Research Abstract |
I have investigated the gramamticalization of French expressions of space. I gathered the data concerning simple and complex French prepositions, related English and Japanese expressions etc. I analysed the universal factors and particular features of every language. And I considered the parallelisme with scalar and comparative expressions in regard to the subjectification. In particular, I dealted with simple prepositions: a dans, sur, en, par, de, devant, derriere, sous, entre, vers, via and complex preposions : au bord de, au bout de, au coeur de, en l'espace de, a l'etape de, jusqu'a, a partir de, a la sortie de, pres de, en face de, le long de, autour de, aux alentours de, au-devant de, a l'approche de, au-dela de, a la suite de, a travers. In all cases, I remarked the grammaticalization from space to time. In regard to complex prepositions, the pathway from space to time is more clear than that of simple prepostions. Because, in the former cases, the lexical sense is not completely disappeared. I treated also the Japanese expressions of space : ATO, MAE, SAKI. These words reveal the similar pathway from space to time and similar polysemies.
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