La prédication seconde en Français: Essai de mise au point

Abstract

Linguists have tried to define the category of secondary predication and to identify the specific constructions that could be taken into consideration. The principal studies on the subject have permitted to reveal a series of main features generally associated with this category: the instauration of a predicative link and the absence of a (conjugated) verb form (internal syntax), the establishment of a relation of dependence between the secondary predication and the primary predication and the syntactic integration of the former in the latter (external syntax), as well as the peripheral position of the secondary predication in comparison with the argument phrase structure and its accessory role in the interpretation of the phrase (accessory character of the secondary predication). We have analyzed the constructions identified as secondary predications according to these features and realized that none of the constructions includes them all. These observations induce us to discuss several questions: the closed category of secondary predication, the extension of its domain and the more precise description of certain particular constructions. © De Boeck Université.