Le problème du signifié des prépositions «à» et «de» en français et dans quelques langues romanes

Abstract

The present study proposes a new approach to the signified of the French prepositions «à» and «de». Indeed, we reject the theory of a pure pragmatic meaning of these prepositions and the theory of the «signifié de puissance» of the psychomecanics, and we develop the idea of an inside binarism for «à» and «de». From this point of view, «à» has a signified of ‘destination’ and a signified of ‘static characterization’, and «de» a signified of ‘static characterization’ and a signified of ‘origin’. Such an analysis emphasizes an area of common meaning of ‘static characterization’ where «à» and «de» can sometimes be interchangeable in French and in other Romance languages.