This thesis is concerned with the historical analysis of French idioms from both
theoretical and methodological points of view. An idiom is considered as a figurative
expression whose meaning is not equal to the sum of its components’ meanings.
In the first part, after drawing distinctions between such terms as locution, expression or
phrasème, I survey the key elements in the analysis of idioms: their syntax, semantics and
lexical features. I discuss various theories to see how they can relate and be applied to a
historical study.
I deal first with the syntactic approach which describes the various grammatical features
of idioms basing my analysis mostly on works by Gross. It shows that, while figurative
expressions are often syntactically similar to non-figurative expressions, they do not allow
much leeway in their morphological and syntactic variations because their meaning is closely
linked to their form. However a grammatical description is not sufficient for a diachronic
analysis of idioms.
Secondly, I take a close look at semantic description as it appears in works by theoricians
such as Weinreich, Greciano and Rey. In particular I show that it is necessary to put the
idiom back in its context in order to grasp its real meaning. While not rejecting the rhetorical
approach, this process allows us to avoid systematic assimilation of idioms as rhetorical
figures. A diachronic analysis shows that an idiom can be a literary figure, a cultural figure,
or a sociological one. Therefore its description must rely as much on a pragmatic approach
as on a semantic one.
The second part of my study adopts a methodological approach. The objective is to
develop a method of analysis that can be applied to a lexicographical description of idioms.
The originality of the study relies partly on the fact that the analysis is based on an electronic
literary data-base as well as on formal dictionaries. Animal metaphors, nine of which are
closely analysed, are chosen to illustrate the methodology. Each case study is divided into
three main parts: the history and etymology of the idiom, its socio-cultural representation and
implication and its linguistic description. Much emphasis is put on highlighting the ways in
which the idiom becomes part of the text.
In the last chapter of the thesis I develop a new descriptive model for a historical
dictionary of idioms. The focus is to describe the expression with as much precision as is
usual for words. The model is based particularly on works by Wartburg (FEW) and Mel’ëuk
(Dictionnaire lexico-combinatoire).
The main result of this study is to demonstrate that idioms need to be viewed as discrete
linguistic units. For this reason they must be studied strictly in context.
Another major contribution is that in many specific cases my research has allowed me to go
further than other historical studies. An example is entre chien et loup whose origin can be
traced back to a Hebrew text, and whose first use in a French text goes back to the very early
13th century. Lastly, the study of the idiom’s situational context shows us that phrasemes
allow a connection to be made between language and culture, because they are often a
linguistic reflection of a belief, saying, or folk tale.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/7198 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Caws, Catherine Gisèle |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | French |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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