La préposition complexe dans le cadre de en français

Abstract

Some lexicographers, language observers, grammarians, and linguists have sporadically noted the rise in usage of the sequence “dans le cadre de” (which can be translated as “in the context of/as part of”) in contemporary French writing. However, no in-depth study has been devoted to this complex preposition, even though it presents several remarkable features. The aim of this study is to provide insights into how this expression, which derives from the prepositional phrase “dans le cadre de NP”, which refers to a space enclosed by a physical boundary, has become so spectacularly successful in written usage, especially from the 1950s and particularly in the press. In order to do this, we first check its status as a complex preposition by applying syntactic, semantic, and statistical criteria. We then explore its network of meanings, starting with those of the noun “cadre” (Engl. ‘frame’), which forms its lexical core. Exploring textual databases enables us to study, synchronically and diachronically, how these meanings are distributed in texts, thereby highlighting the relevance of the criteria of genre, type, and topicality. Finally, we show that incorporating external historical considerations into the analysis provides a better understanding of the remarkable rise in the use of this complex preposition in the contemporary press.