[Lexicog] yoked

[Aubin, George (Mod & Class Languages)]

Dear Hayim,

It was nice to hear from you again, and with a very  interesting question about my translation of ‘protestante’ as ‘Protestant’ in the following sentence:
‘Elle [Danièle] était pulpeuse, sensuelle, protestante’ (‘She was pulpy, sensual, Protestant’). 

While my reply to your query may not be entirely satisfactory, I am confident that it contains at least some of the significant elements of a complete answer.

I agree with you that ‘Protestant’ is a bit of a surprise, coming as it does, after the quite different attributes ‘pulpy’ and ‘sensual’, whence the zeugma. It is possible, of course, as you suggest, that ‘protestante’ is being used here as the present participle of the verb ‘protester’ preceded by the imperfect tense of the verb ‘être’. Such a structure, however, is rare in modern French, where the verb ‘être’ is quite generally followed by an adjective or a noun rather than by the present participle of a verb, which is why I view ‘protestante’ in this sentence as a noun. Unlike the situation in English, for example, ‘she was protesting’ is virtually always rendered by the 3rd person singular of the imperfect tense of the verb ‘protester’ (‘elle protestait’), NOT by the imperfect tense of the verb ‘être’ plus the present participle of the verb.

Perhaps an even more convincing consideration is the fact that, although the relationship between the noun ‘protestante’ and the verb ‘protester’ is still clear in modern French, the meaning of ‘protestante’ has become much more specialized than that of the verb and evokes clear religious overtones. If one wished to indicate that the woman in question was ‘protesting’ in some non- religious sense, one would have used a noun such as ‘protestataire’, NOT ‘protestante’.

Best,

George 

 George F. Aubin, Ph.D. 
 Professor Emeritus, French and Linguistics 
 Assumption College 
 Worcester, MA 01609-1296 
 E-mail: gaubin at assumption. edu
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