L’attraction paronymique interlinguale dans le contexte de l’imaginaire linguistique
Interlingual paronymic attraction in the context of the linguistic imaginary

Summary/Abstract: The main objective of this study is to address the phenomenon of interlingual paronymic attraction. The phenomenon of paronymic attraction can also be materialized in the interlingual plane due to the formal similarity between the words of two languages (in our case - Romanian and French). The interlingual paronymy is conditioned by the subjective norms of the Linguistic Imaginary, which is manifested by the association of two interlingual paronyms and by the formation of the paronymic alliances at the interlingual level. The fact that two words with an almost identical sound body associate and attract, but with different meanings makes the more familiar paronym attract the least assimilated one by some speakers. The causes of the occurrence of interlingual paronymy are diverse: the common origin of the both languages and the different evolution of the words; loans; even the case (when the formal resemblance is not due either to the origin or to the loan). Examples of interlinguistic paronymic attractions, used for illustrative purposes, highlight a range of aspects worth of the researchers’ attention: the phenomenon of paronymy in the interlingual communication; deviation from the normative prescriptions; the role of the human factor (of the Linguistic Imaginary) in generating the interlingual paronymic attraction.

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