morphological? - KOPS - Universität Konstanz

DERIVED LEXEMES BASED ON NUMERALS IN FRENCH
Bernard Fradin
Laboratoire de Linguistique Formelle
(CNRS & Université Paris 7-Denis Diderot)
1. Introduction
The term numeral denotes simple (deux, quinze) or complex cardinals (vingt-deux,
trois-cents). This presentation explores a small subset of expressions morphologically
constructed on numerals in French, namely adjectives expressing ordinal numbers
(deuxième, trois-centième) and nouns suffixed by -AINE, that denote either entities the
characteristic property of which is to have n identical elements, e.g. sizaine ‘group of
six children in boy or girl scouts’, or an approximate number of objects, e.g. une
centaine de jours ‘approximatively 100 days’. Insofar as no thorough account of these
expressions has yet been given and as they are formed on bases which are not standard
lexemes, these expressions present both a descriptive and a theoretical challenge for
morphology.
2. Descriptions
2.1. Ordinal adjectives
From a phonological point of view, ordinal As are constructed by suffixing /jEm/ to
(one of) the stem(s) of the numeral, e.g. trois /trwaz/ troisième /trwazjEm/. It has to
be noted that °unième, the ordinal derived from un ‘one’, is not a free form and must be
used instead of its suppletive form premier in complex ordinal adjectives, e.g. *centpremier
vs cent-unième. The opposite situation is found in German (and Russian),
where suppletive ordinals are required throughout, e.g. *hunderteinte vs. hunderterste.
If we admit that the interpretation of cardinals is (1), the semantic operation associated
with the ordinal adjective formation rule can be informally described as (2):
(1) I(cardinal’) =
I(trente-sept’) = 37
(2) ième’(cardinal’) = ‘X that occupies rank ’
ième’(cent-un’) = ‘X that occupies rank 101’
At the level of the NP, where it is a constituent, e.g. troisième enfant ‘third child’, the
ordinal adjective semantically combines with the head noun (HdN). The NP’s
interpretation results from the application of the semantic function associated with the
ordinal to the meaning of the HdN (head noun), informally:
(3) A ORD (HdN’) = ‘X that occupies rank in the series of HdN’s denotata’
troisième’(enfant’) = ‘X who occupies rank 3 in the series of children’
This account straighfordwardly extends to derived expressions the base of which is not
a numeral but a quantifier (tant ‘so and so’ > tantième), a wh-word (combien ‘how’ >
combientième, quel ‘which’ > quelième) or the approximative complex number CARD
et quelque ‘approximatively ’ (e.g. 300 et quelques > 300 et quelquième).
Example (4) illustrates this type of extension and (5) shows the proposed treatment:
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