Yao Ruoyu. Analyse comparative synchronique et diachronique des locatifs en chinois

Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales INALCO PARIS - LANGUES O', 2013. — 371 p.In Chinese, localizers ( 方位词 fāngwèicí ) are a restricted set of words denoting a concrete or metaphorical relationship between two entities. This thesis presents the results of a synchronic and diachronic corpus-based study of four common localizers : 里 li ‘in’, 中 zhōng ‘middle’, 内 nèi ‘inside’ et 上 shang ‘on’.When expressing a concrete relationship, they are generally categorized as topological localizers which express an inclusion or a contact relationship between two entities. When expressing a metaphorical meaning, all of these localizers can express an abstract framework, although each one has its own specific uses. They are sometimes interchangeable for both concrete and metaphorical meanings.Our comparative study in contemporary Chinese is based on a corpus of texts of different styles : written, oral and written with oral characteristics. The statistics show the importance of text styles in the choice of localizer. Pragmatic and semantic contexts are also determining factors in the uses of localizers.The diachronic analysis performed on a corpus of 26 documents representing the archaic, medieval and pre-modern periods shows the evolution of each localizer and their tendency of use throughout History, both in concrete and metaphorical expressions.