Focuses on French applied linguistics

Problems and Perspectives- Studies in the Modern French Language looks at a number of interesting or problematic areas in the phonology, morphology, syntax and lexis of the French language and encourages the reader to think critically about different ways of approaching, describing and explaining these issues or data. The book is divided into two parts- the first section is a preliminary to, and contextualises, the discussion of the more specialised topics of the second part. Part two presents problematic and controversial areas in the description and analysis of the contemporary language. Where appropriate historical and sociolinguistic issues are also integrated into the discussion of modern French. Aimed primarily at advanced students and researchers in French linguistics, the introductory sections of part one also make this book accessible to undergraduates beginning their study of French linguistics, and to less specialised readers.

The analysis of French verbs presented in this monograph is neither a synchronic nor a diachronic description, but rather a theoretical achronic analysis whose goal is the explanation of the historical phonetic development of the French verb in terms of changes in the underlying abstract morphological forms. One of the basic premises of this book is that the French superficial phonetic forms are not derived from the Latin superficial phonetic forms, but that both are derived from abstract etymological forms.

This study deals with four related topics in Modern French phonology and morphology: (i) the status of nasal vowels, (ii) the nature of [0] - [C] alternations, (iii) the question of final schwas, and (iv) the treatment of h-aspire words. The theoretical framework is that of generative phonology. These topics have already received considerable attention in the context of generative phonology, most notably in the works of Schane, Dell, and Selkirk, but the analyses proposed here constitute a radical departure from the views advocated by these authors.