Oui et ses variantes en français: l’expression de l’accord dans les débats présidentiels

Abstract

This article is about the expression of agreement in a particular type of talk-in-interaction: debates occurring between the two ballots of French presidential elections. The main way of expressing agreement in French being the morpheme oui, we shall examine at first how the system of the three forms oui/non/si works in French (standard and non standard uses), which can give rise to some misunderstandings with people whose linguistic system is different. Then we shall wonder what are the values of oui and similar forms in theses debates, according mainly to the type of speech act to which this form react; and finally, what are the functions of agreement in these exchanges which are fundamentally of a confrontational type.