Chômeur

Chômeur

The chômeur, in the context of grammar, is an element of a sentence that has been syntactically "demoted" from the nucleus to the periphery of a clause. It comes from the French word for "unemployed". In a passive sentence, the agent is a chômeur, having been "demoted" from the nuclear function of subject. For instance, by changing the sentence Dogs attack the postman into The postman is attacked by dogs, one transforms "dogs" into a chômeur. The concept was introduced and used extensively in relational grammar. The term was suggested by Colette Craig.

Sources

  • Perlmutter, David M. (Ed.). (1983). Studies in relational grammar 1. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

See also