ABSTRACT
For simplicity of exposition, we have assumed in this section that it is possible to view each level of linguistic analysis in isolation, starting first with the sounds of French, then examining in turn the morphology, syntax and lexis of the language. As will be clear from Section 3 below, this is not an assumption shared by all schools of linguistics, nor is it unproblematic. To take the case of morphology, cogent reasons have been advanced for considering it not as an autonomous level of analysis, but as interacting with the phonology (for example in the case of vocalic alternation in adjectival stems) or the syntax (for example in the case of adjectival agreement) of French. Furthermore, the formation of new words by the addition of prefixes and suffixes may be seen as a morphological question (see Section 2.2), or considered within the domain of lexical studies (see Section 2.4).
