Code switching can be defined as the use of more than one language, or ‘code’, by someone engaged in speech or text. It is a practise employed by multilinguals in both oral and written...Show moreCode switching can be defined as the use of more than one language, or ‘code’, by someone engaged in speech or text. It is a practise employed by multilinguals in both oral and written conversations. Different multilinguals will have different switching patterns. These patterns can vary depending on the speaker’s language proficiency, community norms, the typology of their languages, and the cultural or political relations these languages might have with one another, among many other reasons. Code switching between Spanish and English and Spanish and French has been the subject of various studies. Although trilingual research is rare (e.g. Parafita Couto et al., 2023; Valdés Kroff et al., 2023), there has also been some research on the connection between Spanish, French and English, but most of this work is based in the French-speaking provinces of Canada (e.g. COLEM, 2023; Pato, 2019, 2022). This paper aims to study the code-switching patterns among a set of trilingual siblings living in Geneva who have Colombian heritage and attend a British school in the city. The participants recorded themselves for up to 30 minutes having casual conversations following a prompt in three separate occasions. The switches were identified alongside general information about the corpus, such as how many languages were present in each clause, the clauses’ matrix language, the general use of each language in the corpus, among others. This paper focuses on intraclausal switching. We followed Deuchar et al. (2007)’s methodology which categorises each intraclausal switch into insertion, alteration, or congruent lexicalisation according to the code switching pattern it most aligned with following Muysken’s typology of bilingual speech patterns (2000).Because English, Spanish and French are typologically similar, combined with the fact our participants are fluent in all three languages, and due to the culturally open context of Geneva, we expected alternation to be the dominant switch pattern in the recorded conversations. Having said this, since the participants go to a British school where their education is mainly in English, and because the Colombian community in Geneva is not as big as other bilingual communities around the world, a dominant insertional pattern was also a possibility. The corpus was composed of mainly unilingual clauses with 7.8% of the first recording being bilingual clauses, 19.6% of the second recording, and 8.95% of the third. Only three clauses in the entire corpus were trilingual out of 1215. Once we had analysed the entirety of the conversations, the dominant pattern was indeed overwhelmingly insertion with 77.55% of the switches in the corpus presenting this pattern. Congruent lexicalisation was present in 11.56% of the switches and alternation in the other 10.88%. Although these results do not necessarily align with our expectations of codeswitching in Switzerland, we believe our participants’ specific background, namely the fact that language separation is encouraged in the different spheres of their lives, could explain the prevalence of insertion over alternation in our case study. We hope our research will contribute to bigger corpus studies of trilingual codeswitching patterns in different communities.Show less
Les jeunes utilisent une forme de langage qui leur est propre et en perpétuelle mutation, qualifiée souvent de langage jeune. Ce faisant, ils constituent un facteur important de changement...Show moreLes jeunes utilisent une forme de langage qui leur est propre et en perpétuelle mutation, qualifiée souvent de langage jeune. Ce faisant, ils constituent un facteur important de changement linguistique. Les études existantes démontrent l’existence de ce phénomène en se concentrant sur les jeux sur le lexique comme le verlan, la troncation ou l’emprunt à d’autres langues. Ce mémoire porte sur ce qui semble constituer un jeu morphosyntaxique très présent dans le langage jeune contemporain, celui de la recatégorisation, et plus particulièrement la recatégorisation de l’adjectif en adverbe. On rencontre en effet fréquemment l’emploi de certains adjectifs à la place des adverbes en - ment leur correspondant (j’ai total planté à la place de j’ai totalement planté). J’identifie dans ce travail 15 adjectifs autorisant cet emploi. Je démontre qu’il s’agit de cas de recatégorisation et non d’apocopes et classe les 15 adjectifs en 2 groupes en fonction de leur rôle dans la phrase. Pour 8 d’entre eux, utilisés comme adverbes d’intensité, et sur lesquels porte la majeure partie de ce travail, je propose que la recatégorisation soit le moyen choisi par les jeunes pour se créer de nouveaux marqueurs d’intensité percutants, selon le besoin constant, largement reconnu dans la littérature, de renouvellement de cette classe de mots. Pour les 7 autres adjectifs adverbialisés, dont les correspondants en -ment sont des adverbes de manière verbaux, je suggère que leur emploi (se laver rapide ou faire quelque chose tranquille) engendre un transfert de modification du verbe vers le sujet et que cela pourrait s’insérer dans une dynamique plus large de besoin d’expression par le locuteur de son attitude face à l’action, besoin créé par un emploi intensif des émoticônes.Show less
Diphthongization of the vowel /e:/ into the diphthong [ei] is a common phenomenon in Dutch and can be transferred to an L2; we found in our bachelor thesis that, although the French vowel /e/...Show moreDiphthongization of the vowel /e:/ into the diphthong [ei] is a common phenomenon in Dutch and can be transferred to an L2; we found in our bachelor thesis that, although the French vowel /e/ should not be diphthongized, Dutch learners of French tend to do this. Interestingly, they do this more when the vowel /e/ occurs in the first syllable of a word. That is why we investigated in the current study if coarticulation with neighboring sounds plays a role in the diphthongization of the French vowel /e/ in Dutch learners of French. Furthermore, we didn't only focus on production, but we also investigated whether Dutch learners of French can perceive the difference between the French monophthong /e/ and the Dutch diphthong [ei] and whether neighboring sounds influence this perception in an AXB task. Finally, we examined whether the perception of the participants was correlated with their production. We found that the neighboring sounds indeed seem to influence both the production and the perception of the diphthongization of the French vowel /e/; when the /e/ was followed by the dental sound /t/, it was significantly more diphthongized than when it was followed by the labial sound /p/. Interestingly, although the /t/ gives rise to more diphthongization in production, the participants perceived the least diphthongs in a /t/ context in the perception task, which could be explained as a compensation effect for coarticulation. It was less clear whether the participants were able to distinguish between the monophthong /e/ and the diphthong [ei] in the perception task. Finally, we didn't find a correlation between the production and perception of the diphthongization of the French vowel /e/ in Dutch learners of French.Show less
Cette étude sociolinguistique historique examine le lien possible entre les mots d’emprunts français et le participe présent aux 18ème et 19ème siècles à Leyde. Il s'avère qu'il y a probablement un...Show moreCette étude sociolinguistique historique examine le lien possible entre les mots d’emprunts français et le participe présent aux 18ème et 19ème siècles à Leyde. Il s'avère qu'il y a probablement un lien entre les deux, puisqu'ils sont utilisés de la même manière.Show less
The French Language has several past tenses, including the passé composé and the imparfait. These tenses are at first sight similar to two past tenses in Dutch, the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd and...Show moreThe French Language has several past tenses, including the passé composé and the imparfait. These tenses are at first sight similar to two past tenses in Dutch, the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd and the onvoltooid verleden tijd. For Dutch learners of the French language, it may seem that you use the French passé composé, when you have to use the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd in Dutch, because both the passé composé as the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd are composed of an auxiliary and a past participle. However, there is a difference with regard to the use of these tenses in Dutch and in French. The mother tongue, in this case Dutch, can interfere with the acquisition of the French tenses by Dutch learners. It is possible that there is a negative transfer of Dutch to French. The Dutch education could help learners to acquire the correct use. This thesis examines the transfer of Dutch to French concerning the past tenses and it examines the role that plays education in the process of transfer. In the thesis, we will discuss the past tenses that are used in French and in Dutch and we will examine the role of the mother tongue (Dutch), specially the process of transfer. Furthermore we will discuss the role of de education in this transfer. In which way the education can improve the acquirement of these tenses? With the help of a forced choise task, we will try to specify the role of the transfer of Dutch to French concerning the past tenses and we will try to examine the role of education in this acquisition.Show less
This corpus study explores the use of the particle 'ne' in spoken modern French in relation to a number of linguistic factors, such as morpho-phonological processes and negative polarity contexts....Show moreThis corpus study explores the use of the particle 'ne' in spoken modern French in relation to a number of linguistic factors, such as morpho-phonological processes and negative polarity contexts. In particular, the study aims to investigate the link between the possible presence/absence of the particle 'ne' and the use of a negative expression as a negative polarity item. This hypothesis was rejected based on a large amount of data, and a new one was suggested in which we suppose that there might be a connection between clitics and the appearance of a null particle 'ne'. The study was based on a very large corpus, ESLO2, and provides a clear overview of the relevant literature and the data examined.Show less
This thesis examines several uses of the French adverb 'seulement' that have been distinguished by French researcher Beyssade (2010). On the basis of a corpus study (Corpus d'Orléans) and speaker...Show moreThis thesis examines several uses of the French adverb 'seulement' that have been distinguished by French researcher Beyssade (2010). On the basis of a corpus study (Corpus d'Orléans) and speaker judgments, this thesis presents some new insights with respect to the theoretical classification of 'seulement'. Some classes have slightly different properties than Beyssade (2010) originally proposed. In this way, this thesis is extending the discussion that has been led on by multiple linguists with regard to the topic of 'seulement'.Show less
In this master thesis, the phenomenon of insubordination will be treated. This phenomenon has been described by Evans (2007:367) for the first time as “the conventionalized main-clause of what, on...Show moreIn this master thesis, the phenomenon of insubordination will be treated. This phenomenon has been described by Evans (2007:367) for the first time as “the conventionalized main-clause of what, on prima facie grounds, appear to be formally subordinate clauses”. Although this phenomenon has been defined several times in prescriptive grammars, Evans (2007) was the first who has done descriptive research for many Indo-European languages, including Dutch. Unfortunately the French language has not been described. Therefore the main subject of this MA thesis will be to compare the theory of Evans (2007) for the Dutch language and apply it to the French language. This thesis will be limited to the conjunctions “if” and “that” which introduce the conventionalized main-clauses. The main objective of this research will be a comparative research into the Dutch and French language, more specific into the two conjunctions “if” and “that”. The reason why those two conjunctions have been chosen is the fact that they appear most often in all the languages which have examined by Evans (2007). The methodology of this MA thesis will be comparative and theoretical. Moreover, there will be a section including some case studies. The content of the different sections will be thus: the first chapter will give an overview of all the literature concerning the phenomenon insubordination. The second chapter will be dedicated to the conjunction “if” in Dutch and French. The next chapter will be dedicated to the conjunction “that” and the fourth chapter will be showing some case studies to support my theory. The Corpus d’Orléans has provided the information for this thesis. Finally, all results will be summarized in the conclusion.Show less
Nous n’avons pas pu constater une évolution dans l’emploi du subjonctif en français standard pendant les deux siècles et il n’est pas question de variabilité du subjonctif. En québécois, le...Show moreNous n’avons pas pu constater une évolution dans l’emploi du subjonctif en français standard pendant les deux siècles et il n’est pas question de variabilité du subjonctif. En québécois, le subjonctif est un vestige du passé, qui s’utilise seulement après quelques gouverneurs (non) verbaux ou après quelques expressions fixes. A côté de l’emploi du subjonctif après ces gouverneurs et expressions, le subjonctif s’emploie presque jamais en québécois, surtout pas dans les phrases où il est question d’une grande distance. En français standard, par contre, l’emploi du subjonctif est stable. Les francophones français emploient spontanément le subjonctif en accord avec la grammaire prescriptive. En parlant des différences dans l’emploi du subjonctif entre le français québécois et le français standard, nous pouvons conclure que le subjonctif est un phénomène intrinsèquement variable en français québécois, tandis que le subjonctif ne l’est pas en français standard.Show less
Ce travail vise à fournir des éléments permettant d’établir des distinctions interprétatives plus nettes entre penser, croire et supposer dans la construction parenthétique. En outre, ce travail...Show moreCe travail vise à fournir des éléments permettant d’établir des distinctions interprétatives plus nettes entre penser, croire et supposer dans la construction parenthétique. En outre, ce travail explique également la différence de traduction dans les constructions parenthétiques denken et geloven en néerlandaisShow less
Over the years, English interrogative tags (isn’t it? wouldn’t they? right?) have received quite some scholarly attention. However, the same cannot be said of their French counterparts: oui? non? n...Show moreOver the years, English interrogative tags (isn’t it? wouldn’t they? right?) have received quite some scholarly attention. However, the same cannot be said of their French counterparts: oui? non? n’est-ce pas? and hein?. In order to find the interpretative differences between those four tags, we decided to examine the matrix sentences they could combine with. We argued that the incompatibilities of these tags with certain matrix sentences were caused by their intrinsic differences. With that in mind, we used various tests to determine those differences. We found that the polarity distribution within the tag question played an important part in their interpretation. That is, tag questions with reversed polarity (positive matrix, negative tag or vice-versa) clearly conveyed a meaning of doubt on the speaker’s part, whereas those with constant polarity hardly showed any uncertainty at all. We claimed that oui?, a tag that only occurs in constant polarity questions, expresses the dominance of the speaker over the hearer, by means of orders, rhetorical questions and questions that are strongly biased towards a positive answer. Furthermore, we hypothesized that hein? expresses neither doubt nor dominance, which distinguishes it from the other tags we discussed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Au fil des années, les tags interrogatifs en anglais (isn’t it ? wouldn’t they ? right ?) ont reçu beaucoup d’attention dans la littérature scientifique. Cependant, cela n’est pas vrai pour les tags interrogatifs en français : oui ?, non ?, n’est-ce pas ?, et hein ?. Afin de mieux cerner les différences interprétatives entre ces tags, nous avons examiné les matrices avec lesquelles ils se combinaient. Nous avons avancé que les différences intrinsèques entre les tags provoquent leurs différences de compatibilité. Aussi avons-nous employé différents tests dans l’objectif de mieux comprendre ces différences. Nous avons trouvé que la distribution de polarité dans la question-reprise joue un rôle important dans son interprétation. C’est-à-dire, les questions-reprise de polarité inversée (une matrice positive, un tag négatif ou vice-versa) indiquent un certain degré de doute de la part du locuteur, tandis que celles de polarité constante n’expriment aucun sentiment de doute. Nous avons proposé que oui ?, qui ne figure que dans les contextes de polarité constante, exprime la domination du locuteur par rapport à son interlocuteur. Cette domination se manifeste par des injonctions, des questions rhétoriques et des questions présuppositionnelles. Finalement, nous avons formulé l’hypothèse que hein ? n’exprime ni le doute ni la domination, ce qui le distingue des autres tags que nous avons discutés.Show less
L’immigration nord-africaine a été étudiée par de nombreux auteurs , d’un point de vue historique et social. En revanche, nous avons essayé de combiner ces aspects avec un autre point de vue :...Show moreL’immigration nord-africaine a été étudiée par de nombreux auteurs , d’un point de vue historique et social. En revanche, nous avons essayé de combiner ces aspects avec un autre point de vue : celui de la presse écrite. Aussi la question de recherche traite-t-elle de la manière dont l’immigration maghrébine en France a été perçue par la presse française dans l’entre-deux-guerres. Nous voulons savoir s’il y a eu des signes d’une polémique autour du mouvement migratoire et ses conséquences pour la France et si les Nord-Africains ont été représentés plutôt d’une manière positive ou davantage d’une façon négative, quand et par qui.Show less
Pour pouvoir communiquer correctement dans une langue, les apprenants du français langue étrangère utilisent le plus souvent des manuels scolaires ou des ouvrages qui nous décrivent les règles...Show morePour pouvoir communiquer correctement dans une langue, les apprenants du français langue étrangère utilisent le plus souvent des manuels scolaires ou des ouvrages qui nous décrivent les règles de grammaire. Un néerlandophone apprenant la langue française est exposé aux différentes compétences linguistiques de la langue française telle que l’expression écrite, la compréhension orale, l’expression orale et la compréhension écrite. Au cours de l’apprentissage de ces compétences linguistiques, il est indispensable de tenir compte de la grammaire française.Un aspect de la grammaire souvent discuté est la formulation des questions partielles en français là où le néerlandais diffère beaucoup du français. Le néerlandais ne dispose que d’une seule structure pour la formation des questions partielles tandis que le français en compte plusieurs. C’est dans ce contexte qu’il est intéressant de savoir comment les jeunes élèves néerlandophones apprennent à formuler ces questions en français et surtout à observer l’effet du manuel scolaire.Show less
