Ateneo - UPO

THE FRENCH LEXICON: A MORPHOLOGICAL AND SEMANTIC APPROACH

For students registered for the Bachelor in Modern and Foreign Languages:
- Christel Le Bellec, LE GREVISSE VOCABULAIRE - LES MOTS DU FRANÇAIS DE LEUR ORIGINE à LEUR UTILISATION EN CONTEXTE, De Boeck supérieur, 2020, ISBN 978-2-8073-2357-5

Supplementary bibliography:
- Henriette Walter, "Les Petits plats dans les grands", Paris, Laffont, 2020, ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 2221221419

• Knowledge and understanding: 1. Know and understand the formation of French vocabulary. 2. Be able to reflect on various morphological and semantic phenomena presented during the course. 3. Distinguish the various morphological mechanisms at work in the construction of French vocabulary. • Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: 1. Identify and classify the linguistic phenomena analysed during the course in an oral or written corpus. 2. Define the linguistic phenomena analysed during the course and provide relevant examples. 3. Task: based on the lyrics of a song from the musical “Notre Dame de Paris”, produce a detailed analysis of the corpus (designing both the questions and the answers). • Expression of judgements: Be able to formulate personal conclusions about the creation of French vocabulary, including from a comparative perspective with respect to the Italian language. Be able to explain jokes/advertising slogans related to various phonological phenomena and polysemy. • Study skills: 1. Read the texts provided during the course critically. 2. Use DIR independently and consistently. 3. Complete the various application exercises assigned during the course. 4. Complete the compulsory task assigned in preparation for the exam (task).

Successful passing of the exam “Lingua francese I” (Lingue straniere moderne) or B1 level of proficiency according to the CEFR.

Lectures supported by audiovisual aids (lecture-based teaching: approximately 75 per cent). Interaction between students and the lecturer; marking of exercises in class (interactive teaching: approximately 25 per cent). The course’s DIR page contains exercises to be completed independently, as well as supplementary and in-depth teaching materials, which form an essential complement to the activities carried out in class

The DIR service will provide detailed programs, instructions for the obligatory work, examples of written tests, and exercise sheets.
Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (DSA) or Special Educational Needs (BES) can request specific services and tools dedicated to them by contacting the Career Development and Coordination Staff and Student Services and by consulting the dedicated page on the University website: https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizi-studenti-disabili-e-dsa Students with disabilities, DSA, BES, once they have contacted the University Staff, they can contact the teacher in charge of the course in relation to the declination of the examination methods, with regard to teaching aspects.

The examination consists of a written paper (lasting 3 hours) comprising a test worth 120 marks, which covers topics in morphology, phonology and polysemy through a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions (3/4 of the test). It also includes the analysis (three-quarters of the test) of a text taken from the musical *Notre Dame de Paris*; and/or from another text among those analysed during the course. Each question is worth a quarter of a mark. The written test assesses knowledge and understanding (1, 2, 3); the mark is calculated mathematically (120 marks divided by 4). A mark of 30 with Distinction recognises excellent competence in all the identified areas. An individual assignment supervised by the lecturer will be set during the course (see study skills: 1, 3, 4), which is compulsory for sitting the written examination. This assignment serves as practice in preparation for the written examination. Detailed information regarding the format of the examinations, material relating to the various activities carried out during the course, exercises, examples and marked written tests, as well as a weekly lecture timetable, will be available on DIR. Communication of results: the mark for the written examination will be communicated via the ‘Esse3 – IT Services’ platform. For students enrolled on the LSM programme, the mark for French Linguistics A counts as the mid-term exam for the integrated module French Language II.

The course will focus, in its first teaching sequence, on the morphological mechanisms involved in the creation of French vocabulary. With this in mind, the following morphological phenomena will be examined: “doublets”, which demonstrate the coexistence of a popular and learned formation process; antonomasia; the construction of compound words, both popular and of Greek-Latin origin, including hybrid forms, words from the Gaulish substratum and the Frankish superstrate, derivation (prefixation, suffixation, parasyntactic derivatives, nominalisation with zero suffix, factitive and frequentative verbs), and idiomatic expressions. A second sequence will be devoted to the presentation of various phonological and semantic phenomena: specific topics (homography, homophony, homonymy and paronomasia) will be analysed and illustrated before addressing issues related to semantics, with particular attention to polysemy. These phenomena will be applied in the field of wordplay, advertising slogans and humour (cartoons and jokes). Finally, false friends (French-Italian) and cultural and linguistic stereotypes will be examined. The illustrative corpus, which will accompany each teaching sequence, consists of various sources and media (comics, literary passages, poems, reports) and, in particular, songs from the musical Nore Dame de Paris based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, as well as sequences from various musical and film adaptations. Various types of exercises are planned (translations, etymological research using the Le Trésor de la Langue Française Informatisée (ATILF) dictionary, writing lexicographical articles, creative writing exercises). The requirements for the compulsory written exam will also be explained in detail.

- Be aware of the morphological mechanisms at work in the creation of the French lexicon, both in a diachronic and synchronic approach. Recognize and be able to explain lexical derivation and composition.
- Apply acquired knowledge in both written production (mastery of spelling) and oral production (correct pronunciation), as well as in the individual analysis of corpora of various kinds, written and oral.
- Enrich vocabulary.
- Writing short creative texts.
- Read productively the indicated essay.
- Use DIR consistently and independently.
- Learn to carry out lexicological research on the Trésor de la Langue Française Informatisée (ATILF).