Anadiss (May 2017)
L’attraction paronymique dans le contexte de l’Imaginaire Linguistique
Abstract
The subject of this article is covered by the words with similar phonetic form but with different meanings, which, as a result of paronymic attraction, and due to the speaker’s Linguistic Perception, lead to the emergence of the illusory paronymic alliances. The phenomenon of paronymy, being of anthropocentric nature, which is manifested through human verbal behaviour, causes the creation of paronymic pairs conceived associatively. The quasi-identity of form and the semantic non-identity, the binary structure of paronyms, the functional individuality of each paronym are frequently used by speakers non-intentionally in the process of verbal interaction (which is conditioned by the speaker’s Linguistic Perception). The study of paronymy at systemic level allowed us to point out the priority of the formal factor in accomplishing encoding and decoding operations in speech acts, speaking in favour of the choice of the formal discourse, which is a consequence of the desire to emphasize the idea that, in communication, the signifier is sometimes more important than the signified itself, which becomes covert due to sonorousness of the former, which mnemonically is more acceptable for an ordinary speaker in oral communication. The study of paronymy from the perspective of the theoretical concept of Plural Norm was stressed to ensure the connection to E. Coseriu’s concept, according to which speech (usage), exceeding the prescribed taxonomies and controlling the uniqueness of norm, can exert an influence over the language. Usage, due to its frequency, can cause the appearance of Paronymic Attraction which, in its turn, is generated by the presence of the human factor. In the context of Linguistic Perception the phenomenon of “Paronymic Attraction” is characteristic of oral communication. The paronym, most widely recognized, attracts the one that has not been assimilated yet by the speakers and paronymic alliances are not absent from the written aspect of a language.
