ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>Book review: Le Pr&#233;positionnaire </TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#3299CC"> <P> <Font size="4"><B> Le Pr&#233;positionnaire - Fran&#231oise Bulman</B></Font><br> Reviewed by Fran&#231;oise Herrmann <BR> <br> 2004 - Paris, France: Viam&#233;dias &#201;ditions, ISBN 2-84964-020-4.<BR> 2003 - Qu&#233;bec, Canada: L'Instant m&#234;me, ISBN 2-89502-150-3.<BR> </P> <P><HR WIDTH=300 Align=CENTER></P> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36"></P> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36">Just in case you are wondering& The term &#147;pr&#233;positionnaire&#148;, composed of the common noun &#147;pr&#233;position&#148; and of the suffix &#147;-aire&#148;, meaning &#147;to include&#148; or &#147;to contain&#148;, refers to that which includes prepositions. Just like &#147;questionnaire&#148; contains &#147;questions&#148;, &#147;ovaire [ovary]&#148; contains &#147;ova [eggs]&#148;, and &#147;dictionnaire&#148; contains &#147;dic(t) [dire/to say]&#148;, <i>Le Pr&#233;positionnaire</i> contains prepositions, even if it does not yet appear listed in any of the major institutional dictionary giants. </P> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36"><i>Le Pr&#233;positionnaire</i>, as the subtitle <i>Dictionnaire des verbes et adjectifs pouvant être suivis d une pr&#233;position</I> indicates, is a wonderful resource that lists French verbs and adjectives with their correct prepositions. Written by Fran&#231;oise Bulman, professor of translation since 1974 at the University of Laval in Qu&#233;bec, this resource was written by a translator, primarily for French translators and editors. As Bulman notes in the preface of her work, even the most experienced translators sometimes hesitate &#147;.. la plume en l air, ou plutot les doigts en suspens au dessus du clavier& &#148; [&#147;quills in mid air, or fingers above keyboards&#148;] wondering which preposition to use. Does one write &#147;merci de votre fid&#233;lit&#233;&#148; [thanks for your patronage] or &#147;merci pour votre fid&#233;lit&#233;&#148; ? Is it &#147;travailler chez IBM&#148; [to work for IBM] or &#147;travailler pour IBM&#148;? To save you time looking up the answer in several dictionaries, in several grammar books, or both, Bulman has regrouped all these types of questions concerning prepositions in a single, user-friendly, &#147;prepositionary&#148; work. </P> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36"><i>Le Pr&#233;positionnaire</i> contains 1800 verb or adjective entries, listed in alphabetical order, with numerous examples, and succinct explanations concerning usage and/or syntax and semantics, which will immediately and clearly resolve all your hesitations. In answer to the abovementioned hesitations, consider for example the entry for &#147;remercier&#148; [to thank]:</P> <TABLE> <TABLE BORDER=2> <TR> <TD><B><FONT SIZE="2">REMERCIER qqn</B>; &#126; qqn de ou pour qqch. (Il m a remerci&#233; des ou pour les renseignements que je lui ai fournis.) ; &#126; de + inf. (Je vous remercie de m avoir aid&#233;e &#224; dém&#233;nager. Je vous remercie d &#234;tre aussi patient avec moi.) </FONT></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36">And consider the entry for &#147;travailler&#148; [to work]:</P> <TABLE> <TABLE BORDER=2> <TR> <TD> <b><FONT SIZE="2">TRAVAILLER</B>; &#126; à (l h&#244;pital), chez (lui), dans (un bureau, une usine), en (usine), pour (un ma&#231;on) &#216; &#201viter : Travailler &#171; chez &#187; IBM car on ne travaille que chez des personnes. On peut donc dire : Je travaille chez Bayer, dans ou pour une banque, pour IBM ; &#126; dans qqch. (Il travaille dans l informatique.) ; &#126; qqch (son style, son piano) ; &#126; à qqch. [mettre tous ses efforts] (Travailler au maintien de la paix, à la r&#233;&#233;lection d un homme politique.) ; &#126; à + inf. (Il travaille à mettre en place un programme efficace.) ; &#126; &#224; ce que + subj.. (Il travaille &#224; ce que ces changements s effectuent rapidement.); [sujet : chose] &#126; contre, pour qqn (Le temps travaille contre vous.) </FONT></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36">You ll notice immediately that not only do the entries supply valuable clarification to the prepositional quagmires previously mentioned, they are also surprisingly easy and pleasant to read. Without heavy grammatical descriptors for transitive and intransitive verbs and their different types of objects, it is consistent use of stylistic conventions - of bolds and italics, of common abbreviations, of the tilde- and excellent punctuation, which contribute to this friendliness, as well as the simplicity of the explanations and the appropriateness of the examples. You could perhaps have found part of your answers in <i>Le Petit Robert</i> (the entry for the verb  travailler [to work] is almost three pages long), or in <i>Le Bon Usage</I>, had you time to invest and reflect. But why would you want to, when an expert has compiled all of the prepositional information you need in a single, handy format, tailored for translators? Plus more, since the entries also contain pointers and explanations of the most common pitfalls, marked with the symbol  &#216 , as in the above, in regards the use of  chez [at]. </P> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36">You may have also noticed that there are two editions of the <i>Le Pr&#233;positionnaire</i>. An edition distributed in France by ViaMedias, and an edition distributed in Canada (&#147;Outside of French-speaking Europe&#148;) by L Instant m&#234;me, even though you would eventually find out that both books are printed in Canada! [Both editions were reviewed here.] Upon inquiry concerning the differences, I was told that localized cultural references in some of the examples, reflecting French spoken in Montr&#233;al, were changed in the edition published in France. For example, reference to hockey teams, and the store &#147;Canadian Tire&#148; in the Quebec edition were changed to football and &#147;Fnac&#148; references respectively, in the ViaMedias edition. This leaves unchanged the bulk of the prepositional information in both editions, consistent with the belief held that there is only one French language with regional variations. What was perhaps more surprising was the absence, in the ViaMedias edition, of the bibliography to which Bulman refers in the introduction to the <i>Le Pr&#233;positionnaire</i>. Upon inquiry, I was assured that future ViaM&#233;dias &#201;ditions would re-instate bibliographic information.</P> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36">If by chance you have never heard of <i>Le Prépositionnaire</I>, grab a copy of this wonderfully practical resource and add it to your tools of the trade. It deserves to sit on your shelf right next to the <i>Bescherel</i> for French conjugations. You ll need it to resolve some of your hesitations. Is it &#147;continuer de remplir&#148; [continue to fill-in] or &#147;continuer à remplir&#148;? Is it always &#147;responsable de&#148; (responsible for)? You ll need it any time you are translating, just in case there is a preposition you cannot quite grasp. And you ll love finding the answer to your prepositional queries in <i>Le Pr&#233;positionnaire</i>. Enjoy! </P> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36"></P> <br><b>Reference</b></br> <i>Le Nouveau Bescherelle: L art de conjuguer. Dictionnaire des 8000 verbes.</i><BR> Paris, France : Editions Hatier, 1978.<BR> <P><SPACER TYPE="horizontal" SIZE="36"></P> <P><B><A HREF="Publications.html">Publications</A></B></P> <P><B><A HREF="Bookrev.html">Reviews</A></B></P> <P><B><A HREF="index.html">Home</A></B></P> </BODY> </HTML>