Liaison (Linguistics)
IPA mark | ◌‿◌ |
---|---|
IPA number | 509 |
IPA character description | Liaison sheet |
Unicode | U + 203F |
HTML (dec.) | & # 8255; |
X-SAMPA |
_
|
Kirshenbaum |
|
In French (and partly also in other languages) liaison (French: 'bond'; German also co- bond ) refers to the occurrence of non-existent consonants at the end of a word (in other contexts) if the following word starts with a vowel and the preceding one with a forms a prosodic unit (e.g. phonological phrase or intonation phrase ). It is an external sandhi .
The Liaison corresponding to the reproduced typographically International Phonetic Alphabet by the Liaison sheet (◌‿◌ Unicode UNDERTIE U + 203F). This is not to be confused with the combining character (below ) for the ligature bow (◌͜◌ Unicode COMBINING DOUBLE BREVE BELOW U + 035C). Both characters have the same number in the IPA alphabet: 509.
A distinction is made between mandatory, optional and false liaison:
Mandatory liaison
- Within the noun phrase , the liaison is mandatory between the determinative preceding the noun and the noun (also between the determinants): les‿enfants , deux‿ours
- between a personal pronoun or an indefinite pronoun and the verb : nous‿avons , elles‿aiment , with inversion: ont-ils , allons-y
- in certain fixed phrases: c'est‿-à-dire, de temps‿en temps, États‿-Unis, non‿-agression, petit‿ à petit, peut‿-être, le pied‿-à-terre, premier‿ avril
Optional liaison
If the liaison is not forbidden or necessary, it can mainly be conducted in well-kept language. It is particularly common in metrical presentations ( poems , songs ).
The liaison is optional in the following cases:
- after prepositions : sous un abri
- after modifying adverb : pas encore , trop heureux , très aimable
Wrong or prohibited liaison
The liaison is not permitted:
- after certain words like et , toujours , vers
- after a noun in the singular : sujet intéressant , un savant anglais 'an English scientist' (in contrast to un savant‿Anglais 'a learned Englishman' with savant as a preceding adjective)
- if the word ends in more than one consonant, only the last of which is mute: il pe r d un ami , je prends pa r t à votre deuil
- in certain fixed phrases: nez à nez , corps à corps
- before certain words that begin with a silent h (h aspiré) : les haricots , ils halètent , les handicapés
- before prepositional completion within noun phrases,
- between noun ( subject ) and verb: les femmes arrivent
- between interrogative pronoun and verb,
- after the ending of the second person singular: tu parles aimablement
literature
- Maurice Grevisse : Le bon usage , 12th edition. Duculot, Paris 1993, ( ISBN 2-8011-0042-0 )