Langue française - Année 1997 - Volume 113 - Numéro 1 - Pages 66-78L. Tracy : La clé du mystère : remettre le réfèrent à sa place The prominence of the noun in the discussion of language results from a privilege accorded to the perceived tangibility of its referent. However, the physical properties of a referent are an insufficient basis for a semantic analysis of the word which designates it. An examination of the polysémie noun « key » in French and English, demonstrates this deficiency, providing an opportunity to develop a semantic account of the distribution of its use in the two languages. 13 pages Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.