Manente Amélie. Types de prédication en vietnamien: dynamique et variété des structures

Paris 5, 2013. — 573 p.We present here a syntaxic analysis of the Vietnamese language spoken in Ho Chi Minh City, in line with the functional syntax introduced by André Martinet and developed later by his followers. In a first part, we examined the extent of noun/verb opposition in Vietnamese. After a synthesis of work on this subject, we present our own analysis of the lexical classes, relying on strictly syntactic criteria. A detailed study of the syntactic modalités (undeterminable determinants) - nominalizing undeterminable determinants, undeterminable determinants of degree, predicative undeterminable determinants and injunctive undeterminable determinants - was necessary. These units are used to distinguish different behaviors, and leads to the identification of major lexical classes in Vietnamese: nominals, adjectives, modals and ‘verbals’. It appears that these classes of units are organized along a continuum. In a second part, the analysis focuses on the different types of predicative structures in Vietnamese. The variety of structures - nuclear and connective - is central to the study as well as the identification of the different functions. Finally, we present an analysis of "serial verb constructions" very common in Vietnamese, but actually reflecting very different realities. Throughout this study, we pay particular attention to the variation and change (reanalysis, lexicalizations, grammaticalizations), referring to the dynamics of the various structures and of the Vietnamese language itself.