Fixed constructions in French and Chinese

2017

Languages are not just instruments of communication. Claude Hagège (2012: 181) reminds that all languages are rooted in a pool of knowledge, sensations, memories, images, dreams, which are the fabric of a speaker's competence. Languages are very complex and multidimensional phenomena. However, it is impossible to carry out a complete study of languages, without taking into account a generalized and pervasive phenomenon: the fixedness.In light of a great deal of progress which has been made by the research on phraseology, we realize that many gray areas still exist; indeed, some true mysteries remain to be unraveled. Contrastive studies have always helped to advance knowledge of language, es…