Undergraduate Seminar 1: Verbs – It’s Happening! 3304-1DZ3O-SL-041
Under the guidance of the instructor, seminar participants will examine issues related to the morphology, syntax, and semantics of the verb, as well as its functioning in texts.
1. Morphology:
a) stems, suffixes, and endings
b) verb word-formation
c) phenomena at the interface of inflection and word-formation
d) compound verbs
2. Syntax:
a) verb government (valency); errors in government and their correction
b) government and semantic groups
c) passive voice
3. Semantics:
a) semantic groups of verbs – verbs of state, change of state, process, motion, speech, perception, etc.
b) antonymy and converses
4. Functioning of verbs in French and Polish texts – from syntax to stylistics:
a) the importance of verbs for clarity of communication
b) the importance of verbs for the transparency of sentence structures
c) participial clauses / participial equivalents of clauses
d) deverbal nouns as verb substitutes
e) so-called academic style
f) administrative and legal style
5. Translating verbs from French to Polish and Polish to French – specific challenges.
6. Working with search and analysis tools: Démonette, CNRTL lexical portal, Sketch Engine.
Towards the end of the first semester, students will be asked to select a topic for their papers—either from a provided list or one of their own choosing. Topics may be changed until mid-March.
In the second semester, students will present selected readings (some will be discussed by the instructor) and report on the progress of their work. As part of classes
additional applicants will be able to arrange a trial bachelor's exam.
In the middle of the second semester, they will present their work plan and bibliography to the instructor.
At the end, they will present their completed bachelor's thesis.
Topic suggestions:
1. Verbes de parole dans le roman…. de….: classement, aspects
syntaxiques et discursifs
2. Stratégies de traduction vers le français de verbes à rection différente,
mais au complément d'objet commun, sur l'exemple de…. de NN. [type : I
admired and buttered up to Miss Jane.]
3. Stratégies de traduction du … vers le français de verbes de parole [type :
he said, said, sighed, hissed, pushed…]
4. Analyze des aspects choisis de la syntaxe verbale dans [la loi X]: cas
suivant la norme, hors norme et douteux
4. [sujet pareil] dans les lois respectives françaises et polonaises régulant ….
5. Sujet non exprimé des constructions impersonnelles sur l’exemple de….
6. Cas de syntaxe française fautive, ou à la limite, dans les sous-corpus ….
du Sketch Engine : classement et tentatives d'explication
7. Nids de verbes français de [parole, mouvement orienté] présents dans… -
points communs, differences, tentatives d'explication
Course coordinators
Mode
Learning outcomes
491
1) possesses systematized morphosyntactic knowledge of the French language (K_W10)
2) is able to independently acquire knowledge and develop research skills, guided by a teacher or academic supervisor (K_U03)
3) is able to work in a group, solve problems through discussion, and initiate solutions appropriate to the situation (K_K02)
4) is able to prepare a written paper in French and Polish, drawing on fundamental theoretical approaches in linguistics (K_U06)
Assessment criteria
Active and regular class participation; one test at the end of the winter semester; presentation of the bachelor's thesis outline and bibliography (for a grade) midway through the second semester; submission of the completed bachelor's thesis to pass the second semester.
Only two unexcused absences per semester are permitted.
Bibliography
Bescherelle 1
Bogacki K., Lewicka H. [eds.], 1983, *Dictionnaire sémantique et syntaxique des verbes français*, Warsaw, PWN.
Bochnakowa A., 2005, *Le bon français de la fin du XXe siècle, Chroniques du « Figaro » 1996-2000*, Kraków, Jagiellonian University Press.
Jadacka H., *Poradnik językowy dla prawników* [Language Guide for Lawyers],
Saloni Z., 2001, *Czasownik polski. Odmiana, słownik 12000 czasowników* [The Polish Verb: Inflection, Dictionary of 12,000 Verbs], Warsaw, Wiedza Powszechna.
Riegel M., Pellat J.-C., Rioul R., 1994 (for the 1st edition), *Grammaire méthodique du français contemporain*, Paris, PUF.
Okęcka H., Zaleska K., *Les temps passés de l’indicatif*. Revised edition; Warsaw University Press.
Articles, including:
Meulleman M., Sarda L., 2022, "De l’usage existentiel des verbes de perception" [On the existential use of perception verbs], proceedings of the World Congress of French Linguistics (CMLF) 2022, https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202213811002
Kolecki F., 2025, "Les verbes néologiques à valeur négative et positive : analyse formelle et pragmatique" [Neological verbs with negative and positive value: formal and pragmatic analysis], *ACTA UNIVERSITATIS LODZIENSIS. Folia Litteraria Romanica* 20(1), pp. 143-156.