“Phrasal compounds” and the discourse/lexicology interface: “conglomeration” within the French tradition of English lexicology

This paper tries to illustrate the relevance of what Benveniste called conglomérés (conglomerates) for the study of English. It shows that conglomerates refer to a set of regular phenomena and account for two general trends of the lexicon : the quest for economy on the one hand and the importance of speech (parole) in the lexicalisation of units on the other hand. By analysing a borderline case of morphology in two senses of the word (morphology vs. syntax and phrases vs. compounds), a case is made for the investigation of a delocutive matrix, the cline between discourse and the lexicon. In that sense, this paper offers a partial review of French approaches to English lexicology within the tradition of enunciative linguistics.