La formule [(DET_poss +) cher + N] dans les textes épistolaires du XVIIe au XXe siècle
Résumé
Using an inductive methodology in corpus linguistics, we study the opening and closing formulae [(DET_poss +) cher + N] within the genre of personal letter. Following a presentation of our unpublished corpus drawing on this genre, entitled PhraseoCorr, we provide a quantitative case study of the formulae. We analyse its position, its use of the possessive determiner and the type of nouns it incorporates, from a diachronic then pragmatic perspective. We interpret our results as evidence of the gradual desemantisation of the formulae, leading to its specification in the epistolary genre as a ritualized opening formula. By extension, changes in the formula’s combinatorial preference over the four centuries of the corpus can be interpreted as evidence of the evolution of politeness practices in France.