6533b832fe1ef96bd129aae9

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Fixed constructions in French and Chinese

subject

description

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, especially so when the studied languages are typologically distinct. This is the case of Chinese and French, an isolating language in the first case, a fusional language in the second one. This does not always mean that the differences are significant and sometimes unexpected similarities may emerge. There is no contradiction in the simultaneous quest for homologies and the highlighting of differences. A comparison of the fixed expressions in Chinese and French provides a new vantage point which will undoubtedly expand the horizon even if it does not provide true solutions.