A descriptive essay on the semantic particularities of the negative particles in the spoken French language

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Lviv Polytechnic National University

A descriptive essay on the semantic particularities of the negative particles in the spoken French language

Vysotska R.R.

Senior Lecturer

Summary

The main goal of this work lies in a descriptive analysis of semantic methods of expressing negation on the example of French literary works of the 20th century. The discussion of objections, possibilities and features of its grammatical-categorical expression in the structure of semantic means were the object of linguistic studies of numerous works by a large number of researchers, since they have a special status in the study of the morphological structure of the sentence. The aspects that we will try to outline in our study will allow us to master certain grammatical, morphological and semantic-stylistic concepts regarding negation. One of our main tasks will be to follow its practical utility in teaching and learning French. We also aim to pay special attention to grammatical differentiation in the use of negation constructions in written and spoken languages. We emphasize this point because it can cause some confusion for those who learn French. When a negation in French is accompanied by a verbal form, it consists of two parts. In this case, it will be useful to remember the use of the particle ne without pas and vice versa. In spoken language, negation is expressed in the form of ne and pas, where pas is optional under certain precise conditions. The negation «ne» is very weak in informal situations. In order to competently and fully conduct our research, we will use such research methods as descriptive and comparative, and translation (where necessary for a pragmatic purpose). We will define and compare concepts denoting negation with different degrees of intensity and pay special attention to the impact of negative construction as a direct consequence of communication. The presented work also highlights the issue of the development of negative constructions in the French language in the frame of synchrony and diachrony. In our research particular attention is paid to the evolution of the use of negative words. Emphasis is placed on the comparative use of negation in modern colloquial language, and examples from the sources of the literary language, which formed the basis of our literary base, are analyzed as well.

Key words: objection, statement, category, communication, expression, means, linguistics, research, syntax, colloquial language.

Висоцька Р.Р.

Короткий нарис про семантичні методи вираження негації на прикладі французьких літературних творів ХХ століття

Анотація

negation semantic french literary

Основна мета даної роботи полягає у дескриптивному аналізі семантичних методів вираження негації на прикладі літературних творів Франції ХХ століття. Дискусія про заперечення, можливості та особливості його граматико-категоріального вираження в структурі семантичних засобів були об'єктом лінгвістичних досліджень численних праць великої кількості дослідників, позаяк вони мають особливий статус у вивченні морфологічної структури речення. Аспекти, які ми спробуємо окреслити в нашому дослідженні, дозволять нам опанувати певні граматичні, морфологічні та семантико-стилістичні поняття щодо заперечення. Одним із наших головних завдань буде прослідкувати його практичну користь у викладанні та вивченні французької мови. Ми також маємо на меті звернути особливу увагу на граматичну диференціацію у використанні заперечувальних конструкції в письмовій та у розмовних мовах. Ми акцентуємо увагу на цьому моменті, оскільки це може становити певні непорозуміння для тих, хто вивчає французьку мову. Коли заперечення у французькій мові супроводжується словесною формою, воно складається з двох частин. В такому випадку буде корисним згадати використання частки ne без pas і навпаки. В усному мовленні заперечення виражене у формі ne та pas, де pas є необов'язковим за певних точних умов. Заперечення «ne» дуже слабке у неформальних ситуаціях. Для грамотного та повного проведення нашого дослідження ми застосовуватимемо такі методи дослідження, як описовий та порівняльний, та переклад (де це необхідно з прагматичною метою). Ми визначимо та порівняємо поняття, що позначають заперечення з різним ступенем інтенсивності та звернемо особливу увагу на вплив заперечення як безпосереднього наслідку спілкування. Подана робота висвітлює також питання розвитку заперечувальних конструкцій у французькій мові у площині синхронії та діахронії. Окрему увагу звернено на еволюцію вживання заперечувальних слів. Акцентується увага на порівнянні вживання негації у сучасній розмовній мові та проаналізовано приклади з джерел літературної мови, які і були покладені в основу нашої літературної бази.

Ключові слова: заперечення, висловлювання, категорія, спілкування, вираз, засоби, лінгвістика, дослідження, синтаксис, розмовна мова.

The definition of the problem

The negation is an important category of language, being one of the main mental operations, by its means most vividly and accurately expresses the category of logic, indicates the relationship between language, thought and objective reality [1, p. 47]. The negation is not only a problem of linguists, it is widely used in other sciences, such as logic or philosophy, which describes the multifaceted nature of this concept. The negation is one of the original semantic categories, semantically undecomposed, inherent in all languages of the world, which cannot be defined due to simpler semantic elements [2, p. 105]. Statements that contain objectionable information are often found in different functional styles of speech and in areas of communication. The speaker uses such statements not only when he denies something or tries to give a negative answer, but also when he declares or proves something, expresses his opinion, gives an assessment of objective reality. The existence of different types of negation explains the extreme interest of linguists in the study of this phenomenon. The given article gathers the lingual means of communication having a common point in their semantic structure, that of negation expressed more or less intensively. The question of negation, more or less strongly expressed, and the possibilities of its expression using linguistic means have given rise to numerous writings by researchers to the point of occupying a special status in the study of the sentence.

The problems that we have dealt with in our article will make it possible to master certain grammatical, morphological and semantic-stylistic notions concerning negation. First of all, we perceive its practical usefulness in the teaching and learning of French. We also try to pay particular attention to the difference between the use of negation in written and spoken language. We highlight this difference because it can be a problem for French learners. When the negation in French accompanies a verb form, it consists of two parts. Just remember the use of the particle ne without pas and vice versa. In the oral code, the negation has the form ne and pas, pas is optional under certain very precise conditions. In the spoken code, the negation has the form (ne) pas, this time the critical mark ne is optional. The «ne» of negation is only slightly pronounced in informal situations. To carry out our research more or less successfully, we have adopted investigative methods, such as descriptive and comparative methods, and delay (in necessary cases and for pragmatic purposes). We will give a definition and compare the notions marking negation with different degrees of intensity and pay particular attention to the incidence of negation as a more or less direct consequence of communication. The work presented also covers the development of negative constructions in the French language in terms of synchrony. Particular attention is paid to the evolution of the use of negative words. A detailed analysis of theoretical sources and dictionaries is carried out. The emphasis is on comparing the use of negation in modern colloquial language and analyzing examples from the sources of literary language.

The main content of the book - the examination and study of one of the complex grammatical phenomena of the French language - negation. The relevance of this topic lies in the detailed analysis of all linguistic means of expressing negative information in colloquial language. Despite the many works and studies carried out by linguists, the problem of negation remains poorly understood, because the modern development of linguistics, the latest advances in the linguistics of texts, communicative genres open up perspectives and new aspects of analysis of the category of negation. The notion of negation in French language is a multifaceted phenomenon that evolves with the development of the language.

The object of study of this work are negative sentences, that is, sentences that deny the relationship between subject and predicate or between different members of the sentence. The subject of the study are the linguistic ways and means of expressing negation. The purpose of the present work is to review the most common means of expressing objections in spoken French.

The presentation of the main material of the article

Spoken French has always interested researchers, mainly because of the need to study its lexical and grammatical characteristics for those who study French as a foreign language and encounter great difficulty in correctly understanding words, expressions and constructions in the general language [3, p. 98].

We know that the modern language is constructed according to its own laws, has its own rules which do not coincide with the normative rules. It's the language you hear in the subway, in cafes, in the street, etc. And this flow of words, interconnected with deviations from grammatical rules (incomplete sentences, interrupted by unexpected pauses, incomplete objections, etc.) - all this can literally confuse a person who is in the environment of native speakers. Spoken French has its own characteristics in the area of phonetics, vocabulary and grammar. It is impossible to analyze the three linguistic aspects in a single article. We will limit ourselves to the analysis of the grammatical features of the familiar aspect of the French language. The recourse to the analysis of these characteristics is quite justified, because the most moving part of the grammatical structure of the French language is the syntax.

Narrative sentences are the basic and most common unit of communication. Particular attention is drawn to the negative phrase, with which in modern everyday speech there are significant changes. These changes affect the means of expressing absolute, nominal and restrictive objections. French refers to polynegative languages that use negative particles in common sentences [4, p. 250]. A characteristic feature of the polynegative structure of a French sentence is the obligatory use of an adverbial double negation, the second component of which can be both a simple formant and a generalizing negative adverb [4, p. 257].

In French, negative particles close the predicate, its variable verb in a frame, if the second element is a formant. Other ways of expressing negation are represented by adverbs or pronouns; their syntactic function determines their place in the sentence, involves the separation of the second component of the predicate. The expression of sentences also plays an important role.

N. Shigarevskaya in her work ''Essais sur la syntaxe du fran^ais moderne'' describes in detail the contradictory phrases and functions of the negative particle «ne», which in the conditions of constantly changing has weakened its role and meaning. This particle has become an unstressed word, while the stressed position «pas» at the end of the accent group or syntagm has its own negative meaning, and the bilateral syntactic connections «pas» with the predicate and the adverb have changed the meaning in the second component of the negation [4, p. 260]. Thus, the interaction of evolutionary grammatical and phonetic processes led to the emergence in colloquial speech of the tendency to rearrange the common phrase: the adverbial double negative is replaced by one, expressed mainly by the negative particle «pas», as evidenced by the following example : Elle est pas jeune, pas jolie, mais pas triviale [4, p. 260].

It should be noted that the omission of «ne» in most cases is a sign of colloquial speech. In the literary-colloquial variety, there are two forms of expression of verbal negation: “ne... pas”, “pas” [5, p. 17]. The first variant of objection is more often used.

In order to interpret the evolution of a general sentence, French syntax researchers rely on one of the possible conditions - either the phonetic factor or the grammatical factor. However, the study of various language development processes shows that even the most significant phonetic process cannot by itself change or destroy the element of language that has grammatical meaning [5, p. 18]. The first component of the negation can be omitted in any type of predicate (simple, complex, compound verb and noun), any form of the verb, any subject. Nevertheless, we must point out two types of sentences that most consistently repeat the first negative part.

So «pas» is, as usual, the only negative element in everyday spoken language motivational phrases: Bonne chance ! oublie pas la petite , Soyons pas nerveux, la punition doit etre proportionnee a la faute [6, p. 61].

Another type of mono-negative sentence is constructed with the construction «c'est». In colloquial language, there is no alternative to «ce n'est pas» - «c'est pas». Only the construction with a negative particle «pas» in the postposition to the verb is used. The omission of the first element of negation in the sentences introduced by the presentational inflection «c'est» is linked not only to the grammatical and phonetic weakening of the particle «ne», but also to the tendency to phraseologize “ c'est” , to the coherence of the construction elements [7, p. 119].

Another regularity in the operation of adverbial negation should be noted: the first component is omitted more often in the subject-pronoun and is more commonly used in the subject-noun. Not using «ne» in the second case characterizes the colloquial type of spoken language. There are negative incomplete sentences which are a consequence of the ellipsis of the predicate, and in our opinion these sentences should be considered generally negative. They occur in all types of communicative sentences in colloquial speech: Pas question de trahir le mari, pas question non plus de ramener ses paroles a leur juste valeur [8, p. 112].

The negative particle «pas» has taken on the function of expressing predicativity. The predicative nature of these constructions is evidenced not only by their functioning as a separate sentence, which has its own special intonation characteristics, but also by the fact that in the examples above «pas» acts as a variant style of a complex negative unit «non pas» [7, p. 120].

Thus, in a strictly synchronic plane at the level of spoken language constructions like «Pas de nouvelles?» should be considered as independent predicative units, a kind of one-syllable sentence. Other negative particles - the second component of negative inversion, as well as «pas», can function in colloquial language without the first component «ne» and act as independent sentences.

Let us now analyze partially negative sentences, in which the predicate is positive, and the negative part «non» joins the other members of the sentence. There can also be circumstantial words, definitions, adjectives and the substantive part of the predicate: Ce sont alors les petits verres rouges et blancs; on boit regulierement, non sans un clin d'oeil [8, p. 8], Il s'agit d'un membre de la famille, non de la clientele [8, p. 9].

«Pas» successfully competes with «non» in colloquial language. These sentences belong to the predicative group: Il y avait de la lumiere dans la chambre dont la porte etait ouverte, mais pas dans les autres pieces [9, p. 129], Je viens pas dimanche, je viens jeudi [9, p. 139].

The combination of «non» and «pas» with adjectives created a new pattern of word formation with negative meanings, as well as enriched the vocabulary with new semantics.

Evidemment la question n'est pas logique [10, V. 1, p. 120], (la question n'est pas logique - elle est illogique).

Monsieur le juge d'instruction, je suis pas coupable [10, V.1, p. 127], ( je suis pas coupable - je suis incoupable ).

A negative sentence is sometimes constructed using restrictivenegative inversions (seulement.. .que, ne.. .pas que, non seulement, pas seulement). Their differentiation is related to speech style and whether the inversion is a noun or an adverb.

Ce n'est pas seulement le jour apres demain qui n'est jamais assure, c'est meme l'heure presente [10, V 2, p. 13].

Ce n'est pas a vous que tu penses ; il ne faut jamais penser a soi avant de penser a eux et a elles. [10, V 2, p. 13].

In the examples above, the negative participle «pas» is attached to the verb in the postposition and is therefore linked to the circumstance of tense in the first example and to the appendix in the second, to which its negative meaning applies. In both examples, the restrictive-negative inflections are constructed with a verbal predicate. Thus, in modern French, colloquial language is used in different types of negative sentences, the only means of expression of the category of negation - the part of «pas» [6, p. 114]. There are usually negative and partially negative sentences. Almost always the general negation (the whole fact is negated) is expressed by the negation in the predicate (verb); partial negation (only part of the fact is denied) is expressed by the negation of another member of the sentence. However, sometimes in French, the partially negative meaning is expressed by a verbal negation, because the particle «ne» can only represent a verb.

In conclusion, it should be noted that during this work the means of expression of the negation in French were studied and analyzed. Examples of works by foreign authors were studied, which made it possible to determine as accurately and clearly as possible the range of means used in literature, which allow to express the category of negation to different language levels; examples from textbooks on dialogical discourse were also used, which was particularly useful in identifying the relevant pathways of negation in a linguistic situation.

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