La sémantique des noms d’action : quelques repères

This paper provides a state-of-the-art overview of the semantics of action nouns (ANs) in French. First, the definition of ANs is investigated, as it should apply to all ANs, not only to prototypical deverbal, agentive and predicative nouns. Dynamicity appears to be the main definitional criterion, which implies that ANs occur with both temporal expressions (of location or duration) and actional or eventive light verbs (effectuer ‘make’, avoir lieu ‘take place’, etc.). Second, the heterogeneity of the AN category is studied, and some semantic differences between ANs are highlighted. It is claimed that nominal aspect does not tally with verbal aspect: there are semantic features related to the individuation of events and the way they occur that only exist in the nominal domain. Third, the polysemy of ANs is scrutinized regarding their ability to denote other participants in the event (agents, instruments, results, etc.), and their ability to combine multiple interpretations in context.