Reformulation et conversation : De la sémantique du topos aux fonctions interactionnelles

Sammanfattning: This thesis deals with the linguistic phenomenon of "reformulation" which occurs frequently in everyday conversation. The study is based on a corpus of nine dialogues (5 1/2h.) between French speakers in their twenties. In a first step, reformulation is described from a semantic point of view. A study of reformulation must take into account both the mutual resemblance between two utterances and their differences.The semantic description is placed essentially within the framework of the Theory of Argumentation Within Language elaborated by Jean-Claude Anscombre and Oswald Ducrot. The semantic resemblance in the reformulation is defined as the repetitive exploitation of the same topos at the utterance level. A topos consists of two interdependent topical fields, which roughly could be seen as an underlying argument-conclusion structure inherent in utterances and words. It is shown that the sense of an utterance cannot be reached withoutits argumentative context.The differences taken into account are those that carry argumentative and polyphonic values. The two utterances of the reformulation differ in their argumentative force or their argumentative relation, such as causality. The enunciative relation between a speaker and atopos is reflected in the polyphonic structure of the utterance. The use of polyphonic markerscan vary within the reformulation.In the second step, the interactive function of the reformulation is examined. Reformulation presents a wide range of functions on the conversational and interactional level. The analysis of function is related to the inherent semantics of the utterances, notably their argumentative and polyphonic characteristics, and to the coexistence of reformulation with other compatible and incompatible topoi. Some prototypical functions are discussed in terms ofpoliteness, comprehension, consensus and polemics.