Tout ce que nous voulions savoir sur les phrasèmes, mais…

The paper proposes definitions for the notion of a free multilexemic utterance and for that of a phraseme (= a non-free multilexemic utterance). Three major classes of phrasemes are established: idioms, which are non-compositional phrasemes—e.g., mener [N] en bateau lit. ‘take on a boat trip’ = ‘to take for a ride’; collocations, which are compositional, but half-constrained phrasemes— e.g., mener des négociations ‘conduct negotiations’; clichés, which are compositional phrasemes fully constrained—e.g., – Ne quittez pas ! lit. ‘Don’t leave!’ = ‘Hold the line!’. Subclasses of phrasemes are examined and illustrated. An important subclass of clichés is established—pragmatemes, or pragmatically constrained clichés, that is, clichés used in particular situations (such as Peinture fraîche lit. ‘Fresh paint’ = ‘Wet paint’ on a sign). The presentation of phrasemes in a language dictionary is discussed at length.