The past participle and the periphrastic passive construction in French

Abstract

Abstract Our hypothesis is that the past participle is a singular form in the TAM (tense-aspect-mood) linguistic system in French, in that it represents the internal time of the process on its terminal point ([R = Et]). Due to this representation of internal time, the p.p. can be related to the second argument – the patientive argument – of a direct transitive process: it is the essential element of the passive construction. Contrary to what is often written, the copula être ‘be’, is an optional element: it may serve to develop the construction in its periphrastic dimension, but it is not necessary to the passive construction itself, as the cases of the passive in the participial clause demonstrate. Moreover, the p.p. is not intrinsically resultative or processive, no more than it is active or passive: from its aspect [R = Et], it can, in interaction with different contexts, participate in the production of these different effects of meaning in discourse.