Indicatif et subjonctif dans les complétives en français

The distribution of indicative and subjunctive moods in French (as well as in other Romance languages) has not yet been fully accounted for, in spite of a sustained interest. We propose that it results from the interaction between semantic and pragmatic factors, on the one hand, and lexical factors, on the other. Concentrating on complement clauses, each mood is allowed by the semantic and pragmatic properties which the head predicate imposes on its complement. The predicates are organized in broad semantic-lexical classes, which are specified for these properties, and may cumulate both. The organization of the lexicon may impose a choice when both moods are allowed, and may violate the semantic generalizations in some environments by fixing the association between lexemes and complement mood. This analysis preserves the semantic and pragmatic generalizations, but presents them as functioning “by default”. (since they may be violated); it also implies that lexical specifications concern classes rather than isolated lexemes.