Séminaire « Norme(s) et marge(s): la langue mise à l’épreuve »
Thème D4
« The Adjective: Emergence of a Category” (W. Andrieu)
The adjective as an independent part of speech is not attested before the end of the 17th century in the Western tradition of the language sciences. It is common knowledge that a longstanding division between noun substantives and noun adjectives preceded the invention of the category. Adjectives were listed as nouns. Yet the emergence of the new category of the adjective in Lane’s Art of Letters deserves to be studied in detail inasmuch as it may be a direct consequence of the influence of French grammaire générale.
“Pronoun Choice and Value Judgment” (L. Pillière)
My presentation will focus on the concepts of hypercorrection and dialectal variation, and will examine how pronoun choice can index more than just case, number, person, or gender. Taking examples from English, I will highlight the interplay between pronoun choice and value judgements about ‘correct’ or ‘proper’ speech. By considering both order and case form in binomials (she and I, her and me) and the use of reflexives in nominative/accusative positions (what brought yourselves here today?) I will look at how constructions can become associated with certain social judgements and/or attributes.