Les emplois et le potentiel informationnel de l’adjectif “clair(e)”

Abstract

This study seeks to approach the problem of correspondences between adjectives in the context of translation. On the basis of the French adjective clair, e analyzed as a case of study, the author demonstrates that these items could have a few interpretations in French and in Polish. Such multiple interpretations raised by polysemy can be a problem for the description of these items in lexicographical publications, as well as for translation. Correspondences between adjectives are rarely bi-univocal in two languages and this study gives some insights into the possibilities of using these terms in both languages. Differences between the senses are often highly subtle and contextually determined, so the author makes use of the theory of classes of objects. This kind of complex description allows to find the correct equivalent in another language and to make explicit the relations of equivalence between the two languages.