Linguistics. Université Paris 8; Universität zu Köln, 2021. English. ⟨NNT : ⟩
annee_publi
2021
resume
The aim of this thesis is to propose a new solution to an old problem: what does it mean to 'let something happen'? It can be understood as the granting of permission or as the absence of intervention. But how do we know which of these two readings we are dealing with? To answer this question, I use the French verb laisser and the Spanish verb dejar as examples, since each of these two verbs can give rise to two distinct causative syntactic constructions, one monoclausal and the other biclausal. The idea is therefore to understand (i) whether these different degrees of syntactic complexity are reflected at any level in the interpretation of these causative constructions, and (ii) whether they differ from one language to another, since the constructions also differ. In order to understand the relationship between morphosyntax and conceptual representation(s), I present the three experiments I conducted aimed at testing the correspondence between syntactic structure and interpretation. These experiments show that morphosyntax is not the main factor in the interpretation of these causative constructions; on the contrary, other factors, such as the notion of authority and the causal concept of prevention, seem to be more relevant for the choice of one reading over another. Finally, using causal models, I show that although these relationships are expressed through causative constructs, they are in fact the representation of unrealized properties rather than the expression of any causal relationship.
The French causative verb laisser can enter two different constructions: a monoclausal one resembling the faire-infinitive construction (Kayne 1975, Alsina 1992, Guasti 1996, Folli & Harley 2007) and a biclausal one. While differences in interpretation between these two constructions have been pointed out (Kayne 1975, Enghels & Roegiest 2012), the link between structure and conceptual representation has not been clearly defined yet. In this paper, we tackle the syntax and semantics of causative laisser adopting as a background Talmy's (1988) force dynamics model of causation. We further show that the link to the selectional restrictions of the causative verb can be made by considering forces as dispositional causal properties (Fara 2001), that is, properties that become relevant with respect to the role of an entity in a causal chain.