Le gérondif en français et les structures correspondantes en suédois : Étude contrastive

• The present study deals with the French gerund and the Swedish syntactic correspondences in a parallel corpus. The analysis is based on 3,988 authentic instances of the gerund and their corresponding structures in Swedish texts. These are collected in a corpus consisting of 13 original contemporary French novels and 13 original contemporary Swedish novels, including their respective translations. The main purpose is to identify the Swedish corresponding structures and consider how, and to what extent, they transmit the integrative function and the adverbial interpretations of the French gerund.  Nine Swedish reoccurring structures are discerned, including the most common: coordinated clauses and adverbial clauses. The study shows that the nine Swedish structures share the integrative capacity of the gerund to different degrees, as well as how they transmit the adverbial interpretations in various ways. Some Swedish syntactic structures correlate with particular adverbial interpretation of the gerund.Another aim is to contribute to the existing research on the French gerund: the semantic analysis of the corpus has led to question – with authentic examples – the alleged absolute inability of the gerund to denote an eventuality that is the consequence of the eventuality denoted by the superordinate clause. The study also reveals, in light of Swedish corresponding structures, the relationship between certain adverbial interpretations of the gerund and more independent syntax in French.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Studier av enskilda språk (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- Specific Languages (hsv//eng)

Keyword

French gerund

infinite form

converbs

simultaneity

contrastive analysis

grammaticalisation

gérondif

forme infinie

simultanéité

analyse contrastive

grammaticalisation

Romance Languages

Romanska språk

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

dok (subject category)