ZEUS VERSUS PROMETEU: O embate discursivo nos artigos opinativos favoráveis e contrários à pesquisa com células-tronco embrionárias

A partir da perspectiva da Análise de Discurso de linha francesa, este trabalho analisa os discursos especializados (científico, religioso, jurídico, jornalístico, político) presentes em artigos na mídia massiva sobre a cobertura da Lei de Biossegurança, sobretudo a partir do ajuizamento da ADI Nº 3510, pelo ex-procurador geral da República, Claudio Fontelles. Os dados são artigos opinativos publicados nos jornais Folha de S. Paulo e O Estado de S. Paulo, no primeiro semestre de 2005, bem como os documentos-fonte do Magistério Católico citados (Evangelium Vitae; Declaração sobre a Produção e o Uso Científico e Terapêutico das Células Estaminais Embrionárias Humanas; e a Instrução Donum Vitae,). Pretende-se verificar o modus operandi da linguagem nestes discursos, sobretudo os aspectos ideológicos de sua construção como elementos persuasivos. Os resultados da pesquisa permitem concluir a presença de elementos dogmáticos nestes discursos, alinhados com o posicionamento ideológico dos grupos aos quais pertencem os articulistas, bem como a presença de elementos mítico-filosófico-religiosos, conforme a noção de Discurso Fundador, de Eni Orlandi.(AU)

Le(s) temps du compte rendu sportif

Cellard (1979 : 19) avançait de façon quelque peu impressionniste que ‘le passé simple se rencontrait beaucoup plus souvent dans les comptes rendus de rencontres sportives de notre journal que dans toute autre catégorie de textes’. Même si un tel passé perfectif serait le vecteur idéal du rapport d’un exploit sportif au déroulement chronologique, la réalité des textes nous offre un panorama nettement diversifié. Une compétition acharnée se joue avec d’autres tiroirs verbaux (passé composé, imparfait, présent) qui, chacun, offre une présentation différente des procès. Après une brève présentation théorique de chaque tiroir, nous entamerons une étude de corpus basée sur des textes de presse francophone. Nous conclurons que le panorama temporel du compte rendu sportif contemporain pourrait résulter de contraintes extra-linguistiques comme le type de publication et l’évolution des médias.

Du tout au rien:libre-choix et polarité negative

This monograph proposes a general model for the analysis of polysemy. The underspecified content of polysemic items produces interpretations in relation with characterised contextual indicators. This ternary set of schematic representations applies to the meaning organisation of French indefinite qui que ce soit ('any'). Universal positive readings, existential and opposition readings are generated by modalised predicate, a modalised proposition and syntactically adjoined functions. "Affective" contexts yield a negative polarity interpretation, the interpretation is generated through concessive reasoning, which explains how scalar values can be evoked by an item representing arbitrary selection. Such contextual reasoning and characterised contextual indicators are the two modes for the calculation of the contextual interpretation of polysemous items.

Quelqu'un n'est pas venu

Received wisdom has it that positive polarity items such as someone are incompatible with negation (?*Someone didn't come). Yet negative contexts are attested with such items not only in their specific indefinite reading (e.g. There's someone who didn't come), but also in their non-specific reading (It isn't the case that someone came). It is the non-specific reading of indefinite quelqu'un as subject of a negative verb phrase which is analysed by the present paper. On the basis of a corpus of attested cases, it demonstrates that polemic contrast is the crucial condition of the considered interpretation. As quelqu'un is included within a presupposed proposition that is rejected as a whole by negation, negative contexts can accommodate an item which does not normally yield the interpretations negation does. Interpretation is thus presented as process of mutual adjustment between contextual readings allowed for by items, readings which can be modalised by discursive values.

L'association négative:depuis la syntaxe jusqu'à l'interprétation

This book untangles the old grammatical paradox allowing for several negations within the same negative clause through his work of the scope of negations. The scope of each negation over the same predicate is what allows for concordant values. The frequent co-occurrence of negative items, cases of double negation and the expletive negative, as compared to constituent negation, help to demonstrate this. Analysis of these phenomena is based on a large body of data of different varieties of French considered in the light of historical, typological, and psycholinguistic tendencies. While extensive reference is made to current analysis, independence is maintained from any particular model. Starting from syntactic generalisations, the work provides an innovative solution to a classic interpretative issue.

L'interprétation des phrases négatives:portée et foyer des négations en français

The organization of linguistic meaning is animated by the duality between the sense of signs and the reference to the experience of speakers. How the presuppositions communicated by speakers emanate from the conventional value of signs and their cotextual dependencies is explored in this monograph on the scope and focus of negation. Negation can have scope over the predicate of the sequence in which it is used. The body of data brought together show that a variety of configurations preclude command of the predicate by the negative scoping over it, and that scope is a semantic rather than structural relation. Scope defines the domain in which an item can be focused by negation. Negative focus is dependent on the evocation of an alternative value, which may be generated by lexical antonymy, syntactic determination or contextual corrections. The study of focus and scope of negation on the basis of attested examples from different varieties of French demonstrates how the independently motivated semantic principles of relation to predicate and reference to an alternative value account for the observed effects.

Une histoire du sens:la sémantique linguistique depuis Bréal

Il y a plus d'un siècle, Michel Bréal institua l'analyse du sens dans le langage. À partir de là, le développement de la sémantique repose sur des paradigmes, qui constituent de véritables métaphores de la nature générale du langage. Cet ouvrage montre que, hors des modèles logiques, la sémantique s'est historiquement développée à travers quatre paradigmes. Le sens linguistique relève de la vie mentale des individus pour le paradigme psychologiste qui réunit Bréal, Brunot, Damourette et Pichon, Guillaume et Bally. La nature incertaine de cette vie mentale porte le structuralisme de Saussure, Greimas, Rastier et Wierzbicka à envisager le sens comme dérivant de l'équilibre des oppositions internes à la langue. Les déterminismes de cette organisation sont associés aux conditions de sa mise en oeuvre pour le paradigme de l'énonciation élaboré par Benveniste, Ducrot, Anscombre, Nølke et Culioli. Ils sont pour le cognitivisme de Kleiber, de Cadiot, de Fuchs et pour la Grammaire cognitive dérivés d'un esprit au fonctionnement mécaniste. Permettant de délimiter la forme et l'évolution des paradigmes scientifiques, l'analyse des théories donne à voir l'état actuel de la discipline et les questions qu'elle sera appelée à résoudre.

Interprétation des insultes et relations de solidarité

This article focuses on the empirical domain of the solidarity uses of certain insults in different varieties of French (standard, Quebec, Burgundy) from diachronic and synchronic points of view. Solidarity uses refers to the usage of axiological terms as terms of endearment to mark social proximity between subjects. This value is signalled by morphosyntactic, prosodic and mimeo-gestural features indicating the speaker's disposition towards the addressee. These psychological and social parameters conspire to attenuate the axiological term's argumentative program, which however can never be entirely evacuated. This argumentative program is nevertheless subordinated to pragmatics, which remains necessary in order to evaluate the extent to which the conventional lexical meaning is maintained in these uses. The attenuation of conventional meaning under solidarity uses shows the relevance of relational and attitudinal notions for the negotiation of meaning. It further establishes that at least in some cases, the analysis of linguistic interpretation require a multidisciplinary approach, most specifically where the relation between Semantics and Pragmatics is concerned.

La contingence des faits linguistiques:réflexions sur la variation et le changement

This paper is a reflection on the role of contingent facts for the general understanding of language. Such facts are illustrated by the lacks of proportionality in the paradigm of French indefinites and the irregular correlations between the Null Subject Parameter and other hypothesised parameters. Such contingencies clearly go against the expectation raised by at least some versions of structuralism and the current chomskyan Minimalist Program. As demonstrated by alternative views being developed in various natural and social sciences, and as shown by recent research on formulaic language, contingency may be understood as the result of the expedient character of a medium geared towards action. A view of language as action may thus offer a perspective able to account both for the general default rules shaping a grammar and for the contingencies that entrench them in use, as both are integral and complementary aspects of language.

Contribution à un bilan méthodologique de la syntaxe de l'émergence diachronique du sujet obligatoire en français::e paramètre du sujet nul et le statut des clitiques

As any language French transformed over time. The evolution of French is marked by many phenomena at all organization levels. For syntax, these phenomena include from the medieval State to current state the assertive sentence of second verb schema change (where the verb should be preceded by a constituent, XVY) to SVO (where it is the subject that precedes the verb) and the passage of the optional expression required expression of the subject. The mandatory presence of the subject in current French is all the more remarkable that it distinguishes it from most other major contemporary romance languages that require explicit subject. This last group includes catalan, Spanish, Italian literary, some occitans, Portuguese, Romanian, and Sardinian, dialects French hugging with the florentin franco-provençal, some other occitans dialects Mediterranean Italian dialects and the ladin following Vanelli, Renzi and Beninca (1985/1985).

Le PS: cher disparu de la rubrique nécrologique?

Le pass´e simple (PS) franc¸ais, en tant que pass´e perfectif, semble fait pour l’article n´ecrologique qui relate les points forts d’une existence dans l’ordre chronologique. Cependant, des linguistes ont affirm´e au cours du 20`eme si`ecle que le PS ´etait mourant. Il vaut donc la peine de voir si le PS est utilis´e dans les articles n´ecrologiques et si son usage d´ecline dans le temps. Cette ´etude se penche sur un corpus synchronique (Le Monde, Le Figaro, L’Humanit´e, La Croix, Le Parisien) et un corpus diachronique (Le Monde, Le Figaro). Elle s’int´eresse `a l’´evolution des formes et des fonctions du PS au cours du temps et dans les diff´erents journaux. Elle ´evalue ´egalement la capacit´e des pass´e compos´e, imparfait, pr´esent, plus-que-parfait et futur simple `a jouer un r ˆole narratif dans l’article n´ecrologique.

L'unité de l'imparfait:vues théoriques et perspectives pour les apprenants du français, langue étrangère

Given the diversity of uses of the French imparfait, there is no unanimity about the nature – or even the existence – of a semantic invariant that may characterize it. The present article aims on the one hand at recapitulating the attempted temporal, aspectual and discursive descriptions of the imparfait found in contemporary research. A personal description of that tense based on the concepts of time, aspect and Aktionsart is then proposed ; it is thought such description may account for that tense multiplicity of uses. On the other hand, because of the necessity of a dialogue between theoretical and applied linguistics, this article will also consider the potential contribution of the suggested invariant to the teaching of French as a foreign language.

Les temps du passé français et leur enseignement

Les formes du passé constituent un écueil pour l'apprentissage du français langue étrangère ; même les apprenants les plus avancés échouent à maîtriser leur emploi. Si le manque d'équivalence forme à forme entre les temps des langues constitue une difficulté évidente, la complexité sémantique et distributionnelle des tiroirs français ne doit pas être négligée. Grammairiens et linguistes se sont efforcés de fournir des descriptions des tiroirs du passé mais leur travail, comme celui des didacticiens, s'est révélé inégal. Les contributions retenues dans ce volume invitent à la réflexion critique en ce qui concerne les descriptions existantes des temps et les approches de leur enseignement. Sont envisagées la structuration du système ainsi que la constitution des tiroirs du point de vue synchronique, évolutif et contrastif, à partir de corpus de différentes variétés de français. La question de l'enseignement de ces notions à des apprenants du français langue étrangère et maternelle est aussi considérée dans les divers contextes de l'acquisition. C'est dans l'esprit d'un dialogue de plus en plus nécessaire entre application et modélisation qu'est proposé cet ouvrage, qui retiendra l'intérêt tant des praticiens que des théoriciens. The forms of the past constitute a stumbling block for learning foreign language French; even the most advanced learners fail to master their jobs. If the lack of shape to form equivalence between the time of languages is an obvious difficulty, complexity, semantics and distributional drawers French should not be neglected. Grammarians and linguists have tried to provide descriptions of the drawers of the past but their work, such as educationalists, has been uneven. The contributions included in this volume invite critical thinking regarding the existing descriptions of time and approaches to their teaching. Envisaged the structure of the system and the constitution of the drawers of synchronic point of view, evolutionary and contrasts, from corpora of different varieties of French. The issue of teaching these concepts to learners of French foreign language and tongue is also considered in various contexts of acquisition. In the spirit of dialogue increasingly required between application and modeling what this proposed structure, which will retain the interest of both practitioners and theorists.

La politique linguistique et l'avenir du Francais au Mexique:etude du cas de l'universite de Veracruz

In a linguistic context where it seems the entire world is only interested in learning English, it is worth considering the idea of whether French still has a place in Mexico. In spite of the predominance of English, there is nevertheless a feeling that French remains alive in Mexico, and indeed in certain areas has retained its strength and appeal. This hypothesis was to put to the test by exploring the current linguistic environment prevalent in the state of Veracruz. An investigation in the form of questionnaires and interviews of all those connected to the teaching of French (including students, teachers and employees and directors of language schools) shows that the desire of the Mexican government of promoting English for everyone is not necessarily consistent with the desire and expectations of the general populace. This in turn suggest the need of adopting a policy that enables us not only to take into consideration what people seem to be telling us regarding the learning of foreign learning but also of what they are not telling us. If the teaching and learning of French as a foreign language remains strong in Veracruz, it is explained much more by the long and friendly relationship that people in the state have had with French people (and their culture) than it is by any instrumental needs of learning their language. This is seen in the fact that students here consistently describe their motivation for learning French from an emotional or affective standpoint rather than from professional one. It seems that the ties between the Mexican and French people remain solid. Another interesting characteristic of students of French in Veracruz is the positive attitude they seem to have regarding languages in general, which in turn enables them to take further advantage of the benefits made available from globalization. In reality, there exists no rivalry between French and English and therefore it is unnecessary to adopt measures that would address such struggle. It is however a matter of great urgency that authorities in the arenas of politics and academia take a closer look at the policies they design regarding the study of foreign languages in general, and that they consider, specifically, a wholly alternative to the one language model of teaching and learning of foreign language – in this case English-, a model that for all intents and purposes has failed. In the midst of a globalized world, and during this current period of increased linguistic activity, the aforementioned assertions serve not only to support my initial hypothesis, but also to help shake off the dust of some out-dated belief systems and lay down the framework for a new, better informed and well thought-out policy of foreign languages planning.