Structure logique de la causalité et de l’inférence en français

une étude de parce que, comme (causal) et puisque à partir d’un corpus de données orales (ESLO)

Résumé

This article examines the morphosyntactic and discursive determinants governing causal and inferential interpretations in spoken French through a comparative analysis of parce que (because), puisque (since), and comme (as). Drawing on the ESLO oral corpus, the study uses propositional inversion tests to evaluate how structural permutations affect the interpretive robustness of the cause-consequence relationship. The findings show that while iconicity and discursive order are significant, the invertibility of causal arguments is primarily conditioned by the level of causality — content-based versus illocutionary — interactional anchoring, and morphosyntactic order. Quantitative data suggest that objectifying markers, such as atemporality and presentative subjects, facilitate the stabilization of an asymmetric causal link, thereby enhancing its formal reversibility. Conversely, subjective markers and interactional framing, which are particularly prevalent with comme, resist inversion.