L’infinitif injonctif en français et en polonais
Injunctive infinitive in French and Polish

Author(s): Joanna Górnikiewicz
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: injunctive infinitive; syntax; semantics; directive speech acts; speech genres
Summary/Abstract: In this paper, the author provides an analysis of non-elliptical injunctive utterances in Polish and French in which an independent infinitive verbal form serves as the main verb. The research aims at describing their syntactic as well as semantico-pragmatic and generic properties that require, encourage or ban the use of this form in both languages. These independent infinitive constructions, described as being distributionally equivalent to imperative mood, have been studied from an illocutionary perspective as grammatical expression of different directive speech acts. The results show general constraints that both forms are subject to which are captured through the interaction of their semantic features with the context they are uttered in.

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