ABSTRACT
ItiswellknownthattheFrenchpresent(Pr)tense2ischameleon-like: itcanhaveavarietyofcontextualinterpretationssuchasgnomic truths,omnitemporalstates,durativestates,description,temporally boundedevents,futuretime,pasttime,andsoforth.However,ithas notbeenasevidentthatincertaincontextstwoormoreofthese meaningsmaybesimultaneouslyrelevant,thusleadingtosemantic multivalency.Wewillstudytheexploitationinjournalisticdiscourse ofthispluralisminmeaningandthecontextualdiversitywhichresults fromitforonetypeofuseofPr:namely,thehistoricalpresent(HPr).3 Ouraimwillbetoshowthat,farfrombeingaquestionofpromiscuous, unrestrictedpolysemyorofproblematicambiguity,thedouble(or triple)meanings/readingsarecontrolledbytwointerrelatedfactors: ontheonehand,thesemanticoppositionbetweenPrandtheother tensesofFrench,andontheotherhandthesymbioticrelationship betweenPr(andHPr)anditscontext;moreover,themeaningscreated areequallyviableinthatcontext.
