Ne Deletion Research Articles

L1 Speakers’ Attitudes toward L2 Speakers’ Negation Use in French

Cet article a pour objectif d’explorer les attitudes de 157 locuteurs de français L1 âgés de 20 à 60 ans envers l’usage de la négation par trois locutrices de français L2. Selon les grammaires prescriptives, l’expression de la négation exige la présence du “ne” préverbal et d’un forclusif. L’omission de “ne”, pourtant fréquente à l’oral, n’est que rarement enseignée sous prétexte que les locuteurs L1 désapprouvent l’usage des registres non formels par les locuteurs L2. Adoptant la méthodologie des faux-couples, je teste cette allégation. L’omission ou la rétention de ne par les locutrices L2 influencent-elles les jugements sociaux des 157 témoins ? Leurs jugements varient-ils en fonction de leur âge, genre ou profession ? Les témoins estiment deux des locutrices L2 plus polies et plus distinguées quand elles retiennent le ne; les jugements sur la troisième locutrice ne suivent pas cette tendance. Il apparaît aussi que l’omission ou la rétention du ne influence l’évaluation de l’aptitude à diriger des locutrices. Ces résultats invalident l’hypothèse selon laquelle les locuteurs L1 voudraient que les locuteurs L2 privilégient la norme prescriptive indépendamment de tout contexte. En conclusion, je présente quelques applications pédagogiques (découverte des significations sociales des variantes stylistiques et développement de la compétence culturelle critique).

Effects of sociolinguistic awareness on French L2 learners' planned and unplanned oral production of stylistic variation

ABSTRACTThe present study evaluated the effects of explicit instruction on advanced French second language (L2) learners' (n = 18) contextually appropriate use of two stylistic variables (/l/ deletion vs. retention and ne deletion vs. retention) using two different task types. A planned and unplanned oral task was used to assess students' productive stylistic knowledge before and after the instructional treatment. Performance on both tasks was then compared to a corpus of native French (L1) speakers (n = 12) recorded under the same conditions. As hypothesised, the findings revealed that explicit instruction triggered changes in students' productive use of the target features; however, their ability to align to L1 stylistic norms was mediated by two factors: task types and linguistic complexity of the stylistic variants. Additionally, although instruction prompted change in the use of these variables, some learners reported being unwilling to use informal features, suggesting that personal speech-style preferences may also moderate the use of specific stylistic variants and should, therefore, be further considered in research examining the development of L2 sociolinguistic competence.

Negation marking in French text messages

This study investigates the drop of the first clitic element, ne, of French sentential negation. It is based on 4,628 French text messages taken from the newly established corpus sms4science.ch. It shows that regional or stylistic factors do not play a major role in triggering ne deletion or ne retention, and that the only relevant language-internal factor is subject type, more precisely clitic subjects (also in subject doubling structures) and subject drop, which seem to favour or even trigger categorically ne deletion. Our findings are in keeping with those by R. van Compernolle (2008) on European French in online chats, and thereby indicate partially specific regularities in French computer-mediated communication (CMC). The findings question traditional assumptions on ne drop as a variety marker in French, irrespective of the phonic or graphic nature of the data (cf. P. Koch and W. Oesterreicher 2011). In fact, even in graphically deviant data, ne drop seems to follow the observed robust language-internal regularities. Some data seem to indicate that the graphic nature of SMSes plays a role also in ne-drop (cf. similar conclusions by R. van Compernolle 2008 for chats); this has to be checked by examining a larger number of French text messages.

Sociolinguistic variation in French computer-mediated communication

The analysis in the present study examines the variable use of ne in 2,459 tokens of verbal negation from a corpus of electronic French discourse including moderated chat, non-moderated chat, and discussion fora. These data from computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments were analyzed in order to demonstrate that although both non-moderated and moderated chat are essentially synchronous (i.e. involving real-time interaction), they are on opposite ends of a continuum of French sociolinguistic variation. In non-moderated chat, which is clearly less formal, ne is used productively as a discursive-pragmatic marker. However, in moderated chat, which resembles more formal written French discourse, ne deletion rarely occurs. Although discussion fora are somewhere between the two types of chat on the continuum of sociolinguistic variation, there is a clear tendency for them to be slightly closer to the formal/written side, yet this mode of CMC displays the greatest amount of mode-internal variation.

Small Molecule Inhibitor of Neutrophil Elastase and Severe Congenital Neutropenia.

Abstract 552Severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) is a rare heritable hematopoietic disorder characterized by maturation arrest at the promyelocytes, recurring severe infections, and evolution to leukemia. Heterozygous mutations in the neutrophil elastase (NE or ELANE) gene (sporadic or autosomal-dominant SCN) or homozygous mutations in the HAX1 gene (autosomal-recessive SCN) are associated with similar clinical phenotype and a block of myeloid differentiation or “maturation arrest” in the marrow. We and others reported that human myeloid progenitor cells expressing mutant elastase exhibit impaired cell survival (Aprikyan et al, 2003, Massullo et al, 2005, Kollner et al, 2006, Grenda et al, 2007). The hetero- and homozygous deletion of NE as well as the knock-in of mutant NE identified in SCN/AML patient failed to produce severe neutropenia phenotype in mice. Thus, the pathomechanism of severe neutropenia remains largely unclear due to the lack of cellular or animal model of SCN with characteristic block of myeloid differentiation and accelerated apoptosis.We established a cellular model of SCN with inducible tet-regulated expression of del.145-152 NE mutant (identified in SCN/AML patients) in human promyelocytic tet-off HL60 cells. The ratio of normal/mutant NE products in these cells is approximately 1:1, which is similar to that expected in SCN patients with heterozygous NE mutation. Expression of mutant NE in the promyelocytic cells results in a characteristic block of myeloid differentiation with ∼70% decline in differentiated neutrophils which is similar to that observed in SCN, whereas induced expression of control wild type NE has no effect on myeloid differentiation. Reduced production of myeloid cells and accelerated apoptosis are also observed upon DMSO or retinoic acid induced granulocytic differentiation of the cells in response to mutant, but not wild type NE expression. Thus, this cellular model of SCN appears to closely recapitulate the human phenotype. Expression of mutant NE resulted in approximately 40% increase in total NE-specific proteolytic activity, suggesting that mutant elastase exhibits at least some proteolytic activity. To date there are more than 50 heterozygous mutations in the NE gene have been identified in pre-leukemic SCN patients. Molecular modeling of the NE tertiary structure revealed that these mutations predominantly affect the N-glycosylation sites or the binding pocket of neutrophil elastase. Importantly, the active site of the mutant protease appears to be intact, which suggests that NE-specific small molecule inhibitors may be useful in preventing accelerated apoptosis and the characteristic block of myeloid differentiation of myeloid progenitor cells. Screening this cellular model of SCN, we identified a proprietary cell-penetrant elastase-specific small molecule inhibitor (compound A, Merck, USA), which inhibits the proteolytic activity of NE by more than 80%. When treated with compound A, control cells with induced expression of wtNE exhibit normal myeloid differentiation and production of myeloid cells, similar to that in untreated cells. These data suggest that human NE is dispensable and that accelerated apoptosis and impaired myeloid differentiation in SCN is due to a gain-of-function effect of pro-apoptotic mutant elastase. Importantly, treatment of human promyelocytic cells expressing del.145-152 mutant NE with this small molecule inhibitor restores impaired production of myeloid cells and improves myeloid differentiation to near normal levels, thus neutralizing the pro-apoptotic effect of mutant NE. These data suggest that small molecule inhibitors of NE may represent a promising therapy in severe congenital neutropenia. We have examined the effect of the inhibitor on bone marrow cells from an SCN patient positive for NE mutation. At the time of bone marrow aspiration the patient was on G-CSF and the patient's freshly isolated bone marrow CD33+ progenitor cells exhibited ∼21% apoptosis, which was gradually increased reaching 43% at 3 days of culture. However, daily treatment of SCN cells with compound A preserved the cell survival rate at the initial value resulting in approximately 2-fold reduction in apoptotic cell death at 3 days of culture. These data demonstrate that the small molecule inhibitor of NE and its analogs should be considered for clinical trials in patients with SCN that is attributable to mutant NE. Disclosures:Dale:Merck: Research support; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speaker.

Stylistic Variation in French: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Textbooks

One fundamental aspect of all educated native speakers' language competence is stylistic variation, or the ability to adjust speech register to situational formality (Labov, 1972). In this article, we investigate how current introductory and intermediate college French textbooks develop students' sociolinguistic competence and particularly the use of stylistic variation. First, we present an overview of research on native‐speaker use and second language acquisition of three variables (on vs. nous, ne deletion vs. ne retention, and interrogative structures). Next, we explore the arguments for and against inclusion of stylistic variation in the foreign language curriculum. Then we examine its treatment in 22 textbooks. Our findings indicate that, in general, textbooks do not address stylistic variation consistently: Grammatical explanations and practice often misrepresent authentic uses of French in specific sociopragmatic situations. We recommend more explicit focus on stylistic variation in textbooks from the beginning of language study and offer a pedagogical norm for its treatment.

Small Molecule Inhibitor of Neutrophil Elastase Restores Impaired Production of Human Myeloid Cells Observed in Severe Congenital Neutropenia.

Severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) is a rare hematopoietic disease characterized by maturation arrest at the promyelocytes, recurring severe infections, and evolution to leukemia. Heterozygous mutations in either the neutrophil elastase (NE, ELA2) gene (sporadic or autosomal-dominant SCN) or homozygous mutations in the HAX1 gene (autosomal-recessive SCN) are associated with a similar clinical phenotype and similar block of myeloid differentiation in the marrow. Most studies now indicate that the maturation arrest in SCN is due to accelerated apoptosis of myeloid progenitors triggered by the mutant gene products. The hetero and homozygous deletion of NE in mice as well as the knock-in of mutant NE identified in SCN/AML patient failed to produce severe neutropenia phenotype in mice. We established a cellular model of SCN with inducible expression of del.145–152 NE mutant in human promyelocytic tet-off HL60 cells. Ratio of normal /mutant NE products in these cells is approximately 1:1, similar to that expected in SCN patients with heterozygous NE mutation. Expression of mutant NE in promyelocytic cells resulted in a characteristic block of myeloid differentiation with ∼70% decline in differentiated neutrophils which is similar to that observed in SCN. Cell growth reduction and accelerated apoptosis were also observed in these cells in response to mutant NE expression. Thus, this SCN model appears to closely recapitulate the human phenotype. Analysis of the proteolytic activity of cells expressing mutant elastase revealed approximately 40% increase in total NE-specific activity in response to mutant NE expression compared with controls, suggesting that mutant elastase exhibits at least some proteolytic activity. To date we identified more than 40 heterozygous mutations in the NE gene in pre-leukemic SCN patients, however, the pathomechanism remains unclear. Molecular modeling of the NE tertiary structure revealed that these mutations predominantly affect the N-glycosylation sites or the binding pocket of elastase. Importantly, the active site of the mutant protease appears to be intact, which suggested that NE-specific small molecule inhibitors may be useful in preventing accelerated apoptosis and the block of myeloid differentiation of myeloid cells. Examining this SCN model, we identified a proprietary cell-permeable elastase-specific small molecule inhibitor (compound A, Merck, USA), which inhibited the proteolytic activity of the NE by more than 80%. Our studies indicate that treatment of human promyelocytic cells expressing del.145–152 mutant NE with this small molecule inhibitor restored the impaired production of myeloid cells and improved myeloid differentiation to near normal level. Importantly, the compound A did not impair the growth rate of control cells with normal NE expression. These data suggest that NE-specific small molecule inhibitor and its analogs should be considered in clinical trials in patients with SCN that is attributable to mutant NE.

A real-time window on 19th-century vernacular French: The Récits du français québécois d'autrefois

This article describes the construction of a corpus of spoken French with a timedepthofacenturyandahalf,theRecitsdufrancaisquebecoisd’autrefois (RFQ). The folktales, local legends, and interviews constituting the RFQ were produced by speakers born between 1846 and 1895. They spoke the French of 19th-century rural Quebec, a variety shown to be replete with the vernacular structures and inherent variability of contemporary dialects. The authors review the advantages and drawbacks associated with this type of diachronic material, and argue that, exploited judiciously, it effectively represents an earlier stage of spoken French. They show how systematic comparison of the RFQ with contemporary vernaculars can help pinpoint the existence,date,anddirectionoflanguagechange.(Apparent-timeconstruct, CanadianFrench,corpusconstruction,diachronicdata,languagechange,linguistic variability, ne deletion, real time analysis, vernacular)*

Learning to Speak Everyday (Canadian) French

This article examines the sociolinguistic competence of French immersion students. We first present an overview of the range of variation found in L1 speech and make a distinction between vernacular, informal, formal, and hyper-formal variants. We then compare the use of these forms in the speech of Canadian francophones and Grade 9 and 12 students enrolled in a French immersion program. Our analysis shows that the immersion students' sociolinguistic competence is lacking in that they rarely or never use vernacular and informal variants and overuse forms that are formal or hyper-formal. In order to address this shortcoming, we propose a pedagogical methodology for improving students' sociolinguistic competence, concentrating in particular on the need to increase students' use of informal variants (e.g., ne deletion and /l/ deletion) and to decrease their use of hyper-formal ones (e.g., the verb habiter and subject pronoun nous).

Learning to Speak Everyday (Canadian) French

This article examines the sociolinguistic competence of French immersion students. We first present an overview of the range of variation found in L1 speech and make a distinction between vernacular, informal, formal, and hyper-formal variants. We then compare the use of these forms in the speech of Canadian francophones and Grade 9 and 12 students enrolled in a French immersion program. Our analysis shows that the immersion students' sociolinguistic competence is lacking in that they rarely or never use vernacular and informal variants and overuse forms that are formal or hyper-formal. In order to address this shortcoming, we propose a pedagogical methodology for improving students' sociolinguistic competence, concentrating in particular on the need to increase students' use of informal variants (e.g., ne deletion and /l/ deletion) and to decrease their use of hyper-formal ones (e.g., the verb habiter and subject pronoun nous).

Pas rien/Pas aucun en français classique : variation dialectale et historique

We examine the relation between ne...pas rien and ne...pas aucun in 17th and 18th centuries French negative contexts, in Standard French but also in vernacular French. We make the hypothesis that the source of negative concord with pas + Neg Word is not linked to the deletion of ne and the weakening of pas but is rather triggered by changes which affected the value of the negative word itself. We argue that, as in forclusive contexts, the Neg word is analyzed as an polarity item in the context ne...pas rien/aucun. This polarity reading in that context disappears during Classical Standard French with the fixation of the two-terms negation (ne... N-word) and the reanalysis of rien as an negative adverb. However,the polarity item reading has been maintained in vernacular French for rien and aucun, more particularly in contexts where the polarity item is modified.

The relationship between the group and the individual and the acquisition of native speaker variation patterns: A preliminary study

The relationship between group and individual has been explored within the variationist paradigm. In L1, group patterns of variation are replicated by the individual. Second language acquisition research is concerned with the individual learner, but second language acquisition variationist researchers tend to group learners. Little empirical evidence exists that such grouping is valid, given the importance of individual variation. This article investigates whether it is meaningful to group learners. This is a longitudinal, quantitative study of the acquisition of variation by Irish speakers of French L2 over three years, of which one is a year abroad experience. Participants are five advanced learners, twenty years old, with five years of French classes at secondary school and two at university. A computer (Varbrul) analysis shows similar patterns in group and individual, in the deletion of ne. Theoretical implications are that it is legitimate to apply group standards to individual speakers and that native speaker variation acquisition is linked to a prolonged stay in the native speaker community.

Pas rien / Pas aucun en français classique : variation dialectale et historique

France Martineau & Viviane Déprez : Pas rien/Pas aucun en français classique : variation dialectale et historique We examine the relation between ne... pas rien and ne... pas aucun in I7th and I 8th centuries French negative contexts, in Standard French but also in vernacular French. We make the hypothesis that the source of negative concord with pas + Neg Word is not linked to the deletion of ne and the weakening of pas but is rather triggered by changes which affected the value of the negative word itself. We argue that, as in forclusive contexts, the Neg word is analyzed as an polarity item in the context ne... pas rien/aucun. This polarity reading in that context disappears during Classical Standard French with the fixation of the two-terms negation (ne... N-word) and the reanalysis of rien as an negative adverb. However.the polarity item reading has been maintained in vernacular French for rien and aucun, more particularly in contexts where the polarity item is modified.

A Sociolinguistic Study of the Origins of ne Deletion in European and Quebec French

A Sociolinguistic Study of the Origins of ne Deletion in European and Quebec French France Martineau and Raymond Mougeon We present and discuss the results of a sociolinguistic historical study of variable deletion of the preverbal negative particle ne ‘not’, a phenomenon observable in many contemporary varieties of spoken French, but which has not yet made its way into standard written French. Our study’s two main goals are (i) to contribute to the resolution of a debate over the point in time when ne deletion became a prevalent feature of nonstandard spoken French, and (ii) to assess the role of the affixal status of subject clitic pronouns in the rise of ne deletion. Our study is based on the analysis of an extensive database comprising a wide range of seventeenth-, eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and early twentieth-century sources providing information on the typical features of nonstandard spoken European and Quebec French. It reveals that ne deletion became widespread in nonstandard spoken French only in the nineteenth century and leads us to hypothesize that the affixal status of subject clitic pronouns contributed to the rise of ne deletion.* Introduction In this article we present and discuss the results of a historical study of nonstandard spoken French. Our study is focused on variable deletion of the preverbal negative particle ne, a phenomenon observable in many contemporary varieties of spoken French but which has not yet made its way into standard written French. Our study has two main goals: (i) to contribute to the resolution of a debate as to when deletion of the particle ne became prevalent in nonstandard spoken French, and (ii) to assess the role played by the affixal status of subject pronouns in the rise of ne deletion. As shown below, there is a considerable range of more or less divergent opinions among linguists as to when ne deletion became widespread in nonstandard spoken French, some contending that this phenomenon was already prevalent as early as the seventeenth century, others of the opinion that its rise is a much more recent development. This lack of agreement demonstrates that there has not been enough systematic corpus-based research on the evolution of ne deletion and hence that those who have debated this issue have often not based their opinion on solid diachronic data. What is needed now is a study that focuses on this phenomenon and attempts to chart its diachronic sociolinguistic trajectory over several hundred years. The internal factors that may have favored the rise of ne deletion have been the object of a number of recent studies. One factor that has received special attention is the transformation of French subject clitics into preverbal affixes. We examine the role of this factor in the light of the findings of our historical study of ne deletion and of previous historical studies that have documented phenomena indicating that subject clitics have become preverbal affixes. 1. Overview of the rise of postverbal negation It should be pointed out at the outset that the primary condition behind variable deletion of particle ne lies in the fact that French developed a two-pronged negative construction, whereby the notion of [End Page 118] negation is expressed redundantly via two elements: a preverbal particle ne and postverbal negators (words such as pas or point ‘not’ or jamais ‘never’ and rien ‘nothing’), as in examples 1 and 2. (1) (2) Before we review the studies that focused on deletion of particle ne, we provide the reader with a brief overview of the chief stages that led to the development of this two-pronged negative construction. Our diachronic presentation focuses on literary French. According to Foulet 1977 and Price 1984, as early as the thirteenth century, negation was expressed mostly via preverbal negative particle ne rather than non, a morpheme of Latin origin that is still used in Romance languages such as Spanish or Italian. Negative particle ne expressed the generic notion of negation and it could be used either on its own (il ne vout estre ses amis ‘he does not want to be their friend’) or it could be reinforced with postverbal words such as pas, point, mie which added emphasis to that notion...

Variable deletion of French ne: a cross-stylistic perspective

This paper considers the socio-stylistic distribution of the French variable morpho-syntactic particle ne. The interspeaker axes of variation in ne are summarised first, prior to a consideration of some intraspeaker data deriving from a corpus of spoken French. As well as presenting group scores, we examine intraspeaker variation in ne by focusing on use of the variable by a single speaker in both speech styles recorded. One principal finding is that the formal speech situation was such as to work against the strong constraint that induces French speakers to produce clitic+verb sequence as perhaps the default form; a constraint that strongly favours ne deletion. In informal style, several examples of retention of ne seem to show that the tone of a stretch of discourse can vary independently of the informality of the speech style. Several of the stylistic effects produced by the informants in conversation style through their use of ne show that the micro-style variation which is present in both of the broad styles is reflected in the use of ne through a reduction in degrees of style shift, since the ‘formal’ episodes in informal style call for the use of ne frequently relative to formal style — albeit within the context of very little use of ne overall.

The loss of the negative morpheme, ne, in Parisian French

Data from a corpus of upper-middle class Parisian French demonstrate that the omission of ne in negative structures is most frequent among certain demographic segments of the population. This finding, together with historical evidence, suggests that the optional deletion of ne represents a continuing linguistic change, presaging theeventual total loss of ne. This change is most advanced in certain syntactic and phonetic contexts and in informal style.