L’Adjectif qualificatif : étude Contrastive en Français et en Arabe

Abstract

The Adjective: Contrastive Study in French and in Arabic

The lexical morpheme, variable in gender and number through linguistic agreement (AGR) or declension, holds a crucial position in the two inflected languages under examination: Arabic, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic family, and French, a Romance language with synthetic characteristics. This study draws inspiration from the works of eminent linguists, including Blachère and Gaudefroy-Demombynes (1975), Béchade (1994), Al-Hakkak (1996), and others. It also incorporates insights from contrastive studies, a linguistic branch that emerged in the 1950s to enhance the teaching and learning of foreign languages by addressing language interference through the exploration of inter-linguistic structural differences. This study, designed to assist learners and translators in comprehending the affinities and deviations between French and Arabic, delves into the use of adjectives in context. It particularly focuses on the qualifying adjective as a discourse component falling within the class of apparent nouns, in contrast to implicit nouns. This lemma or lexical unit serves to describe, characterize, specify, and indicate certain properties of animate or inanimate beings. It represents the grammatical class bestowing identity upon a person, animal, or object, attaching a positive, negative, or neutral label that imparts a value judgment. In French, the qualifying adjective encompasses various types, including relational, nominal, compound, verbal, and syntagmatic. In Arabic, it takes on verbal and denominative forms, assimilated to the verb. Morphologically, French features prefixed, suffixed, and unsuffixed adjectives, while Arabic presents adjectives crafted from a multitude of forms. Regardless of the linguistic context, the qualifying adjective, matching in gender and number the noun or pronoun to which it refers, can assume multiple functions within morphosyntactic structures. It can act as an epithet, whether anteposed or postposed, with graphic, phonic, strict, or floating agreement or concord (instances of inflection), serve as an attribute linked to the subject by a copular verb, or be affixed. Additionally, qualifying adjectives can convey varying degrees of intensity using phrasal adverbs or adverbs of comparison.