Université de Montréal - Thèse sous forme numérique

109In 1995, L‘Homme proposes a methodology to describe verbs that occur intechnical texts and find their equivalents. The methodology consists in making sensedistinctions by taking into account the semantic classes of the nouns that combine withthe selected verbs as well as their syntactic functions. The semantic classes to which theauthor refers are adapted from Sager and Kageura (1994) who identify four groups ofclasses but which the author adapts (L‘Homme 1995: 79):Nous offrons une adaptation française fonctionnelle: 1. entity concept (materialconcepts and non-material concepts), 2. relation concepts, 3. activity concepts,and 4. property concepts (1. entités (réalité matérielle ou non) (chat, table,imprimante; information, bit); 2. relation (partie, type); 3. action (alésage,informatisation); 4. propriété (durabilité)). Les auteurs proposent également uneamorce de subdivision qu'ils laissent plus ou moins ouverte et que nous avonsaménagée en fonction de nos besoins. Nous avons retenu ce modèle, car lesauteurs l'ont fondé sur la langue de spécialité.As in the theory of classes of objects created by Gross (1994, 1995, 1996) andLe Pesant and Mathieu-Colas (1998), L‘Homme argues that some verbs are usedspecifically with a given group of nouns and that if the same verb is used with morethan one different class of nouns, then it has different meanings. In order to find theequivalents of the verbs, the contexts in which the verbs occur in each language shouldbe compared. She explains that (L‘Homme 1995: 80):La confrontation des formes verbales consiste à associer deux significations ouemplois similaires dans les deux langues. Un sens ou un emploi distinctifdégagés dans une langue individuellement (structure grammaticale ou élémentlexical associé) trouve un équivalent appartenant à la même partie du discoursdans l'autre langue.The idea is that equivalent verbs should combine with the same semanticclasses. For instance, when the English verb to absorb combines with terms denoting―energy‖ and ―work‖, its French equivalent is recevoir. In contrast, when to absorbcombines with terms denoting ―vibration‖ and ―shock‖, its French equivalent is