes that absolute use is often confounded with zero anaphora (1997a: 39). In the latter
group, semi-modal verbs and opinion verbs occur (Je sais) and the deleted object in recoverable form
the context. The former use is characterized by the impossibility to restitute the referent. Absolute use
is defined by Noailly as the ‘gap’ (décalage) between the semantic and the syntactic level, when the
‘argument organization’ (organisation actantielle) remains intact but the object is not syntactically
realized (Noailly 1997a: 40)
1.4 Outlines
In this chapter, I have discussed the classification of object deletion proposed by Lambrecht and
Lemoine (see figure 1) and I have selected several instances of null complements I want to investigate
further:
- For indefinite null complements these subcategories are non-habitual (NH), habitual (HAB)
and subtype construals (SUB).
- For definite null complements I will look at lexically licensed null complements that have a
frame-induced referent of direct object (LEX>FRA>DO).
- For free null complements I have selected lexically licensed null complements that have the
role of causee (LEX>CAUS) or experiencer (LEX>EXP).
This overview of the literature on English and French reveals that object deletion is exhaustively
19
described for both English and French indefinite null complements including corpus data, but still a
full systematic lexicographic study of all the subcategories mentioned here does not exist yet for
French. In the next chapter, I will point out the interests of object deletion for lexicography and I will
select a methodology from corpus linguistics in order to enable a clearer and fuller comparison
between instances of object deletion in French and English.
20
Chapter 2: Focusing on French lexicographic representation
2.1. Null complements and lexicography
From the first section of chapter 1, the question arises how null complementation can be accounted for
with all its characteristics and conditions on the deletion of the object in given contexts. On the one
hand for DNC, the main problem this phenomenon poses to linguists is under which conditions the
object can be deleted. Still, although many articles on null complements have been written, the data of
French and English are still not complete in order to answer all the questions that are left open,
especially on its productivity in French and English, syntactic presence of deleted objects, and the
semantic question on the French pronouns ça and le. Can the claim of Lambrecht and Lemoine that in
French, null complements are more productive than in English be defended? To what extent are
semantic and syntactic characteristics related, i.e. is syntactic presence of deleted object related to the
semantics of verb and/or object?
For the lexically licensed classes of FNC and INC on the other hand, the investigation of semantic
change that is a result of object deletion forms the goal of investigation. Can verb meanings of null
complements be described as separate meanings? In this chapter, the hypothesis and predictions that
result from the complex nature of null complementation are formulated. This study will consist of a
literature and corpus analysis and secondly, of a lexicographic analysis for French. In section 2.1, I
will relate the incomplete issues on null complements with lexicographic interests. The hypothesis and
my predictions will follow in section 2.2, and sections 2.3 and 2.4 contain the methodology of this
research.
As in chapter 1 is discussed, the meaning of verbs with a deleted object is considered different from
transitive meaning in the grammar of Riegel et. al. According to Fillmore, it is ‘unavoidable’ that these
different word senses that are related to object deletion have to be listed separately in lexical entries
(Fillmore 1986:106). Other linguists however, do not agree e.g. Larjavaara (2000) and Atkins, Kegl &
Levin (1986). Larjavaara argues that both DNC and INC do not have an effect on verb valency since
the verb form, the function and the semantic content do not change. (Larjavaara 1998: 310). For the
domain of lexicographic representation, this is an argument against the adoption of a separate listing of
INC meanings. Atkin As a consequence, the semantic relation between transitivity alternations of a
verb cannot be arbitrary (Atkins, Kegl & Levin 1986: 2). In addition, are the consequences relevant for
dictionary structuring? Do users benefit from a different structural approach for null complements?
In the analyses in the literature, some attempts have been made in order to investigate lexicographic
data for the presence of indefinite null complements. Atkins, Kegl & Levin (1986) investigate
transitivity distinctions in learner’s dictionaries of English (1970s- 1980s) and propose an analysis of
strategies on giving information in verb entries. More specifically on object deletion, the authors
21
express the need to always relate the transitivity information to the meaning(s) given. A transitivitybased approach, a method of regrouping information in a dictionary entry by transitivity pattern and a
sense-based approach, a method of regrouping by senses, are presented for their advantages and
discomforts (Atkins, Kegl & Levin 1986: 10-11). For example, the classification of Collins-Robert
French Dictionary (1978) is evaluated as ‘rigid’ by the authors. Related senses are separated when they
appear as the lemma exhibits a different part of speech (PoS) or a different transitivity pattern. The
opposite approach is to regroup ‘senses’ (Atkins, Kegl & Levin 1986: 10 ) which is chosen by the
learner’s dictionaries, the Oxford Advanced Dictionary of Current English (version 1974) and the
Longman Dictionary of contemporary English (version 1978). Following Willems (1977:114), and
Fonágy (1985: 23) for French, a more in-depth investigation of lexicographic treatment of object
deletion can be of interest for compiling and improving dictionaries.
In a small pilot research in a monolingual dictionary of French, the Grand Robert, I have checked the
presence of lexicographic labels ‘transitivement’ and ‘intransitivement’1 and it can be concluded that
verbs with INC are not marked by these labels. The label ‘emploi absolu’ instead, is still not very
frequently used but present2. Other lexicographic labels need to be investigated in order to see how
meanings related to null complements relate to transitivity distinctions.
A second pilot study on five verbs in two monolingual dictionaries of French, Trésor de la Langue
Française informatisé (henceforth TLFi) and Grand Robert (henceforth GR), gives a clearer indication
of how null complementation will be expected to be found: the verb entries of lire ‘read’, fumer
‘smoke’, réviser, ‘study’, prendre ‘take’, rapporter ‘bring in’ are searched for absolute meanings in
both dictionaries. The results from the TLFi are treated first in the next section, followed by an
analysis of the verbs in the Grand Robert.
All reported results in the TLFi were found under their main transitive meaning. The absolute use of
lire is presented under the first sub-meaning because of its high frequency in (26)a but also under the
synomym bouquiner in (26)b. the absolute use occurs several times since the entry is devided by submeanings: reading ability, activity of reading, reading out loud, etc.
(26)a
Fréq. en emploi abs. Monsieur Grandet (...) était en 1789 un maître-tonnelier fort à son
aise, sachant lire, écrire et compter. (BALZAC, E. Grandet, 1834, p. 10)
‘Frequent in absolute use. Mister Grandet (…) was in 1789 a wealthy master cooper,
knowing how to read, write and count.’
1
Search queries « transitivement » and « intransitivement » by recherche par critères> texte intégral> tout
l’article : 8 results for ‘transitivement’ and 5 results for ‘intransitivement’ of which none was an INC
2
A search for « emploi absolu » by recherche par critères> texte intégral> marques d’usage et de domaine gave
54 search results.
22
(26)b
Emploi abs. Synon. de s'adonner à la lecture, bouquiner (fam.) Lamiel était abonné à
deux cabinets littéraires et passait sa vie à lire. (STENDHAL, Lamiel, 1842, p. 183).
´Absolute use, synonymous for devoting him/herself to reading (familiar expression).
Lamiel had subscribed to two reading groups and read his whole life.’
For fumer, a distinction is made between a punctual (27)a and a habitual process (27)b: The absolute
use was found in an unspecified entry (see chapter 5).
(27)a
Emploi abs. Allumant leurs longues pipes, ils fumaient en silence et regardaient la
fumée.
‘Lighting their long pipes, they smoked in silence and looked at the smoke.’
(27)b
Emploi abs. Fumer beaucoup, comme un pompier.
‘To smoke a lot, like a fireman.’
Réviser and prendre in absolute use are not found in the TLFi. Rapporter has several uses marked with
an ‘absolt.’ label. Only (28)a and (28)c are no equivalents of the English verb ‘to bring in’, but I
classify both as INC because the utterance focuses on the process.
(28)a
Absol. Vous possédez un chien de police, numéro un. Il n'a pas voulu rapporter, il n'a
pas voulu sauter, il a essayé de mordre son maître, mais... (BERNSTEIN, Secret, 1913,
4, p. 19).
‘Absolute use. You have a police dog, number one. He did not want to fetch, jump, he
has tried to bite his boss, but…’
(28)b
Absol. Les aînés ou ceux qui ont reçu plus que leur part sont tenus de rapporter
immédiatement à la masse.
‘Absolute use. The elder who have received too much are requested to bring in to the
mass’
(28)c
Absol. Les hirondelles et leurs oisillons (...), toujours volant, cherchant, rapportant
vers la couvée criarde (TOEPFFER, Nouv. genev., 1839, p. 138).
‘Absolute. The swallow and their chicks (…) always flying, searching, taking tack to
their shrieking brood’
(28)d
Absol., MAR. [En parlant de la mer]. S'élever beaucoup, rapporter une grande masse
d'eau au rivage, ou dans le lit d'une rivière.
‘Absolute, marine terminology (talking about the sea) Rise a lot, bring a large amount
23
of water to the coast, or to the bed of a river.’
(28)e
Empl. abs. Rapporter gros. […] C'était un expédient rapide…. Ça devait nous
rapporter tout de suite (CÉLINE, Mort à crédit, 1936, p. 471).
‘Absolute use. Bring in a lot. It was a stopgap solution… It had to bring in
immediately’
The Grand Robert has a stronger repartition of verb entries by transitive and intransitive meaning and
the meanings of (adjective) participia listed separately. The most commonly used label is ‘absolute’
(absolt). For lire, besides the two meanings of the TLFi, a third meaning is marked with absolute use
for lire:
(29)
Absolt. Faire la lecture (→ Enfant, cit. 14; entrecouper, cit. 2).
‘Absolute use. Read (out loud) to children.’
The habitual reading of fumer is found in the same sub-meaning with the absolute use in (30)a, and so
is the non-habitual reading of réviser in (30)b, which I classify as INC because it focuses on the
process and not on the content of what is to be studied:
(30)a
Absolt. Consommer du tabac (en pipes, cigarettes, cigares…). […] Avoir l'habitude de
fumer.
‘Absolute. Consume tobacco (pipe, cigarettes, cigars…) To have a smoking habit’
(30)b
Absolt. Le baccalauréat est dans deux mois, il faut commencer à réviser.
‘Absolute use. The final exam is in two months, one needs to start studying’
In the entry of prendre, the label ‘absolument’ occurs 4 times: (31)a and (31)d are FNC, (31)b and
(31)c are DNC meanings.
(31)a
Absolt. Il faut prendre sur soi.
‘One needs to grin and bear it.’
(31)b
Se mettre en possession de. Absolument : Prends !
‘Come to posses something. Absolute: Take !’
(31)c
Absolt. Prendre avec la dame
‘Take (the cards) with the queen’
(31)d
Absolt. Savoir prendre quelqu’un, savoir lui plaire
24
‘Know how to please someone’
The Robert is less exhaustive for rapporter than the TLFi:
(32) a
Absolt. Chien dressé à rapporter
‘A dog trained to fetch’
(32)b Absolt. Donner un bénéfice, produire un gain. Faire rapporter.
‘Give benefits, gain a profit. To bring in’
(32)c
Absolt et fam. Dénoncer
‘absolute and familiar. To betray’
This pilot reveals that there exists variation in what and how null complements are represented across
verbs and across dictionaries: not all verb entries have examples with a label of absolute use, and the
dictionaries differ in the number of verb uses with deleted objects. It will be an advantage to analyze
both dictionaries in order to make a fair comparison of a larger number of verb entries. The meanings
of prendre show that DNC can be represented in the dictionary as well and this might be investigated
more exhaustively with more DNC verbs. For FNC verbs however, more examples from the literature
are needed in order to retrieve lexically (and manually) examples from (lexicographic) sources.
For the relation between definite null complements and semantic, syntactic and pragmatic factors, a
corpus research would give more and better insights into the lexical restrictions on object deletion
whereas indefinite null complements could be analyzed best in a lexicographic corpus, for a list of
INC verbs can be created from the literature. A corpus analysis of the ‘new’ category of FNC can shed
more light on if and how FNC can be represented in dictionaries. This holds for DNC as well,
although I believe it is harder to capture lexically licensed DNC in dictionaries.
2.2 Hypotheses and predictions
The goal of this study is to give a complete overview of the null complements for the six categories
defined in sections 1.1-1.3: non-habitual, habitual and subtype complements (INC), lexically licensed
null complements that have the role of causee or experiencer (FNC) and direct objects that are
lexically licensed with frame-induced referents (DNC).
Following the examples that have been presented in section 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3, one could ask how
lexically restricted null complements in object deletion are for French and English. And when
comparing English to French, it is claimed by i.e. Lambrecht & Lemoine (2005) that in French, out of
25
the blue phrases such as ‘Did you open?’ and ‘Corneille, je connais’ lexical restrictions interfere with
pragmatic factors. Therefore, my main question is:
Which semantic, syntactic and pragmatic characteristics of null complementation are the core
elements of constructions with deleted objects?
Are the tests and classification of the lexical classes proposed in the literature valid and useful for
lexicographic practice? And are lexical restrictions on verbs all language-specific? A comparison of
the literature and examples of English and French can shed more light on universal and non-universal
characteristics of null complements. Since the focus is on French, the existing French data are
supplemented with corpus data and lexicographic data.
Insofar only lexicographic data for INC have been analyzed, I want to investigate to what extent the
three subtypes, INC, DNC and FNC are represented in dictionaries of contemporary French. The subquestion for the proposed lexicographic analysis is:
Do present-day monolingual dictionaries of French consistently represent verb constructions
with a deleted object?
In agreement with Willems (1977), I hypothesize that monolingual dictionaries of present-day French
give insufficient and inconsistent (meta)lexicographic information about unspecified objects, for INC
as well as FNC and DNC, although the latter two categories to a lesser extent. By adding new corpus
data and by giving a more complete analysis of the different subcategories of object deletion, I claim
that the representation of deleted object constructions in dictionaries can be improved at least for its
consistency.
Since I have found heterogeneous labeling in the pilot research, it might be the case that the
transitivity distinction between transitive and intransitive verb structures is not sufficient in many
cases to give an accurate representation of lexical restrictions on null complementation. In order to be
able to work towards a more complete analysis, the relations between transitivity marking and object
deletion have to be investigated as well: is object deletion always headed under the transitive form of
the verb? The second sub-question is:
Is transitivity marking a device that is systematic enough for treating object deletion in
dictionaries?
In adopting a gradual acceptance of object deletion DNC>FNC>INC and equally divided gradual
lexical restrictions, I expect to find most representations of lexical restrictions for verb entries of
indefinite null complements, and the least information and lexical restrictions in verb entries for
definite null complements since DNC are in general accepted for all verbs (see sections 1.3 and 3.4),
and INC are the most lexically specified verbs.
26
2.3. Methodology
In this section, the three steps of the analysis of null complementation in this study are put forward,
and the choice of corpora and research methods will be motivated.
In the light of the classification of Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005), the reanalysis of data from the
literature will result in a more coherent classification of these data and will lead to results and
conclusions that support the (anecdotal) evidence brought forth in the existing literature. The first step
in chapter 3 is to re-analyze the examples and statements on null complementation of the six
categories that have been selected in chapter 1. This will result into more clear-cut theoretical
boundaries of the classes of null complementation, lists of French INC and FNC and a selection of
tests that can be used in chapters 4 and 5. In addition, a list of a selection of 50 verbs will be
represented. These verbs will be searched in the corpora and in two French dictionaries and the results
will be analyzed in order to give a satisfying answer to the main question which semantic, syntactic
and pragmatic characteristics of null complementation are the core elements of constructions with
deleted objects.
In chapter 4, the results of corpus research in Frantext, LexisNexis and TXM will be presented that
will add empirical support (or counter evidence) for the conclusions of chapter 3. More data of French
will be retrieved from different corpora in order to get a better overview of the productivity of the
different types of null complements in French and English and to have enough empirical data to
(re)formulate the overall characteristics of INC, DNC and FNC and determine which of these should
be essential in verb entries of a monolingual French dictionary. I will mainly look for DNC and FNC
and occasionally try to extend the list of INCs made up in chapter 3.
The third step in Chapter 5 is to answer the two sub-questions related to lexicographic representation
of null complements. This chapter will present if and how present-day monolingual dictionaries of
French represent verb constructions with a deleted object in a consistent manner and if dividing verb
meaning in transitive and intransitive meaning is a lexicographic device that is systematic enough for
treating verbs that occur with object deletion. The aim of the analysis is to elaborate an adequate way
to integrate transitivity marking with other marking of null complementation systematically in a
monolingual French dictionary. In combining the results from the analysis of lexicographic corpus
data from the Trésor de la langue française and the Robert with the outcome of the previous chapters,
an attempt is made to improve a selection of verb entries in the French dictionary, the Robert (Grand
Robert, version 2012).
27
2.4 Corpora and research methods
The choice of the corpora is motivated by the objectives of the research. The final objective of this
study, adding a lexicographic perspective to the existing analyses of null complementation, can only
be founded on empirical data from French and therefore, more data are to be collected to serve as the
basis for a comparison with the information about null complements in verb entries of a monolingual
French dictionary. The final comparison of lexicographic data with the data collected in the literature
and in the corpora will therefore be theory-driven and corpus-based and has the aim to propose
improvements for a selection of verb entries that exhibit object deletion.
The classification of Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005) has been adopted in chapter 1, and this
framework will be the basis of the classification of data from the literature. Special attention will be
paid to the seminal work of Larjavaara (2000). A reanalysis of data analyzed in these works will result
in a more refined classification and delimitation of the definite, indefinite and free verb classes and
will provide us with lists of verbs that are susceptible to occur in null complementation structures.
Since these lists have lexical entries, a lexical search method in Frantext is proposed in combination
with categorical options. Frantext is a mainly literary monolingual database of French that is available
in a non-categorized version (Frantext Intégral) and a categorized version (Frantext Catégorisé). In
Frantext, every word (or meaning entity) has received a grammatical marker. Frantext Catégorisé
contains 107 texts published after 1980 (7 298 201 words) which fits our need of more contemporary
data3. In other research on null complementation, Frantext has not been used for so far, only by
Noailly (1997a, 1997b and 1998). In formulating a search query, the number of results will be too
elevated when a general categorical search is selected (for example, a search query for finding verbs
only: &e(g=V)). With the help of a selection of 50 verbs, presented in chapter 3, only the aimed verbs
that occur within indefinite and free null complements are selected. If Larjavaara's claim is adopted
here that all transitive verbs in French can occur with object deletion in the right context, many DNCs
cannot be found in phrases that contain one of the selected verbs only, so for DNC, a general search
query does not seem to be realistic. So although the selected corpus in Frantext catégorisé has PoS
tags, only lexical search queries are possible. Occurrences from the corpus will be labeled by ‘FT’.
The second corpus investigated is Lexisnexis, a newspaper database. LexisNexis provides boolean
search options such as w/s (searching within a sentence) and AND NOT connectors.4 French sources
3
The year 1980 is chosen in order to have texts of a time period of approximately 30 years (1980-2012). First,
Frantext catégorisé was used in order to make use of PoS tags, but later on, these options were not used any
more. Because the description of the corpus was specified on Frantext Catégorisé, the corpus was not changed.
4
http://wiki.lexisnexis.com/academic/index.php?title=Boolean_Searching.
28
and a time period can be easily selected: the latter parameter is set to ‘all available dates’5. For
example, a search for VPs with ‘dance’ without the NP ‘a waltz’, the query can be formulated as
follows:
(33)
dance w/s AND NOT waltz
This corpus can be used to find very specific instances of object deletion since both verb and
‘unwanted’ object (i.e. waltz) can be lexically specified. This corpus is very well suited for the search
of DNC examples. The occurrences in the selected corpus in Lexisnexis are labeled by ‘LN’.
Third, the corpus ‘Discours’ in TXM will be used. TXM is a free textometry engine developed at the
ENS/Université Lyon II. In the corpus Discours, speeches of French presidents (until 1970) are
compiled6. It is regrettable that the time period covered by the transcriptions is from before 1970 but in
order to have a component of spoken data, this TXM corpus is added to the other corpora. Although
the corpus does not contain ‘naturally’ spoken texts, but only ‘written’ speeches, it is expected to find
phrases with definite null complements being used as stylistic elements. The choice in spoken corpus
data of French is very limited and TXM provides the biggest (!) corpus in this range with 105 191
words. In addition, DNC phrases can be searched for by lexical item, by lemma and by PoS tag. The
occurrences of this corpus are labeled by ‘TXM’.
The three selected corpora are complementary and have the most optimal possibilities within their
search queries. In chapter 4, the results are analyzed and the search options will be evaluated. This
study will be theory-driven for the classification of Lambrecht and Lemoine will provide the core
classification of the null complementation being studied. It has to be noted that previous data
collections already provide a large amount of verb lemmas that can be inserted in lists to be applied in
search queries.
A lexicographic corpus of verbs that occur with INC and FNC is checked from both the Grand Robert
and the Trésor de la langue française (TLFi). These two monolingual databases aim to be complete in
giving all French verb uses and meanings. It is expected that the TLFi and the Robert will have
different strategies for representing null complementation and therefore both dictionaries have been
chosen. The verb entries of the Grand Robert are privileged here, for this dictionary made many
improvements to the electronic version in previous years. In addition, this dictionary is more usercentered than the academic TLFi. The TLFi is added in order to be able to compare different means of
notation of null complementation of the dictionaries. In turning from the corpus-based comparison to a
lexicographic application of the results, the final chapter is devoted to the adaptation of a selection of
5
In the 2012 version of Lexisnexis, the exact time period cannot be retrieved since the other options range from
‘today’ to ‘previous 2 years’. I estimate the time period maximally 30 years (1980-present).
6
The texts of the corpus DISCOURS are from the period 28-12-1958 to 24-06-1971.
29
verb entries of the Grand Robert (2012). Adding improvements will contribute to the consistency and
completeness of the representation of verb meanings.
30
Chapter 3: Analysis and classification
The first step in my own research consists of a reanalysis of corpus data from previous literature on
null complementation: the classification of Lambrecht and Lemoine is applied to the data of the
dissertation of Larjavaara (2000) for six types of null complements six separate sections, respectively
INCs in the non-habitual, habitual and subtype construal subclasses, frame-induced DNCs with a
deleted direct object, FNCs with the role of causee, and FNCs with the role of experiencer. These roles
have been defined in section 1.1. The data and remarks from the analysis in this chapter will be
organized per verb in appendices 1 for INC and 2 for FNC. The analysis per subclass is followed by
section 3.7 that is devoted to productivity of null complementation in French compared to English. In
addition, I will give an overview of to what extent they are subject to lexical influences. This chapter
concludes with presenting the list of 50 selected verbs that will be used in chapter 4 and 5.
The theoretical frameworks of Lambrecht and Lemoine and Larjavaara differ in this respect that in the
construction grammar perspective and in the functional perspective often opposite classification
criteria are applied: in a functional perspective, by absence of counterexamples, lexical restrictions are
less easily accepted than in the construction grammar perspective. As a consequence, lexical
influences on null complements receive more attention in the construction grammar than in functional
grammar. As Larjavaara defines herself:
En effet, Lambrecht et Lemoine font la distinction entre les trois types pour
classer non seulement les différents types de réalisation zéro, mais les verbes et les
constructions spécifiques en partant de propriétés lexicales. Mon point de départ est, par
contre, un énoncé spécifique dans un contexte spécifique. Je veux expliquer la construction du
sens d’un énoncé particulier, sans faire de généralisations a priori : c’est le point de vue de
l’allocutaire, du récepteur, de celui qui écoute l’autre parler (ou lit son texte). (L2000 : 101)
‘Therefore, Lambrecht and Lemoine distinguish three types in order to classify not only zero
realization types but [also] the verbs and the specific constructions starting from lexical
properties. On the contrary, my starting point is a specific utterance in a specific context. I
want to explain the construction of a particular meaning without a priori making
generalizations: it is the point of view of the addressee, of the receiver, of the one who hears
the other talking (or reads his text).’ (own translation)
In addition, in section 1.3, the notion of generic types has been presented. According to Lambrecht and
Lemoine, an unmarked form, that is the deleted object, goes with generic reference: ‘Corneille, je
connais’ refers to the generic type of the work of Corneille, while the marked form‘Corneille, je le
connais’ referes to the specific human entity of the person of Cormeille. Although this topic will not be
31
fully discussed, some generic uses of objects are mentioned in the examples in this chapter. For
exemple, Lambrecht and Lemoine present different examples of the generic use of the pronoun ça. In
Larjavaara, the term ‘generic’ (emploi générique) is used as the term for DNC, and is equal to INI in
Lambrecht&Lemoine and zero anaphora in Noailly. Larjavaara however, makes clear that in some
cases of INC, the deleted object refers to all possible referents and to each one of them individually
(L2000: 83), as for déranger (‘to disturb’) in section 3.1.2. Because of these differences in
termonilogy, in the comparison drawn in the sections 3.1 – 3.6, I use the term ‘generic’ only for
referring to generic reference of the deleted object.
3.1 Non-habitual INCs
Noailly (1997b) states that the class of verbs that are susceptible to form an INC is homogenous: she
considers most of them as semi-modal opinion verbs (savoir, penser) . This group was not mentioned
before by many authors including Lambrecht and Lemoine and does not fit in any of the INC
subcategories. The contexts mainly ‘valorize the activity itself instead of the object’ (Noailly
1997b:39) but for semi-modal opinion verbs, the semantic content of the verb is even more reduced to
discourse-pragmatic functions.
3.1.1 Tests
Lambrecht and Lemoine claim that INC always occur in ‘aspectually unbound situations’ (atelic
events) and second, that all instances of INC seem to be lexically licensed (L&L: 20). The example
phrases are not compatible with temporal adverbial phrases (*en) une heure/ (in) an hour: In example
(34) something must refer to a specific object.
(34)a
*Mom is sewing (something) in five minutes.
(34)b
*He was reading (something) in an hour.
With a change of state, only the imperfect tense acceptable (L&L: 21) The past tense (passé composé)
in (35)a would suggest that a meal was eaten instead of something undetermined (idem).
(35)a
Deux heures plus tard, je mangeais (*j’ai mangé) de nouveau.
‘Two hours later I was eating (I ate) again.’
(35)b
?J’avais tellement mal à la gorge que je ne pouvais ni dévorer ni déguster.
‘My throat hurt so much that I couldn’t devour or taste.’
Moreover, this type of INC is not fully productive: the activities have to be (contextually)
32
conventionalized. For example, ‘in a real-world situation in which recognizing objects on pictures
were a kind of activity routinely engaged in by a certain group of people’, a normally odd sentence as
(34)b would be perfectly acceptable.
3.1.2 Data
The examples of objet latent that are classified as DNC by Larjavaara sometimes appear to be INC.
(36)a is an INC in which the subject remains the same role. Larjavaara interpreted this phrases as in
(36)b, but I argue that the context in (36)a is not specific enough to state that the author had only the
Russians in mind for the direct object. The codes in square brackets used by Larjavaara are not
removed:
(36)a
Selon un diplomate russe cité par LE FIGARO, « De loin, la France continue de
séduire, mais, de près, les Français agacent ». [RFI1 11/8/1997]
‘According to a Russian diplomat cited by the newspaper the Figaro, “Observed from
far, France continues to seduce, but from close by, the French irritate.”
(36)b
Les Français agacent les Russes. (L2000 :36)
‘The French irritate the Russians.’
In the section where Larjavaara discusses INC (emploi générique), the already known verb ‘to hire’
(embaucher) is represented as a prototypical example of INC in (37)a, which I did not classify as
habitual. This is followed by a discussion of the verb ‘to kill’ (tuer). In (37)b, the object is not
mentioned because the speaker does not know who is/are the victim(s):
(37)a
D’autant qu’en dépit de la flambée de la consommation, les grandes entreprises
industrielles se refusent obstinément à embaucher. [Nouvel Observateur 1565/1994 :
9] (L2000: 79)
‘Despite of the explosion of the consumption, the big industrial companies are
refusing obstinately to hire.’
(37)b
[L’avocat (le narrateur) ne sait pas quel est le crime dont il devrait défendre l’accusé.]
[avocat :] « Car je l’affirme et je le répète : cet homme, moralement, n’a plus rien de
commun avec son crime. »
[accusé :] « Quel crime ?» [...]
[avocat :] « Mais ... votre ... Enfin, le ... meurtre, quoi. » [...]
[procureur :] « Monsieur le président, Me de Latour-Jacob semble faire allusion à un
élément que nous ignorons. [...] Ou bien il s’est trompé d’affaire. » [...] Alors il n’a pas
tué. J’ai l’air malin. [Cauwelaert 1986 : 49—50]
‘[the lawyer (the speaker) doesn’t know what is the crime he has to defend the accused
33
from.]
[lawyer:] “Because I affirm and repeat it here: this man, morally, does not have
anything in common with his crime.”
[accused:] “Which crime??” [...]
[lawyer:] “But, your…. Ehm the murder.”[…]
[prosecutor] “Your Honor, Ms deLatour-Jacob seems to hint at an element that we
don’t know of. […] Or else he has mistaken the case.” […] So he did not kill. I seem
smart.’
The test of section 3.1.1 can be applied to a newspaper title mentioned ‘Qui tue?´. Larjavaara argues
that, if this title would be in the past tense, ‘Qui a tué’ the victim(s) are known, but still the speaker
could choose not to mention the object of the verb. In the latter case, the test would predict that the
referent of the deleted object is unknown because the outcome classifies the sentence as INC (L2000:
81). This reveals that the test on aspect is limited for it does not take into account the context.
Therefore, Larjavaara prefers to keep as a test to ask interlocutors which is the first prototypical
referent of the deleted object that comes in mind: if this is not-specific, the construction is classified as
INC (L2000:83).
In (38), the author of the article can both mean all politician of other countries, and one individual
country of person. Larjavaara argues that this example can both be INC or DNC, dependent of
saliency of the referent:
(38)
En politique étrangère, la France est de retour : c’est à dire qu’à nouveau elle dérange
... À l’intérieur : le chômage est là. [RFI 6/5/1996] (L2000: 84)
‘In foreign politics, France is back: that is to say, again France disturbs… In internal
affairs: unemployment is there.’
A topic that receives a lot of attention in Larjavaara (2000) in deactualization. Instead of focussing on
one process, a deactualized INC refers to multiple situations (L2000:86) The example given is
represented in (39):
(39)
Cette soirée thématique nous emmène à la découverte d’une étrange passion : la
collection. « Cela a un rapport avec la survie : l’être humain a toujours accumulé »
(L2000: 86)
This thematic evening brings us to he discovery of a strange passion: collection. ´It
has a link with survival: man have always been accumulating.
34
The action of accumulating is not a single situation.(idem: 86). The following characteristics
influences deactualization of the process:
-The present tense, such as the household activity of washing in (40):
(40)
« [...] Mais il est trop, ce gosse, mon tee-shirt, enfin ! On voit que ce n’est pas
lui qui lave. [...] » [le bébé vient de salir son tee-shirt] [Cauwelaert 1986 : 280]
‘But he is too much, this boy, that’s my t-shirt! We see it is not him who’s doing the
laundry. [the baby just made the t-shirt dirty]’
-The attention concentrated on the process: because of the deletion of the object, the verb is in focus
position.
-Negation :
(41)
« Où habitez-vous ?»
Il sourit pour la première fois.
« Depuis ce matin, je n’habite plus. »
Simon secoua une tête paternelle. [le garçon a quitté ses parents pour de bon]
[Pennac 1997a : 59]
‘-Where do you live?
He smiles for the first time.
-Since this morning (I live) not any more.
Simon nodded his head with a parental shake. [the boy has left his parents forever]’
-Ça as subject: the subject ça combined with INC refers to ‘the whole class of entities in
question’(idem: 91). Larjavaara notices that the situation is specific here, but participant is shown by
the utterance, such as in (41):
(42)
Le coiffeur sortit ses ciseaux, ses rasoirs. « Marcel, passe-moi le coupe-chou,
rapplique ici avec la tondeuse. » Partout ça épilait. Tous volontaires pour voir la vraie
rousse. Cinq-six hommes à la fois, les hommes entouraient les fautives. [après la
guerre] [Vautrin 1986 : 237]
‘The hairdresser took his scissors. “Marcel, give me the razor, use the clippers here.”
Everywhere it depilated. All freely willing to see the real police. Five, six men at a
time, the men surrounded the wrong men. [after the war]’
-A habitual activity (see 3.2)
-Other contextual means: Larjavaara means here extralinguistic factors (L2000:95)
35
-Human objects: Larjavaara cites an interesting example of Noailly:
(43)
Ces événements pertubent. (Noailly 1998b : 379)
‘These event are disturbing.
Instead of the traffic as the deleted object, the people is the first object the speakers come up with.
These latter two arguments are not convincing without more evidence which is not provided by
Larjavaara.
3.2 Habitual INCs
3.2.1 Test and subtypes
Habitual INCs are a very limited group of INC verbs and the habitual use seems to be verb-specific.
Noailly (1998) pointed out that one class of habitual INC verbs are psychological verbs that have a
noun counterpart ending on –eur/-euse:
(44)
Lise charme (est charmeuse)
‘Lisa charms (is charming)’ (Noailly 1998 :136)
The link of (39) with (40) is apparent but psychological verbs do not denote as much an habitual
activity: they tend to denote a state (‘Lisa is always charming’).
(45)
Paul fume, (est fumeur)
‘Paul smokes (is a smoker).’
Other habitual event are professional activities and absolute verb meaning (examples (17)a and (17)b
are copied in (46):
(46)a
Mon chien ne mord pas.
‘my dog doesn’t bite’
(46)b
Marco construit / traduit / écrit.
‘Marco builds / translates / writes’
Neither Larjavaara or Fonágy, nor Lambrecht and Lemoine do propose test criteria for these subtypes
except for the question What does Marco do for a living?’ for (44)b.
36
3.2.2 Data
In Larjavaara’s dissertation, some occurrences of habitual activities are found. The habitual activity of
the subject in (40) is accueillir (‘to welcome’):
(47)
À l’embarquement la nana de l’accueil a voulu voir Jézabelle pour lui souhaiter la
bienvenue. [...] Finalement elle a un peu attendu puis, comme il y avait des couples à
s’impatienter derrière moi, [...] elle s’est remise à accueillir. [Gunzig 1997 : 30]
(L2000 :92)
‘While boarding, the woman of the welcome wanted to see Jézabelle in order to
welcome her. […] Finally, she had waited for a while but because some couples were
waiting behind her […] she went to welcome (them).’
Not all example of habitual activities are as convincing as (46) : it is questionable if the subjects in
(48)a and (48)b can be called cambrioleurs and casseurs.
(48)a
« Faut pas avoir peur, je suis juste venu cambrioler. [...] » [Pennac 1997b : 165]
(L2000 : 92)
‘No need to worry, I just came to burgle.’
(48)b
Il y a toute une population qui casse pour casser. (Noailly 1997a : 96)
‘There is a whole group of people who breaks for breaking.’
In my opinion, the example in (49) denotes a better habitual activity since the subject executes this
activity his whole life:
(49)
« Un spécialiste ? Un orfèvre, madame ! Un doreur sur tranche ! Des doigts de fauxmonnayeur ! Tenez, ça aurait pu être moi, c’est tout dire ! Seulement, moi, je
n’assassine pas, je ressuscite. Affaire d’orientation scolaire. » [c’est un médecin qui
parle d’un criminel] [Pennac 1997a : 241 (L2000 : 91)
‘A specialist? A goldsmith, madam! Gilt-edged ! With the fingers of a forger ! See, it
could have been me, that speaks for itself! Only I do not murder, I resurrect. A
question of academic orientation. [this is a doctor who speaks of a criminal]’
More examples of verbs that occur with habitual INC are transporter (‘to transport’), livrer (‘to
deliver’), fumer ‘to smoke’, cuisiner ‘to cook’, écrire ‘to write’, étudier ‘to study’, acheter ‘to buy’
and vendre’to sell’ but the list in appendix 1 is not inclusive.
Although I delimited the analysis in this chapter to Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005), an interesting
37
remark pointed out by Larjavaara about the article of Lambrecht & Lemoine (1996) is the following:
« il n’y a, en principe, pas de restriction lexicale sur les verbes susceptibles
d’apparaître dans cette construction. Tout verbe transitif y est en principe admis, à
condition qu’il puisse s’interpréter comme dénotant une activité permanente. »
(1996 : 287-288)
‘There are in principle no lexical restrictions on the verbs that are susceptible to occur in this
construction [INC]. Every transitive verb is accepted in general, on the condition that they can
be identified as a permanent activity.’ (own translation)
This is not in line with the classification the authors propose in the article of 2005, where the habitual
subclass is headed under indefinite null complementation. I would argue that the acceptability of
habitual readings depends on the verb. Fumer is by far easier to accept as a habitual INC than
accueillir. I would predict that under the dictionary entry accueillir, no mention is made about habitual
use.
3.3 INCs with a subtype construal
3.3.1 Tests
The main difference between non-habitual null complements and subtype construals is the degree of
specificity of the deleted object: compared to non-habitual INC, the subtype construal has a much
more restricted set of possible referents. If the frame relation between verb and object is not strong
enough, the direct object cannot be omitted (L&L 2005: 27-28):
(50)a
Ils ont gagné
‘They have won (the game)’
(50)b
*Ils ont battu.
‘They beat (them)’
INC with a subtype construal are lexically constrained by the verb. The prototypical object that is
deleted is culturally determined, according to Larjavaara (2000: 52):
‘Un cas particulier de l’objet latent est celui où l’interlocuteur doit partager des savoirs
extralinguistiques propres à la communauté linguistique pour identifier l’objet latent. Ces cas
sont lexicalement déterminés, et les savoirs extralinguistiques font partie de la compétence
linguistique requise d’un locuteur. L’objet absent réfère alors à quelque chose de particulier
dans une communauté particulière.’
‘A particular case of the latent object is the one in which the interlocutor needs to share
extralinguistic knowledge that are part of the linguistic community in order to identify the
38
latent object. The cases are lexically determined, and the extralinguistic knowledge is part of
the linguistic competence that is required by the speaker. The absent object refers to a
particular object in a particular community.’ (own translation)
Bernard in (L2000:53) states that the verb consulter ‘see (a doctor)’ in INC is marked
Sociolinguistically in French: since the verb denotes a medical consult, this is a subtype construal:
(51)
Si vous réunissez ces trois critères, il est temps pour vous d’aller consulter. Car
aujourd’hui, les phobies se soignent, et efficacement.
[Le Figaro magazine 4/11/1995 : 102] (L2000 :53)
‘If we bring together these three criteria, it is time for us to see (a doctor). Because
today, phobia can be cured, effectively.’
3.3.2 Data
The verbs ouvrir and verrouiller are often mentioned as subtype construals. They can only have doors
and windows as their referent and it depends on the context if the example can be classified as INC.
When an extra-linguistic referent can be reconstructed, the occurrences belong to the frame-induced
lexically licensed DNC in section 3.4. For (51), I would argue here that no extralinguistic referent can
be defined and therefore, (52) is a subtype construal INC and (51) and (53) are lexical DNCs.
(52)
Nourdine croyait rêver. Le rouquin [policier] s’était levé, avait pris les clefs de la
cellule, et voilà qu’il s’amenait, qu’il ouvrait, qu’il entrait, qu’il s’asseyait à côté de lui
sur la banquette et [...] [Pennac 1997b : 80] (L2000 :46)
‘Nourdine thought she was dreaming. The redhead [policeman] had gone up, he had
taken the keys of the cell and there he approached, opened, entered, seated beside her
on the bench and… […]’
(53)
Elle ressortit d’un pas nerveux et, tandis que je posais les billets sur un guéridon, lui
dit avec humeur qu’elle lui téléphonerait. Placide, il nous lança « au plaisir », et
verrouilla derrière nous. [Cauwelaert 1986 : 143] in L2000 : 44)
‘She went out with a nervous step, while I put the tickets on a table, said grumping to
him that she would call him. Calmly, said « bye » to us and closed off behind us.’
(54)
Placide, il nous lança « au plaisir », et verrouilla derrière nous. Nous commençâmes à
descendre en jetant un dernier regard à la grande porte fermée (L2000:44)
39
‘Calmly, he said « see you » and closed behind us. We started to take the stairs while
we took a look at the closed door for the last time’
For Larjavaara (52) is an identifiable but not a salient referent. I agree with this. But where the
identifiability is an argument in favor of a DNC analysis for Larjacvaara, I argue here that the lack of
saliency (that what is locked is relevant) forms an argument in favor of an INC analysis. In my
opinion, a closing or locking event can also include activities of closing (not locking) windows,
curtains, cleaning, etc : activities that are common for the agent to close and to lock something (a
shop, a house, briefcase, office, etc). Therefore, I glossed this verb by ‘close off’7.
I propose the same line of thought for examples taken from sport journalism. I argue that the use of
activity verbs is common and therefore, that verbs such are pénétrer, passer, défendre, and engager are
in these contexts subtype construal INC, as long as no salient referent is found. In addition, in example
(55), the activities are almost a habit: the player is in general in the position of penetrating, passing and
defending in baseball games.
(55)
Le jeu extérieur repose maintenant sur Strickland qui aime à pénétrer, passer (il est le
cinquième passeur de la NBA) et défendre en interceptions. [basket] [Mondial Basket
47/1995 : 79] (L2000 :53)
‘The external game now depends on Strickland wloves to penetrate, pass (he is the
5me passer of the NBA) and defend in interceptions.’
INC verbs in verb series are mentioned as a facilitating factor on object deletion by Larjavaara
(L2000:98).
3.4. Lexically licensed, frame-induced DNCs with a deleted direct object
In the analysis of the classification of Lambrecht and Lemoine in chapter 1, much attention is paid to
the six categories of definite null complementation. Only one category fits my criteria to study within
a lexical semantic context: lexically licensed, frame-induced DNC with a deleted direct object.
Larjavaara (2000) as well, focuses in her dissertation mainly on DNC ‘in which the referential
function is present’ (L2000: 21). The main claim of Larjavaara is that all verbs can occur with DNC in
contemporary French, of they are placed in the appropriate contextual setting.
7
In my opinion, the possible referent cannot only be a door but also something else that is closed before leaving:
a desk, an office, etc. Therefore, I did not choose to gloss the example by ‘to lock a (non-specified) door’.
40
3.4.1 Tests
A comparison of minimal pairs proposed by Lambrecht and Lemoine shows syntactic restrictions in
the expression of an already known definite referent:
(56)a
(upon hearing the doorbell)
Va ouvrir !
‘Go open up (the door)!’
(56)b
A quelle heure vous fermez ?
‘What time do you close (the shop)?’
(56)c
Je jouai du piano. Puis nous avons éteint. (M. Duras)
‘I played the piano. Then we turned (the lights) off.’
The referent is known, but a personal pronoun le/la is not accepted:
(57)a
(upon hearing the doorbell)
*Va l’ouvrir !
‘Go open it up !’
(57)b
*A quelle heure vous le fermez ?
‘What time do you close it?’
(57)c
*Je jouai du piano. Puis nous l’avons éteinte. (M. Duras)
‘I played the piano. Then we turned them off.’
As for the subtype construal INC, the semantic frame of lexically licensed DNC has to be strong
enough to be accepted with a deleted object. Larjavaara contradicts this arguing that this characteristic
is neither language-specific nor not lexically licensed (L2000 : 104) but I argue that within one
language, the use of this type of null complements is not fully productive because of lexical factors.
As is discussed in section 1.2, Fonágy argues for English that similar verbs cannot simply replace the
verbs in DNC constructions, like ‘Why did you marry her? – Because she insisted / ?required /
?demanded?’ show that DNC has limitations, so testing by replacing the verbs is also a method to test
the lexical influence of verbs.
3.4.2 Data
Two clear examples of lexically licensed, frame-induced DNC are with the verbs maîtriser and
décrocher: the semantic frame is set in (57) for competences (maîtrise les interviews) and for taking
the telephone (décrocher l’appareil) in (58):
41
(57)
« [...] Maîtrisez-vous vos interviews ? C’est capital, les interviews !» « Je maîtrise. »
[Daniel Pennac 1993 : La petite marchande de prose, Folio, Gallimard. [S.l.] [1e
édition 1989.] P. 145.] (L2000: 50)
‘Do your master interviewing ? They are essential, the interviews !’ ‘I masted (them).’
(58)
Mais les doigts du commissaire divisionnaire Legendre se tenaient à distance
respectueuse de ce dossier. « Une petite envie de transparence, Xavier ? Décrochez
votre téléphone et appelez votre ministre. [...] » [onze lignes de texte] « Appelez votre
ministre !» Ce fut le téléphone qui appela le divisionnaire Legendre. Une sonnerie qui
le figea sur place. « C’est peut-être lui ! C’est peut-être votre ministre de tutelle.
Décrochez. » Sonneries. « Décrochez, bon Dieu ! Ces appareils nous cassent les
tympans !» [Pennac 1997a : 550] (L2000 :47)
‘But the fingers of the divisional commissionnaire Legendre kept at a respectful
distance of this file. “Do you like a bit of transparency, Xavier? Take your telephone
and call your minister.” […] “Call your minister!” It was the telephone who called the
divisional Legendre. A ringing telephone froze him at his desk. “It might be him! It
migth be the minister supervising you. Take.” Ringing. “Take [it] , oh Lord ! These
telephones break our eardrums!”.’
Larjavaara reports one case of phonological realization of a non-expressed object, in (59) in the
feminine form prise:
(59)
« On y va Ruedo. Qu’est-ce que c’est que ça ?» « Nikel m’a dit de prendre une boîte
bleue dans son vestiaire. J’ai prise. » [Picouly 1996 : 167] (L2000: 59-60)
‘ “We are going Ruedo. What is that?” “Nikel told me to take a blue bottle to his
cloakroom. I took [it].” ’
Larjavaara makes a valuable contribution with an original example of the syntactic presence of the
deleted object, bottle (bouteille, a feminine noun) by the feminine verb form prise. In general,
counterexamples of no verb agreement are more productive in French. In (60)a, the deleted object ,
porte (door) is feminine as well but the participle ouvert is not inflected for feminine agreement.
(60)a
On passa un petit pont à la japonaise. Une sorte de bastingage les guida jusqu’à une
porte noire. Snif avait laissé ouvert. Ils entrèrent. Nabur éclaira avec son briquet. «
Éteins ça !» [Picouly 1996 : 31] (L2000: 60).
´They crossed a small Japanese bridge. A kind of bulwark guided them to a black door.
Snif has left it opened. They went in. Nabur lighted with his lighter. “Turn [it] off!” ’
42
(60)b
« [...] ils trouvent que j’affiche. »
(L2000: 53 dans Tout ! 12/1971 : 7)
´They think I expose.´
Another phenomenon is culturally defined INC: the meaning of afficher (´to expose´) is, according to
Larjavaara, only used and understood as a INC within the sociolinguistic homosexual community in
France.
Native speaker intuitions reveal that a difference is made between topical sentences (left dislocation)
and question-answers: the speakers of French that refuse agreement of the verb with a feminine
deleted object accept agreement in sentences with left dislocation (Amary (1977: 380) in L2000: 60).
In Noailly, three examples of DNC occur, presented as the ‘interference of the pragmatic level’
(Noailly 1997a: 44):
(61)a
Il s’appelle Taxi. Il est très bien dressé et moi aussi. Quand il fait une bêtise – comme
avaler en une fois un camembert entier qui ne lui appartient pas – je l’engueule. Ça lui
met le moral à zéro. Je tiens encore quinze secondes et je risque une papouille derrière
l’oreille droite Puisque c’est ça, je pardonne. On peut dire même que je félicite. Il se
met aussitôt à cabrioler… (Noailly 1997a: 45)
‘His name is Taxi. He is very well trained and I am as well. When he makes a mistake
– like swallowing a whole camembert that doesn’t belong to him – I shout at him. That
gets him down in the dumps. I hold for 15 more seconds and then I risk a tickling
behind his right ear. Because I forgive. I could say I even congratulate. He
immediately starts capering…’
(61)b Après quelques mois de cette pauvreté noble, assiégée par les lettres continuelles de
Limercati, et même du comte N… qui lui voulait aussi épouser, il arriva que que le
marquis del Dongo… (Noailly 1997a: 45)
‘After some months of this noble poverty, besieged by the letters of Limercati and
even of count N… who would marry as well, it happened that marquis del Dongo…’
(61)c Le comte M… ne voulu point entendre le langage de ce petit billet. Fabrice en écrivait
d’autres à la Fausta; M… mit des espions autour de ce rival, qui peut-être ne déplaisait
pas. (Noailly 1997a : 45)
‘The count M… didn’t want to hear the words of this small letter at all. Fabrice wrote
others to la Fausta; M… placed spies around this rival, who may not have disliked’’
43
The referents of (61) a, b and c are respectively the dog Taxi (a specific dog), the speaker (a specific
lady) and the count M. (a specific person). I agree with Noailly that these null complements are
pragmatically licensed and cannot be classified as lexical DNC.
Finally, the examples in (62)a and (62)c with the verb prendre in the Grand Robert I classified as
DNC:
(62)a
Se mettre en possession de. Absolument : Prends !
‘Come to posses something. Absolute : Take !’
(62)b
Prends-le !
Take it !
(62)c
Absolt. Prendre avec la dame
‘Take (the cards) with the queen’
(62)d
?Prends-les avec la dame !
‘Take them with the queen!’
The test of putting back a pronoun works in (62)b but in (62)d, like for (52)a, the pronoun les is less
easily accepted.
3.5 Lexically licensed FNCs that have the role of experiencer
As was exemplified in section 1.3, FNC allows both specific and non-specific readings: a referent can
but need not to be present in the given context. Although this might be an argument to tear apart the
instances of FNC that are specific in DNC and non-specific in INC, I want to investigate in section 3.5
and 3.6 what the characteristics are of FNC: to what extent are they lexically licensed?
Besides with thematic roles of experiencer and causee, FNC is mentioned in one other context in
L&L2005: FNC is favored by indirect objects that have the role of causee in ditransitive constructions
as well (L&L2005: 46) Verbs such a donner require an non-optional indirect object. L&L 2005 state
that : ‘the general rule with such verbs seems to be that the direct object receives DNI [=DNC] and the
indirect object FNI [=FNC] construal, at least in prototypical cases where the indirect object argument
has the role of an animate recipient, goal or source.’ (L&L2005: 48). Both the direct and the indirect
null complement can be deleted, such as in (63), the only example of FNC in ditransitives given by
Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005:45):
(63)
Donne-le! / Donne !
Take-it! / Take!
I defined in chapter 1 that imperative constructions are not included in the research in the chapter 3-5.
44
3.5.1 Tests
FNC with the role of experiencer are formulaic complements with verbs such as faire, arrêter. The
subject is often not realized (arrête d’embêter) or realized by the de-actualized pronoun ça. The
experiencer can be encoded by a indirect object (Ça fait du bien), but also by a human direct object
such as in (64),‘us/people’.
(64)a
Ça gêne / Ça surprend.
‘It does (me/one) good. / That surprises (me/people).’
(64)b
Arrête d’embêter.
‘Stop annoying (me/everyone)’
(64)c
Bon ben, j’agace.
‘OK, I irritate (you/everyone/people).’
(64)d
Pourquoi elle reste dans son coin à attendre toute sa vie ce type pas intéressant ? Ça
énerve un peu.
‘Why does she stay in her corner waiting all her life for this uninteresting guy ? It
irritates quite a bit.’
The decisive argument in favor of distinguishing FNC from DNC is that the former referent is
identifiable, but neither anaphoric nor frame-induced (L&L 2005: 33). Lambrecht and Lemoine
compare the referents of FNC to the pronouns ‘you’ and ‘one’ in English: the set of possible referents
includes both speaker and hearer and a (set of) unidentifiable individual(s), so ‘everybody’ is also a
possible referent. In addition, the complement in parentheses in English cannot be left out, which leads
to a language-specific productivity of this category. It does not seem that the formulaic uses as in (64)a
and (64)b are fully productive: Lambrecht and Lemoine argue that examples in (65) are less
acceptable:
(65)
?Ça ennuie. / ?Ça réjouit / ?Arrête d’engueuler.
‘It annoys. / It delights. / Stop yelling.’
Unfortunately, no contexts are given for these verbs in L&L2005. If null complements with ennuier,
réjouir and engueuler are only a context with an anaphoric or frame-induced referent, this forms
another argument in order to establish FNC as a separate category.
Many of the verbs express ‘a physical of psychological experience’, according to Larjavaara. The
question arises if this is a coincidence : psychological verbs all have exclusively human objects.
45
3.5.2 Data
Larjavaara presents some examples of FNC that do not have a reduced acceptability.
(66)a
[...] l’état intéressant des dames [enceintes] en présence. [...] Le chanteur Renaud nous
gratifia de l’un de ses vieux tubes, « En cloque », qui émut beaucoup, car il y dit que
sa femme enceinte est « belle comme un fruit trop mûr ». [sur une émission à la
télévision] [Le Monde 19/4/1995 : 31] (L2000: 102)
‘… the interesting state of the present [pregnant] ladies. […] Renaud the singer made
us happy with one of his old hits, “As a bell”, that moved a lot [was very moving]
because he said there that a pregnant woman is like “as beautiful as a fruit”
(66)b
Édouard frémissait de rage. En voyant le prince Ignace descendre de la Rolls qui était
allée le quérir à l’aéroport de Cointrin, il avait eu une impression néfaste. Ce vieillard
long et maigre [...] incommodait. [San-Antonio 1994 : 241] (L2000: 102)
‘Édouard shivered from anger. Seeing the prince Ignace stepping out of the Rolls that
had gone seeking him at the airport of Cointrin, he had an ill-fated impression. This
long and skinny old man disturbed.’
These examples are not frame-induced but (66)a could be called anaphoric since the pregnant ladies
are the direct object. In my opinion, (66)b is non-anaphoric and therefore incommoder ´to disturb´is a
verb that can occur in FNC contexts. Larjavaara’s states that FNC with a reduced acceptability are
simply less often used can be valid, but there might be effects of event structure involved that are verbspecific, and therefore can be derived from the lexical root of the verb. The verbs mentioned is this
section are included in the list of verbs in appendix 2.
Examples (67)a and (67)b are categorized as generic use, in a section in which Larjavaara discusses
the use of ça as subject. As long as the referent can be either specific or non-specific, these instances
can all be classified as FNC.
(67)a
Le coiffeur sortit ses ciseaux, ses rasoirs. « Marcel, passe-moi le coupe-chou,
rapplique ici avec la tondeuse. » Partout ça épilait. Tous volontaires pour voir la vraie
rousse. Cinq-six hommes à la fois, les hommes entouraient les fautives. [après la
guerre] [Vautrin 1986 : 237]
‘The hairdresser took his scissors. “Marcel, give me the razor, use the clippers here.”
Everywhere it depilated. All freely willing to see the real police. Five, six men at a
time, the men surrounded the wrong men. [after the war]’
46
(67)b
« [...] Stojilkovicz a armé ces vieilles pour qu’elles puissent se défendre contre
l’égorgeur, et, tous les dimanches après-midi, il les entraîne : tir d’instinct, tir à la
cible, tir couché, tir plongeant, ça flingue à tout va là-dedans, [...] » [Pennac 1994 :
206] (L2000: 91).
‘[…] Stojikovicz has armed his elderly in order to defend themselves against the killer,
and, every sunday afternoon he trained them: intuitive shot, aimed shot, shot fom
sleeping position, shot in water, it plugged everywhere, […]’
3.6 Lexically licensed FNCs that have the role of causee
3.6.1 Tests
FNCs with the role of causee have the same type of deleted object in common (‘me/us/the people’) as
FNCs with the role of experiencer, and by this, the same tests apply: the referent is non-anaphoric,
non-specific or specific and not frame-induced.
3.6.2 Data
FNCs that have the role of causee are not as frequent as constructions with the role of experiencer with
verbs such as faire and arrêter in Ça fait du bien and Arrête d’embêter. The constructions with verbs
such as permettre, inviter and aider do not seem to be idiosyncratic or constructionally licensed.
Furthermore, the examples of Lambrecht and Lemoine in this category are called ‘strong’ by
Larjavaara (L2000: 103)
(68)a
Cela permet de mieux dormir.
‘This allows (you) to sleep better.’
(68)b
Le beau temps invitait à rester.
‘The nice weather invites (us/them) to stay.’
(68)c
Les grands poètes aident à vivre.
‘Great poets help (you live).’ (L&L2005: 35-36)
Still, Larjavaara does not want to classify these examples as lexical. Corpus research in chapter 4
should delimit the possibilities in null complement constructions. It is likely that the construction main
verb à + infinitive verb is required to leave out the causee of the main verb.
Examples of this last category are scarce, since Larjavaara focuses on definite environments. It would
not be of use to search by the syntactic construction main verb + à + infinitive.
47
As is stated in the above sections, FNC constructions that have the role of causee have marked
syntactic constructions in French. In Levin (1993) the object deletion and full phrases are denoted by
PRO-arb deletion. The prototypical sentence for this alternation have one/us/ or the people as object is:
(69)
The sign warned (us) against skating on the pond. (Levin 1993: 39).
Rizzi (1986) proposes that certain transitive verbs in Italian can have an interpretation ‘involving
default features and arbitrary reference’ (Rizzi in Cummins&Roberge 2005: 44) This feature is
claimed to be present in Romance languages, but not distributed in English in the equivalent phrases.
However, Levin mentions 6 English verbs in which this alternation occurs: admonish, advise, caution,
counsel, instruct and warn.
3.7 Productivity of object deletion in French and English
In this chapter, an overview is given of the examples given in Larjavaara. A comparison is drawn
between Larjavaara’s dissertation and the classification of Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005). In
appendix 1 and 2, two lists of French null complementation and their English counterparts are
collected. The lists will provide an overview of the productivity of null complementation in French.
Productivity can be defined here as the ability of a construction to occur with different complements
(subjects, objects) and with different verb roots. From the sections 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 we can conclude
that not every French occurrence of null complementation has an equivalent null complement phrase
in English, which supports Lambrecht and Lemoine’s claim that null complement phrases are in
general more frequent in French than in English. Secondly, FNC is category that has not been
described yet in analyses of English. There might be constructions in English that correspond to the
same criteria set up by Lambrecht and Lemoine for the lexical categories. For so far, even the number
of examples of FNC in French is limited. Third, Larjavaara’s claim that definite object deletion is
‘fully productive’ in French, is a general conclusion valid only for the classes of DNC. As in section
1.3 was mentioned, Larjavaara claims that all verbs can occur with DNCs, if they are placed in the
appropriate contextual setting. This does not hold for the frame-induced lexical categories. Although
she attacks the statement that the lexical nature of verbs influences the acceptance of DNC (L2000:
100), I am in favor of adopting the idea that DNC is ‘very frequent’ only, since some contexts require
syntactic means to disambiguate situations (see section 3.5). This means the productivity of DNC is
limited by semantic and syntactic means. The strong stigmatization of French to consider object drop
as a non-productive phenomenon (L&L 2005: 15) might have its roots in prescriptive grammars: the
informal nature of null complement phrases and the fact that many classes (all classes that are not
lexical in nature) are based on pragmatic means.
48
For my own research, this analysis results in a list of INC and DNC verbs in both French that could be
compared to it English counterparts, in the translated utterances in this chapter. In addition, the
examples of Larjavaara and her individual claim on the classes of Lambrecht and Lemoine, namely
that all verbs can occur with null complements, have been placed in its right theoretical and empirical
context, namely that this is only valid for the only non-lexically licensed classes of DNC (see figure 1
for an overview of the different subclasses. Finally, in spite of her remarks, FNC remains a separate
category in my own research for its unique features (context-free and non-anaphoric referents) and its
lexical nature is of interest for my lexicographic analysis.
Finally, the oppositions in terminology between Larjavaara, and Lambrecht and Lemoine, as for the
term ‘generic’ the articles are not compatible: for Larjavaara, generic use is a very broad notion that
lumps together indefinite and definite classes: ‘Often, generic use does not describe a particular
situation but is a general observation [where] the whole utterance is generic’ (L2000: 107):
(70)
« Dans cette putain de ville, il y a 365 troquets arabes ... On s’en fait un par jour sur le
coup de quatre heures ... J’en loupe pas un, ça décontracte. » [Daeninckx 1994 : 75]
‘In this bloody city, 365 Arabic bars… We take one every day at four o’clock
exactly… I don’t miss any of them, it relaxes.’
In (71), an example is given of generic use in which not the whole utterance is generic:
(71)
As-tu déjà mangé ?
Have you already eaten?
Finally, only the referent can be generic, such as in (72):
(72)
As-tu déjà mangé quelque chose (parce qu’on va partir tout de suite) / le plat que je
t’ai laissé / les tartines [etc.] ?’ (L2000: 107)’
‘Have you eaten something (because we’re about to leave) / the dish I left for you ?
the slices of bread ?’
I am in favor of not adopting this gradual level of ’generality’, and to distinguish for (70), (71) and
(72) non-habitual INC, subtype construal INC and non-lexically licensed DNC. This is also why I
adhere to the terminology of Lambrecht and Lemoine in the next chapters and in the appendices.
As the final part of this section, the 50 selected French verbs are presented. Although not all examples
occurring in the discussed literature have been discussed, they contributed to the composition of this
list of verbs. All verbs occurred at least in one publication with indefinite or free null
complementation. In order to add more data of French to the ongoing discussion, these verbs are
49
searched in the sources selected in chapter 2: three text corpora and two lexicographic sources. The
French verbs are given here with their corresponding English equivalents:
1. lire ‘to read’
19. laver ´to wash´
35. partir ´to leave´
2. fumer ‘to smoke’
20. ouvrir ´to open´
36.regarder ´to look, to see´
3. réviser ´to revize/study´
21.verrouiller ´to lock´
37.engueuler´to insult´
4. prendre ´to take´
22. embaucher ´to hire´
38. agacer ´to inrritate´
5. rapporter ´to bring in´
23. tuer ´to kill´
39. faire ´to do´
6. contribuer ´to contribute´
24. accueillir´to welcome´
40. gêner ´to hinder´
7. manger ´to eat´
25. transporter ´to transport´
41.surprendre ´to surprise´
8. acheter ´to buy´
26. livrer ´to deliver´
42. permettre ´to allow´
9. vendre ´to sell´
27. fermer ´to close´
43. inviter ´to invite´
10. voir ´to see´
28. insister ´to insist´
44. aider ´to help´
11. imiter ´to imitate´
29. chercher ´to see, to look
45. amener ´to bring back´
12. aimer ´to love´
for´
46. autoriser ´to authorize´
13. ordonner ´to order´
30. conduire ´to drive´
47. émouvoir ´to move´
14. dire ´to say´
31. décrocher ´to take up the
48. incommoder ´to disturb´
15. traduire ´to translate´
telephone´
49. donner ´to give´
16. cuisiner ´to cook´
32. écrire ´to write´
50. afficher ´to show´
17. jouer ´to play´
33. déverrouiller ´to unlock´
18. étudier ´to study´
34. arriver ´to arrive´
50
Chapter 4: New corpus data for French
This chapter is an attempt to bring together more corpus data, to find more examples of DNC in order
to determine how productive null complementation in contemporary French is, to enlarge the
appendices 1 and 2 with more occurrences of INC and FNC, and finally to (re)formulate the overall
characteristics of DNC, INC and FNC (main research question) and determine which of these are
essential to insert in verb entries of a monolingual French dictionary which will be the focus of chapter
5.
The methodology used in this chapter is theory-based and corpus-based at the same time. Although
this may be contradictory, this double orientation is the result of the complex nature of null
complementation. Taking Lambrecht and Lemoine’s classification as the leading theoretical
framework, the defined classes and characteristics are taken over as used as input for defining search
queries. When the research would have been corpus-driven, the open question of corpus research
would have been: what types of null complementation can be found by entering syntactic structures,
for example with PoS tags, in the corpora FT and TXM? Syntactic search queries would be used
instead of lexical search queries. When the research is corpus-based, such as in this study, individual
lexical search queries are searched.
Taking FNC with the role of causee as an example, in corpus-driven research the corpus in Frantext
catégorisé could be searched for structures of a main verb + de + infinitive verb (as in Cela permet de
mieux dormir). As is shown in figure 2, verbs are encoded by g=V, infinitives as g=Inf, and the
maximum distance between the sequences (search elements) is defined.
Figure 2: Search query with grammatical markers for the construction main verb + de +
infinitive verb
The search query in figure 2 has 3.949 results. The disadvantage of this method is that no selection can
be made of the main verbs: almost exclusively main ditransitive verbs (except from the transitive type
51
j’agaçe (des gens)) are susceptible to occur with FNC, but all indicative verbs are selected. Therefore,
I have chosen a corpus-based search in which I selected combinations of ditransitive verbs and
prepositions such as permet de (‘allows to’), aide à (‘helps to’), etc. Three corpora have been
described in sections 2.3 and 2.4: Frantext, LexisNexis and TXM. Although Frantext and TXM would
enable a search by syntactic search queries with help of PoS tags, the attempt to design a search query
to find combinations of main verb with INC and DNC failed as well. Therefore, the three corpora are
all lexically searched.
In section 4.1 the verbs that have been used in examples of definite null complementation in previous
literature are analyzed. In section 4.2, the instances of INC and FNC that resulted from the corpus
research are presented. Section 4.3 presents the results and conclusions that follow from this chapter.
4.1 Definite null complementation with verbs selected from previous literature
Previous literature already provides a collection of examples of DNC of which the verbs can be
searched in the selected corpora. This section presents which verbs are frequently found with DNC,
which verbs are found occasionally with DNC and which verbs were not found with DNC in the
selected corpora, FT (Frantext), LN (Lexisnexis), and TXM (textometry engine TXM).
In Fonágy (1985: 19), a key example of lexically licensed DNC is the verb poser ‘put down’, but this
example was excluded in the first chapter for it contained an imperative verb (example 11):
(73)
Une jeune mère à son fils qui vient de soulever une valise trop lourde.
-‘Pose !’
‘A young mother shouts to her son to put down a suitcase that is too heavy for him:
‘Put (it) down!’
Fonágy gives more DNC imperatives: raconter (‘to tell’), arrêter (‘to stop’), and gifler (‘to slap in the
face’). Like poser, these verbs can be found with DNC in an indicative form as well (see section 4.2
for INC). For arrêter however, Noailly (1998: 134) states that sometimes for arrêter, not only the
object can be deleted but also a VP construction (Noailly 1998: 134), which I renamed in English as
‘VP to NP reduction’:
(74)a
Arrêter de faire du chant / Arrêter le chant.
VP to NP reduction
‘Stop singing’
(74)b
J’arrêté.
Faire du chant / le chant
(74)c
Je l’ai arrêté.
*Faire du chant / le chant
52
Arrêter is behaving differently from the other verbs mentioned by Fonágy, for the pronoun cannot be
used when the deleted object is the VP faire du chant, such as in (74)c.
Fermer remains one of the most prototypical examples of verbs that occur with lexically licensed
DNC and is frequently found across the selected corpora:
(75)a
Légèrement penché vers Lambert, il attendait une réponse qui ne vint pas. Alors, il se
redressa et lança à la cantonade : - Du balai. On ferme.
(FT R764- PAGE.A , TCHAO PANTIN, 1982, p. 160)
‘Slightly leaning towards Lambert, he awaited an answer that didn’t come. So, he
stood up and hurled to the audience – A broom. We close.’
(75)b
- Je préfère me barrer, j'ai marmonné. Dis-lui qu'on ferme.
(FT R813 - DJIAN.P , 37.2 LE MATIN, 1985, p. 251, 20)
‘I like to clear off, I mumbled. Say him that we close.’
(75)c
Ce clignotement m'avertit qu'une fois de plus une femme va disparaître,
comme dans certains cafés, tard le soir, on allume, on éteint, pour faire comprendre
aux irréductibles qu'allez, on ferme.
(FT: S037 - ORSENNA.E , GRAND AMOUR, 1993, p. 133)
‘this blinking warned me once again that a woman will disappear, as in some bars, late
in the evening, one turns on, one turns off, take make it clear to the unwavering that
well, we close.’
(75)d
«Vous fermez ce soir ? Définitivement ? Quel dommage ! Alors rajoutez-moi
un Paris-Brest ».
(LN Sud Ouest, 2 Juillet 2012, p.15)
‘Are you closing tonight? For good? What a pity! Then give me a Paris-Brest.’
In technical manuals, this verb frequently occurs in the imperative:
(75)e
Enregistrez, fermez puis ouvrez encore une fois le classeur afin de voir le message
d'information.
(LN L’ordinateur individuel, 1 novembre 2007, p. 141)
‘Save, close and open once again the file in order to see the information message.’
Ouvrir (‘to open’) is equally frequent as DNC:
(76)
[…] de préférence c'est une femme, genre, « ma voiture est tombée en panne, est-ce
que je peux me servir de votre téléphone », et une fois qu'on lui a ouvert, le reste de la
bande se rue à l'intérieur et ils raflent tout.
53
(FT: S313 - LABRO.P , DES BATEAUX DANS LA NUIT, 1982, p. 197)
‘[…] preferably it a woman like ‘my car broke down, can I use your telephone’, and
once one has opened (the door), the rest of the group pounces on the interior and they
grab everything.’
The pair décrocher-raccrocher (‘to take up/down the telephone’) occurring with DNC is also attested
in the corpora:
(77)
Puis, il avait décroché le téléphone, obtenu une ligne interurbaine par le 9, composé
son numéro sans quitter des yeux la façade de l'immeuble. Patricia avait vite décroché
[…]
(FT: S313 - LABRO.P , DES BATEAUX DANS LA NUIT, 1982, p. 93 )
‘Then he had taken up the telephone, got a long-distance number starting with a 9,
entered the number while staring at the front of the building. Patricia had quickly
taken (the telephone) […]’
The behavior of the verb insister (‘to insist’) is sometimes similar to arrêter because instead of an NP,
the referent could also be a VP. In (78)a, the referent is most likely ‘his question’ but in (78)b, it is the
VP ‘to make the movie of my story’:
(78)a
C'est une corne de taureau qui vous a fait ça ?» J'ai secoué la tête et il n'a pas insisté.
(FT R670 - BENOZIGLIO.J-L , CABINET PORTRAIT, 1980, p. 10)
‘That is a bull’s horn that has done this to you ? I shook my head and he did not
insist.’
(78)b
Ce n'est pas moi qui suis allée lui proposer de faire un film avec mon histoire, que je
sache. C'est lui qui a insisté.
(FT: R769 - HANSKA.E , LES AMANTS FOUDROYES, 1984, p. 9)
‘It is not me who has proposed him to make a movie of my story, as far as I know. He
insisted.’
Gagner (‘to win’) is very frequent in both DNC and INC. Examples of INC are presented in 4.2. Some
extra-linguistic knowledge of the hearer already makes it easier to specify the deleted object: with the
general knowledge that Austerlitz en Waterloo are battles, this referent can be retrieved easily by the
hearer or reader:
(79)
« Qu'auriez-vous fait si vous vous étiez appelé Bonaparte ? » Malaparte répondit :
« J'aurais perdu à Austerlitz et gagné à Waterloo. »
54
(FT: S370 - BLONDIN.A , UN MALIN PLAISIR, 1991, p. 10)
‘What would you have done if your name would have been Bonaparte? Malaparte
answered : I would have lost in Austerlitz and won in Waterloo.’
Verbs that were less frequently found with DNC were for example verbs like découvrir (‘to discover’):
(80)
H..1 : Poursuivi ? Toi ?
H..2 : Oui. à la suite de cette demande, on a enquêté sur moi et on a découvert...
(FT S127 - SARRAUTE.N , POUR UN OUI OU POUR UN NON, 1982, p. 16)
‘[H1 is prosecuted]
H1: Prosecuted? You?
H2: Yes. Following this request, they investigated (on) me and they have discovered.’
For the pair verrouiller-déverouiller (‘to (un)lock’), I only found one utterance with DNC in all
corpora: the deleted object in example (81) is the door of the unit:
(81)
Ils sont venus. à cinq ou six, quatre heures trente du matin, et ils ont déverrouillé,
foncé dans le tas. Juste notre cellule.
(FT: R727 - BAYON , LE LYCEEN, 1987, p. 403)
‘They have come. Five or six of them, half past four, and they have unlocked, charged
at the heap. Only our unit.’
For impressionner (‘to impress’), no lexically licensed DNC was found, only instances of topical DNC
such as in:
(82)
Qu'on le veuille ou non, les signes extérieurs de culture, ça impressionne toujours.
(FT: R764 - PAGE.A , TCHAO PANTIN, 1982)
‘Whether we want it or not, external signs of culture, it always impresses.’
No occurrences of maîtriser as DNC other than example (58) were found.
As this section shows, most of the examples come from the corpus FT. The interface of this corpus
was the best in use for scanning the examples. The size of the corpora determined the number of
examples as well: on average, a lexical search by an inflected verb only (ex. ‘impressionne’) gave 50200 results in Frantext, 50-400 results in LexisNexis and 1-10 results in TXM. These numbers of
results seem reasonable, but 95% of the occurrences have an expressed object. Therefore, it can be
concluded that even the size of FT corpus (7.000.000 words) is not large enough for an in-depth
55
investigation of a larger number of verbs. The 50 verbs selected for this study are mostly prototypical
verbs and in this qualitative research, the size of the corpora is sufficient although one can only report
that object deletion for certain verbs, such as maîtriser, do not occur without an object in these corpora,
but occurrences without object might occur in real language use. In the next section, occurrences from
the corpus TXM are presented as well, and for some reason, they come from the same sub-corpus
(De_Gaulle). It might be the case that the speech style of the speaker is an influencing factor on the
occurrence of certain syntactic constructions.
4.2 Corpus data for INC and FNC
While searching for instances of DNC, new data for INC and FNC were found, which are presented in
this section.
No other occurrences of the following verbs were found in combination with DNC: contribuer ( ‘to
contribute’), and (dé)verrouiller (‘to (un)lock’). When the English sentences in example (5) are
followed in order to distinguish indefinite and definite null complementation with the equivalent
French verb contribuer, every utterance in which the direct object is deleted that was found, is an INC:
(83)
La sœur de mon père, ma tante, avait inconsciemment contribué à ce retournement...
(FT S307 - MAKINE.A , LE TESTAMENT FRANCAIS, 1995, p. 184)
‘The sister of my father, my aunt, had unconsciously contributed to this reversal…’
In (83), it is not specified what the subject has contributed exactly: the indirect object is not
fixed to ‘to the cause in question’, and the direct object is not automatically ‘a certain amount of
money’ like in the INC in example (5). It is more likely that the deleted object is something like
‘effort’.
For gagner (‘to win’), I have searched all instances with null complementation in order to see if the
object was specific to a little extent (game, race, become first and only winner) or to a bigger extent (a
specific prize, etc.). Fillmore´s claim concerning the two valency patterns of ‘win’ does also hold for
French, for I only found deleted objects of the first category:
(84)a
Le Cheval saute le dernier obstacle. Touche le poteau. T'as gagné. T'es le meilleur.
FT: R768 - HANSKA.E , J'ARRETE PAS DE T'AIMER, 1981, p. 121)
‘The Horse jumps over the last obstacle. Reaches the last post. You have won. You are
56
the best.’
(84)b La jeune femme écrivit une lettre à son mari - qui était à Tanger cette année-là pour lui dire que Mao avait gagné. Gagné. Contre qui ?
(FT : R542 - LANGE.M , LES CABINES DE BAIN, 1982, p. 107)
‘The young woman wrote a letter to her husband – who was in Tanger that year – to
tell him that Mao had won. Won. From who?
(84)c
Je l'avoue : j'aurais écrit de toute façon. Pour dire que vous aviez perdu ou pour dire
que vous aviez gagné. Vous avez gagné. Bravo ! C'est un chevreau.
(FT: S299 - ORMESSON.J D' , LE VENT DU SOIR, 1985, p. 156)
‘I admit: I would have written anyway. To say that you would have lost or would have
won. You have won. Bravo! It’s a goat.’
(84)d
Bref, les Allemands se jouent souvent des clichés qui les caricaturent, en y
mettant éventuellement quelque malice. Bien sûr ils ont gagné, et Merkel était ravie
que son équipe arraisonne les descendants (lointains) d'Aristote, au dam des
spectateurs polonais.
(LN: Valeurs actuelles, 25 juin 2012, p.35)
‘In short, the Germans make often fun of the cliches about them, at add some malice
to that. Of cause they have won, and Merkel was delighted that her team inspected the
(indirect) descendents of Aristotle, to the great pleasure of the Polish.’
(84)e
En 1989, Solidarnosc a gagné avec le soutien de l'Eglise. En 1990, Walesa a été élu
président avec la bénédiction de l'Eglise.
(LN: Courrier International, 23 septembre 2010, p.24)
‘In 1989, Solidarnosc has won with the support of the Church. In 1990, Walesa was
chosen president with the blessing of the Church.’
In (84)b, the focus on the activity of winning is reinforced by the repetition of the verb, and in (84)c,
the referent cannot be the baby, but the game, the match, the bet, etc. Not only races have a unique
person in a specific winning position, elections have a similar winner and a single winner place, such
as in (84)e.
In the following examples with gagner, it is not possible to delete the object, because what is won is
57
more specific:
(85)a
- Ben..., fit David, c'est justement qu'avec Olivier, on travaille ensemble. Lui aussi il a
gagné trois places.
(FT: R763 - SABATIER.R , DAVID ET OLIVIER, 1985, p. 99)
‘Actually…, David said, it is just with Oliver, we work together. He has won three
places as well.’
(85)b
?- Ben..., fit David, c'est justement qu'avec Olivier, on travaille ensemble. Lui aussi il
a gagné.
(85)c
Je ne sais pas danser le rock mais je n' ai jamais eu le moindre rival à ma hauteur,
depuis des lustres, en twist. J' ai même gagné, haut la main, un tournoi de twist et
hula-hoop de la Marina un jour […]
(FT: R727 - BAYON , LE LYCEEN, 1987, p. 134)
‘I don’t know how to rock dance, but I have never had a single rival at my level, for
ages, for the twist. I have even won, hands down, a twist and hula-hoop tournament of
Marina once […]’
In the previously discussed literature, examples of the verb impressionner with INC were already
attested and other examples have been found, such as in (86):
(86)
Si les chambres généreusement meublées ont du charme, les petites pièces presque
vides interrogent en nous et hors de nous un passé qui angoisse, impressionne, attire.
(FT: R725 - BIENNE.G , LE SILENCE DE LA FERME, 1986, p. 143)
‘If the generously furnished rooms have charm, the small, almost empty rooms
question inside and outside ourselves a past that distresses, impresses, attracts.’
The following verbs that occur with INC were not in the list of 50 selected verbs : ranger (‘to tidy
up’), raconter (‘to tell’) and bricoler (‘to Do It Yourself’):
(87)a
Elle crie, d'en bas :
- Qu'est-ce que tu fais ?
- Je range.
(FT: S322 - ROMILLY.J DE , LES OEUFS DE PAQUES, 1993, p. 150)
‘She shouts from downstairs :
58
-What are you doing ?
-I tidy up.’
(87)b
L'homme a mangé vite, puis il s'est allongé sur le sol, avec les mains sous la tête. Alors
Nour lui a parlé, pour lui demander qui il était. L'homme a raconté lentement […]
(FT S222 - LE CLEZIO.J.M.G , DESERT, 1980, p. 230)
‘The man ate quickly, then stretched out on the floor, with his hands under his head.
Nour talked to him, asking him who he was. The man spoke slowly.’
(87)c
[…] avait un jour demandé Lambert.
- Je bricole, avait répondu Bensoussan, pour une fois modeste.
(FT: R764 - PAGE.A , TCHAO PANTIN, 1982, p. 40) HAB
‘[…] asked Lambert one day.
I DIY, Benoussan had answered modestly this time.
The FNC with the role of causee could be found in the construction permet + de + infinitive verb:
(88)a
Mais il n'y a pas de formule magique qui permette de construire quelque chose d'aussi
difficile que l'Europe unie […]
(LN: 10_DeGaulle_7)
‘But there is no magic formula that allows to build something as difficult as the
unified Europe […]’
The following verbs that occur with FNC were not in the list of 50 selected verbs: suffire (‘to suffice’),
and interdire (‘to forbid’):
(88)c
Ce qu'on appelle à tort la composition, et qu'il suffirait de nommer l'équilibre interne
d'un roman […]
(FT: R869 - GRACQ.J , EN LISANT EN ECRIVANT, 1980, p. 71)
‘What we allegedly call the composition, and what suffices to call the internal balance
of a novel […]’
(88)d
Il suffit de dire cela pour comprendre qu'en ce qui concerne la défense de la
France […] (LN: 10_DeGaulle_10)
‘Il was sufficient to say that in order to understand that concerning the defense of
France […]’
(88)e En effet, l'article 46 de la Constitution interdit de procéder par la voie parlementaire à
59
toute modification concernant le Sénat […]
(LN : 24_DeGaulle_3)
‘It is true that article 46 of the Constitution forbids to proceed by the parliament any
change concerning the Senate […]’
The construction main verb + à + infinitive verb such as in (89) is not as frequent as with the
preposition de although two ewxamples were given byLambrecht and Lemoine (le beau temps invitait
à rester and les grands poètes aident à vivre).
(89)
Eh bien, je demande à réfléchir !
(LN: 06_DeGaulle_16)
´I ask to think (about it) !
Finally, for FNC with the role of experiencer, the combination ça + main transitive verb (‘ça gêne’)
has even more results than the other subtypes of FNC in the corpus in Frantext: 5180 results. The
verbs that occur with this structure in the corpora are not included in appendix 2 because I argue that
this category is as much productive as non-lexically licensed DNC: not fully productive but productive
to a very large extent. Because of the deactualization of the subject by using ça, more focus is added to
the process (the verb) and therefore, the need for a specified object decreases. Especially
psychological verbs (in which the undergoer is expressed as an indirect object, show a very frequent
use of FNC. The same reasoning is valid for the type main verb + de + infinitive verb (‘arrête
d’embêter’). Secondly, I contend that an FNC of one of these types requires a context that favors the
deactualization: a verb such as ennuyer (‘ça ennuie’) is more easily allowed in contexts in which the
unspecified object could be either ‘you/me/the people’ or ‘environment’.
4.3 Conclusion
In this chapter, an attempt is made to add more French data to the existing discussion in the literature
on null complementation. The first step in the lexical search in the three selected corpora was to check
the attested examples of DNC in combination with French verbs that are mentioned in the literature.
From this, the conclusion can be drawn that in the corpora, some verbs were found frequently in
utterances with DNC, but other verbs were not. Two possible factors can explain these facts: either
DNC is not ‘fully productive’, as I assumed, or the corpora are too narrowed down. As for the first
factor, Larjavaara claims that only the frequency of the number of verbs that is susceptible to occur
with DNC is very high, but the productivity of DNC itself in contemporary French is not as frequent at
all. It is very important to take into account the fact that the examples discussed in this chapter are
60
lexically licensed DNCs: i.e. subject to a reduced ability of replacing the verbs in question by
equivalent verbs. The size of the corpora could also have an influence on the number of utterances
found with DNC. The corpus in Frantext and well as the corpus of Lexisnexis were taken over a period
of 3 decades (1980-present). Frantext contains 7 million words, the corpus in Lexisnexis has an
unknown (but probably intermediate) size and finally, the ‘Discours’ corpus in TXM only contains
105.000 words approximately. These corpus sizes might not be enough to find instances of DNC with
the selected verbs, although they do occur with DNC in contemporary French.
The second step of the corpus research was to find other instances of null complementation: INC and
especially FNC. In order to further develop the analysis of FNC, more corpus data were needed. A
general conclusion across all analyzed subclasses of null complementation can be drawn on the basis
of syntactic factors that influence the acceptance of null complementation: some syntactic
constructions, and answers on the question ‘What are you doing?’ (that triggers ungoing events) are
more favorable contexts for null complementation.
For Free Null Complementation, occurrences in the corpora had to be retrieved lexically. Some
syntactic devices could be used after all, for selecting raw data (using PoS tags for main verb and
infinitive verb) and a search by lemma facilitated data retrieval in TXM for FNC. Based on these data,
I claim that FNC verbs are influenced by fixed syntactic structures that favors null complementation.
Therefore, I argue FNC is closer to DNC than to INC because the restrictions are not strictly lexical:
like for non-lexically licensed categories of DNC, many contextual factors actually allow the speaker
to delete the object in FNC. Deactualized FNC of the type ça gêne is the least lexical subtype of FNC.
The insights and results of this chapter have consequences for the classification of the six selected
subclasses of null complementation in that the boundaries and characteristics can be defined further. In
addition the examples will serve as (counter) examples in chapter 5, where verb entries in two
monolingual dictionaries will be compared to the empirical data.
61
Chapter 5 Lexicographic representation: transitivity and labeling
In this chapter, the absolute uses of 50 verb entries in both dictionaries are compared and discussed in
order to answer the main question of this chapter if present-day monolingual dictionaries of French
consistently represent verb constructions with a deleted object. The classification device of transitivity
marking is critically evaluated as well: is transitivity marking a device that is systematic enough for
treating object deletion in dictionaries?
The lexicographic data are searched and evaluated in a qualitative research, but some quantitative
details influenced the search results. Of the 100 entries selected, 15 times, no absolute use was found,
for examples for inviter, aimer and autoriser. A few labels of absolute use occurred in intransitive verb
entries, for example in the entries of insister, voir and faire (7 entries in total).
In section 2.1, five verbs that occur with INC have been investigated in a small pilot research. It can be
concluded that the Robert dictionary (GR) has a strong repartition of verb entries by first
transitive/intransitive entries, and pronominal use and adjectival use of verbs are represented
separately. In Trésor de la langue française (TLFi), verb entries can be transitive or intransitive but
within these entries, intransitive and transitive meanings can occur as well.
Like in the pilot research in chapter 2, in the Grand Robert, the entries are searched for the use of the
label ‘absolt.’ (absolument), and the entries in the TLFi the entries are searched for ‘empl. abs.’
(emploi absolu, absolute use), as exemplified in (90) with the verb contribuer:
(90)a
Emploi abs. Payer un impôt, un tribut. (TLFi)
‘Pay a tax, a charge’
(90)b
Absolt. Il n'a pas contribué. Faire contribuer qqn. (GR)
‘He did not contribute. Make someone contribute’
These labels are used for both direct object deletion as indirect object deletion. The verbs in capitals
(ex. LIRE) denote the entry of the verb in the indicated dictionary. If a verb entry itself is represented,
the glossing denotes the classification of the absolute use.
In the Grand Robert, the definition of absolument is very short: ‘Un verbe (un nom) employé
absolument, sans l'expansion attendue’ (a verb (a noun) used in an absolute way without the expected
expansion). This definition is similar to the grammatical definition in the TLFi: ‘ [En parlant d'un
élément de syntagme] Employé absolument. Employé sans l'expansion attendue’, (talking about a
syntagmatic element) used in an absolute way. Used without the expected expansion). Fonágy (1985)
cites a better linguistic definition from the Robert’s Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la
langue française : ‘verbe employé absolument, verbe transitif employé sans complément d’objet’ (a
verb used in an absolute way, a transitive verb used without a direct object) (Fonágy 1985 : 23). In
62
these definitions, ‘expansion’ probably refers to the extension of the transitive use but this is not
further described. Only the Robert’s analogical dictionary mentions transitivity: that the verb meaning
of INCs is transitive in nature. As chapter 2 showed, in the list of INC and FNC verbs, some of the
verb entries with null complementation were classified as intransitive, such as FUMER: two entries in
the TLFi were ‘transitive verb’, and ‘verb’ (with no specification) with a ‘transitive use’ and an
‘intransitive use’, the latter is represented schematically in (67):
(91)
FUMER
I emploi intrans.
A qqn fume
B qqn/qqc fume.
II emploi trans.
A exposer à la fumée
B [emp. abs.] l’objet désigne du tabac ou une autre substance
1. [l’action est ponctuelle]
2. [l’action est habituelle]
‘II B : transitive use, the object is tobacco or another substance’
The structure of verb entries will be shown in this chapter in the following way: the enumerated
meanings and sub-meanings are copied, but only the basic classification criteria are taken over as well:
only for the absolute use in question, an example from the verb entry is given. In (67), the label
‘absolute’ occurs in both II B 1 and 2: fumer can be both a punctual or a habitual activity. Transitive
use does not always have a intransitive counterpart in the sub-meanings in the TLFi. For example, the
entry of étudier has an absolute meaning and a transitive meaning:
(92)
ETUDIER
I emploi abs.
A [Le suj. désigne une pers. qui s'intéresse à l'étude; le subst. corresp. est étude au
sing.]
B [Le suj. désigne une pers. qui suit un enseignement; le subst. corresp. est études, au
plur.].
II emploi trans.
A [L'idée dominante est celle d'apprendre]
B [L'idée dominante est celle de comprendre]
63
C [L'idée dominante est celle de chercher]
D [L'idée dominante est celle d'attention]
‘I A: the subject denotes a person who is interested in study, the corresponding noun is study
(singular),
‘I B: the subject denotes a person who is following a study, the corresponding noun is studies
(plural)’
In the Robert, the entry of the same verb has a different structure but the absolute use is represented
first, before all other transitive meanings:
(93)
ETUDIER
I transitif direct appliquer son esprit à
J'avais un peu étudié, étant plus jeune, entre les parties de la philosophie à la
logique, et entre les mathématiques à l'analyse des géomètres et à
l'algèbre (…)
II transitif direct Se livrer à l'étude; prendre pour objet d'étude
1. Absolt. Passer sa vie à étudier.
2. Avec complément direct Étudier le latin
3. Chercher à comprendre par un examen
4. Examiner (qqch.) afin de décider, d'agir.
5. Traiter* (un sujet).
6. Prendre comme objet de son application, de ses soins.
The absolute use is also contrasted to other argument structures. In the transitive entry of manger in
TLFi, the absolute use is contrasted to verb meaning with an object (complément d’objet):
(94)
MANGER
A Avaler (un aliment solide ou pâteux) après (l')avoir mâché.
1. [Le compl. d'obj. est exprimé]
2. Emploi abs.
‘A 2: to swallow (a type of solid or pasty food) after having (it) chewed’
The subtype INC of manger is found in TLFi in a separate meaning with a label ‘en particulier’, under
the second sub-meaning :
64
(95)
En partic. Prendre un repas. On mange bien chez cette personne, chez ce restaurateur.
‘In particular. Eat a meal. We eat well at this one’s place, with this caterer.’
In the GR, manger has a separate sub-meaning in which all absolute uses are enclosed.
(96)
MANGER
1. Avaler pour se nourrir (un aliment solide ou consistant) après avoir mâché
2. Dévorer (un être vivant, une proie).
3. Absolt. Absorber, prendre des aliments (en général, et notamment au cours d'un
repas)
‘1. Swallow in order to feed oneself
2. Devour (a living being, a prey)
3. Absolt. take food (en general, and specifically during a meal)’
From a theoretical point of view, the heading of absolute use under intransitive use such as in (92) is
form-oriented but not function-oriented. The heading of absolute use under transitive use occurs in
various ways but in general, the absolute use is a separate sub-meaning. The Robert tends to lump
together more the different sub-meanings,. Subtype construals are clearly sub-meanings, and
mentioned either in the meaning description.
With these insights we can answer the research question about the use of transitivity marking in
dictionaries from the practices in TLFi and Robert: the labeling of (in)transitive entries, uses and
meanings is mainly a classifying and practical device that has difficulties in dealing with the
unsystematically structured nature of verbs. The research question Is transitivity marking a device
that is systematic enough for treating object deletion in dictionaries? can only be answered
negatively.
As the examples in (92) to (96) show, a simple repartition between intransitive and transitive use is in
some cases not sufficient, and more labels are needed in order to classify the different syntactic and
semantic constructions, such as for JOUER. In the TLFi, the entry of transitive meaning represents
also several indirect transitive uses, for example such as in (97)a:
(97)a
Faire quelque chose par jeu, par plaisanterie. J'ai dit cela pour jouer. (TLFi)
‘Do something as in a game, playfully. He said that for playing.’
(97)b
Emploi intrans. [Le suj. désigne un enfant] Ces enfants jouent ensemble (TLFi )
65
‘Intransitive use. [the subject denotes a child] These children play together’
(97)c
Absolt. S'attabler* pour jouer. Jouer contre quelqu'un (→ Inonder, cit. 7). À qui de
jouer ? À vous de jouer (fig. : à vous d'agir). Jouer sans prendre*. (Aux cartes). Jouer
en carreau, dans la couleur*. (Aux dames). Souffler* n'est pas jouer. —Jouer à qui
perd* gagne. (GR)
‘to sit down to play, to play against someone. Who is it to play? It is your turn. To play
without taking. To play within the square, in the color (checkers), Blowing is no
playing.’
It is not the case that there is no intransitive sub-meaning, but indirect transitives are all classified
under transitive uses and I cannot distinguish different objects for the meanings in (97)a and (97)b and
(96)c. It might be the case that the objects of jouer are indefinite but the verb cannot be intransitive in
nature. In that case, the TLFi would not present a consistent entry with one intransitive use.
Besides the representation and presence of examples of null complementation, I also take into
consideration in sections 5.1. and 5.2 how and for what other purposes the labels ‘absolt.’ and ‘emploi
abs.’ have been used for INC and FNC. Section 2.1 also revealed that examples of DNC occurred in
Robert (for the verb prendre) and this chapter will provide more data about the occurrence of more
DNC. In addition, I want to know how habitual use and the popular language register are labeled. In
section 5.3, I will combine these insights and apply them to the verb entries in Robert. As a conclusion
of the lexicographic research, a series of recommendations on the representation of null
complementation will be formulated in section 5.4.
5.1 Comparing the two dictionaries
This section compares the two selected dictionaries. As has been stated at the beginning of this
chapter, both the Trésor de la langue française informatisé and the Grand Robert use transitivity to
structure verb entries. In section 2.1, two approaches to classification of verb meaning have been
introduced as well: a transitivity-based approach and a sense-based approach. If the two dictionaries
used are classified, both dictionaries of contemporary French are transitivity-based dictionaries: in
both dictionaries, intransitive and transitive verb uses are torn apart and treated, sometimes even
separately in different entries (TLFi). Atkins, Kegl and Levin argue that transitivity-based approaches
are ‘better equiped for transitivity alternations’, such as deleted objects (Atkins, Kegl & Levin 1986:
10-11). But the authors add:
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‘the transitivity/intransitivity distinction alone is insufficient to inform the user of all usage
possibilities, in particularly when both uses of a verb are treated as instantiations of a
particular sense, the entry must indicate what relation holds between the two uses.’ (Atkins,
Kegl & Levin 1986: 18) (own translation)
From the investigation of 50 verb entries in both dictionaries, some individual differences are
highlighted in this section.
Only in the GR, the absolute use of réviser and prendre are mentioned. The general tendency is that
neither GR nor TLFi is completer than the other, when the frequency of occurrences with null
complementation is compared within the verb entries.
(98)
Reprendre (ce qu'on a appris).
Absolt. Le baccalauréat est dans deux mois, il faut commencer à réviser. (GR)
‘Revise (what has been studied) The final exam is in two months, one has to start
revising’
Idiomatic expressions are sometimes labeled by ‘absolt.’ in both dictionaries, such as in (99)a. In (99)b
and (99)c, direct objects are the deleted elements. All three occurrences are lexical DNC.
(99)a
Absolt. Il faut prendre sur soi.
‘One needs to make a effort’ (GR)
(99)b
Ce bébé est adorable, on mangerait (de baisers) ! (TLFi)
´It is an adorable baby, we could eat (it) up (with kisses)!´
(99)c
Un gilet blanc, monsieur, une cravate blanche brodée, votre beau pantalon noisette.
Tenez, regardez (vous) vous-même. (TLFi)
´A white gilet, sir, a broidered white X, your beautiful brown trouser. Here, look at
you.´
In the entry of insister, the absolute use is related to the pragmatic function of the verb:
(100)
Absol. [S'emploie pour signaler à son interlocuteur que l'on va continuer la
conversation sur un sujet déterminé parce que l'on y attache de l'importance bien que
cela puisse l'embarrasser ou l'irriter] (TLFi)
‘[is used to signal to the interlocutor that the conversation is continued on a
determined subject because it is important although the content can embarrass or irritate the
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interlocutor]’
For absolute uses, the following other labels are used:
-sans complément direct (without direct complement) : ACHETER, VENDRE (TLFi)
-sans complément de lieu (without spatial complement): CONDUIRE (TLFi)
-sans complément indirect (without indirect complement): DONNER (TLFi)
-spécialt.(spécialement, especially): DËCROCHER (GR), ROMPRE (GR)
-constr. abs. (absolute construction) : ACHETER, ARRIVER (intransitive use) (GR), see (101) :
(101)
Constr. abs. Il avait travaillé, trafiqué, acheté et vendu. Mais tout le monde en avait
fait autant.
‘He had worked, trafficked, bought and sold. But the rest of the world had done the
same. ‘
In comparing the two dictionaries, the Robert has clearer (but sometimes shorter) examples (see
RAPPORTER in section 2.1), some instances of DNC are found (see PRENDRE), and more metalinguistic information is given. In the TLFi, often the label ‘emploi abs.’ is followed by an example
only, such as in (101). The meaning corresponds in that case to the sub-meaning mentioned above the
absolute use.
(102)
A.
[Le suj. désigne une pers. ou un animal]
Emploi abs. Hubert imitait parfaitement. (TLFi)
‘[the person denotes a person or an animal] Hubert imitated perfectly.’
Comparing the distribution of the occurrences found, INC, FNC and DNC occurrences are equally
often occurring in the two dictionaries. For example, no examples with ça as subject were found in
both dictionaries. Only the number of given absolute uses differed: in general, the TLFi shows more
different uses with null complementation within the same verb entry. This means that in the
propositions in section 5.3, more absolute uses can be added to new verb entries since the latter will be
based on the entries of the Grand Robert.
5.2 Analysis of the entries
In very short, the first 5 entries lire ‘read’, fumer ‘smoke’, réviser ‘study’, prendre ‘take’, rapporter
‘bring in’ are discussed already in section 2.1. Not all instances of null complementation are fully
represented in neither TLFi nor GR: it can be argued that étudier has several subtype construals: a
non-habitual INC ‘study something’ can be separated from two subtype INC: ‘study studies’
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(equivalent of réviser) and ‘study music’ :
(103)a [L'obj. désigne un instrument de musique]
Emploi abs. Ce pianiste étudie plusieurs heures par jour (TLFi)
‘The object denotes the musical instrument. Absolute use. This piano player studies
several hours every day’
(103)b Étudier le piano, la flûte, apprendre à en jouer. Absolt. Étudier : s'exercer à jouer d'un
instrument (GR)
‘Study the piano, the flute, study to play it. Absolute: study : to exercise to play an
instrument’
See also LIRE in section 2.1. In LIRE, a sub-meaning mentions ‘frequent in absolute use’ in TLF1 but
because of the high frequency in ETUDIER a separate meaning is mentioned for the absolute use, as
mentioned above.
The pair décrocher/raccrocher ‘to take the telephone/ hang up the telephone’ has not only meanings
related to taking the telephone ((104)a and (104)b) where absolute use is mentioned. Accrocher is used
in an absolute way as ‘not giving up) metaphorically in (104)c and in sports in (104)d:
(104)a Décrocher le récepteur, le combiné, le téléphone; p. méton. décrocher l'appareil; absol.
Décrocher (TLFi)
‘To take up the telephone, the receiver, the telephone, by metonymy to take up the
phone; absolute to take up’
(104)b Spécialt. Décrocher le récepteur téléphonique (opposé à raccrocher). — Absolt. | « Un
déclic… On a décroché » (GR)
‘Specialt. To take up the telephone receiver (opposite of to hang up the telephone)
Absolute: A declic… There was hung up.’
(104)c Emploi abs. ne pas céder (TLFi)
‘to not cede’
(104)d Boxeur qui raccroche les gants. Hockeyeur sur glace qui raccroche les patins, la
crosse. — Aussi, emploi absolu. Coureur, boxeur, hockeyeur qui raccroche (GR)
‘Boxer who hangs up his gloves. Hockey player who hangs up the skates, the stick.
Also, absolute use. Driver, boxer, hockey player who hangs up’
For the equivalent verbs voir and regarder, the absolute use of voir precises ‘conscience of the
perceived object’ (TLFi) and ‘perceive the images of objects by eyesight’ (GR). Regarder receives a
very detailed meaning description in contrast to voir in (105)c. Finally, the GR gives two
supplementary absolute meanings:
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(105)a L'enfant commence à voir entre le dixième et le quinzième jour qui suit sa naissance.
(GR)
‘The child starts to see between the second and the fifteenth day after birth’
The criterium of subclassification of voir is even ‘Absolt (ou intrans.)’, absolute or intransitive. In the
entry of regarder, only an example is given:
(105)b Empl. abs. Je n'aime plus décrire ce que je vois; ça me gâte. J'aime mieux regarder
seulement, sachant bien que rien n'est perdu et que toute vision se retrouve au moment
qu'on a besoin d'elle (TLFi)
‘I don’t like to describe what I see ; it spoils me. I prefer just looking, knowing that
nothing is lost and that every vision can be found when you need it’
(105)c [Regarder en oppos. explicite ou implicite avec voir; avec compl. ou en empl. abs.]
[Voir en tant que perception claire du monde extérieur est l'aboutissement de
l'action de regarder] Pour la première fois je venais de la regarder comme on regarde
quand on veut voir.(TLFi)
‘regarder in explicit or implicit opposition with voir ; with complement or as absolute
use. For the first time I have looked at her like someone looks when he want to see.’
(105)d (Avec le mot œil pour sujet) — Absolt. Des yeux qui regardent bien en face
Absolt. Regarder dans telle direction*.
Absolt. | « Quand elle achète, elle n'y regarde pas. » (GR)
‘(With the word eye a subject – Absolt. Eyes that look to the other side
Absolt Look in a certain direction.
Absolt. When she buys, she doesn ‘t look at it.’ [under the indirect transitive meaning
regarder à]
Three other similar verbs are ordonner, permettre and autoriser : several similar meanings occur with
different verbs.
(106)a Voilà la faute ! tu t'es subordonné, quand tu es fait pour ordonner. (GR)
‘give orders’
(106)b Absol. Emmanuel, allant au-devant de sa mère, met un genou en terre et lui prend la
main. Madame la marquise permet? (TLFi)
‘give autorisation’
(106)c Absolt ou intrans. Exercer son autorité; donner des ordres et les faire exécuter. (GR)
´give orders’
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Ordonner has an absolute use as ‘prescrire une rémède’ (to prescribe a remedy) and ‘donner des
ordres’ (to give orders) are both historical meanings in TLFi. In the GR, the absolute meaning is
equivalent to commander (´to command´) in (106)c.
In TLFi, the habitual use sometimes receive the label ‘usuel’ (ETUDIER and GÊNER). In contrast,
GR shows example phrases such as ‘to have the habit of’. As section 2.1 showed for fumer and
réviser, a habitual reading does not constitute a sub-meaning separate from the punctual meaning, a
reader-friendly solution. Cuisiner is ranged under a separate sub-meaning in the GR, but in the TLFi,
this meaning is headed under ‘intransitive verb’ although both the punctual and the habitual meaning
are represented in two examples:
107)
V.intr. Faire la cuisine. Elle cuisine bien. Vous avez ce qu'il faut pour cuisiner. De la
maison venait une odeur exquise de thym, de céleri, d'aubergine. On cuisinait. (TLFi)
‘Intransitive verb. She cooks well. You have the tools needed for cooking. Out of the
house came the exquisite smell of thyme, celery and eggplant. People cooked.’
For verbs as contribuer or vendre, the absolute use is clearly a small sub-meaning of the transitive
entry:
(108)a Absolt. Vendre à la baisse, à la hausse (both in GR and TLFi)
‘Sell high, low’ [the whole phrase is used in the absolute way]
The absolute use for manger (subtype construal, see section 5.1) is represented as a small submeaning, but could be a meaning separate from the transitive use. Also other strong absolute uses,
such as imiter, do not receive a separate sub-meaning. This might be because the meaning is the same
as the meaning of the transitive use: imitation in art is a activity that is part of a well-known procedure.
(108)b Emploi abs. On imita, traduisit, compila, et de nouveau on compila, traduisit, imita.
(TLFi)
‘People imitated, translated, compiled and started to compile, translate and imitate all
over again’
(108)c Absolt. | « Imiter c'est comprendre » (GR)
‘Imitating is understanding’
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Some absolute uses can be classified as fixed expressions:
(109)a J’achete! / Achetez français ! (TLFi)
‘OK / Buy French products !
(109)b Tenez, regardez-la, la montre.
- Fais voir. Où as-tu trouvé ça? (TLFi)
‘Here, look at this watch.
-Let (me) see it. Where did you find it?’
(109)c J'ai dit! J'ai fini de parler. (TLFi)
‘I have spoken!’
(109)d Cet acteur dit bien (cette réplique) (GR)
‘The acteur says the right reply’
(109)e Ça accroche bien ou mal avec qqn. Le contact se fait bien ou mal (TLFi)
‘It did not click with him’
In the entry of dire ‘to say’, a metal-linguistic remark is given that indicates that object deletion leads
to confusion about the verb meaning:
(110)a REM. Avec des compléments comme mot, expression, etc. et les indéfinis, de même
qu'en emploi absolu, il est impossible de distinguer le sens I du sens II; il semble
néanmoins que ce soit ce dernier qui l'emporte, en l'absence de précision.
I (Le compl. désigne le signe). Émettre (les sons, les éléments signifiants d'une
langue).
II (Le compl. désigne le signifié). Exprimer, communiquer (la pensée, les sentiments,
les intentions) par la parole (à un interlocuteur). (GR)
‘Remark. With complements such as mot (‘word’), expression, etc and indefinites, as
well as absolute use, it is impossible to distinguish meaning I and meaning II;
nevertheless it seems that the latter option is preferred, when more precision is absent.
I (the complement denotes the sign) to utter (sounds, the signifier elements of a
language)
II (the complement denotes the signified) to express, communicate (thoughts, feelings
and intentions) by speech (to a speaker)’
According to the Robert, the communication meaning of dire is attached to absolute use, in absence of
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more precision of the object. Still, in this explanation, both sign and signifier objects have definite
referents: namely sounds or content. It can only be determined in context if null complementation is
definite (sounds or content) or indefinite (‘stuff/something’). This latter INC is represented by a submeaning:
(110)b Absolt. S'exprimer (GR)
‘To express oneself’
5.3. Towards better structured examples of null complementation in the Grand Robert
In the previous sections, only a set of 50 verbs has been searched for in the two selected monolingual
dictionaries of French, but more quantitative characteristics of absolute use could be retrieved. A
search for the label ‘absolute use’ reveals that the label is used in more than 2000 entries of which
probably approximately500 verb entries8. The list with all verb entries labeled by ‘absolt’ can be found
in appendix 4. Roughly, this lexicographic search covers only 1% of the entries concerned. The list
with the complete verb entries can be found in appendix 4, except for the examples in the entries that
are left out (but they are represented by numbers).
Instead of starting a large-scale investigation a few entries are selected as prototypes that will be
discussed below. There are 5 prototypes of which the full current entries are found in appendix 3:
For the non-habitual INC the entry REGARDER is selected. As the analysis in section 5.2 showed, the
4 occurrences of the label ‘absolt’ in this entry are all headed under different sub-meanings. The entry
itself is divided in a direct transitive meaning and an indirect transitive meaning (regarder à, ‘look
at’). The equivalent of ‘to observe’ has received a separate sub-meaning, which is a choice I would
have made myself. The two other absolute uses clearly belong to a specific sub-meaning, and therefore
these absolute uses are not lumped together in one separate sub-meaning. This entry is internally
sense-based, since transitivity only determines the biggest sub-entries.
For the habitual INC, FUMER is selected. In this entry, only one occurrence of null complementation
is inserted: an INC habitual meaning. The sub-meaning is headed under the transitive use. I approve of
this approach for habitual INC, because I claim that the habitual meaning can best be accompanied by
metalinguistic information as here avoir l’habitude de (‘to have the habit of’). Habitual INC does not
need to be presented in a separate meaning. In order to make the verb entry for fumer more complete,
8
Robert: recherche par critères > texte intégral > option ‘marques d’usage et de domaine’ has 2437 entries that
contain the label ‘absolt’.
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the non-habitual use with INC can be added as well, with a remark ‘punctual action: the activity of
smoking’ (action ponctuelle: l’activité de fumer).
The following adjustments can be made for the other habitual INC in the list of 50 selected verbs:
ACHETER: add ‘to do for a living’
VENDRE: add ‘to do for a living’
TRADUIRE: add ‘to do for a living’
CUISINER: the verb entry is neither transitive nor intransitive: create two separate entries a
split intransitive and transitive meaning
ETUDIER: place the absolute meaning after the regular transitive meaning in the transitive
sub-meaning
ACCUEILLIR: no changes.
TRANSPORTER: add marker ‘absolt’ and the example ‘transporter en camion/en train/ en
voiture’ (from TLFi)
LIVRER: no changes (only idiomatic use livrer à domicile is sufficient)
ECRIRE: no changes
For the subtype construal INC, MANGER is selected. In this entry, two types of null complementation
are labeled by ‘absolt’: a lexical DNC manger de baisers (litt. ‘eat by kisses’), and an independent
absolute meaning (prendre des aliments, ‘take food’. For the subtype construal INCs, I argue that in
general, a separate sub-meaning should be chosen: the description will contain the restricted set of
possible objects, and by this, the subtype meaning is clearly distinguished from examples such as ‘I
couldn’t eat or drink anymore’ with non-habitual INC. For the group of lexical DNC that are verbspecific, I propose to introduce a new label: ‘expr. abs.’, an abbreviation for expression absolue, or
‘absolute expression’. Still, these occurrences need a meta-lexicographic remark about the object, for
example ‘the direct object is a person’, and ‘the direct object are playing cards’ for the DNC prendre
avec la dame.
This brings us to the prototype verb entry PRENDRE that has been selected for FNC with the role of
experiencer. For the group of FNC with the role of experiencer I also selected the entry of PRENDRE.
From the analysis in chapter 4 followed that FNC with the role of experiencer are for three out of four
types as productive as non-lexically licensed DNC: I argue that there is no need to add examples of
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FNC in verb entries for agacer ( j’agace), surprendre (vos vêtements surprennent), and énerver (ça
énerve). Sometimes, these are already inserted by Robert and marked with an * (informal language
register). The expression Il faut prendre sur soi in (98)a is a very good candidate for the label ‘expr.
abs.’.
Finally, For FNC with the role of causee, PERMETTRE is selected. This use is not found in the entry
in the Grand Robert. A few examples are close to the FNC use such as in (111)a. The sub-meaning in
(111)b, would be a suitable candidate to add an example with a FNC.
(111)a Fam., plais. Ce n'est pas permis d'être aussi naïf, aussi bête, c'est excessif.
‘Informal, joking. It is not allowed to be so naive, so stupid, it is excessive.
(111)b Permettre de… (suivi de l'inf.). Donner, laisser la faculté, le moyen, la possibilité de…
‘Allow to…. (followed by an infinitive verb). Give the possibility, occasion to…’
A remark ‘possible to deleted the indirect object’ would be useful in this case. This meta-lexicographic
remark could also be inserted in entries such as rendre, inviter, aider…
5.4 Concluding remarks
The aim of this chapter was to elaborate an adequate way to systematically integrate transitivity
marking with other marking of null complementation in a monolingual French dictionary. Larjavaara
defined transitivity as the two syntactic properties of transitive verbs, selecting a direct object and
allowing passivization. Langacker (1991 in L2000: 115) defines transitivity as the degree to which the
phrase in question resembles the prototype transitive phrase:
‘The conception of two participants thusly interacting is a central feature of the
canonical event model, the prototype for transitive clauses. The participants of a
prototypical clause are therefore separate and discrete physical objects that exist both
prior to the profiled event and independently of its occurrence.’(L2000: 115)
A more central question in this research is: what do the terms ‘transitive’ and ‘intransitive’ contribute
in a dictionary? How are they relevant for verb use with null complements?
Noailly is in favor of an analysis of null complementation in which the ‘grammaticality’ (verb
valency) of the transitive phrase remains intact when the object is deleted. The analysis of the famous
utterance ‘Antoine lit, et même à la plage’ determines for her that the presence of the zero complement
‘something’ is acceptable, even when optional complements (adverbial phrases) are added.
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Larjavaara (1998) also argues that these are just syntactic labels that do not influence the acceptability
of object deletion. Verbs that are transitive in nature (verbs that in general occur with a direct object)
do not behave in a ‘intransitive way’ since for DNC, the referent can always be retrieved from the
(non-)linguistic context. In addition, she also claims that INC does not have an effect on verb valency
because the verb form, verb function and its semantic content remain unchanged (Larjavaara 1998:
310). I would support this argument by putting forward that definite and free object deletion in my
opinion, are a choice of the speaker: it is a choice of perspective whether and how he/she specifies and
expresses the direct object. For lexically licensed classes of null complements, the ability to freely use
object deletion is restricted by lexical means, since the hearer should be able to capture the right
referent form the set of possible referents an utterance leaves open. In order for the hearer to be
understood, he/she has to take into consideration cultural- and language-specific implications (with
habitual activities and subtype construals), and semantic properties of verbs (choosing the right verb
for INC). Sometimes, INC verbs are licensed by contextual factors, that have been mentioned by
Larjavaara. I argue that deactuaization is the most influencing factors amongst the factor mentioned in
section 3.1.2.
In section 2.1 the framework for the lexicographic analysis of this chapter has been determined.
Several linguists argue in favor of separating the verb meanings of full transitive phrases and phrases
with null complementation (Reigel et al, Fillmore), while others (Larjavaara, Atkins, Kegl and Levin)
argue that neither verb form ,nor function and semantic content differ in both uses of the verb. The
article of Atkins, Kegl and Levin has been presented for the argument that null complementation is not
idiosyncratic and therefore not uniquely lexically defined. In addition, they present a critical
discussion of the content of verb entries: in this article, various components of lexical entries in
learners dictionaries of English are examined, especially example sentences, and suggestions are made
to make dictionary formats more effective. The basic function of example sentences is ‘ reinforcing the
information given elsewhere in the entry and representing idioms, collocations and idiosyncratic
usage. A second function is to convey the systematic variations in the meaning of a verb linked to its
syntactic context.’ (Atkins, Kegl & Levin 1986: 1)
The analysis of the transitivity/intransitivity distinction reveals that a general indication of a verb’s
syntactic frame [transitive or intransitive] is ‘a purely syntactic property that can be associated with
each individual verb or with each sense of a verb’ (Atkins, Kegl & Levin 1986: 5) Difficulties with
classifying verbs can be overcome but the authors express the need to always relate the transitivity
information to the meaning(s) given. This seems relatively straightforward and remains a vague
conclusion. If the lexicographer chooses to indicate that a verb is both transitive and intransitive, the
‘dual classification’(Atkins, Kegl & Levin 1986: 9) brings forth organizational choices.
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A third question that needs to be asked is: do users benefit from a different structural approach for null
complements? Atkins, Kegl & Levin claim that the user needs both sense-based links and transitivitybased links in a verb entry (Atkins, Kegl & Levin 1986: 27). They propose intertextual links between
transitivity patterns and between related senses so that the user can search by both devices. In my
opinion, this option is not feasible for a non-electronic dictionary. The danger of adopting two
strategies is that for every verb individually a choice has to be made where and how these links are
inserted and if they contribute to a better understanding of the relation between form and meaning.
As a consequence, I proposed only small adjustments to the existing entries in the Grand Robert for a
number of verb entries. In total, roughly 500 verb entries are involved in null complementation
already, since a general search for the label ‘absolt’ resulted in approximately 500 verbs. For a
structural change in this dictionary, more lexicographic work has to be done. More examples of
informal use could be added and labeled with new labels such as ‘expr. Abs.’ that I have proposed for
lexically licensed DNC. With the rise of electronic dictionaries, I have the strong hope that dictionary
improvements can be inserted structurally, based on new insights from theoretical linguistics and
empirical research.
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Chapter 6: Discussion
6.1 Research questions
The final chapter discusses the three steps that the analysis in this study consisted of and the
implications of the results, remarks and (counter) examples it leads to. First, an overview is given of
the conclusions and the related main research questions.
The perspective chosen for this study has been lexical influences on null complementation. Focusing
on French and English, the different influential factors were compared. The sub-question, which
semantic, syntactic and pragmatic characteristics of null complementation are the core elements
of constructions with deleted objects, has been answered in chapters 3 to 5. For the selected
subclasses and their subtypes, individual conclusions can be drawn:
For the results of the reanalysis of French data, I concluded that Indefinite Null Complementation
(INC) is not only influenced by lexical factors (which where confirmed by new data) but also by some
contextual factors favoring them. One example of this is verbs in serial use, by which non-INC verbs
can occur without a deleted object (Il ne mange pas, il dévore). The claim that every INC occurrence
can be uttered out of the blue needs to be nuanced by admitting that contextual factors, although they
are not dominant over lexical factors, do influence the acceptability of phrases with INC. For example,
habitual factors can be different in origin, being a professional activity (il vend), or an absolute use (tu
ne tueras pas). This influences the meaning of the verb in a way that is not only encoded by the
semantics of the verb but by the aspectual context. In addition, even syntactically defined contextual
factors favor INC
Definite Null Complementation (DNC) has been studied into detail for French by Lambrecht and
Lemoine (2005) but still, the comparison with the dissertation of Larjavaara (2000) enabled a
refinement of the definition of the lexically licensed subclass of direct object DNC. The test proposed
by Lambrecht and Lemoine, which is that lexically licensed DNC can never contain a pronoun, is
neither attested in Larjavaara nor by my data: the data of Larjavaara have been inserted in the analysis
of this subclass and are complementary, contrary to what Larjavaara has suggested in her
dissertation.The results of the lexicographic research lead to assume that the lexically licensed DNC is
not like the other types of DNC for the class frequently occurs but is not fully productive, however.
My data could form support for this claim but the choice of corpora could have been too restrictive as
well.
Finally, the subclass of Free Null Complementation (FNC) was redefined as a subclass with both
lexical, syntactically-defined and contextual characteristics. The two subclasses of FNC with the role
of experiencer and with the role of causee are not fine-gained enough to characterize the behavior of
FNC. FNC seems to be a gradually lexically ranging class from the almost idiomatic type ça a fait du
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bien to the type ça gêne which is the least lexical subtype. However, I defined a syntactic pattern for
FNC with the role of experiencer: most of the occurrences correspond to the construction main verb +
à/de + infinitive verb. Since the deleted object in almost all FNC is an indirect object, the main verb
has to be ditransitive.
On the question how universal the subcategories of Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005) are, a partial
answer can be given only for English and French. From the accompanying glosses of the examples in
this study can be derived that as it was predicted by Lambrecht and Lemoine, in French more null
complementation is allowed. It is important to keep in mind that there might be other classes of null
complementation in English that have been overlooked by Lambrecht and Lemoine.
The second goal of my study was to see which implications old and new insights have on the
representation of contemporary French in monolingual dictionaries. For the question, do present-day
monolingual dictionaries of French consistently represent verb constructions with a deleted
object? my findings revealed that labeling of null implementation is unsystematically defined. The
most common label, ´absolute use´ is both overused (for other purposes, such as in noun and adjective
entries) and not always applied. The analysis in sections 5.1 and 5.2 revealed that other labels are used
as well and that all absolute uses are not treated together. In addition, my findings confirmed that INC
are found most often, followed by FNC and that DNC occurs least in verb entries. In structuring verb
entries, I have also put into question the entry structure divided over intransitive and transitive subentries. My second sub-question, is transitivity marking a device that is systematic enough for
treating object deletion in dictionaries?, was posed in order to integrate null complementation with
transitivity marking. Although my claim is that all null complementation of direct objects should be
headed under transitive use (transitivity-based approach), I have only proposed minor adjustments in
order to improve verb entries with INC and/or FNC. The main recommendations for improving the
representation of null complementation in French monolingual dictionaries are:
-extend the number of examples of INC and FNC
-label all the occurrences of null complementation consistently by type, using ´absolt´ for
lexicaly licensed null complements and ´expr. abs.´ for absolute expressions such as DNC.
-insert INC and DNC under the meaning where it belongs to, even though this means several
uses with null complementation of the same verb are split up.
-add DNC examples at a larger scale.
The main findings for the separate groups of INC, DNC and FNC have been treated above. In
comparing occurrences of the different groups, the lines remain thin between pairs such as subtype
INC and DNC, and DNC and FNC with the subject ça. One needs to be careful is generaliying across
79
groups and amongst languages, such as in the lexically licensed DNC class, whose construction is not
allowed in English but does exist in French. An in-dept analysis of the verbs in appendix 4 and a larger
scale comparison of lexically licensed null complementation could make a useful contribution to the
ongoing debate on the limits of this phenomenon.
6.2 Further research
In this present study, many side paths and topics had to be left aside for further research. Labile verbs
and topicality are the closest related topics to the selection that has been investigated.
The term ‘labile verbs’ is a term from Larjavaara for verbs where the object of a transitive phrase
become the subject of an intransitive phrase, also known as the causative/inchoative alternation. Levin
mentions this alternation as transitive-intransitive alternation (Levin 1993: 32).
(112)a I burped the baby.
‘cause to V-intransitive’
(112)b The baby burped.
‘With exception of suffocate verbs, which may deserve separate treatment, these verbs are felt to be
basically intransitive verbs describing internally controlled actions which in certain circumstances can
be externally controlled (caused), giving rise to the transitive use of the verb.’(Levin 2008: 32).
This topic was excluded because it exceeds object deletion and is about reorganizing the realization of
arguments. Still, comparing a lexicographic analysis of these verbs and the selected categories of
object deletion would add an interesting point of view on transitivity alternations and what
lexicographic choices have to be made in order to correctly represent the flexibility of the group of
verbs that allows causative/inchoative alternation.
In this research, not only all syntactic and semantic questions surrounding null complementation have
been brought up, the contextual (topical) factors of object deletion deserve much more attention.
Especially in French, object deletion seems to be related to topicality in a complex way: the variation
Corneille, je connais and Corneille, je le connais is a research topic on its own. For the focus of this
thesis, lexicographic representation in contemporary French dictionaries, these topics exceed my
focus. Still, empirical research on this domain would both reinforce and be enforced by the findings of
this present study. Further research is strongly encouraged.
80
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Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference of the University of Waterloo Centre for the Oxford
English Dictionary: Advances in Lexicology, pp. 33-29.
Cummins, S., and Roberge, Y. (2005) ´A modular account of null complements in French´, Syntax 8,
pp. 44-64.
Fillmore, C. (1986) ‘Pragmatically controlled zero anaphora’ The Annual Proceedings of the Berkeley
Linguistic Society, pp. 95-107.
Fillmore, C. and Kay, P. (1995) Construction Grammar. Ms. Distributed by CSLI Publications,
Stanford.
Fodor, J. and Fodor, J. (1980) ‘Functional structure, quantifiers, and meaning postulates’ Linguistic
Inquiry 11, pp.759-770.
Fonágy, I. (1985) «J’aime ϕ. Je connais ϕ. Verbes transitifs à objet latent». Revue Romane, 20. 3-35.
Katz, J and Postal, P. (1964) An integrated theory of linguistic description, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press.
Lambrecht, K. and Lemoine, K. (2005) ‘Definite null objects in spoken French: A constructional
grammar account’. Grammatical constructions: back to the roots, eds. M. Fried and H. C. Boas, pp.
13-55.
Larjavaara, M (2000) Présence ou absence de l’objet. Limites du possible en français contemporain.
Dissertation, Université de Helsinki.
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assertion, information : Actes du colloque d’Uppsala en linguistique française, 6 - 9 juin 1996, ed. M.
Forsgren, K. Jonasson et H. Kronning, Studia Romanica Upsaliensia 56, Acta Universitatis
Upsaliensis, Uppsala, pp. 307 - 315.
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sémantiques’, ed. D.Willems et L. Mélis, Travaux de linguistique 35, pp. 79- 88.
Levin, B. (2006) `English Object Alternations: A Unified Account´, unpublished ms., Stanford
University, Stanford, CA.
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Mittwoch, A. (1971) ‘Idioms and Unspecified NP deletion’ in Travaux de Linguistique, Linguistic
Inquiry 2, pp. 255-259.
Noailly, M. (1997a) ‘Les traces de l’actant objet dans l’emploi absolu’ éd. D.Willems et L. Mélis,
Travaux de linguistique 35, pp. 39-47.
Noailly, M. (1997b) ‘Les mystères de la transitivité invisible’. Langages 127, pp. 96-109.
Noailly, M. (1998) ‘Emploi absolu, anaphore zéro et transitivité’, A. Rousseau, (ed) La Transitivité,
Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, Villeneuve d’Asq, France, pp. 131-144.
Rizzi, L. (1986) ‘Null objects in Italian and the Theory of the pro’ Linguistic Inquiry, vol. 17 no. 3, pp.
501-557.
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Willems, D. (1977) ‘Recherches en syntaxe verbale : quelques remarques sur la construction absolue’,
Travaux de Linguistique, pp. 113-125.
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Allerton, D. (1975) ‘Deletion and proform reduction’ Journal of Linguistics 11, pp. 213-237.
Amary, V. (1997) ´Vers une typologie des objets nuls en français´, Verbum 4. pp.375—390.
Ariel, M. (1990) Accessing noun-phrase antecedents, London/New York: Routledge.
Blom, C. (2012) ‘AGC fragment for verbs with optional arguments’ presentation, UU (unpublished
MA thesis).
Colleman, T. (2002) ‘On representing verb complementation patterns in dictionaries: the approach of
the CVVD’, Proceedings of the eleventh International Symposium on Lexicography , University
Copenhagen, Symposium on lexicography XI . Tübingen: Niemeyer. Pp 183-193.
Fraser, B. and Ross, J. (1970) ‘Idioms and Unspecified NP deletion’ Linguistic Inquiry 1, pp. 264-265.
Dubois, J. (1967) Grammaire structurale du français : le verbe, Langue et langage, Larousse, Paris.
Goldberg, A. (1995) Constructions : a construction grammar approach to argument structure,
University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
Langacker, R.(1991) Foundations of cognitive grammar, volume II, Stanford University Press,
Stanford.
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en français parlé´, Absence de marques et représentation de l’absence 1, éd. J. Chuquet et M. Fryd,
Travaux linguistiques de CERLICO 9, Presses universitaires de Rennes, Rennes, pp. 279—309.
Le Goffic, P. (1993) Grammaire de la phrase française. Hachette, Paris.
Noailly, M. (1996) ‘Le vide des choses’, Cahiers de praxématique 27. pp. 73-90.
Riegel, M. & Pellat, J.-Chr. & Rioul, R. (1994) Grammaire méthodique du français. Paris.
Vendler, Z. 1967. ´Verbs and times´, Linguistics in philosophy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
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Corpora
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Procter P. (Ed) (1978) Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. London: Longman Group.
83
Appendix 1: Indefinite Null Complements (INC)
For lists of the same 50 French verbs are treated in the appendices 1 and 2. The lists are not claimed to
be inclusive. Unless indicated else, the verbs occur with non-habitual INC. The abbreviations used are
HAB = habitual INC,
SUB = subtype INC.
LIT = example dans la littérature
L&L 2005: Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005)
L2000: Larjavaara (2000)
Lire ‘to read’
()
Maman est occupé, elle lit.
(LIT: L&L 2005: 22) INC
´Mom is busy, she is reading.´
()
« Antoine lit. »
« Et il lit quoi ? »
[Noailly 1997a : 98] (L2000: 82)
´Antoine reads. -And what does he read ?´
Fumer ‘to smoke’
Réviser ´to revize/study´
Prendre ´to take´
The verb prendre requires a semantic frame and is therefore classified as DNC and FNC. See section
2.1.
Rapporter ´to bring in´
()
Ça rapporte.
(LIT: L&L2005: 25) SUB
´It brings in.´
Contribuer ´to contribute´
()
I contributed to the movement.
EN: (LIT: Fillmore 1986: 91)
()
La sœur de mon père, ma tante, avait inconsciemment contribué à ce retournement…
S307 - MAKINE.A , LE TESTAMENT FRANCAIS, 1995, p. 184)
(FT
‘The sister of my father, my aunt, had unconsciously contributed to this reversal…’
84
Manger ´to eat´
()
Il ne mange pas, il dévore.
(LIT: Fillmore 1986: 21)
()
Docteur, ma fille ne mange plus.
(LIT: Noailly, 1998: 131)
‘Doctor, my daughter doesn’t eat anymore.’
´He doesn’t eat, he devours.’
()
J´avais tellement mal à la gorge que je ne pouvais ni manger ni boire.
(LIT: L&L 2005: 22) INC
´My throat hurt so much that I couldn´t eat or drink.´
()
Non merci, j´ai déjà mangé.
(LIT: L&L 2005: 25) SUB
´No thanks, I´ve already eaten.´
()
Il faut manger pour vivre et non pas vivre pour manger.
(LIT: Riegel et al 1995: 220)
Acheter ´to buy´
()
Le bourgeois ne produit pas: il dirige, administre, répartit, achète, creuse, etc.
(LIT: L&L 2005: 24)
´The bourgeois does not produce: he directs, manages, distibutes, buys and sells.´
Vendre ´to sell´
()
Mon oncle vend.
(LIT: L&L 2005: 24)
´My uncle sells.
Voir ´to see´
()
La fumée était si épaisse qu´on ne voyait plus.
(LIT: L2000: 22)
´The smoke was so thick that you couldn´t see anymore.´
85
()
Je pensais qu’il allait me libérer, mais j’ai vu tout de suite, à sa tête. [Cauwelaert 1994 : 40]
Imiter ´to imitate´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Aimer ´to love´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Ordonner ´to order´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Dire ´to say´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Traduire ´to translate´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Cuisiner ´to cook´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Jouer ´to play´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Etudier ´to study´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Laver ´to wash´
() « [...] Mais il est trop, ce gosse, mon tee-shirt, enfin ! On voit que ce n’est pas lui qui lave. [...] »
[le bébé vient de salir son tee-shirt]
(LIT:L2000 : 86) HAB
‘But he is too much, this boy, that’s my t-shirt! We see it is not him who’s doing the laundry. [the
baby just made the t-shirt dirty]’
Ouvrir ´to open´
Neither INC nor FNC
Verrouiller ´to lock´
()
Elle ressortit d’un pas nerveux et, tandis que je posais les billets sur un guéridon, lui dit avec
humeur qu’elle lui téléphonerait. Placide, il nous lança « au plaisir », et verrouilla derrière
nous. [Cauwelaert 1986 : 143]
(LIT: L2000:44)
86
Embaucher ´to hire´
()
Est-ce qu´ils embachent chez Renault?
(LIT: L&L 2005: 22)
´Are they hiring at the Renault plant?´
()
D’autant qu’en dépit de la flambée de la consommation, les grandes entreprises industrielles se
refusent obstinément à embaucher. [Nouvel Observateur 1565/1994 : 9]
(LIT: L2000: 79)
Tuer ´to kill´
()
Tu ne tueras pas.
(LIT: L&L2005: 24)
´Thou shalt not kill.´
()
‘[the lawyer (the speaker) doesn’t know what is the crime he has to defend the accused from.]
[lawyer:] “Because I affirm and repeat it here: this man, morally, does not have anything in
common with his crime.”
[accused:] “Which crime??” [...]
[lawyer:] “But, your…. Ehm the murder.”[…]
[prosecutor] “Your Honor, Ms deLatour-Jacob seems to hint at an element that we don’t know
of. […] Or else he has mistaken the case.” […] So he did not kill. I seem smart.’
()
« Algérie : qui tue ?»
(LIT: L2000: 81)
´Algeria: Who kills?´
Accueillir ´to welcome´
()
À l’embarquement la nana de l’accueil a voulu voir Jézabelle pour lui souhaiter la bienvenue.
[...] Finalement elle a un peu attendu puis, comme il y avait des couples à s’impatienter
derrière moi, [...] elle s’est remise à accueillir. [Gunzig 1997 : 30]
(LIT: L2000 :92) HAB
‘While boarding, the woman of the welcome wanted to see Jézabelle in order to welcome her.
[…] Finally, she had waited for a while but because some couples were waiting behind her
[…] she went to welcome (them).’
Transporter ´to transport´
()
Alors, ne serait-il pas judicieux d’utiliser les routes de façon plus économique,
c’est-à-dire, de rouler moins, mais de transporter plus ? [...] Ils sont peu nombreux
([...]), mais transportent beaucoup ([...]).
87
(LIT: L2000: 93) HAB
´So it is not better to use the translation is a most cost-effective manner, as to say to drive less
and to transport more? […] there ar enot many of them but (they) transport a lot [...]´
Livrer ´to deliver´
()
« J’ai perdu mon mari voilà quatre ans. Le samedi, fin de semaine, Joseph était soûl comme
une grive au genièvre. Il livrait pour la Shell. » Elle s’est remise à mâcher une tartine de
beurre sans me lâcher du regard.
(LIT: L2000: 93) HAB
´I lost my husband four years ago. On saturdays, at the ed of the week, Joseph was as drunk as
a translation with jenever. He delieverd for Shell.´ She started to chew a piece of buttercake
again without stopping to lok at me.´
Fermer ´to close´
Neither INC nor FNC
Insister ´to insist´
Neither INC nor FNC
Chercher ´to see, to look for´
Neither INC nor FNC
Conduire ´to drive´
()
Claude conduit.
(LIT: L2000: 19)
Décrocher ´to take up the telephone´
()
Mais les doigts du commissaire divisionnaire Legendre se tenaient à distance respectueuse de
ce dossier. « Une petite envie de transparence, Xavier ? Décrochez votre téléphone et appelez
votre ministre. [...] » [onze lignes de texte] « Appelez votre ministre !» Ce fut le téléphone qui
appela le divisionnaire Legendre. Une sonnerie qui le figea sur place. « C’est peut-être lui !
C’est peut-être votre ministre de tutelle. Décrochez. » Sonneries. « Décrochez, bon Dieu ! Ces
appareils nous cassent les tympans !» [Pennac 1997a : 550]
(LIT: L2000: 47) SUB
‘But the fingers of the divisional commissioner Legendre kept at a res ectful distance of
this file.“Do you like a bit of transparency, Xavier? Take your telephone and call your
minister.” […] “Call your minister!” It was the telephone who called the divisional Legendre.
A ringing telephone froze him at his desk. “It might be him! It might be the minister
supervising you. Take.” Ringing. “Take [it] , oh Lord ! These telephones break our
88
eardrums!”.’
()
Puis, il avait décroché le téléphone, obtenu une ligne interurbaine par le 9, composé son
numéro sans quitter des yeux la façade de l'immeuble. Patricia avait vite décroché […]
(FT: S313 - LABRO.P , DES BATEAUX DANS LA NUIT, 1982, p. 93 ) SUB
‘Then he had taken up the telephone, got a long-distance number starting with a 9, entered the
number while staring at the front of the building. Patricia had quickly taken (the telephone
[…]’
Déverrouiller ´to unlock´
See verrouiller
Arriver ´to arrive´
()
She arrived.
EN: (LIT: Fillmore 1986: 101)
Partir ´to leave´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Regarder ´to look, to see´
INC (no examples from the literature fit the criteria)
Engueuler ´to insult´
Agacer ´to irrituate´
Faire ´to do´
()
Je fais oû on me dit de faire.
(LIT: Fonagy 1985: 10)
´I do (it) where I need to´
Gêner ´to hinder´
Surprendre ´to surpirse´
Permettre ´to allow´
Inviter ´to invite´
Aider ´to help
89
Amener ´to bring back´
()
Il paraît que c´est la lionne qui va chasser et qui amène. (Corpus Giacomi)
(LIT: L&L 2005: 24)
´It seems that it is the lioness that goes hunting and that brings back.´
Autoriser ´to authorize´
Neither INC nor FNC
Emouvoir ´to move´
Incommoder ´to
Donner ´to give´
Afficher ´to expose´
()
« [...] ils trouvent que j’affiche. » INC (culturally defined INC)
(LIT: L2000: 53 in Tout ! 12/1971 : 7)
´[...] they think I expose.´
()
Devant moi, une ancienne jolie femme exhibait ses bijoux. On affiche ce qu'on peut.
(FT: R820 - JARDIN.A , BILLE EN TETE, 1986, p. 94)
´Before me, an attractive lady showes her jewels. We expose what we can.´
Other INC verbs:
Déranger ´to disturb´
()
Dix secondes suffisent pour se faire une idée en regardant au mur; un peintre dérange bien
moins qu´un écrivain.
(LIT: L2000: 82)
´Ten seconds are enough to form an idea, looking at the wall; a painter disturbs ar less than a
writer.´
()
[assassinat d’un journaliste en Algérie :] Car il n’était pas de ceux auxquels on fait baisser
pavillon. Aussi dérangeait-il beaucoup.
(LIT: L2000: 61)
‘In foreign politics, France is back: that is to say, again France disturbs… In internal affairs:
unemployment is there.’
Condamner ´to condemn´
()
[titre :] KOSOVO : LA CHINE CONDAMNE MAIS LES AFFAIRES CONTINUENT
(LIT: L2000: 54)
90
´China condemns but business continues´
Écraser (equivalent of gagner, ´to win´)
()
« Alors, on a bien écrasé ?» […]
(LIT: L2000 :54)
´So we have won?´
Créer ´to create´
()
[Le studio de création Apple] « Le pouvoir de créer au bout de vos doigts. »
(LIT: Noailly 1997b)
´The power to create within reach´
Mordre ´to bite´
()
Mon chien ne mord pas.
(LIT: L&L2005: 24) absolute use
´My dog doesn´t bite.´
Attirer ´to attract´
()
Les écrivains attirent sexuellement.
LIT: L&L 2005: 24
´Writers attract sexually.´
Boire ´to drink´
()
Il a encore bu.
(LIT: L&L 2000: 24)
‘He drank again’ (alcohol)
91
Appendix 2: Free null complements (FNC)
Two types of FNC are distinguished: the null complement has the role of causee (CAUS) or the role of
experiencer (EXP). The verbs that have no examples or remark are INC.
EN = Example in English from the literature.
LIT: example from the literature
L1998 = Larjavaara (1998)
L2000 = Larjavaara (2000)
L&L2005 = Lambrecht and Lemoine (2005)
FT = corpus Frantext
LN = corpus Lexisnexis
Lire ´to read´
Fumer ´to smoke´
Réviser ´to reviz/study´
Prendre ´to take´
In absence of data from the literature, one example of FNC in a verb entry is shown in this appendix:
()
Absolt. Il faut prendre sur soi.
Grand Robert, PRENDRE
‘One needs to grim and hold it.’
()
Absolt. Savoir prendre quelqu’un, savoir lui plaire
Grand Robert, PRENDRE
‘Know how to please someone’
Rapporter ´to birng in´
Contribuer ´to contribute´
Manger ´to eat´
Acheter ´to buy´
Vendre ´to sell´
Voir ´to see´
Imiter ´to imitate´
Aimer ´to love´
92
Ordonner ´to order´
Dire ´to say´
Traduire ´to translate´
Cuisiner ´to cook´
Jouer ´to play´
Etudier ´to study´
Laver ´laver´
Ouvrir´to open´
Verrouiller ´to lock´
Embaucher ´to hire´
Tuer ´to kill´
Accueillir ´to welcome´
Transporter ´to transport´
Livrer ´to deliver´
Fermer ´to close´
Insister ´to insist´
Chercher ´to see, to look or´
Conduire ´to drive´
Décrocher ´to take up the telephone´
Écrire ´to write´
Déverrouiller ´to unlock´
Arriver ´to arrive´
Partir ´to leave´
()
Il fallait partir.
(LIT: L&L 2005: 34) FNC: uncontrolled subject only (see section 1.3)
It was necessary to leave.
Regarder ´to look, to see´
Engueuler ´to insult´
()
?Arrête d’engueuler.
(LIT: L&l 2005: 35)
93
´Stop insulting (me).
Agacer ´to irritate´
()
Bon ben, j’agace.
(LIT: L&L2005:35) EXP
‘OK, I irritate (you/everyone/people).’
Faire ´to do´
()
Ça fait du bien.
(LIT: L&L 2005: 35) EXP
‘It does (me/one/them) good’
Gêner ´to hinder´
()
Ça gêne.
(LIT L&L 2005: 35)
‘It hinders.´ EXP
Surprendre ´to surprise´
()
Vos vêtements surprennent pour un professeur.
(LIT: L1998) EXP
´Your clothes surprise (me/people) for a professor.´
Permettre ´to allow´
()
Cela permet de mieux dormir.
(LIT: L&L2005: 35) CAUS
‘That allows (you/me/them) to sleep better’
()
Mais il n'y a pas de formule magique qui permette de construire quelque chose d'aussi difficile
que l'Europe unie […]
(LN : 10_DeGaulle_7)
‘But there is no magic formula that allows to build something as difficult as the unified Europe
[…]’
94
Inviter ´to invite´
()
Le beau temps invitait à rester.
((LIT: L&L 2005: 36) CAUS
‘The nice weather invites (us/them) to stay.’
Aider ´to help´
()
Les grands poètes aident à vivre.
(LIT: 2005: 36) CAUS
‘Great poets help (you) live.’
Amener ´to bring to´
()
La simplicité et l´élégance des solutions ici proposées amènent à se demander pourquoi on a
attendu si longtemps pour y arriver.
(LIT: L2005: 36)
´The simplicity and elegance of the solutions proposed here lead (one) to wonder why it has
taken so long to arrive at them. ´
Autoriser ´to authorize´
Émouvoir ´to move´
() [...] l’état intéressant des dames [enceintes] en présence. [...] Le chanteur Renaud nous gratifia de
l’un
de ses vieux tubes, « En cloque », qui émut beaucoup, car il y dit que sa femme
enceinte est « belle comme un fruit trop mûr ». [sur une émission à la télévision] [Le Monde
19/4/1995 : 31]#
(LIT: L2000: 102) EXP
´… the interesting state of the present [pregnant] ladies. […] Renaud the singer made us
happy
with one of his old hits, “As a bell”, that moved a lot [was very moving] because he said there that
a pregnant woman is like “as beautiful as a fruit”
Incommoder ´to disturb´
() Édouard frémissait de rage. En voyant le prince Ignace descendre de la Rolls qui était allée le
quérir à l’aéroport de Cointrin, il avait eu une impression néfaste. Ce vieillard long et maigre [...]
incommodait. [San-Antonio 1994 : 241]
(LIT: L2000: 102) EXP
‘Édouard shivered from anger. Seeing prince Ignace stepping out of the Rolls that had
95
gone seeking him at the airport of Cointrin, he had an ill-fated impression. This long and skinny
old man disturbed.’
Donner
()
Donne-le! / Donne !
(LIT: L&L2005: 45) counter example, imperatives are excluded
Take-it! / Take!
()
[...] -emblèmes nets, tableau parfait d' une fortune irrémédiable, qui donne à penser que le
Diable fait toujours bien tout ce qu' il fait !
(FT: R282 - BAUDELAIRE.CH , LES FLEURS DU MAL, 1861, p. 87)
()
Ne danse pas trop, ça donne à penser.
(FT: S370 - BLONDIN.A , UN MALIN PLAISIR, 1991, p. 36)
D'une part ce qu'il donne à voir est désirable […]
()
(FT: S318 - DOLTO.F , LA CAUSE DES ENFANTS, 1985, p. 81)
Afficher
Other FNC verbs:
Embêter ´to annoy´
()
Arrête d’embêter.
(LIT: L&L2005: 35) CAUS
‘Stop annoying (me/everyone)’
Ennuyer ´to bore´
()
?Ça ennuie.
(LIT: L&L 2005: 35)
‘It bores.’
Réjouir ´to delight´
96
()
?Ça réjouit.
It delights.
Émouvoir ´to move´
()
[...] l’état intéressant des dames [enceintes] en présence. [...] Le chanteur Renaud nous gratifia
de l’un de ses vieux tubes, « En cloque », qui émut beaucoup, car il y dit que sa femme
enceinte est « belle comme un fruit trop mûr ». [sur une émission à la télévision] [Le Monde
19/4/1995 : 31]
(LIT: L2000: 102) EXP
‘… the interesting state of the present [pregnant] ladies. […] Renaud the singer made us
happy with one of his old hits, “As a bell”, that moved a lot [was very moving] because he
said there that a pregnant woman is like “as beautiful as a fruit”
Incommoder ´to disturb´
()
Édouard frémissait de rage. En voyant le prince Ignace descendre de la Rolls qui était allée le
quérir à l’aéroport de Cointrin, il avait eu une impression néfaste. Ce vieillard long et maigre
[...] incommodait. [San-Antonio 1994 : 241]
(LIT: L2000: 102) EXP
‘Édouard shivered from anger. Seeing the prince Ignace stepping out of the Rolls that had
gone seeking him at the airport of Cointrin, he had an ill-fated impression. This long and
skinny old man disturbed.’
Épiler ´to depilate´
()
Le coiffeur sortit ses ciseaux, ses rasoirs. « Marcel, passe-moi le coupe-chou, rapplique ici
avec la tondeuse. » Partout ça épilait. Tous volontaires pour voir la vraie rousse. Cinq-six
hommes à la fois, les hommes entouraient les fautives. [après la guerre]
(LIT: L2000: 91) EXP
‘The hairdresser took his scissors. “Marcel, give me the razor, use the clippers here.”
Everywhere it depilated. All freely willing to see the real police. Five, six men at a time, the
men surrounded the wrong men. [after the war]’
Flinguer ´to plug´
()
« [...] Stojilkovicz a armé ces vieilles pour qu’elles puissent se défendre contre l’égorgeur, et,
tous les dimanches après-midi, il les entraîne : tir d’instinct, tir à la cible, tir couché, tir
plongeant, ça flingue à tout va là-dedans, [...] »
(LIT: L2000: 91) EXP
[…] Stojikovicz has armed his elderly in order to defend themselves against the killer, and,
97
every sunday afternoon he trained them: intuitive shot, aimed shot, shot from sleeping
position, shot in water, it plugged everywhere, […]’
EN: to warn
()
The sign warned (us) against skating on the pond.
(LIT: Levin 1993: 39) CAUS (see section 3.6.2)
Suffire ´to suffice´
()
Ce qu'on appelle à tort la composition, et qu'il suffirait de nommer l'équilibre interne d'un
roman […]
(FT: R869 - GRACQ.J , EN LISANT EN ECRIVANT, 1980, p. 71) CAUS
‘What we allegedly call the composition, and what suffices to call the internal balance of a
novel […]’
()
Il suffit de dire cela pour comprendre qu'en ce qui concerne la défense de la France […] (LN :
10_DeGaulle_10) CAUS
‘Ilwas sufficient to say that in order to understand that concerning the defense of France […]’
Interdire ´to forbid´
()
En effet, l'article 46 de la Constitution interdit de procéder par la voie parlementaire à toute
modification concernant le Sénat […]
(LN : 24_DeGaulle_3) CAUS
‘It is true that article 46 of the Constitution forbids to proceed by the parliament any change
concerning the Senate […]’
Demander ´to ask´
()
Eh bien, je demande à réfléchir !
(LN: 06_DeGaulle_16) CAUS
´I ask to think (about it)!´
Énerver ´to irritate´
()
Pourquoi elle reste dans son coin â attendre toute sa vie ce type pas intéressant? Ça énerve
un peu.
98
(LIT: L2000: 86) EXP
´Why does she stay in her corner waiting all her life for his uninteresting guy? It irritates
(me/one) quite a bit.´
99
Appendix 3: Five prototype verb entries
The verb entries of the French verbs regarder ´to look/see´, fumer ´to smoke´, manger ´to eat´, prendre
´to take´ and permettre ´to allow´ in the Grand Robert Électronique (version 2012) can be found
below. The examples are enumerated only and not inserted here. The propositions for improvement
can be found in section 5.3: Towards better structured examples of null complementation in the Grand
Robert.
REGARDER
regarder [ʀ(ə)gaʀde] v. tr.
ÉTYM. 1080; viiie, rewardant; de re-, et garder, au sens de « veiller, prendre garde à… ».
REM. Au moyen âge, garder et regarder s'emploient concurremment dans de nombreux sens.
I V. tr. dir.
1 Faire en sorte de voir, s'appliquer à voir, en dirigeant, en accommandant sa vue. ➙ Œil,
vision, vue. Regarder une chose, une personne. ➙ Aviser (cit. 6); regard (attacher,
poser… son regard sur…); fam. azimuter, 3. mater, 2. piger, reluquer, 1. viser, zieuter.
Regarder avec attention. ➙ Attacher, coller (son regard, ses yeux), considérer,
contempler, examiner, inspecter, mirer (vx), observer, scruter. Regarder rapidement,
successivement… ➙ Jeter (un coup d'œil), parcourir, promener (ses regards). Regarder
un livre pour y chercher un renseignement. ➙ Consulter. Regarder le paysage, le ciel
(→ Forme, cit. 4). Regarder sa montre, et, par ext., regarder l'heure (cit. 34). Regarder une
émission de télévision, un film à la télé. Tu as fini de regarder le match ? Regarder une chose
sous toutes ses faces (cit. 30). Regarder de près (→ Drogue, cit. 1), de loin… Regarder une
chose au loin (cit. 16). Regarder les étoiles dans une lunette, au télescope. Regarder qqn par la
fenêtre, par la fente d'une persienne, par le trou de la serrure. — Par ext. | « Regarder la
nature par les yeux des autres » (→ Artiste, cit. 10). | « Monsieur de Cambremer vous
regardait avec son nez » (cit. 7).
◆ Regarder qqn. ➙ Dévisager, fixer, examiner (cit. 15); → Agacerie, cit. 3; attacher,
cit. 106; détourner, cit. 18; marché, cit. 19. — Regarder (qqch., qqn) de telle ou telle
manière, au physique ou au moral (avec telle expression…). ➙ Regard. Regarder en fermant
un œil (➙ Bornoyer, cligner), les yeux mi-clos. Regarder qqn, qqch. d'un œil rond
(→ Grimace, cit. 4), en écarquillant les yeux. Regarder en louchant (➙ Bigler, loucher).
Regarder qqn en face, bien en face (cit. 50 et 51), de face… — Fig. Il peut le regarder en
face : il n'a rien à se reprocher — Regarder qqn dans le blanc (cit. 24) des yeux, entre les deux
yeux, (1690) sous le nez* (au fig. ➙ Braver, narguer). Regarder qqn au visage : lui regarder
le visage. Se regarder le bras, la main. Regarder qqn, qqch. de côté (infra cit. 44), du coin de
l'œil (→ Étoupe, cit. 2), de biais, à la dérobée (cit. 32), par en dessous (cit. 12), en dessous,
d'un air sournois… (➙ Guigner, lorgner). Regarder avidement, avec avidité. ➙ Avaler,
boire (1. Boire, cit. 33), dévorer, 1. manger… (des yeux). Regarder avec insistance,
intensément (cit. 2), longuement (cit. 2). ➙ 1. Appuyer. Regarder distraitement, avec
indifférence (cit. 15 et 17). Regarder fixement (cit. 2). ➙ Fixer (cit. 9), quitter (ne pas
quitter des yeux); → Imposer, cit. 46. Regarder avec convoitise ➙ Convoiter, loucher
(sur). Regarder avec cupidité, envie; étonnement, stupéfaction…; avec complaisance, d'un œil
100
complaisant; avec émotion, sympathie (→ Malgracieux, cit. 3), passion, tendresse ➙ Couver
(des yeux). Regarder avec plaisir ➙ 1. Reposer (ses yeux sur…), repaître (ses yeux
de…). Regarder qqn en prenant des airs avantageux. ➙ Prunelle (jouer de la). Regarder
niaisement, bouche bée (➙ Bayer, béer), d'un air ahuri, avec des yeux de merlan frit…
Regarder qqn de haut (cit. 127) en bas, de haut, avec mépris (➙ Toiser; → Crâner, cit. 2).
Regarder qqn de travers* (1671), avec colère, hostilité… (→ 1. Frais, cit. 23). — (Fin xve).
Vx. Regarder qqn en pitié, avec compassion; ou avec mépris, dédain (→ Dessus, cit. 23;
dévôt, cit. 7). — Regarder d'un œil sec, sans émotion. — (xixe). Regarder d'un bon œil,
favorablement.
1 2
3
4
◆ Regarder qqn, oser le regarder. Il n'ose plus le regarder en face. — Prov. Un chien* regarde
bien un évêque. — Je ne veux pas seulement le regarder (Académie), se dit d'une personne
que l'on refuse de voir (par mépris…). — (1661). Vieilli. Se faire regarder : attirer l'attention.
5
◆ Loc. fam. Regardez voir ! — Regardez-moi cet idiot ! : constatez qu'il est idiot. Non mais,
regardez-moi ce travail ! (→ aussi Non, cit. 28).
◆ (1920). Vous ne m'avez pas regardé, se dit par manière de défi, de menace, ou de refus
ironique.
◆ (Avec le mot œil pour sujet). « L'œil (cit. 53) était dans la tombe et regardait Caïn ». Ses
yeux regardaient son nez (→ Loucherie, cit. 1.). — Absolt. Des yeux qui regardent bien en
face (→ Bon, cit. 43), sans gêne (cit. 13), tout droit.
6
◆ REM. Avec regarder (comme avec les autres verbes de perception) le compl. dir. peut être
le sujet d'une proposition (infinitive, etc.). → Caravelle, cit. Hérédia. Regarder souffrir qqn
(→ Ange, cit. 9). Regardez-moi faire. Regarder la pluie tomber, tomber la pluie. Il le regarde
travailler, scier du bois. Elle le regarde croquer une tartine (→ Dévisager, cit. 8). Il la regarda
passer. Il la regarda qui passait.
7
◆ Absolt. Regarder dans telle direction*. ➙ Diriger (son regard). Regarder en l'air
➙ 1. Lever (les yeux), dans l'espace, dans le vague… droit devant soi. Partir sans regarder
derrière soi, sans se retourner. Regarder autour de soi (→ Attache, cit. 11), de tous les côtés
(→ Marmonner, cit. 2). Regarder en bas, à ses pieds, à terre. ➙ 1. Baisser (les yeux, la
tête). → Marelle, cit. — Regarder à l'œil nu, dans une lunette (cit. 4). Mettre des lunettes pour
regarder. — Regarder partout, dans tous les coins, pour retrouver un objet égaré.
➙ Chercher.
8 9
2 Absolt. Observer. Savoir regarder, apprendre à regarder. Plus enclin (cit. 6) à regarder qu'à
juger. | « Regarde bien, écoute beaucoup, parle peu » (→ 1. Garde, cit. 32; et aussi garder,
cit. 43). Se contenter de regarder : assister en observateur*. — « Regarde ! je viens seul
m'asseoir (cit. 26) sur cette pierre… »
10
3 Envisager (de telle ou telle façon). Par métaphore. (Cf. aussi le sens fig., ci-dessous).
Regarder le danger, le péril en face : en approcher sans crainte, l'affronter fermement.
Regarder les choses, la vie… en face (cit. 52, 53 et 56). Regarder par telle ou telle face
(cit. 39), par les bons, les mauvais côtés (cit. 22). — Regarder droit devant soi (→ Aller,
cit. 67), en arrière (cit. 16). — Regarder son âme au microscope (cit. 4). Regarder par le petit,
101
le gros bout de la lorgnette*, de la lunette.
11
4 (V. 1250). Fig. Considérer, examiner par l'esprit, l'attention… Regarder la vie avec folie,
avec raison (→ Monotone, cit. 6). Il faut bien regarder les conséquences. ➙ Envisager.
Regarder avec prévention (cit. 2).
12
◆ Avoir en vue, envisager, rechercher. Il ne regarde que son intérêt. Vous ne regardez que le
plaisir (→ Hameçon, cit. 3).
◆ Vx. Avoir en considération ou en estime; se préoccuper (d'une chose).
◆ Loc. (1642). Regarder comme… (suivi d'un adj.). ➙ 1. Avoir (I., 6. : avoir pour…),
envisager (comme), estimer, juger, prendre, réputer, tenir (pour), trouver. Des idées
(cit. 56) que j'ai vu regarder comme dangereuses. Regarder comme vrai (➙ Croire). Être
regardé comme… ➙ Censé, considéré; passer (pour). Regarder comme un, le… (suivi d'un
subst.). → Amitié, cit. 12; analogie, cit. 8; famille, cit. 16; monstre, cit. 9.
13
5 (V. 1190). Sujet n. de chose; compl. n. de personne ou pron. Avoir rapport à… ➙ Affaire
(cit. 14; avoir affaire à…), concerner, intéresser, 1. toucher… (→ Grognard, cit. 1;
maxime, cit. 5). Ce qui regarde qqn : ce dont il peut s'occuper, se mêler à bon droit. Des gens
habiles (cit. 7) dans tout ce qui ne les regarde pas. Cela ne regarde personne (→ Conversion,
cit. 4). Cela ne vous regarde pas (→ Interviewer, cit. 3). Se mêler (cit. 27 et 32), s'occuper
(cit. 13) de ce qui vous regarde (→ aussi Immiscer, cit. 2). Mêle-toi de ce qui te regarde ! —
Un mensonge (cit. 1) qui regarde le passé, l'avenir. ➙ Concerner.
14 15
6 (Déb. xive). Sujet n. de chose. Être tourné* vers… Façade qui regarde la rue. La cave
regardait la rivière par deux soupiraux grillagés (cit. 1). — Intrans. Pays qui regarde vers la
mer (→ aussi Attraction, cit. 13; fascination, cit. 5).
16 17
II V. tr. indir. (Déb. xiie). Fig. Regarder à… : considérer attentivement; tenir compte de… Si
l'on regarde trop aux principes… (→ Croyance, cit. 12). — Loc. (1559). Regarder à la
dépense : hésiter, réfléchir longuement avant de dépenser. ➙ Compter, plaindre (la
dépense); économie (faire des); regardant. — (1578, in D. D. L.). Regarder de près à qqch.
Y regarder de près : considérer qqch. avec attention avant de juger, de se décider
(→ Discerner, cit. 2). Sans y regarder de trop près (→ Distance, cit. 7; et aussi fabriquer,
cit. 15). Il ne faut pas y regarder de trop près, de si près. — Y regarder à deux fois avant de se
décider : se garder, se méfier. — | Regarder au prix (Dorgelès, le Cabaret de la belle femme, p. 179). —
Absolt. | « Quand elle achète, elle n'y regarde pas » (Benjamin, Justice de paix, p. 89).
◆ Rare (au sens 5.). Dans un sens qui regarde à l'étymologie (→ 2. Poétique, cit. 3).
se regarder v. pron.
1 (1611). Réfl. Se regarder dans une glace (cit. 23, 25 et 26), un miroir*. Se regarder au
miroir (→ Légion, cit. 8). Passer son temps à se regarder. — (xxe). Il ne s'est pas regardé : il
ne voit pas ses propres travers, ses défauts, ses ridicules (en jugeant autrui). — Fig. Se
considérer soi-même (→ Mépriser, cit. 19).
18 19
20
21
◆ (1675). Se regarder comme le centre (cit. 22) de l'univers : se considérer comme…
2 (1690). Récipr. Se regarder l'un l'autre, les uns les autres. Se regarder au visage
(→ Désapprouver, cit. 2), en face, dans les yeux (→ Montrer, cit. 33). Deux augures
102
(1. Augure, cit. 3) ne peuvent se regarder sans rire. — Loc. prov. Se regarder en chiens (infra
cit. 33) de faïence.
◆ (1690). Fig. Être l'un en face de l'autre. Nos deux maisons se regardaient.
3 Passif. Être regardé. « Le soleil ni la mort ne se peuvent regarder fixement » (cit. 1;
→ aussi 1. mort, cit. 12). Dans quel sens cela se regarde-t-il ?
DÉR. Regard, regardable, regardant, regardeur.
COMP. Entre-regarder (s').
FUMER
1. fumer [fyme] v.
ÉTYM. V. 1120; lat. fumare, de fumus « fumée ».
I V. intr.
1 Dégager de la fumée. — (Le sujet désigne un corps en combustion). Bois vert qui fume
(→ Fendiller, cit. 1). Les cendres fument encore dans le foyer. L'encens fume sur l'autel
(cit. 7). Aromate, cinnamome (cit.) qui fume.
1 2
3
◆ (xiiie). Le sujet désigne un réceptacle, un conduit. Il voyait au loin fumer les cheminées de
l'usine. La bouche (cit. 25) du canon fume encore. Cassolette qui fume. Le cratère du Vésuve
fume depuis quelques jours. — Par métonymie. Les toits, les maisons du village fumaient.
4 5
6
7
8
◆ (1690, Furetière). Dégager une fumée anormale, trop abondante (par suite d'un mauvais
tirage, d'un mauvais fonctionnement de l'appareil). Le vent a tourné, ma cheminée fume : la
fumée ne s'échappe pas par le tuyau, elle est rabattue sur le foyer. Un vieux poêle qui fume.
— La lampe fume, baissez la mèche ! ➙ Filer.
9
2 (Mil. xvie, Ronsard). Exhaler de la vapeur (le sujet désigne un liquide ou un corps humide
plus chaud que l'air ambiant). Potage, ragoût qui fume. Vêtements mouillés qui fument devant
le feu. Les chevaux fumaient, essoufflés et couverts de sueur. Marais, prés inondés qui fument
au lever du soleil. Sang fraîchement répandu qu'on voit fumer. Fig. Le sang (d'Abel) fume
encore, comme si le meurtre était récent (→ Absoudre, cit. 2). — Chim. (Le sujet désigne des
substances volatiles en contact avec la vapeur d'eau atmosphérique). Neige carbonique qui
fume.
10 11
12
13
14
15
16
◆ Littér. Se former en nuage. Tourbillons de brumes qui fument au-dessus des montagnes
(→ Crête, cit. 5). | « Les maisons fumaient de poussière » (Giono).
17
3 (xve). Le sujet désigne un élément d'un être animé. Paraître dégager de la fumée ou de la
vapeur (sous l'action de la colère).
18 19
◆ (xve). Fig. (fam.). Ressentir une colère, un dépit violents. ➙ Pester, rager. Quand il a su la
nouvelle, il fallait le voir fumer ! Je ne te conseille pas d'aller voir le patron, il fume
drôlement. Fumer de rage. Ils vont en fumer !
◆ Être le siège d'un trouble (→ Les fumées* de l'alcool). Cerveau qui fume (d'ivresse,
d'excitation). | « Sa tête fumait de projets » (Guéhenno, in T. L. F.). — Fam. Ça fume : il se
déploie une activité débordante, ou : l'effort de réflexion, de concentration est intense
(comparaison avec une machine, un moteur, etc., fonctionnant à plein régime — → Ça
103
carbure — ou avec une réaction chimique s'accompagnant d'un fort dégagement de chaleur —
→ Potasser).
II V. tr.
1 (1611). Exposer, soumettre à l'action de la fumée. Fumer de la viande*, du lard, du
poisson, pour les sécher et les conserver. ➙ 1. Boucaner, saurer; 1. fumage, 1. fumaison
(→ Article, cit. 17). Fumer un verre pour observer le Soleil. Fumer de l'argent.
➙1. Fumage. — Chasse. Fumer un renard, l'enfumer dans son terrier pour l'obliger à en
sortir. — Technol. Fumer un four, un fourneau, y faire du feu pour le sécher quand il est
fraîchement construit ou réparé.
20
◆ Au p. p. (→ ci-dessous, fumé, ée) :
21
2 (1690, Furetière). Faire brûler (du tabac ou une autre substance) en aspirant la fumée par la
bouche. Fumer du tabac (→ Courir, cit. 60), de l'opium, du haschisch, du kif. Fumer une
cigarette, un cigare (cit. 3). ➙Brûler, 1. griller. Au p. p. Cigarette à demi fumée. — Fumer
une pipe (→ Colorer, cit. 13), un narguileh (→ Fainéantise, cit. 2). Il fume deux paquets (de
cigarettes) par jour. — Fumer habituellement. Elle fume la cigarette, le cigare. Fumer le
calumet* de la guerre, de la paix.
22 23
24
25
◆ (1837, in D. D. L.). Méd. Fumer la pipe, se dit de l'expression caractéristique de certains
malades frappés d'un coup d'apoplexie.
25.1
◆ Loc. fig. et fam. Fumer les mauves par la racine : être mort et enterré (→ Bouffer les
pissenlits* par la racine).
26
◆ Absolt. Consommer du tabac (en pipes, cigarettes, cigares…). ➙ Pétuner (vx). Avoir
l'habitude de fumer. Fumer comme un Suisse (→ Boire, cit. 16), comme un dragon, un sapeur,
une locomotive : fumer beaucoup. Le docteur lui a interdit de fumer. Défense de fumer.
L'histoire de Jean Bart fumant sur un tonneau de poudre (→ aussi Cigare, cit. 3; club, cit. 2;
coussin, cit. 1).
27 27.1
28
28.1
29
◆ Loc. fig. et fam. Fume, c'est du belge !, apostrophe insultante et obscène (invitant
l'interlocuteur à la fellation). → Basane, cit. 1.
REM. L'origine de l'expression n'est pas claire, la qualité du tabac belge (pour « pipes ») ne
suffit pas à expliquer clairement l'expression (Rey et Chantreau); à noter que les pipes belges
étaient renommées au xixe s. (→ Belge, cit. 3, Labiche), mais que le genre (« du belge ») est
alors inexpliqué.
◆ Ellipt (ici remotivé par la situation) :
30
◆ Spécialt. Consommer une drogue (opium, haschisch, etc.) en la fumant (→ Fumerie, cit. 1,
fumeuse, cit.).
se fumer v. pron. (Passif).
◆ Ce cigare se fume bien. L'opium se fume selon certains rites en Orient.
fumé, ée p. p. adj.
104
1 (Correspondant au sens II., 1. de l'actif). Qui a été exposé à la fumée (aliments). Jambon,
saucisson fumé; saucisse fumée. Harengs fumés. ➙ 1. Saur. Anguille, truite fumée; saumon
fumé. Qui a un goût de fumée. Vin blanc légèrement fumé. Blanc fumé de Pouilly, Pouilly
fumé.
◆ N. m. Un goût de fumé. Le fumé d'un jambon.
2 Noirci à la fumée. Regarder le soleil à travers un verre fumé. — Verres fumés : verres de
lunettes teintés (→ ci-dessus, cit. 21). ➙Conserve (vx). Lunettes fumées. ➙ Noir.
◆ N. m. ➙Fumé.
3 Fam. et vx. Battu, perdu. ➙ Fichu.
31
❖
DÉR. Fumable, 1. fumage, fumailler, 1. fumaison, fumant, fumasse, fumasser, fumé, fumée,
1. fumerie, fumeron, fumet, fumette, fumeur, fumignon, fumiste, fumoir. — V. Fumerolle,
fumeux.
COMP. Fume-cigare, fume-cigarette. — V. Fumi-.
HOM. Fumé, fumée, 2. fumer.
105
MANGER
1. manger [m e] v. tr. [CONJUG. bouger.]
ÉTYM. xiiie, aussi « entamer »; fin xe, mangier; du lat. pop. manducare, rac. mandere
« mâcher ». → Manducation.
❖
1 a Avaler pour se nourrir (un aliment solide ou consistant) après avoir mâché.
➙ Absorber, avaler, consommer, dévorer, 2. ingérer, ingurgiter, prendre; fam.
becqueter, 2. bouffer, 2. boulotter. → S'enfiler, s'enfoncer, s'envoyer, se taper, se mettre
dans le cornet*, dans le fusil*, dans la tirelire, etc. Manger un aliment dur, qu'on doit mâcher
(➙ 1. Croquer, grignoter, gruger (vx), mâcher, 1. mastiquer, ronger). Manger une purée,
une soupe*, un œuf. Manger qqch. sans mâcher, d'un seul coup, en l'avalant tout rond
(➙ Avaler, gober). Manger une friandise à petites bouchées*, en la dégustant (➙ Déguster,
savourer). — Ce que l'on mange (➙ Aliment, mets, nourriture, pitance; → pop.
Becquetance, bouffe…). Chose bonne à manger (➙ Comestible, mangeable), mauvaise à
manger. ➙ Immangeable, incomestible. Manger de bonnes choses, des choses saines
(→ Bon, cit. 11), un mets friand (cit. 9), délicieux, excellent (➙ Régal). Qui mange d'une
chose. ➙ les suff. -phage, -vore. — Manger du pain, un pain (→ Bon, cit. 116; cherté,
cit. 1). Allus. hist. « S'ils n'ont pas de pain, qu'ils mangent de la brioche (cit. 1). » Manger du
pain trempé dans un liquide. ➙ Trempette. Ne manger que les croûtes*. Manger de la chair
(cit. 64), de la viande (→ Boudin, cit. 1; bouilli, cit. 2; gigot, cit. 2; grillade, cit.). Manger le
maigre, le gras… Manger du poisson, du homard (cit. 3 et 4), des huîtres… Ne manger que
des végétaux. ➙ Végétarien, végétalisme, végétarisme. — Allus. bibl. Les pères ont
mangé des raisins verts… (→ Agacer, cit. 1). — Manger des gâteaux, des bonbons (cit. 3),
une glace (cit. 14). Manger de qqch. Avez-vous mangé de ce plat ? ➙ 1. Goûter (à), prendre
(de), tâter (à). Manger de tous les plats (→ Faire honneur* à…). Manger sa part, sa ration.
Fam. Manger un morceau : faire un repas léger (→ Casser une croûte). Manger tout le plat*,
tout manger (→ Nettoyer* le plat, faire un sort* à…). Il mange tout ce qui lui tombe sous la
dent. Se servir d'un mets plus qu'on n'en pourra manger (→ Avoir les yeux plus gros que le
ventre, la panse). Commencer à manger qqch. ➙ Attaquer, entamer. Ne rien manger.
➙ 1. Toucher. Tout ce qu'il mange lui reste dans la gorge (→ Arrêter, cit. 60). Digérer ce
que l'on a mangé. Il ne mange rien : il mange très peu. — Il mange de tout, il n'est pas
difficile. Le médecin ne lui permet pas de manger de tout (➙ 1. Régime). — Donner à
manger à qqn. ➙ Nourrir (→ Boire, cit. 5). — Il y a qqch. à manger, il y a à manger
(→ Bousculer, cit. 4). Fig. Il y a à boire* et à manger. — Pas de quoi manger (→ Approche,
cit. 18). N'avoir rien à manger, à se mettre sous la dent*. ➙ Buffet (danser devant le),
ceinture (se mettre la); claquer (du bec), crever, 1. mourir (de faim).
1 2
3
◆ Manger son déjeuner, son dîner. ➙ Repas (→ Agape, cit. 2). Manger la Pâque
(→ Ceindre, cit. 6). — Manger de la bonne cuisine (→ Fameux, cit. 7). Manger de la
tambouille. Par plais. Manger des calories (cit. 3).
4
◆ Animal qui mange de la viande, de la chair (➙ Carnassier [cit. 1], carnivore; proie), des
fruits, des plantes, de l'herbe (➙ Frugivore, herbivore…; brouter, paître, pâturer,
106
viander). Manger l'herbe d'autrui (cit. 8, La Fontaine). Manger du foin (→ Imputer, cit. 5).
5
◆ Loc. métaphorique et fig. Manger son pain blanc le premier. Manger son pain à la fumée
(cit. 9) du rôt. Je ne mange pas de ce pain-là. ➙ Pain. — Relig. Manger le pain de vie
(➙ Manducation). | « Qui mange ma chair et boit mon sang… » (→ Eucharistie, cit. 1 et
2). — Vulg. Manger le bon Dieu : communier.
6
◆ Manger son blé en herbe* (cit. 20), en vert* (→ Fantaisie, cit. 17; froment, cit. 1). — Être
bête* à manger du foin. — Manger les pissenlits* par la racine. — Manger la laine* (cit. 11 et
13) sur le dos, manger la soupe* sur la tête de qqn. — Manger de la vache* enragée. —
Manger le morceau* (→ Se mettre à table). — Manger la grenouille* (cit. 6).
◆ Fam. Manger la soupe sur la tête de (à) qqn, le dépasser (en taille).
◆ Vx ou régional. Manger le vert et le sec : dilapider tout son avoir (ce qu'on vient de
gagner : le vert, comme ses économies : le sec).
6.1
b Porter à la bouche, mâchonner sans avaler. Cesse de manger tes cheveux !
6.2
2 Dévorer (un être vivant, une proie). Manger une proie. Cannibales, anthropophages qui
mangent leurs prisonniers. | « On tira à la courte paille, pour savoir qui serait mangé » (vers de
la chanson enfantine « Il était un petit navire »). — Le loup, le lion mange les moutons (→ Arriver,
cit. 69; emporter, cit. 1; espèce, cit. 8). Prov. Qui se fait brebis*, le loup le mange. Brebis*
comptées, le loup les mange. — Le chat mange les souris. — Les gros* poissons mangent les
petits. Être mangé par les poissons (→ Fortune, cit. 17). — Loc. plais. Il deviendra quelqu'un,
si les petits cochons ne le mangent pas ! : on entendra parler de lui, si sa carrière ne tourne pas
court.
7 8
◆ (1694). Fig. Manger quelqu'un des yeux, le regarder avidement, avec admiration, amour,
convoitise, désir… ➙ Dévorer (des yeux). — (1873). Manger quelqu'un de baisers*, de
caresses* (cit. 2), l'en couvrir, l'en accabler. — Absolt. (→ Bouchonner, cit. 2, Molière). Ce
bébé est adorable, on le mangerait ! ➙ Adorable, charmant (→ Il est à croquer*). — Loc.
On en mangerait ! : c'est appétissant, attrayant.
9
◆ Fam. Manger qqn, s'emporter contre lui.
10
◆ Manger qqn, le mettre à mal, l'abattre (→ Hâbleur, cit. 3), le dépouiller, l'éliminer… Il veut
le manger tout cru*. À quelle sauce* sera-t-il mangé ?
11 12
◆ (1868). Il ne vous mangera pas : il n'est pas si terrible que vous le croyez, ne soyez pas
intimidé, ne craignez rien de lui. Je ne vais pas te manger !
12.1
◆ Fig. (en franç. d'Afrique). Manger l'âme, le cœur, le sang de qqn, l'envoûter, le détruire par
sorcellerie.
◆ (1896). Manger du prêtre, du curé : être violemment anticlérical. Syn. (plus fam.) : bouffer
du curé.
13
3 Absolt. Absorber, prendre des aliments (en général, et notamment au cours d'un repas).
➙ Alimenter (s'), nourrir (se), et les pop. becqueter, 2. bouffer, 2. boulotter,
brichetonner, briffer, casser (la croûte*, la graine), croustiller, croûter, 3. grailler,
107
tortorer; et aussi bec, bouche, gueule. Désir, envie, besoin de manger. ➙ Appétit (cit. 6 et
16), faim (cit. 3, 5, 8 et 16). L'appétit (cit. 17) vient en mangeant. Manger au-delà du besoin
(→ Aliment, cit. 1). Manger et boire. Manger sans boire → Faire un repas de brebis*. | « Il
faut manger pour vivre (→ Frugalité, cit. 1) et non pas vivre pour manger » (Molière). On ne
s'ennuie (cit. 20) point de manger tous les jours. Manger abondamment (cit. 1), avidement
(cit. 6), avec avidité (→ Tomber* sur les plats). Manger beaucoup, avec excès, gloutonnement
(cit. 1), goulûment* (cit. 1), avec voracité*… ➙ Bâfrer, 2. bouffer, bourrer (se),
boustifailler, briffer, dévorer, empiffrer (s'), emplir (s'), engloutir (cit. 2 et 3), 2. friper,
gaver (se), goberger (se), gobichonner, 1. godailler, goinfrer (se), gorger (se),
gueuletonner, lester (se), piffrer (se). → (fam. ou pop.) Affûter ses meules, s'en donner par
les babines*, se caler* les joues, s'emplir, se garnir, se remplir l'estomac*, le jabot*, la panse,
le sac*, le ventre*; s'en coller dans le fusil*; s'en foutre, s'en mettre jusque-là, jusqu'aux yeux,
plein la gueule, la lampe, la panse; s'en donnerjusqu'à la garde*; jouer, travailler de la
mâchoire, des mandibules; se taper la tête, la cloche… Personne qui mange beaucoup,
exagérément. ➙ Avaleur, bâfreur, glouton, goinfre (cit. 4 et 5), goulu (cit. 1), mangeur
(gros), morfal (fam.), ogre. Repas où l'on mange beaucoup. ➙ Repas; bombance (faire),
gueuleton, ripaille, ventrée… Manger (bouffer) comme un chancre*. Manger de bon
appétit, de grand appétit, avec appétit (→ Couper, cit. 3), en faisant honneur (cit. 98 et 99) aux
plats (→ Avoir un bon coup de fourchette*; bien se tenir à table*). Manger à belles* dents, de
toutes ses dents. Manger à en crever (cit. 12), à éclater (➙ Surcharger [son estomac]), à se
faire péter la sous-ventrière; à ventre déboutonné. Trop manger, manger à s'en ruiner la santé
(→ Creuser sa fosse* avec ses dents). Attaquer, entamer, manger comme quatre. — (1835).
Manger haut (cit. 116), bruyamment, salement, comme un cochon*. ➙ Gargoter (vx). —
(1893; 1873, manger sa faim). Manger à sa faim, à satiété, tout son soûl. ➙ Rassasier (se),
repaître (se), repu. Manger pour reprendre des forces. ➙ Refaire (se), restaurer (se),
sustenter (se). — Bien manger. ➙ Chère (faire bonne chère, chère lie). Manger avec
plaisir, avec raffinement. ➙ Régaler (se). Art de bien manger. ➙ Gastronomie (cit.), table
(fig.). Plaisir de manger. Aimer à manger, à bien manger. ➙ Gastronome (cit. 1 et 3),
gastrolâtre, gourmand (cit. 1, 3 et 4), gourmet, gueule (fine). Restaurant où l'on mange
bien. — Manger chaud, froid, gras, maigre. — Se lécher* les babines après avoir bien mangé.
Avoir trop mangé (→ Avoir le ventre comme une outre, comme un tambour). — Manger peu,
sans appétit, du bout des dents. ➙ Chipoter, grignoter, mangeotter, 1. pignocher. Qui
mange peu, raisonnablement, sans excès. ➙ Frugal, sobre. Manger comme un oiseau, très
peu. — Ne pas manger, se priver de manger. ➙ Abstinence, 1. diète (cit. 5); jeûne, jeûner
(→ Avoir, cit. 35). Sans avoir mangé. ➙ Jeun (à). Bien manger après avoir fait abstinence.
➙ Décarêmer (se), vx. — Ustensiles servant à manger (couteau, cuiller, fourchette…
➙ Service, table, vaisselle). — Faire manger un enfant.
14 15
16
17
18
19
20
◆ Allusion biblique :
21 22
◆ Loc. fig. (1835). Il y a à boire et à manger, du bon et du mauvais.
◆ (En parlant des animaux). Le troupeau mange dans les friches (cit. 3). ➙ Paître. Bassin,
récipient, où mangent les bêtes. ➙ Auge, mangeoire. Donner à manger aux bêtes. Faire
manger les oiseaux, leur donner à manger. ➙ Appâter (→ Jeter, cit. 11). Faire manger de
force. ➙ Gaver, gorger. Bêtes qui viennent manger dans la main*. — Loc. fig. Manger à
108
tous les râteliers*. — Vx. Manger à l'auge*. — Manger dans la main de qqn : être d'une
grande familiarité.
23
4 Prendre un repas*, ses repas. ➙ Collationner, 1. déjeuner, 1. dîner, 2. souper.
S'attabler* (cit. 1) pour manger. ➙ Table (se mettre à). Les convives mangeaient à deux
tables (→ Hausser, cit. 1). L'heure de manger. Inviter qqn à manger. Manger ensemble
(➙ Commensal, convive, convivialité; tablée). Manger en tête à tête avec qqn
(→ Communion, cit. 2). La bonne mangeait avec ses patrons (→ Hôte, cit. 4). — Manger
chez soi, chez des amis, en famille, en ville, à la cantine (cit. 2), à la gamelle, au mess, à
l'ordinaire, au réfectoire, au restaurant, au buffet… — Salle* à manger. — Manger à la table
d'hôte (cit. 4). Manger à la carte, à prix fixe, au menu. Parasite, pique-assiette qui mange chez
les uns et les autres. Donner à manger à des clients. ➙ 1. Traiter; 2. restaurateur, traiteur.
— Manger sans cérémonie, à la fortune (cit. 19) du pot, à la bonne franquette. Manger
rapidement, sur le pouce*. Avoir fini de manger (→ Sortir* de table). Il partira après, avant
manger.
24 25
25.1
5 (1422, p. p.). Ronger (insectes, rongeurs). Les mites ont mangé la couverture. Être mangé
aux rats, par les rats. — Cadavre mangé des vers (→ Hautain, cit. 4, Malherbe).
26
◆ (V. 1240). Par ext. (surtout au p. p.; qualifiant des choses). Attaquer, entamer. Plaque de
fer mangée par la rouille (→ Café, cit. 7). Muraille mangée d'une lèpre jaune (cit. 2). — Peau
mangée d'ulcères. Chat mangé de gale (→ Galeux, cit. 2).
27
◆ Fig., fam. Être mangé par la maladie, par la passion. ➙ Dévorer; ronger. — Manger le
sang, les sangs de qqn, le miner, détruire ses forces (→ Étique, cit. 2). La maladie,
l'inquiétude lui mangent les sangs. — Se manger les sangs : se faire beaucoup de souci.
28 29
30
6 (1682, mar.). Faire disparaître en cachant, en recouvrant. Chemin que mangent les herbes
folles (→ Labyrinthe, cit. 11). — Au p. p. Navire mangé par la mer, par les lames. Visage
mangé de barbe (→ Dandiner, cit. 2). Front mangé par une frange (→ Chafouin, cit. 2).
31
◆ Loc. fig. (En parlant d'yeux très grands qui font oublier le reste du visage.)
32
◆ (1752). Fig. Manger l'espace (➙ Dévorer), des kilomètres (➙ Avaler).
7 (1669). Fig. Manger ses mots, la moitié des mots, les prononcer indistinctement.
➙ Bredouiller. — Manger la consigne. ➙ Oublier, transgresser.
8 (1660). Absorber, consommer, user. Le foyer (cit. 6) mangeait ses cinq mille kilos de
houille. ➙ Consommer, consumer.
◆ Loc. fig. Ça ne mange pas de pain ! : ça ne coûte rien.
◆ (V. 1240). Fig. Manger du temps : faire perdre du temps — Ma matinée a été mangée par
la correspondance (cit. 6).
33
◆ (1538; p. p., fin xve). Spécialt. ➙ Dépenser, dilapider, dissiper. Manger son capital*, sa
fortune, son argent*, son héritage… ➙ 1. Claquer (fam.). → Dégourdir, cit. 5; gaupe, cit. 2.
Il a mangé ses économies, ses quatre sous… (➙ Mange-tout).
34
35
36
37
38
39
109
◆ Fam. Manger de l'argent, en perdre, faire une opération déficitaire. Même en vous faisant
ce rabais, il ne mange pas d'argent.
9 Manger qqn, son argent, le ruiner, lui prendre toute sa fortune. Le fisc (cit. 2) mange les
fortunes privées (→ Indirect, cit. 5). L'amour du jeu le mange (vieilli). On nous mange, on
nous gruge (cit. 2).
se manger v. pron.
◆ (sens passif). Le fromage se mange avant le dessert. — (Sens récipr.). Cannibales qui se
mangent les uns les autres (→ S'entre-manger). Les loups* ne se mangent pas entre eux. —
Fig. → Calomnier, cit. 3. — Se manger le blanc* (cit. 23) des yeux, se manger les yeux. —
Se manger le nez*.
40 41
❖
CONTR. Jeûner.
DÉR. Mangeable, mangeaille, mangerie, mangeoire, mangeure.
COMP. Bien-manger. Entre-manger (s'). Mange-mil.
prendre [pʀ dʀ] v.
CONJUG. je prends, tu prends, il prend, nous prenons, vous prenez, ils prennent; je prenais;
je pris, nous prîmes; ils prirent; je prendrai; je prendrais; que je prenne, que nous prenions;
que je prisse; prends, prenons; prenant; pris, prise.
ÉTYM. 980; lat. pre(he)ndere.
I V. tr.
A Mettre avec soi ou faire sien.
1 Mettre en sa main (pour avoir avec soi, pour faire passer d'un lieu dans un autre, pour être
en état d'utiliser, pour tenir). Prendre un objet, un instrument, une quantité de matière, une
partie d'une chose. Action de prendre. ➙ Prise. Endroit où l'on peut prendre qqch. ➙ Prise.
Prendre qqch. à pleines mains, entre ses doigts (cit. 4), entre le pouce et l'index, du bout des
doigts*, dans le creux de la main (➙ Préhension). Prendre une poignée (→ Main, cit. 19),
une pincée (cit. 2) de… Prendre vivement (➙ Saisir), en serrant (➙ Agripper, empoigner).
Prendre au sol. ➙ Ramasser. N'avoir qu'à se baisser (cit. 31) et prendre, pour prendre
(→ Manier, cit. 20), prendre facilement. Prendre ce qui est loin, qui est difficile à tenir.
➙ Attraper; atteindre, aveindre (vx). Prendre au passage. ➙ Intercepter. — Loc. fig.
Prendre la balle* au bond. — Je te défends de prendre ce livre. ➙ 1. Toucher (à). Prendre
pour utiliser, mettre en œuvre (→ aussi ci-dessous, C. et D.). « Poète, prends ton luth »
(→ Baiser, cit. 12). Elle prit son tricot (→ Laine, cit. 9). Il prit sa pelle (cit. 3) et remplit le
seau. Prends ce miroir et vois (→ Neige, cit. 6). Elle prit la coupe et la porta à ses lèvres
(cit. 15). Il a pris un moellon et l'a lancé de toutes ses forces (→ Lapider, cit. 1). — Prendre
qqch. des mains de qqn. ➙ Arracher, enlever (→ Lait, cit. 16). Prendre son stylo dans son
sac. ➙ 1. Sortir, 1. tirer (→ Bloc, cit. 5). — Loc. fig. Prendre une affaire en main*
(cit. 39). Prendre son courage* à deux mains. — Prendre la main* (cit. 24) de, à qqn.
➙ Étreindre. Prendre le bras* (cit. 12), la taille*, le menton (→ Pincer, cit. 1) de qqn.
➙ Tenir. Prendre qqn par la main, le bras, la taille (→ Frotter, cit. 29), par le cou. — (Avec
110
une idée de violence). Prendre qqn par les cheveux, la tignasse (→ Marteler, cit. 4), la peau du
cou; prendre qqn à la gorge*, au collet (cit. 5), le serrer. (→ Juguler, cit. 1). — Loc. fig.
Prendre l'occasion* aux cheveux (cit. 31). Prendre le taureau par les cornes*. — Par ext. Se
mettre à tenir, à serrer avec certaines parties du corps. Prendre qqch. avec la bouche, les dents.
— Loc. fig. Prendre la lune avec ses dents*. Prendre qqn, qqch. dans ses bras (→ Délicatesse,
cit. 10), à bras*-le-corps. ➙ Embrasser.
1 2
– (Animaux). Prendre avec les pattes, les pinces (cit. 4), la gueule (➙ Happer), le bec
(➙ Picorer).
— Cheval qui prend le mors aux dents (au fig. ➙ Mors, cit. 3, 4 et 5). — Zool. Organe qui
peut prendre. ➙ Préhensile.
◆ (En se servant d'un instrument, d'un outil mieux approprié que la main). Prendre des
berniques (Bernicle, cit. 1) au bout de son couteau. Prendre de la terre avec une pelle, de
l'herbe (cit. 15) avec une fourche, un liquide avec un seau, un vase. ➙ Puiser. Prendre avec
une pince. — Loc. fig. N'être pas à prendre avec des pincettes* (cit. 2).
2 Mettre avec soi, amener à soi. Prendre un sac sur son dos. Prendre un parapluie pour sortir.
➙ Emporter, pourvoir (se). Des valets vinrent prendre dans les boutiques ce que leurs
maîtres avaient acheté (→ Nippe, cit. 1). ➙ Chercher, enlever. Prendre de l'essence.
N'oublie pas de prendre le pain. ➙ Acheter. Prendre de l'argent à la banque. ➙ Retirer.
2.1 2.2
◆ Loc. Prendre ses cliques* et ses claques.
◆ Prendre qqch. à bail*, à ferme*. ➙ 2. Louer. Prendre une chambre.
2.3
◆ (Compl. n. de personne). Prendre qqn sur ses genoux (→ Dodeliner, cit. 1). Prendre un
enfant sur son dos. — Loc. fig. Prendre ses jambes (cit. 16) à son cou. — Prendre une
personne à part* (1. Part, cit. 25). — Il la prit chez lui, avec lui (→ Captiver, cit. 6).
➙ Accueillir, 1. recueillir. Prendre qqn en pension (cit. 4). Maison qui prend des
pensionnaires (cit. 1). Prendre un élève dans une classe. — Spécialt. ➙ Recevoir. Le docteur
ne pourra vous prendre aujourd'hui. — Pouvez-vous me prendre ?, vous occuper de moi. —
Le capitaine me prit à son bord (cit. 3). Prendre qqn en croupe, sur son cheval (→ Manquer,
cit. 61). — Par ext. Taxi qui prend un client. ➙ Emmener. Le canot (cit. 2) vint me prendre.
Passer* (cit. 49) prendre qqn. ➙ Joindre. Dieu nous l'a pris, l'a rappelé à lui. — Par ext.
Prendre qqn en chasse*, en filature (cit. 4). — Prendre qqn sous sa protection.
3 4
5
6
7
3 Fig. (avec un compl. de manière). Aborder, se mettre à considérer (qqch., qqn) de telle
façon. Prendre une chose de front*. Prendre qqch. à l'endroit, à l'envers, à contre-poil. Loc.
Prendre la vie du bon côté, par ce qu'elle a d'agréable. Prendre qqn par le bon bout*
(cit. 17.4). On ne sait par où le prendre : il n'est pas approchable*, il est hargneux, susceptible.
— Prendre une expression à la lettre* (cit. 18), au pied de la lettre* (cit. 17).
◆ (Sans compl. second). ➙ Considérer. Prenons cet exemple. Prendre un mot dans un sens
(→ Anarchie, cit. 1; franchise, cit. 2; libertinage, cit. 3; pédagogie, cit. 2). Prendre au figuré.
— À tout prendre : en considérant tous les aspects de la question (→ Piètre, cit. 2; et aussi à
tout examiner*, somme* toute, en conclusion*).
8 9
10
11
◆ Prendre bien, mal (ce qui arrive) : supporter bien ou mal; accepter avec flegme, résignation
ou réagir par du dépit, de l'abattement. — Spécialt. Prendre mal* un propos. ➙ Fâcher (se).
111
→ 2. Mal, cit. 7. Le prendre bien, entendre la plaisanterie, ne pas être susceptible.
➙ Interpréter. Prendre la chose avec philosophie*. Prendre les hommes comme ils sont, les
accepter, ne pas vouloir les changer. ➙ Accommoder (s'). → 1. Être, cit. 41. Prendre les
choses comme elles viennent, le temps comme il vient. Prendre qqch. au sérieux*
(→ Espionnage, cit. 3), à cœur* (cit. 53), au tragique (→ Lettre, cit. 38), à la légère (cit. 34),
en riant. Prendre en plaisanterie, comme une plaisanterie; prendre en badinage (cit. 8).
Prendre qqch. en bonne, en mauvaise part* (→ Domesticité, cit. 1; largeur, cit. 3), le prendre
de haut. ➙ Haut. Prenez-le un peu moins haut (→ Monsieur, cit. 3). Le prendre sur un ton…
(➙ 1. Parler). Si vous le prenez ainsi : si vous vous fâchez. ➙ Entendre. Je ne le prenais
pas ainsi (→ Justice, cit. 8).
11.1 12
13
14
◆ Prendre pour soi une remarque, une allusion, considérer qu'elle s'applique à soi.
➙ Appliquer (s').
4 Prendre (qqn, qqch.) en… a (Suivi du nom d'un sentiment). Éprouver (tel sentiment)
pour… ➙ 1. Avoir (avoir en…) Prendre qqn en amitié, en affection (cit. 8), en pitié
(→ Cœur, cit. 104), en haine (cit. 19), en grippe* (cit. 3 et 6), se mettre à éprouver pour lui de
l'amitié, de l'affection… Prendre une chose en aversion, en dégoût. Prendre en gré (cit. 11), en
considération.
15 16
b Loc. Prendre qqn en charge.
c (Avec une valeur proche de B., 7.). Prendre qqn en traître, par traîtrise (→ Assaillant,
cit. 3). → aussi ci-dessous, B., 9. : prendre qqn en faute, en défaut; et ci-dessus, A., 2. (emploi
concret) prendre qqn en croupe; (abstrait) prendre en chasse.
REM. Certaines de ces expressions se nominalisent en prise en… ➙ Prise.
5 Prendre (qqn) à partie*. ➙ aussi Prise (prise à partie).
6 (xiie). Prendre (qqch.) sur soi, en porter volontairement la responsabilité. ➙ Assumer,
charger (se), endosser. Prendre sur soi les péchés du monde (→ Monastique, cit. 2), la faute
de qqn. ➙ Couvrir. Prendre sur soi de faire qqch. (→ Aveu, cit. 16; difficulté, cit. 9;
outrepasser, cit. 1). — Prendre sur son compte : garder toute la responsabilité de qqch.
Prendre qqch. sous son bonnet*.
17
◆ Prendre sur soi de… : faire en sorte de… par quelque effort de volonté. ➙ Efforcer (s'). Il
prit sur lui de ne pas se plaindre.
18
◆ Absolt. Il faut prendre sur soi. ➙ 1. Supporter (→ Écouter, cit. 28).
18.1
B Agir de façon à avoir, à posséder (qqch., qqn).
1 Se mettre en possession de; se rendre maître de (en prenant matériellement, ou non).
➙ Approprier (s'). Prendre ce qui n'appartient à personne, ce qu'on trouve (→ Fossé, cit. 5).
Prendre qqch. sans demander (→ Offrir, cit. 8). Prendre ce qu'on vous donne*, ce qu'on vous
offre. Vous pouvez le prendre. ➙ Disposer (en). Prenez ! ➙ Tenir (tenez !). Prendre sa
part. ➙ Attribuer (s'). J'ai le droit d'en prendre la moitié (→ Notre, cit. 6). Prendre tout.
➙ Accaparer. Prendre une partie de… ➙ 1. Lever, prélever. Prendre des biens, des
terrains. ➙ Anticiper, empiéter, emprise. Prendre avec l'intention de rendre.
112
➙ Emprunter. Prendre de préférence. ➙ Choisir. C'est à prendre ou à laisser*. Prendre deci de-là. ➙ Grappiller. — Prendre par force*, par ruse, prendre à qqn; prendre contre de
l'argent.
19 19.1
◆ Prendre sa part de butin. — Loc. fig. Prendre son pied. ➙ Pied.
◆ Absolument :
20
◆ Fig. Prendre sur son sommeil : enlever du temps au sommeil (pour faire qqch.).
➙ Prélever.
2 Demander, exiger. — (Le sujet désigne une personne qui touche une rémunération d'un
client). Un artisan, un coiffeur qui prend tant pour son travail. Professeur qui prend tant de
l'heure. Combien prend-il ? : quel est son prix*. Il me prend tant. ➙ Coûter. — Fam.
Médecin qui prend cher, dont les prix sont élevés.
21 22
◆ Exiger, employer (du temps). La traversée prend plus de quatre heures (→ Pagayeur, cit.).
Cela prendra trois jours (→ aussi Loisir, cit. 17). Un travail qui me prend tout mon temps.
➙ Absorber, dévorer.
23
3 Fam. Recevoir, supporter. ➙ Attraper, recevoir. Prendre des coups, des gifles, une
raclée. Prendre une bûche* : tomber. Qu'est-ce qu'il a pris ! Taureau qui prend la pique
(1. pique, cit. 3). Prendre une averse. — Loc. Prendre qqch., en prendre pour son grade*.
Prendre une culotte*. L'équipe a pris trois buts (→ Encaisser).
4 (1080). Se rendre maître de, par la force; conquérir. Prendre d'assaut* (cit. 4, au fig.) qqch.,
un lieu. ➙ Enlever, forcer, obtenir (→ 1. Gare, cit. 6), prise. Prendre une forteresse
(→ Citadelle, cit. 1), une place fortifiée (cit. 14), une ville (→ Dompter, cit. 6). Place qu'on ne
peut prendre. ➙ Imprenable, inexpugnable. Prendre des provinces. ➙ Conquérir,
envahir, occuper (→ Conquête, cit. 1). Prendre un navire à l'ennemi. ➙ Capturer, saisir.
— Prendre le pouvoir (→ Dualité, cit. 2; fascisme, cit. 1). — Fig., fam. (au p. p.). C'est
toujours ça de pris sur l'ennemi ! C'est autant de pris… (→ Assommant, cit. 1), se dit d'un
petit avantage dont on est assuré.
24
◆ Posséder sexuellement (une femme, un partenaire). ➙ Connaître, posséder
(→ Maîtresse, cit. 68). Prendre une femme de force. ➙ 1. Violer.
25 26
5 Prendre qqch. à qqn : s'emparer de (ce qui appartient à qqn). ➙ Confisquer, dérober,
ravir, 2. voler; (fam.) 2. chiper, chouraver, faucher, piquer, rafler (→ Faire main
basse* sur). Prendre des biens, de l'argent à qqn (→ Gorger, cit. 10; 1. foutre, cit. 9). C'est
mon trésor qu'on m'a pris (→ Joignant, cit.). Les voleurs vinrent prendre le magot (cit. 1). Elle
lui a pris sa fortune. ➙ 1. Manger. Conquérants qui ne trouvent plus rien à prendre
(➙ Piller). Prendre son argent (➙ Escroquer), ses biens (➙ Déposséder, dépouiller), ses
affaires (➙ Dévaliser) à qqn. On lui a tout pris. — Fig. Prendre une idée, une phrase à qqn,
dans un auteur. ➙ Plagier (→ Appliquer, cit. 6). Prendre la place* de qqn. ➙ Chasser,
supplanter. — Par ext. (Compl. n. de personne). On lui a pris son fils. On vous les prend et
on vous les tue (→ Exempter, cit. 4). Il lui a pris sa femme, sa maîtresse. — Par ext. Prendre
un baiser (cit. 4) : embrasser qqn sans sa permission. ➙ Cueillir, dérober.
27 28
113
6 (Jeu). Se mettre en possession d'une carte, d'un pli, d'un pion, d'une pièce, etc. de
l'adversaire. Prendre une carte avec une carte plus forte. Prendre un pion en mettant le sien à
sa place. Prendre un pion dont l'adversaire ne s'est pas servi pour prendre lui-même.
➙ Souffler. — Absolt. Prendre avec la dame (1. Dame, cit. 22), avec l'atout (➙ Couper). Je
prends !
7 Se saisir de (ce qui fuit, se dérobe : animal, personne). Poursuivre, guetter un animal pour
le prendre. ➙ Chasser, chasse; 2. pêche, 2. pêcher; gibier, proie. Prendre au piège.
➙ Amorce, piège; filet, ligne (cit. 25 et 27). Prendre des animaux vivants. ➙ Attraper,
capturer. Prendre une bête au miroir (→ Alouette, cit. 4), au lasso (cit. 2), à la glu (cit. 1). Le
chat joue (cit. 12) avec la souris qu'il a prise. Ça ne mord (cit. 15) plus, je n'ai rien pris. —
Loc. fig. Prendre la mouche*. — Prov. On ne prend pas les mouches* avec du vinaigre : il
faut agir avec diplomatie pour arriver à ses fins.
29
◆ Se saisir de (qqn qu'on poursuit, qu'on recherche). L'ennemi les a pris (➙ Captif,
prisonnier). Il faut les prendre morts (2. Mort, cit. 3) ou vifs. Se laisser, se faire prendre. —
(Passif). Vous êtes pris ! ➙ Fait (Faire, p. p.). Pas vu, pas pris ! — La police l'a pris.
➙ Arrêter; appréhender, attraper, 1. avoir; (fam.) agrafer, arnaquer, arquepincer,
choper, coincer, cueillir, harponner, paumer, 2. piger, pincer, poisser (→ Mettre la
main dessus*, la main au collet*). Prendre qqn dans une rafle, dans une souricière.
30 31
◆ Fig. Prendre au piège*. ➙ (fig.) Attraper (→ Infernal, cit. 5). Se laisser prendre à un
hameçon (cit. 2) grossier, à l'appeau, aux apparences*, aux supercheries (→ 1. Objectif,
cit. 12). On ne m'y prendra plus ! : je ne serai plus dupe*.
32 33
34
◆ Attraper, immobiliser involontairement dans… ➙ Accrocher, coincer. Prendre son doigt,
sa main, se prendre la main dans une porte. Prendre son manteau dans une portière. — (Passif
et p. p.). Le pied pris dans l'étrier (→ Futur, cit. 7). Être pris dans l'engrenage* (cit. 2). Il se
trouva pris dans la bagarre, il s'y trouva mêlé malgré lui (→ Être entraîné).
35 36
8 Prendre (qqn) par… : amener (qqn) à ses vues, à faire ce qu'on veut par la persuasion, etc.
Prendre qqn par la douceur, l'amener à ses vues en le traitant doucement. — Prendre qqn par
son côté faible, l'attaquer*, lui faire faire ce qu'on veut en flattant ses faiblesses. Prendre les
gens par leur faible (cit. 43 et 45), par l'intérêt, par la gourmandise, par les bons sentiments.
« Toujours par quelque endroit fourbes se laissent (cit. 13) prendre ». ➙ aussi
Compromettre. — Absolt. Savoir prendre qqn, savoir lui plaire pour en obtenir ce qu'on
veut, le soumettre à ses désirs*. ➙ Amadouer, entortiller, persuader, séduire.
9 Prendre qqn… (suivi d'un compl. circonstanciel). ➙ Surprendre. Prendre qqn en faute*
(cit. 18), en défaut (→ Appareil, cit. 14), sur le fait* (cit. 1). Prendre qqn en flagrant délit*
(→ Inexactitude, cit. 4), la main dans le sac*. — Prendre qqn au dépourvu* (cit. 7), de court*,
sans vert*. Prendre qqn au mot* (supra cit. 38).
◆ Prendre qqn à faire qqch., le surprendre au moment où il fait qqch. ➙ Attraper. Si je te
prends encore à mentir, je te punis. Je vous y prends ! Je vous y prends à conspirer !
(→ Plaisanterie, cit. 7).
37 37.1
◆ (En parlant des choses extérieures). Rare. (On dit plutôt surprendre). La nuit allait les
prendre (→ Casser, cit. 2). L'hiver le prit au dépourvu.
38
114
10 (Sujet n. de chose abstraite : sensation, sentiment). Saisir (qqn), faire sentir à (qqn). La
fatigue (cit. 5), la fièvre me prend. Une panique les prenait (→ Maîtrise, cit. 3). Les douleurs
(cit. 4) la prirent l'après-midi. Ça l'a pris brusquement, à l'improviste. — Fam. Ça le prend
comme ça le quitte. Quand l'envie, la fantaisie (cit. 17) m'en prendrait. Pris du désir de…
(→ Passer, cit. 112). — Fam. Ça l'a pris comme une envie de pisser, brusquement. — Fam.
Qu'est-ce qui vous prend ? Ça vous prend souvent ? se dit à une personne dont on juge
l'attitude inattendue ou déplacée. Qu'est-ce qui lui prend à cette enragée-là ? (→ Chameau,
cit. 3). — (Passif). Être pris de vertige (→ Dire, cit. 115), d'une nausée (cit. 1) soudaine.
39 40
41
42
43
◆ Impersonnel. Il me prend l'envie de… (→ aussi Aller, cit. 85), des tentations de…
(→ Accommoder, cit. 5).
44 45
46
47
11 Littér. Bien, mal (lui, vous, etc.) prend de : cela a de bonnes, de fâcheuses conséquences.
Bien lui en prit (→ Dictionnaire, cit. 1). Mal lui en a pris, mal en prit à… (→ Mal, cit. 4 et 5).
48 — REM. Dans cette valeur, comme en D., prendre sert à former des expressions
verbales pouvant suppléer l'absence de verbe simple; dans ce cas le subst. compl. est souvent
privé de déterminant (prendre note : noter, prendre place, etc.).
1 Faire sien (une chose abstraite). Prendre un nom, un surnom. Prendre une devise, un
insigne. Prendre pour devise (→ Bon, cit. 94), pour règle. Prendre une citation dans un
ouvrage. ➙ Extraire, 1. tirer. Prendre un renseignement, ses renseignements (→ Margoulin,
cit. 3). Prendre l'avis de… qqn. ➙ Consulter. Prendre des nouvelles* de qqn, à son sujet. J'ai
pris son adresse. Prendre les ordres, les commandes (cit. 2) de qqn, de lui. Prendre le mot
d'ordre. — Loc. Prendre conseil* (auprès de qqn). Prendre acte* (cit. 13). — Prendre les
idées, les habitudes de qqn. ➙ Adopter (→ Mimétisme, cit. 2). Prendre les façons (cit. 43),
les mœurs d'un pays. Le perroquet (cit. 2) avait pris sa voix.
50 51
52
53
◆ (Avec un compl. d'origine). Prendre une idée quelque part. Où prends-tu cette audace ?
(cit. 17). — Où as-tu pris que cette société est en faillite ?, qui te l'a dit ?
◆ Spécialt. ➙ Choisir (une date). Prendre une date*, la déterminer. ➙ Fixer. Prendre un
jour (cit. 51), une heure. — Loc. Prendre heure avec qqn pour faire qqch. Prendre (un) rendezvous*.
54
➙ Considérer. Nous prenons ce mot entre mille (→ Incisif, cit. 4). Prenez monsieur Untel,
n'est-il pas dans le même cas ? Prendre un exemple (→ Instinct, cit. 33).
55
2 Évaluer, définir (pour connaître). Prendre les dimensions, les mesures d'un objet, d'un
terrain, d'une personne. ➙ Mesurer (→ Mètre, cit. 3). — Fig. Prendre la mesure de qqn
(→ Mari, cit. 8). — Prendre la température (→ Laborantin, cit. 1). Prendre le pouls*, la
tension d'un malade. — Prendre le diapason (cit. 2). Prendre le vent* (la direction du vent).
56 57
3 Inscrire ou reproduire. Prendre un double. ➙ Faire. Prendre une copie (cit. 1). Prendre des
notes* (cit. 23 et 24). Prendre note* (cit. 25) : noter. Prendre un croquis (→ Gourd, cit. 2).
Prendre le masque (1. Masque, cit. 27) d'un mort. Prendre des photos (→ Médailler, 2), des
instantanés (→ Enregistreur, cit.). Ce croquis a été pris sur le vif. — REM. Le sens
correspond à prise III., A., 4. : prise de vues.
4 (1132, « épouser »). S'adjoindre (une personne). Prendre une femme, prendre femme*
(→ Douter, cit. 2; île, cit. 8), prendre un mari (cit. 7). ➙ Épouser. Il s'engage à la prendre
sans dot (cit. 3). Prendre un amant (cit. 6), une maîtresse. — (Avec un compl. prépositionnel).
115
Prendre qqn à son service, à gages. ➙ Employer, engager (→ Pizza, cit.). Prendre qqn à
l'essai (cit. 7). — (Sans compl. prépositionnel). On ne prend plus personne (à l'usine).
➙ Embaucher. Prendre un gérant, un précepteur, une institutrice (cit. 2), un avocat
(→ Invisible, cit. 10), un guide (→ Orienter, cit. 10), un porteur…
58 59
◆ Prendre qqn pour, comme… : s'adjoindre, se servir de (qqn) en tant que… ➙ Faire (en
faire son). Consentez-vous à prendre Monsieur X pour époux ? Il l'avait prise pour ménagère
(cit. 11) plutôt que pour femme. Prendre pour associé. ➙ Associer (s'), attacher (s'). Il l'a
prise comme secrétaire. Prendre pour arbitre (1. Arbitre, cit. 3), pour juge (→ Lâche, cit. 13).
Prendre pour modèle (→ Inclination, cit. 3), pour exemple, en exemple. Prendre pour cible.
— REM. En ce sens le complément n'est jamais accompagné d'un déterminant : on ne peut
pas non plus, comme dans la langue classique, le faire précéder d'un possessif. Cf. Prendre
pour son ambassadeur (cit. 4, Molière).
60 61
◆ Prendre à (dans des loc.). Prendre qqn à témoin*. Prendre qqn à partie* (cit. 21, 22).
5 Prendre pour : croire* qu'une personne, une chose est (autre ou autrement). Prendre une
personne pour une autre. → Distinction, cit. 6; gâter, cit. 4. ➙ Méprendre (se), tromper
(se). On aurait pu le prendre pour son frère jumeau (cit. 1). On nous prend l'un pour l'autre
(→ Gémeau, cit.). ➙ Confondre. On le prenait pour un savant. ➙ Regarder (comme). → Il
passait* pour… Pour qui me prenez-vous ? Tu me prends pour un imbécile ? un menteur ?
Vous me prenez pour une autre. — Des fleurs qu'on prendrait pour des papillons d'or
(→ Ajonc, cit. 1). Ils prirent son laconisme (cit. 1) pour de la bêtise. Ce que nous prenons
pour des vertus (→ Assemblage, cit. 20).
62 63
64
65
66
67
◆ Loc. Vous me prenez pour une autre, formule par laquelle une femme proteste devant le
comportement hardi d'un homme (Cf. Je ne suis pas celle que vous croyez).
67.1
◆ Loc. prov. (vx). Prendre l'ombre pour le corps*. Prendre son cul* pour ses chausses. —
Prendre des vessies pour des lanternes* (cit. 8). Prendre ses désirs (cit. 5) pour des réalités
(cf. fam. Croire que c'est arrivé). Prendre une chose pour argent* (cit. 62) comptant. —
Prendre le Pirée pour un nom d'homme, pour un homme (→ La Fontaine, iv, 7) : se tromper
grossièrement.
◆ (Avec un adjectif attribut). Vx (langue class.). ➙ Compter, croire. Je le prenais pour
raisonnable (→ Bon, cit. 126). Nous prendrions pour certain l'opposé de ce que dirait le
menteur (→ Mensonge, cit. 7).
6 Absorber, mettre en soi. Prendre la nourriture (→ Faim, cit. 8), de la nourriture, un repas
(→ Modique, cit. 3). ➙ Absorber, 1. manger. Prendre une boisson. ➙ 1. Boire (cit. 1; et
rem.). Prendre son café (→ Excellentissime, cit.), du lait (→ 1. En, cit. 38), de la soupe
(→ Encore, cit. 10). Prendre un verre. ➙ Consommer (→ Garçon, cit. 21). — Fam. Viens,
on va prendre un pot*, un glass. Voulez-vous prendre quelque chose ? Qu'est-ce que vous
prenez ? — Prendre une médecine (→ Aller, cit. 15), un remède (→ Difficulté, cit. 16), un
cachet. ➙ Absorber, avaler; prise.
◆ Fig. Prendre la poudre* d'escampette : s'enfuir — Faire prendre qqch. à qqn.
➙ Administrer. Prendre un lavement (→ 2. Hâte, cit. 8). Prendre les eaux (cit. 16.9). —
Prendre l'air* (1. Air, cit. 11). → Effarer, cit. 2. Prendre le frais (1. Frais, cit. 5, 6 et 10). —
Par ext. Prendre un bain, une douche (→ Ambré, cit. 1; parfum, cit. 10).
68 69
70
70.1
71
72
73
116
7 (Choses; personnes). Subir l'effet de. Bateau qui prend l'eau; chaussures qui prennent l'eau.
➙ Imprégner (s'). Tissus, cheveux, poils qui prennent la teinture, qui retiennent le colorant,
se teignent bien. — Prendre feu*, s'enflammer (→ Mazout, cit.). — (Personnes).
➙ 1. Contracter. Prendre une maladie (→ Autopsie, cit. 2; inoculer, cit. 1). ➙ Gagner
(iron.). Prendre du mal (3. Mal, cit. 21). Prendre les fièvres paludéennes (cit. 2). — Prendre
des habitudes (→ Ivrognerie, cit. 2), l'habitude de… (→ Accoutumer, cit. 19; dicter, cit. 3;
fainéantise, cit. 1). Prendre certaines façons au contact de quelque chose. — Loc. (sans
déterminant). Prendre froid (→ Fluxion, cit. 2), mal. ➙ Attraper.
74 75
◆ (D'un moteur). Prendre des tours : tourner plus vite.
D Se mettre à utiliser, à avoir, à être (sans idée d'appropriation durable). Voir rem en C., cidessus (loc. verbales formées avec prendre).
1 a Commencer à mettre sur soi, à utiliser. ➙ Employer, 1. user, utiliser. — Prendre un
manteau. ➙ Mettre, munir (se). Il prenait chaque jour un gilet de piqué blanc (→ Fluctuer,
cit.). Prendre des bottes de sept lieues (cit. 1). — Loc. fig. Prendre des gants* (cit. 17) : agir
avec délicatesse pour ne pas froisser (qqn). Prendre le voile (→ Monastère, cit. 3), l'habit
(cit. 16 et 19). ➙ Endosser; prise. — Par ext. Prendre le deuil* (cit. 6) : mettre des
vêtements de deuil. — Prendre la plume*. Je n'ai pas voulu prendre mon papier (cit. 12) à
lettres pour t'écrire. — Prendre un siège (→ Approcher, cit. 32; fond, cit. 21) : s'asseoir.
Prendre place* (et fig.) : s'installer, se situer. Prendre le lit (cit. 13) : s'aliter. — Prendre les
armes (→ 1. Jacques, cit. 1; et aussi courir* aux armes) : se disposer à combattre. Quitter son
métier pour prendre son fusil (→ Canarder, cit. 3). Ceux qui prennent le glaive (cit. 2)
périront par le glaive. — Prendre la clef* des champs : s'enfuir. Prendre les rênes*. — Mar.
Prendre le vent : présenter les voiles au vent de manière à en utiliser la force
(➙ Navigation).
76 77
78
◆ Faire usage de (un véhicule). — (Concrètement). Prendre un train. ➙ Monter (dans).
Prendre un autre train. ➙ Changer; correspondance. C'est mon mari qui a pris la voiture. —
(En général). ➙ Emprunter. Prendre sa voiture, un taxi. Prendre la diligence (cit. 8), le train
(→ Inspecter, cit. 1), le bateau, l'avion.
79
b S'engager dans. ➙ Emprunter. Prendre un chemin (cit. 3), le chemin de… Prendre une
route (→ Camp, cit. 8); un défilé, un couloir. ➙ Enfiler, entrer (dans). — Prendre un
tournant (→ Corde, cit. 7), un virage. Il a mal pris son tournant. — Prendre la tangente*. —
Loc. Prendre le change*. Prendre la porte* (→ Ouste, cit. 2). — Prendre la direction* (cit. 5)
de… — Prendre la mer : se mettre à voyager sur mer. ➙ Embarquer (s'). → 1. Contrecœur
(cit. 2). Prendre le large (cit. 23 et 24). Prendre terre, port (vx). ➙ 1. Débarquer. — (xxe).
Prendre l'air : s'envoler (pour un avion; par métonymie pour les passagers). | « Les navires
sont en mesure de quitter les ports à tout instant. Les avions peuvent prendre l'air au premier
signal » (le Monde, 7 juin 1964).
80 81
c User à son gré de… (le compl. désigne une durée, le temps). Prendre le temps* de…,
prendre son temps (→ Laisser, cit. 46; médiocre, cit. 7; orphelin, cit. 5). Prendre du bon
temps. ➙ Amuser (s'). → Aise, cit. 13; libertin, cit. 3. — Théâtre (vx). Prendre des temps,
déclamer en prenant complaisamment son temps.
81.1
117
◆ Loc. Vx. Prendre lieu (2. Lieu, cit. 40) de… : se donner l'occasion de… — Mod. Prendre
occasion de… Prendre congé*. — Prendre le droit de…, la liberté (cit. 9) de…, des libertés
(cit. 10). ➙ Permettre (se). Prendre des licences (cit. 10), des privautés (→ Objet, cit. 27).
Prendre la hardiesse (cit. 13) de… — Spécialt. Dans les formules de politesse. Excusez-moi si
je prends la liberté de vous écrire. — En prendre à son aise*.
2 Se mettre à avoir, se donner. Prendre un air (2. Air, cit. 12), une voix (→ Aigu, cit. 6), un
ton (→ Doctoral, cit. 2). ➙ Adopter, 2. affecter. Prendre une apparence. Prendre une
attitude, une position, une pose. Prendre le contrepied (propre et fig.). — Loc. Prendre appui.
Prendre pied* (propre et fig.). — Prendre son élan (→ Bondir, cit. 4), son essor, son vol
(→ Hanneton, cit. 1), sa course (→ Incertain, cit. 25), ses ébats*. Prendre une allure rapide.
Prendre le départ. Prendre de l'exercice. ➙ Donner (se); pratiquer (→ Neurasthénique,
cit. 2; 2. pêche, cit. 5). Prendre du repos (→ Calmer, cit. 2), son somme (vx). → Chêne,
cit. 2. Prendre une cuite*, une sacrée beurrée… : s'enivrer. — Prendre la parole (cit. 30 et
31) : commencer son discours.
82
◆ Prendre ses distances*, prendre du recul*, du champ*, de la hauteur*. Prendre la tête*
(→ 2. Marche, cit. 22), les devants* (cit. 24). Prendre rang (→ Ordinaire, cit. 4). Prendre le
pas sur… (→ Contraindre, cit. 4) : passer devant (propre et fig.). — Fig. Prendre le dessus,
l'avantage. ➙ Gagner; 1. ascendant.
◆ Prendre une condition (→ Messie, cit. 1), une profession (→ Jouir, cit. 12).
➙ Embrasser, entrer (dans). Prendre sa retraite (→ Obstiner, cit. 1). Prendre du congé, des
vacances. — Commencer à assurer* (une fonction). Prendre la garde (→ Magasin, cit. 2).
Guetteur (cit. 3) qui prend la veille. Prendre la relève. Prendre la succession. Prendre la
direction d'une entreprise. Prendre des contacts (→ Mécontent, cit. 8).
83
◆ (Dans des emplois plus ou moins figés, le compl. étant parfois sans déterminant). —
REM. Dans ce type d'emplois, la nominalisation avec prise est relativement fréquente.
→ Prise. — Prendre contact* (cit. 10) avec qqn. Prendre connaissance de qqch. Prendre
possession* de qqch. (→ Dominateur, cit. 1). — Prendre position*. Prendre parti* (cit. 14 à
16) : choisir. Prendre le parti (cit. 13) de…, son parti (cit. 18 à 21) : soutenir. Prendre la
défense* de… : défendre (→ Assurer, cit. 25; chamailler, cit. 2). Prendre fait* et cause pour
qqn : intervenir* en sa faveur. Prendre une part à (→ 1. Part, cit. 3, 4 et 6). — Loc. Prendre
part*. ➙ Participer. Prendre des risques : se mettre dans une situation qui peut devenir
dangereuse. — Prendre l'engagement de… (→ Liquidateur, cit. 2). Prendre l'initiative (cit. 2),
l'offensive* (→ Attaquer, cit. 36). Prendre une décision (→ Initial, cit. 2). ➙ Décider.
Prendre une résolution (→ Destin, cit. 16; irrésolu, cit. 2), des dispositions (→ Artillerie,
cit. 2), des mesures (cit. 29), des précautions (→ Assertion, cit. 3).
84
◆ Prendre du plaisir, un plaisir extrême (→ Âne, cit. 17), prendre plaisir à… Prendre intérêt
(cit. 21), de l'intérêt (à qqch.). — Loc. Prendre patience (→ Fortune, cit. 13) : attendre
patiemment. Prendre soin* (→ Apostille, cit. 1; corps, cit. 4), du soin à… ➙ Apporter.
Prendre garde* (1. Garde, cit. 35 à 59). Prendre de la peine* (cit. 18 et 19). Prendre la peine
de… (→ Appartenir, cit. 11; 1. gazer, cit. 2). Prenez la peine d'entrer : veuillez entrer (→ Se
donner la peine* de…).
85
3 Commencer à avoir (un mode d'être). ➙ Acquérir. Prendre une forme* (cit. 2, 19, 37 et
60). Prendre forme (cit. 8). Prendre l'aspect (cit. 20 et 22), un aspect (→ Désaffecté, cit. 1), un
118
caractère (→ Organique, cit. 4). Prendre une bonne ou mauvaise tournure*, prendre tournure
(→ 2. Meule, cit. 1). Prendre un tour (→ Mieux, cit. 38). Prendre le pli*. Prendre une couleur
(→ Mimétisme, cit. 1; peler, cit. 2), prendre couleur*. Prendre un mauvais goût. Prendre une
consistance (cit. 4). Prendre corps*. Prendre racine*.
◆ (Personnes). Désignant une action involontaire. Avoir plus de; gagner en. Prendre du
poids; prendre du ventre. ➙ Gagner (→ fam. Prendre de la brioche*, de la bouteille*,
fig.). Prendre de l'âge : vieillir. Prendre du retard, de l'avance. Prendre de l'altitude, de la
vitesse : aller plus haut, plus vite. Prendre fin* (→ Pavoiser, cit. 2). Prendre de l'importance,
du prix (→ Miette, cit. 5), de l'empire (cit. 8) sur…
◆ Acquérir (un caractère abstrait). Prendre de l'assurance. — Prendre conscience* (cit. 7;
→ aussi Abord, cit. 9; accuser, cit. 24; capital, cit. 9; désir, cit. 13). Prendre goût* (cit. 27 et
28), y prendre goût. Prendre peur (cit. 15). Prendre ombrage* (cit. 13).
86 87
88
89
◆ Prendre son origine, sa source; prendre naissance : commencer, naître.
II V. intr.
1 Durcir, épaissir (le sujet désigne une substance). Mayonnaise, crème, gelée qui prend. Le
mortier, le plâtre commence à prendre. — Spécialt. ➙ Geler. Le lac a pris. Faire prendre un
sorbet.
90
2 Attacher, coller (le sujet désigne une substance). Aliment qui prend au fond de la
casserole. ➙ Attacher, cramer.
3 (Végétaux). Pousser des racines, continuer sa croissance après transplantation. Bouture qui
prend. ➙ Raciner, reprendre. Greffon qui prend bien.
4 (Le sujet désigne le feu). Se mettre à consumer une substance. Actionner un soufflet pour
faire prendre le feu d'un foyer. Le feu s'éteint, ne prend pas. Le feu ne prend pas tout seul
(→ Pin, cit. 2), prend facilement en forêt (→ Inoffensif, cit. 2). Le feu prit à la petite cagna
(→ Pied, cit. 27).
91
5 Fig. (Sujet n. de chose). Produire son effet, l'effet recherché. ➙ 1. Marcher, réussir.
Greffe (2. greffe, cit. 2) animale qui prend. Vaccin qui prend. La teinture de ce tissu a bien
pris. Coutumes étrangères qui prennent en France. ➙ Implanter (s'). C'est une mode qui ne
prendra pas.
92
◆ (Mil. xxe). Réussir, obtenir le succès désiré. | « Le syndicalisme a du mal à “prendre” dans
le transport routier qui emploie de très nombreux artisans » (le Monde, 14 févr. 1975).
◆ Spécialt. (En parlant de ce qu'on veut faire admettre à qqn). Être cru, accepté. On leur a
raconté cela, mais ça n'a pas pris. Ils nous ont assez menti, ça ne prend plus !
93 94
6 (Sujet n. de personne). Se mettre à suivre une direction, un chemin. Prendre à gauche, sur
la gauche, par (cit. 6) un endroit, à travers champs (→ Franc-tireur, cit. 1). Prenez par ici. Par
où (cit. 62) a-t-elle pris ? S'il fait laid à droite, je prends à gauche (cit. 10, Montaigne).
95
7 Commencer (le sujet désigne ce qui suit une direction). La grand'rue prend devant la gare
et va jusqu'à la poste. L'escalier prenait à gauche (→ Loge, cit. 14). Une découpe, une pince
qui prend à l'épaule et descend jusqu'à la taille.
⇨ tableau Verbes exprimant une idée de mouvement.
119
se prendre v. pron.
A (Sens passif). Être mis en main. Objet qui se prend aisément. ➙ Maniable. Cela se prend
avec les doigts… par le milieu. — Être absorbé. Médicament qui se prend avant les repas.
Être attrapé. Poisson qui se prend généralement au filet.
96
◆ Être considéré ou employé. Mot qui se prend dans tel ou tel sens.
B (Sens réfléchi).
1 Loc. fam. Se prendre par la main : s'entraîner soi-même à faire qqch. S'il veut terminer ce
travail aujourd'hui il peut se prendre par la main ! — Dans le même sens :
97
2 Se laisser attraper (dans un piège). Moucheron qui se prend dans une toile d'araignée
(cit. 5). — Fig. Se prendre à son propre jeu (cit. 75).
98
◆ Par ext. Être attrapé, coincé comme dans un piège. Le pied se prit aux houppes (cit. 1) des
cordons. Sa robe s'est prise dans la portière.
3 Vx ou littér. S'attacher, s'accrocher à… « Il faut se prendre à l'arbre et non pas aux
rameaux » (Tristan, in Littré). — Aliment qui se prend au récipient, qui attache*. Ne savoir à
quoi se prendre, à quoi recourir. — Fig., littér. S'attacher, s'intéresser vivement à…
99 100
4 S'en prendre à : s'attaquer à, en rendant responsable. ➙ Incriminer (→ Prendre à
partie*). — Vx. Se prendre à qqn (de qqch.). | « C'est ainsi qu'aux flatteurs, on doit partout
se prendre Des vices où l'on voit les humains se répandre » (Molière, le Misanthrope, ii, 5).
101
◆ Il s'en est pris à moi qui n'y étais pour rien. Il ne peut s'en prendre qu'à lui-même : il est
responsable de ses propres malheurs, il l'a voulu. Ne savoir à qui s'en prendre : chercher un
responsable à incriminer (→ Destinée, cit. 2). Ne sachant à qui s'en prendre, il s'attaquait
(cit. 51) à tout. — S'en prendre à qqch. (→ Marmonner, cit. 3; optimisme, cit. 3).
102 103
5 Se prendre de… : se mettre à avoir. Se prendre d'amitié pour qqn. ➙ Concevoir,
éprouver. Se prendre d'une passion. Se prendre de querelle* avec qqn. — Se prendre de vin,
de boisson : s'enivrer.
104 105
106
6 Se prendre à… (suivi d'un infinitif). Littér. Se mettre à (généralement de façon inopinée).
Se prendre à rire (→ Âpre, cit. 19), à pleurer amèrement (cit. 1), à geindre (1. Geindre, cit. 1),
à réfléchir (→ Camouflage, cit. 1).
107 108
109
7 S'y prendre, (vx) se prendre à : agir d'une certaine manière en vue d'obtenir un résultat
déterminé. ➙ Agir. S'y prendre bien, mal, de travers, avec douceur (→ Persuader, cit. 9).
➙ Procéder. Je m'y pris maladroitement (cit. 2). S'y prendre à deux fois, à plusieurs fois :
tâtonner, ne pas réussir du premier coup. En s'y prenant bien, avec de l'adresse (→ Calomnie,
cit. 5). Comment il s'y prend, elle s'y est prise (→ Dénouer, cit. 11). Elle doit s'y prendre
(→ Flirt, cit. 3). ➙ Faire. Savoir s'y prendre (→ Malin, cit. 14). Dites-moi, montrez-moi
comment il faut s'y prendre : donnez-moi le procédé, la méthode, la recette, l'exemple.
110 111
112
113
114
◆ (Avec une précision de temps). Se mettre à, s'occuper de… Si vous voulez louer des billets
pour ce spectacle, il faut vous y prendre une semaine à l'avance. Ils s'y sont pris trop tard. —
120
Par plais. C'est s'y prendre un peu tôt pour radoter (→ Ganache, cit. 4).
115 116
8 Se considérer, se juger. Se prendre au sérieux* (→ Diablerie, cit. 5).
◆ Se prendre pour (suivi d'un nom) : estimer qu'on est. ➙ Croire (se). Se prendre pour un
héros, un génie (cit. 44), un prophète, un martyr. Il se prend pour quelqu'un de très fort, pour
quelqu'un*. — Fam. Il ne se prend pas pour rien, pas pour une merde : il a une très haute
opinion de lui-même. — Péj. Pour qui se prend-il ? (→ Il ne se mouche* pas du pied; fam.
Qu'est-ce qu'il se croit* !) — REM. Se prendre pour ne s'emploie pas avec un adjectif;
toutefois il est usité avec un comparatif : se prendre pour plus malin qu'on n'est.
117 118
9 Devenir dur, en parlant d'une substance. → ci-dessus, v. intr. (1.). Se prendre en caillots.
➙ Caillebotter (vx), cailler, coaguler.
119
◆ Spécialt. ➙ Geler (cit. 8). La mer de Norvège se prit. — Par ext. Le ciel, le temps se
prend, se couvre.
C (Sens récipr.).
1 Se saisir, se tenir l'un l'autre. Se prendre par la main (→ Chœur, cit. 1), le bras, le cou… Se
prendre la main. — Loc. Se prendre aux cheveux* : se quereller.
120
REM. Cette valeur du verbe correspond aux sens I., A., 3. et 4. de prise.
2 S'ôter l'un à l'autre. Joueurs qui cherchent à se prendre le ballon.
3 S'unir sexuellement.
121
pris, prise [pʀi, pʀiz] p. p. adj.
1 Occupé. Cette place est-elle prise ? Non, elle est libre. Tout est pris. Je regrette de ne
pouvoir vous engager, la place est déjà prise, pourvue. Avoir les mains prises, occupées à
tenir quelque chose. — Occupé, utilisé, en parlant du temps. Matinée prise par deux rendezvous. Tout mon samedi est pris. — Par ext. (Personnes). Qui a des occupations. Le médecin
est pris jusqu'à 5 heures. Je suis prise toute la journée. — Je suis très pris, cette semaine.
➙ Occupé.
122 123
2 Subitement affecté (de…). Être pris de fièvre, de peur, de panique… prise de fou rire. Pris
de vin, de boisson, ivre*.
124 125
126
3 Atteint* d'une affection. Avoir le nez pris, la gorge prise, le nez, la gorge enflammés. Un
seul poumon est pris. La gangrène s'est déclarée, le jarret s'est trouvé pris (→ Dessous,
cit. 14).
127
4 Fam. (d'une femme). Prise : enceinte.
128
5 (Personnes). Amoureux. ➙ Épris. Il est bien pris.
129
6 Bien pris : beau*, bien fait, bien proportionné, en parlant du corps humain. Une taille aisée
(cit. 1) et bien prise. Buste (cit. 4) bien pris.
130
121
7 (Choses). Durci, coagulé. Crème bien prise. ➙ Dur. — Spécialt. Gelé. La rivière est prise
(→ Geler, cit. 12; hyperboréen, cit. 1).
131 132
❖
CONTR. 1. Lâcher. — Jeter. — Abandonner, 1. écarter, laisser, quitter, rejeter, renvoyer. —
Donner, offrir. — Perdre.
DÉR. Prenable, prenant, preneur, prise.
COMP. Déprendre (se), éprendre (s'), entreprendre, méprendre (se), reprendre, surprendre (V.
aussi Appréhender, comprendre, pourpris, préhension).
HOM. (De pris) Prix.
122
Appendix 4 : Verb entries in the Grand Robert that are marked by ‘absolt’
The label ´absolt´ is the most commonly used lexicographic label in the Grand Robert Électronqique
(version 2012). The search results are obtained by searching using the following criteria: recherche par
critères > texte intégral > option marques d’usage et de domaine, see figure 3:
Figure 3: screenshot of the search query ´absolt´
The results are shown in a column in the dictionary interface. The 1402 verb entries are enumerated
below. Other classes than intransitive and transitive verbs and pronominal verbs, are filtered out:
pronouns, adjectives, etc.
abandonner, v. tr.
abdiquer, v. tr.
abêtir, v. tr.
abominer, v. tr.
abonner, v. tr.
aborder, v. tr.
abréagir, v. tr.
abréger, v. tr.
abreuver, v. tr.
abriter, v. tr.
abstraire, v. tr.
abuser, v. tr.
abuter, v. tr.
accaparer, v. tr.
accentuer, v. tr.
accepter, v. tr.
accommoder, v. tr.
accompagner, v. tr.
accomplir, v. tr.
accoster, v. tr.
accoucher, v. tr.
accoutrer, v. tr.
accrocher, v. tr.
accumuler, v. tr.
accuser, v. tr.
acharner, v. tr.
achever, v. tr.
acoquiner, v. tr.
acquérir, v. tr.
acquiescer, v. tr. ind.
acquitter, v. tr.
adapter, v. tr.
adhérer, v. tr. ind.
adjuger, v. tr.
administrer, v. tr.
admirer, v. tr.
adorer, v. tr.
adosser, v. tr.
adresser, v. tr.
adresser, v. tr.
aérer, v. tr.
affaler, v. tr.
afficher, v. tr.
affiler, v. tr.
affiner, v. tr.
affirmer, v. tr.
affleurer, v. tr. et intr.
affoler, v. tr.
affourcher, v. tr.
affronter, v. tr.
agir, v.
agréer, v.
aider, v. tr.
aigrir, v.
ajourner, v. tr.
ajuster, v. tr.
alambiquer, v. tr.
alléger, v. tr.
allégoriser, v. tr.
aller, v.
allumer, v. tr.
altérer, v. tr.
amaigrir, v.
amarrer, v. tr.
amasser, v. tr.
amener, v. tr.
amollir, v. tr.
amorcer, v. tr.
amplifier, v. tr.
anagrammatiser, v. tr.
analyser, v. tr.
anathématiser, v. tr.
ancrer, v. tr.
anéantir, v. tr.
animaliser, v. tr.
annoter, v. tr.
ânonner, v. tr.
anticiper, v.
apitoyer, v. tr.
appâter, v. tr.
appeler, v. tr.
appesantir, v. tr.
appliquer, v. tr.
apporter, v.
apprécier, v. tr.
apprendre, v. tr.
apprêter, v. tr.
approcher, v.
approfondir, v. tr.
approprier, v. tr.
123
appuyer, v. tr. et intr.
armer, v. tr.
arpéger, v. tr.
arranger, v. tr.
arrêter, v. tr.
arriver, v. intr.
arroser, v. tr.
articuler, v. tr.
ascendre, v. tr.
asphyxier, v. tr.
aspirer, v. tr.
assembler, v. tr.
assimiler, v. tr.
assister, v. intr. et tr.
associer, v. tr.
assoupir, v. tr.
assourdir, v. tr.
assumer, v. tr.
assurer, v. tr.
attacher, v. tr.
attaquer, v. tr.
atteler, v. tr.
attendre, v. tr.
attendrir, v. tr.
attirer, v. tr.
attraire, v. tr.
augurer, v. tr.
avachir, v.
avaler, v.
avancer, v.
avertir, v. tr.
avilir, v. tr.
aviser, v. tr.
avoir, v. tr.
avouer, v. tr.
bâcler, v. tr.
baiser, v. tr.
baisser, v.
balayer, v. tr.
barder, v. tr. et pron.
bâtir, v. tr.
battre, v.
baver, v.
bêcher, v. tr.
bêcher, v. tr.
becqueter, v. tr.
bémoliser, v. tr.
béquiller, v.
bétonner, v.
bigler, v.
blâmer, v. tr.
blanchir, v.
blêmir, v.
blesser, v. tr.
boire, v. tr.
border, v. tr.
borner, v. tr.
botter, v. tr.
boucaner, v.
boucler, v.
bouillir, v.
bouleverser, v. tr.
bouquiner, v.
braiser, v. tr.
braquer, v. tr.
brasser, v. tr.
brasser, v. tr.
briguer, v. tr.
briser, v.
brocarder, v. tr.
brocher, v. tr.
broder, v. tr.
broncher, v. intr.
brosser, v.
brouetter, v. tr.
brouiller, v. tr.
brouter, v.
brûler, v.
bûcher, v. tr.
buter, v.
cabrer, v. tr.
cafarder, v. tr.
cafeter, v. tr.
calculer, v. tr.
caler, v.
caler, v.
calfater, v. tr.
calomnier, v. tr.
calquer, v. tr.
canarder, v.
capeler, v. tr.
capitonner, v. tr.
captiver, v. tr.
carambouiller, v. tr.
caréner, v. tr.
caresser, v. tr.
caricaturer, v. tr.
carotter, v.
caser, v. tr.
cavaler, v. intr.
céder, v. tr. et intr.
célébrer, v. tr.
centrer, v. tr.
cesser, v.
changer, v.
chanter, v. intr. et tr.
chaparder, v. tr.
charger, v. tr.
charmer, v. tr.
charrier, v.
charronner, v. tr.
chasser, v.
chauffer, v. tr. et intr.
chausser, v. tr.
chercher, v. tr.
cheviller, v. tr.
chiquer, v. tr. et intr.
choisir, v. tr.
choquer, v. tr.
cicatriser, v.
cingler, v. tr.
cintrer, v. tr.
citer, v. tr.
clamer, v. tr.
classifier, v. tr.
clicher, v. tr.
clore, v. tr.
coiffer, v. tr.
collaborer, v. tr. ind.
collectionner, v. tr.
coller, v.
colleter, v. tr.
collisionner, v. tr.
colorer, v. tr.
colorier, v. tr.
combattre, v.
commander, v.
commencer, v.
comparer, v. tr.
compatir, v. tr. ind.
compenser, v. tr.
compiler, v. tr.
complimenter, v. tr.
composer, v.
comprendre, v. tr.
concéder, v. tr.
concevoir, v. tr.
conclure, v.
conduire, v. tr.
confesser, v. tr.
confier, v. tr.
confire, v. tr.
confondre, v. tr.
conglutiner, v. tr.
conjecturer, v. tr.
conjurer, v. tr.
connaître, v. tr.
conquérir, v. tr.
consentir, v. tr.
conserver, v. tr.
consoler, v. tr.
consommer, v. tr.
constiper, v. tr.
construire, v. tr.
consulter, v.
124
consumer, v. tr.
contempler, v. tr.
conter, v. tr.
contester, v. tr.
contracter, v. tr.
contraster, v. tr.
contredire, v. tr.
contribuer, v. tr. ind.
controverser, v. tr.
convaincre, v. tr.
convenir, v. tr. ind.
converser, v. intr.
convertir, v. tr.
convoiter, v. tr.
convoler, v. intr.
coordonner, v. tr.
copier, v. tr.
corder, v. tr.
correspondre, v.
cotiser, v. tr., pron. et intr.
côtoyer, v. tr.
coucher, v. tr., intr. et pron.
coudre, v. tr.
couler, v. tr. et intr.
couper, v. tr.
courre, v. tr.
coûter, v.
couver, v.
couvrir, v. tr.
craindre, v. tr.
cravacher, v.
crayonner, v. tr.
créer, v. tr.
creuser, v. tr.
crier, v.
critiquer, v. tr.
crocheter, v.
croire, v.
croquer, v.
crosser, v. tr.
croûter, v.
cuire, v.
culotter, v. tr.
cultiver, v. tr.
cumuler, v. tr.
curer, v. tr.
cuver, v.
daigner, v. tr.
damer, v. tr.
darder, v. tr.
débâcher, v. tr.
débagouler, v.
déballer, v. tr.
débarrasser, v. tr.
débaucher, v. tr.
débiliter, v. tr.
débiter, v. tr.
déblatérer, v. intr.
déblayer, v. tr.
débonder, v.
déborder, v.
débotteler, v. tr.
débouler, v. intr.
débourser, v. tr.
débrayer, v.
débrider, v. tr.
débrouiller, v. tr.
décaniller, v. intr.
décanter, v.
décerveler, v. tr.
décevoir, v. tr.
décharger, v. tr. et intr.
déchausser, v. tr.
déchiffrer, v. tr.
déchirer, v. tr.
déchristianiser, v. tr.
décider, v. tr.
déclamer, v.
déclarer, v. tr.
déclasser, v. tr.
décliner, v.
déclore, v. tr.
décomposer, v. tr.
décompter, v.
décorer, v. tr.
découper, v. tr.
découpler, v. tr.
découvrir, v.
décrire, v. tr.
décrocher, v.
décroûter, v. tr.
déduire, v. tr.
défatiguer, v. tr.
défendre, v. tr.
défolier, v. tr.
déformer, v. tr.
défourner, v. tr.
dégager, v. tr.
dégainer, v. tr.
dégénérer, v. intr.
déglacer, v. tr.
dégobiller, v. tr. et intr.
dégoter, v.
dégoutter, v. intr.
dégraisser, v. tr.
dégraver, v. tr.
dégrouper, v. tr.
déguiser, v. tr.
déguster, v. tr.
délasser, v. tr.
délier, v. tr.
démériter, v. intr.
demeurer, v. intr.
déminéraliser, v. tr.
démobiliser, v. tr.
démonter, v. tr.
démontrer, v. tr.
dénébuler, v. tr.
dénigrer, v. tr.
dépasser, v. tr.
dépêcher, v. tr.
dépenser, v. tr.
déplaire, v. tr. ind.
déposer, v. tr.
dépouiller, v. tr.
dépourvoir, v. tr.
dérober, v. tr.
déroger, v. tr. ind.
désaltérer, v. tr.
désapprendre, v. tr.
désarmer, v. tr.
descendre, v.
désencrasser, v. tr.
désenfourner, v. tr.
désennuyer, v. tr.
désépauler, v. tr.
déserter, v.
désespérer, v.
désherber, v. tr.
déshonorer, v. tr.
désignifier, v. tr.
désintoxiquer, v. tr.
désirer, v. tr.
désister (se), v. pron.
désobéir, v. tr. ind.
desseller, v. tr.
desservir, v. tr.
dessiner, v. tr.
déstocker, v. tr.
désunir, v. tr.
dételer, v.
détendre, v. tr.
déterminer, v. tr.
détracter, v. tr.
détrousser, v. tr.
détruire, v. tr.
dévider, v. tr.
deviner, v. tr.
devoir, v. tr.
dévorer, v. tr.
dévouer, v. tr.
dialoguer, v.
différer, v.
digérer, v. tr.
dire, v. tr.
125
diriger, v. tr.
discourir, v. intr.
discuter, v.
dispenser, v. tr.
disposer, v.
disputer, v.
disséquer, v. tr.
disserter, v. intr.
dissimuler, v. tr.
distinguer, v. tr.
distraire, v. tr.
divertir, v. tr.
diviser, v. tr.
divorcer, v. intr.
dominer, v.
donner, v.
doubler, v.
douiller, v. intr.
douter, v. tr. ind. (de…)
draguer, v. tr.
dramatiser, v. tr.
draper, v. tr.
dresser, v. tr.
dribbler, v. tr.
driver, v. tr.
durer, v. intr.
ébaucher, v. tr.
éblouir, v. tr.
ébourgeonner, v. tr.
écarter, v.
échapper, v.
écheniller, v. tr.
éclairer, v.
éclater, v.
écœurer, v. tr.
économiser, v. tr.
écoper, v. tr.
écouter, v. tr.
écraser, v. tr.
écrêter, v. tr.
écrier (s'), v. pron.
écrire, v. tr.
écumer, v.
édifier, v. tr.
effacer, v. tr.
efforcer (s'), v. pron.
effrayer, v. tr.
égaliser, v. tr.
égorger, v. tr.
égratigner, v. tr.
éjaculer, v. tr.
élaguer, v. tr.
élever, v. tr.
éliminer, v. tr.
élire, v. tr.
éloigner, v. tr.
éluder, v. tr.
émanciper, v. tr.
émarger, v. tr.
emballer, v. tr.
embarquer, v.
embarrasser, v. tr.
embaucher, v.
embaumer, v. tr.
embellir, v.
emblaver, v. tr.
embrayer, v.
émerveiller, v. tr.
émettre, v. tr.
émoustiller, v. tr.
émouvoir, v. tr.
empêcher, v. tr.
empester, v. tr.
empêtrer, v. tr.
emprunter, v. tr.
encaisser, v. tr.
encastrer, v. tr.
enceindre, v. tr.
encenser, v. tr.
enchaîner, v. tr.
encroûter, v. tr.
endormir, v. tr.
endurcir, v. tr.
endurer, v.
énerver, v. tr.
enfanter, v. tr.
enfermer, v. tr.
enfoncer, v.
enfourner, v. tr.
engager, v. tr.
engendrer, v. tr.
engloutir, v. tr.
engoncer, v. tr.
engouer, v.
engouffrer, v. tr.
engourdir, v. tr.
enivrer, v. tr.
enjamber, v.
enjoliver, v. tr.
enlaidir, v.
enlever, v. tr.
ennuyer, v. impers. et tr.
enorgueillir, v. tr.
enquérir, v.
enrayer, v. tr.
enregistrer, v. tr.
enrichir, v. tr.
enrôler, v. tr.
enseigner, v. tr.
ensemencer, v. tr.
ensommeiller, v. tr.
ensorceler, v. tr.
entamer, v. tr.
entasser, v. tr.
entendre, v. tr.
entêter, v. tr.
enticher, v. tr.
entonner, v. tr.
entonner, v. tr.
entourer, v. tr.
entraîner, v. tr.
entreprendre, v. tr.
entrer, v.
entretenir, v. tr.
envahir, v. tr.
envier, v. tr.
envoyer, v. tr.
épargner, v. tr.
épater, v. tr.
épauler, v. tr.
épeler, v. tr.
épicer, v. tr.
épier, v. tr.
épiloguer, v. tr.
éponger, v. tr.
épouser, v. tr.
éprendre, v. tr.
éprouver, v. tr.
escamoter, v. tr.
escher, v. tr.
escroquer, v. tr.
esgourder, v. tr.
espérer, v.
espionner, v. tr.
esquiver, v. tr.
essayer, v. tr.
étaler, v. tr.
étamper, v. tr.
étendre, v. tr.
étiqueter, v. tr.
étouffer, v.
être, v. intr.
enfanter, v. tr.
enfermer, v. tr.
enfoncer, v.
enfourner, v. tr.
engager, v. tr.
engendrer, v. tr.
engloutir, v. tr.
engoncer, v. tr.
engouer, v.
engouffrer, v. tr.
engourdir, v. tr.
enivrer, v. tr.
enjamber, v.
126
enjoliver, v. tr.
enlaidir, v.
enlever, v. tr.
ennuyer, v. impers. et tr.
enorgueillir, v. tr.
enquérir, v.
enrayer, v. tr.
enregistrer, v. tr.
enrichir, v. tr.
enrôler, v. tr.
enseigner, v. tr.
ensemencer, v. tr.
ensommeiller, v. tr.
ensorceler, v. tr.
entamer, v. tr.
entasser, v. tr.
entendre, v. tr.
entêter, v. tr.
enticher, v. tr.
entonner, v. tr.
entonner, v. tr.
entourer, v. tr.
entraîner, v. tr.
entreprendre, v. tr.
entrer, v.
entretenir, v. tr.
envahir, v. tr.
envier, v. tr.
envoyer, v. tr.
épargner, v. tr.
épater, v. tr.
épauler, v. tr.
épeler, v. tr.
épicer, v. tr.
épier, v. tr.
épiloguer, v. tr.
éponger, v. tr.
épouser, v. tr.
éprendre, v. tr.
éprouver, v. tr.
escamoter, v. tr.
escher, v. tr.
escroquer, v. tr.
esgourder, v. tr.
espérer, v.
espionner, v. tr.
esquiver, v. tr.
essayer, v. tr.
étaler, v. tr.
étamper, v. tr.
étendre, v. tr.
étiqueter, v. tr.
étouffer, v.
être, v. intr.
étudier, v. tr.
évacuer, v. tr.
évader, v.
évertuer (s'), v. pron.
évoluer, v. intr.
évoquer, v. tr.
exagérer, v. tr.
examiner, v. tr.
exclure, v. tr.
exécuter, v. tr.
exercer, v. tr.
exhéréder, v. tr.
exiger, v. tr.
exorciser, v. tr.
expédier, v. tr.
expérimenter, v. tr.
expier, v. tr.
expirer, v.
expliquer, v. tr.
exploser, v. intr.
exporter, v. tr.
exposer, v. tr.
exprimer, v. tr.
fâcher, v. tr.
fagoter, v. tr.
faillir, v. intr.
faire, v. tr.
falloir, v. impers.
faner, v. tr.
fasciner, v. tr.
faucher, v. tr. et intr.
fausser, v. tr.
feindre, v. tr.
fermer, v. tr. et intr.
ferrailler, v. intr.
fignoler, v. tr.
filer, v.
filtrer, v.
flairer, v. tr.
flatter, v. tr.
fleurer, v. tr.
flirter, v. intr.
fonder, v. tr.
fondre, v.
forcer, v.
forger, v. tr.
formuler, v. tr.
fortifier, v. tr.
fouler, v. tr.
fourber, v. tr.
fournir, v. tr.
fourrager, v.
fourvoyer, v. tr.
foutre, v. tr.
fraiser, v. tr.
franchement, adv.
frapper, v.
frayer, v.
fredonner, v.
frémir, v. intr.
fréquenter, v. tr. et intr.
fricasser, v. tr.
frire, v.
friser, v.
frotter, v.
frustrer, v. tr.
fulminer, v.
fumer, v.
fumer, v. tr.
gâcher, v. tr.
gaffer, v. tr.
gager, v. tr.
gagner, v. tr.
galoper, v.
garer, v. tr.
garnir, v. tr.
gêner, v. tr.
généraliser, v. tr.
glaner, v. tr.
glisser, v.
globaliser, v. tr.
gonfler, v.
gorger, v. tr.
gosser, v.
goûter, v. tr. et intr.
gouverner, v. tr.
graffiter, v. tr.
grailler, v. tr.
grammer, v. tr.
gratifier, v. tr.
gratter, v.
graver, v. tr.
graviter, v. intr.
greffer, v. tr.
grelotter, v. intr.
\griffer, v. tr.
griffonner, v. tr.
grignoter, v.
griller, v.
griser, v.
gronder, v.
grossir, v.
grouiller, v. intr.
guérir, v.
guerroyer, v.
guetter, v. tr.
guider, v. tr.
guillocher, v. tr.
habiller, v. tr.
hacher, v. tr.
haïr, v. tr.
127
haler, v. tr.
hanter, v. tr.
haranguer, v. tr.
harmoniser, v. tr.
hasarder, v. tr.
hâter, v. tr.
hausser, v.
haver, v. tr.
hérisser, v.
hériter, v. tr.
heurter, v.
horripiler, v.
humilier, v. tr.
hurler, v.
hypothéquer, v. tr.
ignorer, v. tr.
illuminer, v. tr.
imaginer, v. tr.
imiter, v. tr.
immerger, v. tr.
impliquer, v. tr.
implorer, v. tr.
importer, v. tr.
importer, v. intr., tr. ind. et
impers.
imposer, v. tr.
impressionner, v. tr.
imprimer, v. tr.
improviser, v. tr.
incliner, v.
incruster, v. tr.
indigner, v. tr.
indisposer, v. tr.
individualiser, v. tr.
induire, v. tr.
infantiliser, v. tr.
infatuer, v. tr.
infecter, v. tr.
infester, v. tr.
informer, v. tr.
inhumer, v. tr.
inquiéter, v. tr.
inquisitionner, v. tr.
insinuer, v. tr.
insister, v. intr.
inspecter, v. tr.
inspirer, v.
installer, v.
instruire, v.
insulter, v. tr.
insurger (s'), v. pron. et tr.
intégrer, v.
intercéder, v. intr.
intéresser, v. tr.
interligner, v. tr.
interpeller, v. tr.
interpréter, v. tr.
interroger, v. tr.
intervenir, v. intr.
intriguer, v. tr. et intr.
intuitionner, v. tr.
inventer, v. tr.
investir, v. tr.
inviter, v. tr.
irréaliser, v. tr.
irriguer, v. tr.
irriter, v. tr.
jaser, v. intr.
jeter, v. tr.
jointoyer, v. tr.
jouer, v.
jouir, v. tr. ind.
juger, v. tr.
jurer, v. tr.
labourer, v. tr.
laisser, v. tr.
lancer, v. tr.
lanciner, v.
languir, v. intr.
lanterner, v.
lasser, v. tr.
laver, v. tr.
lésiner, v. intr.
lessiver, v. tr.
lester, v. tr.
lever, v.
libérer, v. tr.
licencier, v. tr.
licher, v. tr.
liciter, v. tr.
lier, v. tr.
limer, v. tr.
lire, v. tr.
livrer, v. tr.
louer, v. tr.
louer, v. tr.
lutter, v. intr.
mâcher, v. tr.
maculer, v. tr.
maigrir, v.
maintenir, v. tr.
manger, v. tr.
manifester, v.
manquer, v.
marchander, v. tr.
marcher, v. intr.
marier, v. tr.
marmonner, v. tr.
marmotter, v. tr.
marquer, v.
massacrer, v. tr.
masser, v. tr.
mastiquer, v. tr.
matelasser, v. tr.
mater, v. tr.
mâter, v. tr.
mécher, v. tr.
médire, v. tr. indir.
méditer, v.
méfier (se), v. pron.
mêler, v. tr.
menacer, v. tr.
mener, v. tr.
mentir, v. intr.
menuiser, v. tr.
mépriser, v. tr.
mériter, v. tr.
mesurer, v. tr.
mettre, v. tr.
meubler, v. tr.
mignarder, v. tr.
mirer, v. tr.
miser, v. tr.
mobiliser, v. tr.
modeler, v. tr.
modérer, v. tr.
moissonner, v. tr.
monnayer, v. tr.
monter, v.
montrer, v. tr.
moquer, v.
marcher, v. intr.
marier, v. tr.
marmonner, v. tr.
marmotter, v. tr.
marquer, v.
massacrer, v. tr.
masser, v. tr.
mastiquer, v. tr.
matelasser, v. tr.
mater, v. tr.
mâter, v. tr.
mécher, v. tr.
médire, v. tr. indir.
méditer, v.
méfier (se), v. pron.
mêler, v. tr.
menacer, v. tr.
mener, v. tr.
mentir, v. intr.
menuiser, v. tr.
mépriser, v. tr.
mériter, v. tr.
mesurer, v. tr.
mettre, v. tr.
128
meubler, v. tr.
mignarder, v. tr.
mirer, v. tr.
miser, v. tr.
mobiliser, v. tr.
modeler, v. tr.
modérer, v. tr.
moissonner, v. tr.
monnayer, v. tr.
monter, v.
montrer, v. tr.
moquer, v.
mordiller, v. tr.
mordre, v.
morfler, v.
morfondre, v.
morigéner, v. tr.
mortaiser, v. tr.
moucharder, v. tr.
moucher, v. tr. et pron.
mouiller, v. tr.
mouler, v. tr.
moulurer, v. tr.
mourir, v. intr.
moyenner, v. tr.
munir, v. tr.
nager, v.
naître, v. intr.
nantir, v. tr.
narrer, v. tr.
négliger, v. tr.
négocier, v. intr. et tr.
neutraliser, v. tr.
nier, v. tr.
nommer, v. tr.
noter, v. tr.
nourrir, v. tr.
nover, v. tr.
nuancer, v. tr.
nucléariser, v. tr.
obéir, v. tr. ind.
obliger, v. tr.
obséder, v. tr.
observer, v. tr.
obstiner, v. tr. et pron.
obtempérer, v. tr. indir.
obtenir, v. tr.
occuper, v. tr. et pron.
offrir, v. tr.
opérer, v. tr.
opposer, v. tr.
opprimer, v. tr.
ordonner, v. tr.
orienter, v. tr.
orner, v. tr.
orthographier, v. tr.
oser, v. tr.
ôter, v. tr.
oublier, v. tr.
outrepasser, v. tr.
ouvrir, v.
oxygéner, v. tr.
pacager, v. tr. et intr.
pâlir, v.
pallier, v. tr.
palper, v. tr.
paraître, v. intr.
paraphraser, v. tr.
pardonner, v. tr.
parfaire, v. tr.
parier, v. tr.
partager, v. tr.
partir, v. intr.
parvenir, v. tr. ind.
passer, v.
passionner, v. tr.
patauger, v. intr.
patiner, v. tr.
patiner, v. intr.
paumer, v. tr.
paver, v. tr.
pavoiser, v. tr.
peindre, v. tr.
peinturlurer, v. tr.
peler, v.
pendre, v. intr. et tr.
pénétrer, v.
percer, v.
percevoir, v. tr.
percher, v.
perdre, v.
perfectionner, v. tr.
persifler, v. tr.
persuader, v. tr.
peser, v.
pester, v. intr.
phraser, v. tr. et intr.
piéger, v. tr.
piler, v. tr.
piller, v. tr.
ôter, v. tr.
oublier, v. tr.
outrepasser, v. tr.
ouvrir, v.
oxygéner, v. tr.
pacager, v. tr. et intr.
pâlir, v.
pallier, v. tr.
palper, v. tr.
paraître, v. intr.
paraphraser, v. tr.
pardonner, v. tr.
parfaire, v. tr.
parier, v. tr.
partager, v. tr.
partir, v. intr.
parvenir, v. tr. ind.
passer, v.
passionner, v. tr.
patauger, v. intr.
patiner, v. tr.
patiner, v. intr.
paumer, v. tr.
paver, v. tr.
pavoiser, v. tr.
peindre, v. tr.
peinturlurer, v. tr.
peler, v.
pendre, v. intr. et tr.
pénétrer, v.
percer, v.
percevoir, v. tr.
percher, v.
perdre, v.
perfectionner, v. tr.
persifler, v. tr.
persuader, v. tr.
peser, v.
pester, v. intr.
phraser, v. tr. et intr.
piéger, v. tr.
piler, v. tr.
piller, v. tr.
piloter, v. tr.
pimenter, v. tr.
pincer, v. tr.
piocher, v.
piquer, v.
pisser, v.
plagier, v. tr.
plaindre, v.
plaire, v.
planer, v. intr.
planter, v. tr.
plaquer, v. tr.
plâtrer, v. tr.
plonger, v.
pointer, v. tr.
pointer, v.
poisser, v. tr.
polluer, v. tr.
pomper, v. tr.
ponctuer, v. tr.
pondre, v. tr.
populariser, v. tr.
129
porter, v. tr.
poser, v. tr. et intr.
posséder, v. tr.
postuler, v.
poursuivre, v. tr.
pourvoir, v. tr.
pouvoir, v. tr.
pratiquer, v. tr.
précéder, v. tr.
prêcher, v.
précipiter, v. tr.
préciser, v. tr.
prédestiner, v. tr.
prédisposer, v. tr.
préférer, v. tr.
préluder, v.
prendre, v.
préparer, v. tr.
prescrire, v. tr.
présenter, v.
présider, v. tr.
prêter, v.
prévaloir, v. intr.
prévenir, v. tr.
prévoir, v. tr.
prier, v.
primer, v.
priser, v. tr.
priver, v. tr.
produire, v. tr.
professer, v. tr.
programmer, v. tr.
prohiber, v. tr.
projeter, v. tr.
promettre, v. tr.
prononcer, v.
prophétiser, v. tr.
proportionner, v. tr.
prosodier, v. tr.
prostituer, v. tr.
prouver, v. tr.
provoquer, v. tr.
publier, v. tr.
puiser, v. tr.
punir, v. tr.
purger, v. tr.
qualifier, v. tr.
quêter, v. tr.
quintessencier, v. tr.
rabâcher, v.
rabattre, v. tr.
rabrouer, v. tr.
raccourcir, v.
raccrocher, v. tr.
racoler, v. tr.
raconter, v. tr.
radiotélégraphier, v. tr.
rafraîchir, v. tr.
railler, v.
rajuster, v. tr.
rallier, v. tr.
rallumer, v. tr.
ramener, v. tr.
ramollir, v. tr.
ranger, v. tr.
ranimer, v. tr.
rappeler, v.
rapporter, v. tr.
rapprocher, v. tr.
raser, v. tr.
rassasier, v. tr.
rassurer, v. tr.
raturer, v. tr.
ravager, v. tr.
ravauder, v. tr.
ravigoter, v. tr.
rayonner, v.
réagir, v. intr. (et tr. ind.)
réarmer, v.
reboucher, v. tr.
rebuter, v. tr.
recevoir, v. tr.
réchapper, v.
réchauffer, v. tr.
réciter, v. tr.
réclamer, v.
recommencer, v. tr.
recomposer, v. tr.
recompter, v. tr.
réconcilier, v. tr.
réconforter, v. tr.
reconnaître, v. tr.
reconstruire, v. tr.
recouper, v. tr.
recourir, v.
récrier (se), v. pron.
récriminer, v. intr.
recruter, v. tr.
rectifier, v. tr.
recueillir, v. tr.
récupérer, v. tr.
redevenir, v. intr.
rédiger, v. tr.
rédimer, v. tr.
redresser, v. tr.
réduire, v. tr.
réessayer, v. tr.
refaire, v. tr.
réfléchir, v.
réformer, v. tr.
refuser, v.
réfuter, v. tr.
regarder, v. tr.
régenter, v.
régir, v. tr.
réglementer, v. tr.
régler, v. tr.
regretter, v. tr.
régulariser, v. tr.
rejoindre, v. tr.
relâcher, v.
relever, v.
relocaliser, v. tr.
remarquer, v. tr.
remballer, v. tr.
rembourrer, v. tr.
remettre, v. tr.
remiser, v. tr.
remontrer, v. tr.
remplir, v. tr.
rencontrer, v. tr.
rendre, v. tr.
renfermer, v. tr.
renier, v. tr.
renoncer, v. tr. ind. et dir.
renouveler, v. tr.
renseigner, v. tr.
rentrer, v.
répandre, v. tr.
repasser, v.
repentir (se), v. pron.
répéter, v. tr.
répliquer, v. tr.
répondre, v.
reporter, v. tr.
reposer, v.
repousser, v. tr.
répugner, v.
réputer, v. tr.
requérir, v. tr.
requinquer, v. tr.
réquisitionner, v. tr.
réserver, v. tr.
résider, v. intr.
résigner, v.
résister, v. tr. ind.
résoudre, v. tr.
respirer, v.
ressembler, v.
resserrer, v. tr.
ressusciter, v.
restaurer, v. tr.
rester, v. intr.
restituer, v. tr.
restreindre, v. tr.
130
retarder, v.
retenir, v. tr.
retirer, v. tr.
retomber, v. intr.
rétorquer, v. tr.
retourner, v.
retrancher, v. tr.
réunir, v. tr.
réussir, v.
revendiquer, v. tr.
revendre, v. tr.
revenir, v. intr.
revigorer, v. tr.
réviser, v. tr.
révolter, v. tr. et pron.
rimer, v.
rincer, v. tr.
rire, v. intr.
risquer, v. tr.
rogner, v. tr.
ronger, v. tr.
rouler, v.
ruisseler, v. intr.
ruminer, v. tr.
rupiner, v.
sabler, v. tr.
sabrer, v. tr.
saccager, v. tr.
sacrifier, v. tr.
saigner, v.
saisir, v. tr.
saler, v. tr.
saluer, v. tr.
sanctionner, v. tr.
sarcler, v. tr.
satisfaire, v. tr.
saupoudrer, v. tr.
savoir, v. tr.
savourer, v. tr.
scandaliser, v. tr.
sceller, v. tr.
scruter, v. tr.
sculpter, v. tr.
sécher, v.
secouer, v. tr.
séduire, v. tr.
sélectionner, v. tr.
semer, v. tr.
sentir, v. tr.
séparer, v. tr.
serper, v. tr.
serrer, v. tr.
servir, v.
sévir, v. intr.
signer, v. tr.
signifier, v. tr.
simplifier, v. tr.
slamer, v. intr.
solder, v. tr.
solfier, v. tr.
somatiser, v. tr.
sonder, v. tr.
sonner, v.
sortir, v.
souffler, v.
soumettre, v. tr.
soupçonner, v. tr.
soustraire, v. tr.
soutenir, v. tr.
souter, v. tr.
souvenir, v. intr. et pron.
squatter, v. tr.
statuer, v. tr.
stimuler, v. tr.
stipuler, v. tr.
subir, v. tr.
sublimer, v. tr.
subordonner, v. tr.
subtiliser, v.
succéder, v. tr. ind.
sucer, v. tr.
sucrer, v. tr.
suffire, v. tr. ind.
suffoquer, v.
suggérer, v. tr.
suivre, v. tr.
superposer, v. tr.
supplier, v. tr.
supporter, v. tr.
supputer, v. tr.
surjouer, v. tr.
surprendre, v. tr.
surseoir, v. tr.
surveiller, v. tr.
survivre, v.
suspendre, v. tr.
tacher, v. tr.
taguer, v. tr.
tailler, v. tr.
talonner, v.
tamponner, v. tr.
taper, v.
tapisser, v. tr.
tapoter, v.
tâter, v. tr.
teindre, v. tr.
télégraphier, v. tr.
témoigner, v. tr.
tendre, v.
tenir, v. tr. et intr.
tensionner, v. tr.
tenter, v. tr.
terminer, v. tr.
terrasser, v. tr.
téter, v. tr.
tinter, v.
tirer, v.
tisser, v. tr.
tomber, v.
tondre, v. tr.
tonifier, v. tr.
torcher, v. tr.
tordre, v. tr.
toucher, v. tr.
tourmenter, v. tr.
tourner, v.
tracer, v.
traduire, v. tr.
trafiquer, v. tr. dir. ou ind.
trancher, v. tr. et intr.
transcrire, v. tr.
traverser, v. tr.
tresser, v. tr.
tripatouiller, v. tr.
tromper, v. tr.
troquer, v. tr.
trouver, v. tr.
tuer, v. tr.
user, v.
vaincre, v. tr.
valoir, v.
vanter, v.
vaquer, v.
velouter, v. tr.
vendre, v. tr.
venger, v. tr.
venir, v. intr.
vérifier, v. tr.
vernir, v. tr.
verser, v.
vider, v. tr.
virer, v.
visiter, v. tr.
vivifier, v. tr.
voir, v.
voler, v. tr.
vomir, v. tr.
vouloir, v. tr.
131