LINGUIST List 25.3053
Sat
Jul 26 2014
Qs: Voir 'to see' in
imperative utterances
Editor for this issue:
Anna White <awhitelinguistlist.org>
Date: 25-Jul-2014
From: Catherine Leger
<cleger
uvic.ca>
Subject: Voir 'to see' in
imperative utterances
E-mail this message to a
friend
In Acadian French, the morpheme voir ‘to see’
in its infinitival form only
can be used in imperative utterances such as
the ones below. Its function
seems to be to one of insistence. It can be
used for instance to convey to
the speaker that he/she should infer from the
context that the actions are
the appropriate ones to perform.
Ferme voir la porte. (since it is cold
outside)
Parle voir moins fort. (since we are at the
library)
In other French varieties, donc/don is used
with a similar interpretation.
Ferme donc/don la porte.
Parle donc/don moins fort.
Has anyone heard of similar used of voir in
other varieties of French? Can
the equivalent of voir ‘to see’ in other
Romance languages be used in the
same context with the same function?
Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
Page Updated: 26-Jul-2014