Re: [typo] césures en anglais

[Blue Cox <bluecox@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bonjour,

Pour une fois que je peux peut-être vous aider, j'en profite.

J'ai posé la question à un ami Anglais, traducteur (et ex prof de comm de
surcroît). Je vous copie ci-dessous sa réponse en espérant qu'elle puisse
vous être utile.

Cordialement


Sophie
www.bluecox.net


En effet, ce n'est pas évident de trouver des renseignements en français sur
les césures en anglais !

Le CMS http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html est disponible en
essais gratuit / sur abonnement, il est la bible de style pour l'anglais
américain. Mais c'est en anglais...
 
Une recherche Wikipédia en français donne des règles à la fois surprenant
par rapport ce qu'on m'a toujours appris sur le français, mais qui en effet
se rapprochent des règles en anglais.
 
Voici un extrait de ce qui dit Oxford, pour l'angalis britannique :

hyphens
 
A. Hyphens are used to connect words that are more closely linked to each
other than to the surrounding syntax. Unfortunately their use is not
consistent. Some pairs or groups of words are written as a single word (e.g.
motorway, railwayman), others, despite their equally close bond, as separate
words (e.g. motor cycle, pay phone); very similar pairs may be found with a
hyphen (e.g. motor-cyclist, pay-bed). There are no hard and fast rules that
will predict in every case whether a group of words should be written as
one, with a hyphen, or separately. Useful lists can be found in Hart's
Rules, pp. 76-81; numerous individual items are entered in ODWE.
 
 
 
1. Groups consisting of attributive noun + noun are probably the most
unpredictable. It is the nature of English syntax to produce limitless
numbers of groups of this kind. Such a group generally remains written as
separate words until it is recognized as a lexical item with a special
meaning, when it may receive a hyphen. Eventually it may be written as one
word, but this usually happens when the two nouns are monosyllabic and there
is no clash between the final letter of the first and the first letter of
the second.
 
This generalization is, however, a very weak guide to what happens in
practice. Compare, for example, coal tar, coal-face, coalfield; oil well,
oil-painting, oilfield; blood cell, blood-pressure, bloodstream.
 
 
 
2. Nouns derived from phrasal verbs, consisting of verb + adverb, are
slightly more predictable. They are never written as two words, frequently
hyphened, and sometimes written as one, e.g. fall-out, play-off, set-back,
turn-out; feedback, layout, runoff, turnover. Phrases consisting of
agent-noun in -er + adverb are usually hyphened, e.g. picker-up, runner-up;
those consisting of gerund in -ing + adverb are usually left as two words,
e.g. Your coming back so soon surprised me, unless they have become a unit
with a special meaning, e.g. Gave him a going-over.
 
 
 
3. Various collocations which are not hyphened when they play their normal
part in the sentence are given hyphens when they are transferred to
attributive position before a noun, e.g.
 
(a) adjective + noun: a common-sense argument (but This is common sense), an
open-air restaurant (but eating in the open air).
 
(b) preposition + noun: an out-of-date aircraft (but This is out of date),
an in-depth interview (but interviewing him in depth).
 
(c) participle + adverb: The longed-for departure and Tugged-at leaves and
whirling branches (Iris Murdoch) (but the departure greatly longed for;
leaves tugged at by the wind).
 
(d) other syntactic groups used attributively, e.g. A tremendous
wrapping-up-and-throwing-away gesture (J. B. Priestley); An
all-but-unbearable mixture (Lynne Reid Banks).
 
 
 
4. Collocations of adverb + adjective (or participle) are usually written as
two words when attributive as well as when predicative, e.g. a less
interesting topic, an amazingly good performance, but may very occasionally
take a hyphen to avoid misunderstanding, e.g. Sir Edgar, who had heard one
or two more-sophisticated rumours (Angus Wilson) (this does not mean ?one or
two additional sophisticated rumours¹).
 
See also *well.
 
 
 
5. When two words that form a close collocation but are not normally joined
by a hyphen enter into combination with another word that requires a hyphen,
it may be necessary to join them with a hyphen as well in order to avoid an
awkward or even absurd result, e.g. natural gas needs no hyphen in natural
gas pipeline, but natural-gas-producer may be preferred to the ambiguous
natural gas-producer; crushed ice + -making looks odd in crushed ice-making
machine, and so crushed-ice-making machine may be preferred. Occasionally a
real distinction in meaning may be indicated, e.g. The non-German-speakers
at the conference used interpreters versus The non-German speakers at the
conference were all Austrians.
 
* * * * *
 
En règle général, il suffit de savoir que l'anglais se base sur les syllabes
du mot SELON LEUR forme, et pas selon leur prononciation.
 
On cherche donc toujours l'etymologie du mot, pour en connaître le racine
(lexème) ; dans la mesure du possible, il faut garder ça intact, en ne
mettant des césures qu'entre le racine et les affixes, que ceux-ci soit des
préfixes / suffixes, ou des terminaisons de conujugaison etc.
 
Dans le cas d'un verbe qui finit en [2 consonnes]-ing, par exemple, il faut
savoir si c'est bien le racine se termine en consonne double ou non. Par ex.
fill > fill-ing mais begin > begin-ning

...et ainsi de suite !

Bon courage, je suis là en cas de difficulté !


Le 13/10/06 15:32, « Sébastien Mengin » <sebastien@xxxxxxxxxxxx> a écrit :

> Bonjour,
> 
> Je me fais dire que, «en anglais, il n'y a pas de césures» (sic).
> 
> Où puis-je trouver une référence simple et efficace en la matière ?
>  
> Ça me paraît tellement aberrant qu'à part répondre «mais si !» je suis
> coi.
> 
> Merci de votre aide,
> 
> Cordialement,
> -- 
> Sébastien
>