Intensive Comparisons in Medieval French: Animal Names as the Second Term of the Comparison

  • Xavier Blanco Escoda Autonomous University of Barcelona
  • Yauheniya Yakubovich University of Valencia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/thel.82329
Keywords: Medieval French, Comparative Structures, Collocations, Intensity, Phraseology
Agencies: Cette recherche a été financée par le Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación espagnol, projet COLINDANTE (Las colocaciones intensivas del francés antiguo y su traducción al francés y al español, Proyecto I D i PID2019-104741GB-100) (UAB). Nous remercions nos collègues Julio Murillo et Dolors Català pour leur relecture attentive de cet article.

Abstract

We study intensive comparisons of medieval French (Old and Middle French) whose second term corresponds to an animal name (e.g. ‘brave as a lion’, ‘humble as a dove’, ‘to beat someone like a donkey’). We consider successively (following a zoological typology of medieval inspiration) the generic names of animals, the names of quadrupeds (wild and domestic ones), birds, fish and vermin. We give many examples from various sources. We have identified around sixty adjectival bases and around forty distinct verbal bases for the type of comparisons considered. The study of these comparisons (presenting different degrees of frozenness) brings to light a whole series of identifiable clichés in other linguistic structures. This article is part of the COLINDANTE research project (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación et Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) which aims to systematically describe the intensive collocations of medieval French.

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Published
2022-12-16
How to Cite
Blanco Escoda, X., & Yakubovich, Y. (2022). Intensive Comparisons in Medieval French: Animal Names as the Second Term of the Comparison. Thélème. Revista Complutense de Estudios Franceses, 37(2), 185-200. https://doi.org/10.5209/thel.82329
Issue
Vol. 37 No. 2 (2022): Dossier monographique : « Autour des constructions formulaires : approches diachronique, didactique et sémantique »
Section
Dossier monographique I

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