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Cette thèse décrit les aspirations intrusives, saillantes mais labiles, souvent représentées par /h/ ou [h], dans l’anglais L2 des francophones (par exemple : I hate pasta au lieu de I ate pasta). Le phonème /h/ est débile dans les langues indo-européennes. Historiquement, la consonne subit une lénition progressive, avec une forte variation linguistique et extralinguistique (diatopique, diastratique et diachronique). La fricative glottale /h/ à l’attaque de mot en anglais L1 est caractérisée par i) l’ouverture de la glotte et ii) la configuration supraglottale de la voyelle suivante. Dans cette étude, les réalisations des attaques de mot en anglais sont étudiées à partir de trois sortes de données : i) un texte lu par 8 anglophones et 10 francophones, ii) la parole spontanée de 25 francophones et iii) un test de perception passé par 30 francophones. La fréquence d’apparition des aspirations intrusives montre une forte variabilité inter- et intra-locuteurs. Elles sont retrouvées exclusivement i) en position initiale absolue ou ii) après un phone vocalique. Une pause, une glottalisation ou une aspiration sont trois procédés qui conduisent à augmenter l’écart temporel entre deux voyelles en hiatus. Une glottalisation ou une aspiration ont en commun de correspondre à une tension glottale. Les aspirations illicites semblent être des traces d’hypercorrection qui pourraient être dues i) à une assimilation incomplète du contraste phonétique [ʔ] ~ [h] de l’anglais, ii) à la réparation phonologique facultative de *#V, iii) à un geste de constriction glottale n’atteignant pas sa cible (glottalisation inchoative) et à un geste intrusif d’ouverture glottale. La correction phonétique proposée par le professeur recherche la prise de conscience par l’apprenant i) du contrôle de la glotte pour l’aspiration, la glottalisation et le maintien d’un voisement modal en frontière morphologique, et ii) des particularités syllabiques du français et de l’anglais qui font des frontières de mot des points d’achoppement potentiels en anglais L2. / This dissertation describes some salient, yet variable, intrusive tokens of aspiration, often represented by /h/ or [h], in French learners’ L2 English productions (e.g. : I hate pasta instead of I ate pasta). The phoneme /h/ is weak in Indo-European languages. Historically, the consonant has undergone progressive lenition and exhibits strong intralinguistic and extralinguistic --diachronic, dialectal and stylistic-- variation. The glottal fricative /h/ at English word onsets is characterised by i) an open glottis and ii) the supraglottal configuration of the following vowel. In the present study, the onsets of English words are analysed in three types of data: i) a text read by 8 native English speakers and 10 French learners of English, ii) spontaneous speech elicited from 25 French learners and iii) a perception test taken by 30 French-speaking students. The frequency of intrusive tokens of aspiration at L2 English word onsets shows high inter- and intra-speaker variability. Importantly, however, they only surface i) in strict initial position or ii) after a vocalic sound. A pause, some glottalisation or some aspiration are three processes that contribute to increasing the time span between two vowels in a hiatus context. Glottalisation and aspiration both correspond to glottal tension. Illicit tokens of aspiration can be considered as occurrences of hypercorrection, which may result from : i) incomplete assimilation of the English [ʔ] ~ [h] contrast, ii) optional phonological repair of *#V, iii) a glottal constriction gesture that fails to reach its target (i.e. inchoative glottalisation) and an intrusive gesture of glottal opening. Phonetic corrective feedback in L2 learning is proposed. It aims at raising the learner’s awareness of i) glottal control for aspiration, glottalisation, and continuous modal voicing across word boundaries and ii) some syllabic specificities of French and English that make word boundaries potential stumbling blocks in French learners’ L2 English.

This diploma thesis analyses instances of the initial position of the information focus, the rheme, in present-day English. Initial placement of the rheme is found in structures that go against the principle of end-focus. The aim of this work is to identify which clause constituents, and under what circumstances may function as the initial rheme. The initial section of the theoretical part deals with a description of word-order, and the basic concepts of functional sentence perspective, such as communicative dynamism. Then it continues with the rheme and the factors affecting FSP, and, particularly, with cases where initial rheme occurs. The practical part contains analysis of examples of initial rheme in different genres and text types, including oral communication. The frequency of occurrence is summarized at the end of the work.

The diploma thesis explores whether the complementation of infinitives and gerunds, functioning as subject clauses, is different. Expecially it compares syntactic structures, relative length and complexity of the complementations and their roles in functional sentence perspective (whether elements are rather thematic or rhematic etc.). Furthemore it explores whether the form of complementation is affected by the position of infinitive of gerund, it means if there is any difference between the complementations of non-finite verb in initial position and extraposition. The research is based on the relevant academic writing and on authentic instances of gerunds and infinitives from the present sources of literature.

This thesis provides a complex overview of function of adverbial elements in initial position, with focus on theirs typology and distribution in anteposition in two lingual corpuses - publicistic and literary. Meanwhile analyzes eventual position of these anteponed adverbial elements behind the verb and finally based on quantitative results deduces factors, which influence acceptability of postposition of these adverbial elements. Based on this, it follows their postposition and provides a conclusion with differences in two types of text. In addition, that follows both observation and comparison of combinations of adverbial elements in initial zone in publicistic and literary corpus.