French verbs

This file defines the French verb entries: the causatives faire and laisser, the attitude verbs vouloir, espérer and croire with the mood of the clause each selects, the anticausatives of the causative alternation whose se is optional, and the transitive verbs whose passive agent is marked by par or de. An entry is a Verb with its argument frames and the proto-role entailments of its arguments in the sense of Dowty. Martin, Schäfer and Kastner sort the anticausatives by whether a human undergoer typically controls the change, and Staps and Rooryck group the transitive verbs by the agent preposition they take; both classifications are the papers' and live in their studies, while the entries here carry the frames and entailments the classifications are read from. A polysemous verb has one entry per sense, told apart by its SenseTag.

The monadic entries carry the perfect auxiliaries Grevisse and Goosse give them (Verb.perfectAuxiliaries). A closed list of intransitive verbs, "for the most part" of motion or change of state, forms its perfect with être; a longer list takes avoir for the action and être for the state that results; every other verb takes avoir. The list is the norm and meaning does not decide it: every verb of the first list is telic or continues a state, but telic verbs of the second, as aboutir 'succeed' and disparaître 'disappear', take avoir for the action. A verb of manner of motion selects no directional phrase, so Marie a couru jusqu'à la maison 'Marie ran home' keeps avoir.

Main definitions

• undergoer, movingUndergoer: the entailments of an anticausative's sole argument, without and with movement.
• independentParticipant, companionSubject, neglectSubject: the entailments of the arguments the transitive entries do not share with a template.
• allVerbs: the entries.

Implementation notes

The basic diathesis of an anticausative is intransitive, its patient the subject, carrying the entry's profile; the second diathesis is the transitive one, with the patient as object and a causer as subject. The entries record no inflectional forms.

References

• [Dow91]
• [MSK25]
• [SR24]
• [AR72]
• [GG08]
• [Sor00]
• [PR20]

Causatives

def French.Verbs.faire : Verb

faire 'make', the causative that forms one predicate with its infinitive, as in faire lire 'make read'.

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def French.Verbs.laisser : Verb

laisser 'let', the permissive causative.

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Anticausatives

The anticausatives with an optional se that Martin, Schäfer and Kastner test: the verbs of their experiment 1a, whose change a human undergoer typically does not control, and the verbs of their experiment 1b, whose change the undergoer typically controls.

def French.Verbs.undergoer : ArgumentStructure.EntailmentProfile

The sole argument of an anticausative undergoes the change, is causally affected and exists independently of the event. It is not entailed to be sentient, as le mur rougit 'the wall reddened' shows, nor to be stationary, which is relative to another participant.

Equations

• French.Verbs.undergoer = {ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.independentExistence, ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.changeOfState, ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.causallyAffected}

def French.Verbs.movingUndergoer : ArgumentStructure.EntailmentProfile

The sole argument of an anticausative of motion or posture is an undergoer that also moves.

Equations

• French.Verbs.movingUndergoer = insert ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.movement French.Verbs.undergoer

def French.Verbs.anticausative (form : String) (arg : ArgumentStructure.EntailmentProfile := undergoer) : Verb

The entry of an anticausative with an optional se has the intransitive, its patient the subject, as its basic diathesis and the transitive of the alternation after it.

Equations

• French.Verbs.anticausative form arg = { valency := Verb.Valency.of [(ArgumentFrame.intransitive, [0]), (ArgumentFrame.np, [1, 0])] [some arg, none], morphs := [Morphology.Morph.root form] }

def French.Verbs.brunir : Verb

brunir 'turn brown(er)' ([MSK25] (31)).

Equations

• French.Verbs.brunir = French.Verbs.anticausative "brunir"

def French.Verbs.noircir : Verb

noircir 'blacken' ([MSK25] (31)).

Equations

• French.Verbs.noircir = French.Verbs.anticausative "noircir"

def French.Verbs.palir : Verb

pâlir 'get pale' ([MSK25] (31)).

Equations

• French.Verbs.palir = French.Verbs.anticausative "pâlir"

def French.Verbs.rajeunir : Verb

rajeunir 'get young(er)' ([MSK25] (31)).

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def French.Verbs.rougir : Verb

rougir 'redden, blush' ([MSK25] (31)).

Equations

• French.Verbs.rougir = French.Verbs.anticausative "rougir"

def French.Verbs.approcher : Verb

approcher (de) 'get close(r) to', whose undergoer moves ([MSK25] (40)).

Equations

• French.Verbs.approcher = French.Verbs.anticausative "approcher" French.Verbs.movingUndergoer

def French.Verbs.durcir : Verb

durcir 'harden' ([MSK25] (40)).

Equations

• French.Verbs.durcir = French.Verbs.anticausative "durcir"

def French.Verbs.plier : Verb

plier 'bend', whose undergoer changes posture ([MSK25] (40)).

Equations

• French.Verbs.plier = French.Verbs.anticausative "plier" French.Verbs.movingUndergoer

def French.Verbs.radoucir : Verb

radoucir 'get soft(er)' ([MSK25] (40)).

Equations

• French.Verbs.radoucir = French.Verbs.anticausative "radoucir"

def French.Verbs.refroidir : Verb

refroidir 'get cold(er)' ([MSK25] (40)).

Equations

• French.Verbs.refroidir = French.Verbs.anticausative "refroidir"

Transitive verbs

The verbs of Staps and Rooryck's Table 1 and of the sections that follow it, with the proto-role entailments of their subject and object. The prototypically transitive verbs have the accomplishment template's profiles, the psych verbs an experiencer subject, and the verbs of following and accompaniment an object that merely exists independently of the event.

def French.Verbs.independentParticipant : ArgumentStructure.EntailmentProfile

An argument entailed only to exist independently of the event, neither agentive nor affected: the object of a psych verb or of a verb of accompaniment, and the subject of a stative positional verb.

Equations

• French.Verbs.independentParticipant = {ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.independentExistence}

def French.Verbs.companionSubject : ArgumentStructure.EntailmentProfile

The subject of accompagner is sentient and moves but is not entailed to be volitional, since the accompanying party may merely watch ([SR24] §3.2).

Equations

• French.Verbs.companionSubject = {ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.sentience, ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.movement, ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.independentExistence}

def French.Verbs.neglectSubject : ArgumentStructure.EntailmentProfile

The subject of the neglect reading of abandonner and délaisser is volitional and sentient but brings about no change.

Equations

• French.Verbs.neglectSubject = {ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.volition, ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.sentience, ArgumentStructure.ProtoRoleFeature.independentExistence}

def French.Verbs.transitive (form : String) (subj obj : ArgumentStructure.EntailmentProfile) (cls : Aspect.VendlerClass) (tag : SenseTag := SenseTag.default) : Verb

The entry of a transitive verb with the given subject and object entailments, Vendler class and sense.

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def French.Verbs.laver : Verb

laver 'wash' ([SR24] Table 1).

Equations

• French.Verbs.laver = French.Verbs.transitive "laver" ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentSubjectProfile ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentObjectProfile Aspect.VendlerClass.accomplishment

def French.Verbs.briser : Verb

briser 'break' ([SR24] Table 1).

Equations

• French.Verbs.briser = French.Verbs.transitive "briser" ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentSubjectProfile ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentObjectProfile Aspect.VendlerClass.achievement

def French.Verbs.ecrire : Verb

écrire 'write', a verb of creation ([SR24] Table 1).

Equations

• French.Verbs.ecrire = French.Verbs.transitive "écrire" ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentSubjectProfile ArgumentStructure.creationObject Aspect.VendlerClass.accomplishment

def French.Verbs.construire : Verb

construire 'build', a verb of creation ([SR24] Table 1).

Equations

• French.Verbs.construire = French.Verbs.transitive "construire" ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentSubjectProfile ArgumentStructure.creationObject Aspect.VendlerClass.accomplishment

def French.Verbs.tuer : Verb

tuer 'kill', whose object does not survive the event ([SR24] Table 1).

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def French.Verbs.aimer : Verb

aimer 'love', a stative psych verb ([SR24] Table 1).

Equations

• French.Verbs.aimer = French.Verbs.transitive "aimer" ArgumentStructure.experiencerProfile French.Verbs.independentParticipant Aspect.VendlerClass.state

def French.Verbs.adorer : Verb

adorer 'adore, worship', a stative psych verb ([SR24] §3.2).

Equations

• French.Verbs.adorer = French.Verbs.transitive "adorer" ArgumentStructure.experiencerProfile French.Verbs.independentParticipant Aspect.VendlerClass.state

def French.Verbs.respecter : Verb

respecter 'respect', a stative psych verb ([SR24] Table 1).

Equations

• French.Verbs.respecter = French.Verbs.transitive "respecter" ArgumentStructure.experiencerProfile French.Verbs.independentParticipant Aspect.VendlerClass.state

def French.Verbs.accompagner : Verb

accompagner 'accompany' ([SR24] §3.2).

Equations

• French.Verbs.accompagner = French.Verbs.transitive "accompagner" French.Verbs.companionSubject French.Verbs.independentParticipant Aspect.VendlerClass.activity

def French.Verbs.suivreDyn : Verb

suivre 'follow' in its goal-directed sense, with a volitional subject ([SR24] §3.3).

Equations

• French.Verbs.suivreDyn = French.Verbs.transitive "suivre" ArgumentStructure.activitySubjectProfile French.Verbs.independentParticipant Aspect.VendlerClass.activity

def French.Verbs.suivreStat : Verb

suivre 'follow' in its stative positional sense, a purely spatial relation ([SR24] §3.3).

Equations

• French.Verbs.suivreStat = French.Verbs.transitive "suivre" French.Verbs.independentParticipant French.Verbs.independentParticipant Aspect.VendlerClass.state SenseTag.stative

def French.Verbs.preceder : Verb

précéder 'precede' in its stative positional sense ([SR24] §3.3).

Equations

• French.Verbs.preceder = French.Verbs.transitive "précéder" French.Verbs.independentParticipant French.Verbs.independentParticipant Aspect.VendlerClass.state

def French.Verbs.abandonner : Verb

abandonner 'abandon' in its telic sense, an event of leaving behind ([SR24] §3.4, with examples from [AR72]).

Equations

• French.Verbs.abandonner = French.Verbs.transitive "abandonner" ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentSubjectProfile ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentObjectProfile Aspect.VendlerClass.accomplishment

def French.Verbs.abandonnerStat : Verb

abandonner 'neglect' in its atelic stative sense ([SR24] §3.4, with examples from [AR72]).

Equations

• French.Verbs.abandonnerStat = French.Verbs.transitive "abandonner" French.Verbs.neglectSubject French.Verbs.independentParticipant Aspect.VendlerClass.state SenseTag.stative

def French.Verbs.delaisser : Verb

délaisser 'leave behind' in its telic sense ([SR24] §3.4).

Equations

• French.Verbs.delaisser = French.Verbs.transitive "délaisser" ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentSubjectProfile ArgumentStructure.accomplishmentObjectProfile Aspect.VendlerClass.accomplishment

def French.Verbs.delaisserStat : Verb

délaisser 'neglect' in its atelic stative sense ([SR24] §3.4).

Equations

• French.Verbs.delaisserStat = French.Verbs.transitive "délaisser" French.Verbs.neglectSubject French.Verbs.independentParticipant Aspect.VendlerClass.state SenseTag.stative

Monadic verbs

The intransitive verbs of [GG08] §§812–813 and of [Sor00]'s French examples.

def French.Verbs.aller : Verb

aller 'go', a verb of motion to a goal.

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def French.Verbs.arriver : Verb

arriver 'arrive', a verb of motion to a goal.

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def French.Verbs.entrer : Verb

entrer 'enter', a verb of motion to a goal.

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def French.Verbs.retourner : Verb

retourner 'go back', a verb of motion to a goal.

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def French.Verbs.tomber : Verb

tomber 'fall', a verb of motion in a direction.

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def French.Verbs.venir : Verb

venir 'come', a verb of motion to a goal.

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def French.Verbs.partir : Verb

partir 'leave', a verb of motion from a source.

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def French.Verbs.sortir : Verb

sortir 'go out', a verb of motion from a source.

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def French.Verbs.deceder : Verb

décéder 'die', a change of state.

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def French.Verbs.devenir : Verb

devenir 'become', a change of state.

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def French.Verbs.mourir : Verb

mourir 'die', a change of state.

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def French.Verbs.naitre : Verb

naître 'be born', a change of state.

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def French.Verbs.rester : Verb

rester 'stay', the continuation of a state.

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def French.Verbs.aboutir : Verb

aboutir 'succeed, end up', telic.

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def French.Verbs.atterrir : Verb

atterrir 'land', telic.

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def French.Verbs.disparaitre : Verb

disparaître 'disappear', with avoir for the event, Elle a disparu prématurément, and, now rarely, être for the state, Il est aujourd'hui disparu.

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def French.Verbs.paraitre : Verb

paraître 'appear, come out'.

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def French.Verbs.grandir : Verb

grandir 'grow', a change along a scale of size.

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def French.Verbs.survivre : Verb

survivre 'survive', stative.

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def French.Verbs.exister : Verb

exister 'exist', stative.

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def French.Verbs.travailler : Verb

travailler 'work', an activity whose subject controls it.

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def French.Verbs.courir : Verb

courir 'run', a verb of manner of motion, which selects no directional phrase.

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def French.Verbs.nager : Verb

nager 'swim', a verb of manner of motion, which selects no directional phrase.

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The perfect auxiliary

Each monadic entry records the auxiliaries of its perfect: être for the closed list of [GG08] §812b, verbs "exprimant, pour la plupart, un mouvement ou un changement d'état"; both for the verbs of §813a, avoir when they express the action and être when they express the state that results; and avoir for the others (§811).

Attitude verbs

The attitude verbs record the mood of the finite complement each selects in an affirmative declarative clause.

def French.Verbs.vouloir : Verb

vouloir 'want' takes a que clause in the subjunctive and an infinitive under subject control.

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def French.Verbs.esperer : Verb

espérer 'hope' takes a que clause in the indicative and an infinitive under subject control. Some speakers also accept the subjunctive in a complement about the future, a use this entry does not cover.

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def French.Verbs.croire : Verb

croire 'believe' takes a que clause in the indicative.

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def French.Verbs.allVerbs : List Verb

allVerbs lists the entries.

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theorem French.Verbs.telic_or_continuation_of_perfectAuxiliaries_eq_be (v : Verb) : v ∈ allVerbs → v.perfectAuxiliaries = {Verb.PerfectAuxiliary.be} → Option.map (fun (x : Aspect.VendlerClass) => x.telicity) v.vendlerClass = some Aspect.Telicity.telic ∨ v.phasal = some Aspect.Phasal.continuation

Grevisse's gloss holds of the list, since every verb whose perfect takes être alone is telic or continues a state.

theorem French.Verbs.exists_telic_and_have_mem : ∃ v ∈ allVerbs, Verb.PerfectAuxiliary.have ∈ v.perfectAuxiliaries ∧ Option.map (fun (x : Aspect.VendlerClass) => x.telicity) v.vendlerClass = some Aspect.Telicity.telic

Telicity does not bring être with it, since a telic verb of §813a takes avoir for the action.