steal · French (voler) — Event-Structure Dictionary

Arguments

Thief, Victim, Theme · function by frame · French cloth · working claim, revisable

Voice[Thief] + low Appl(Victim) + complement of the root (Theme)

voler · Theme_DO · Victim_DAT (à + DP, clitic lui) · Larousse On lui a volé son portefeuille · the à is the dative possessor-source, the same marker as the goal in TLFi’s donner parenthesis (quelque chose à quelqu’un)

no Theme in the clause · Victim_DO (clitic le / la) · Académie Son associé le vole · TLFi la vole

person as direct object, Theme in de · TLFi header Voler qqn de qqc. · Queffélec le voler de ses vêtements · Académie and Larousse person-object examples do not fill that de

A theft, on this reading, has a Thief, a Victim, and a Theme. They are not three equal sisters of one French verb. Voice adds the Thief. Low Appl introduces the Victim, as a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain: the person who had the thing and no longer has it. That is the same kind of added argument as the dative Victim on stehlen, the indirect Victim on robar, and the dative Learner on enseigner. It is a working drawing. It is not a settled analysis. The root’s complement is the Theme, the thing taken. Which phrase is the direct object changes with the frame. A full noun has no case ending. The clitic is what the sources use to tell a dative from a direct object.

The clitic test. Beside a Theme, the person is lui. Larousse prints On lui a volé son portefeuille. Larousse’s piquer gloss, marked Familier, is Voler quelque chose à quelqu’un, le lui chiper: le is the thing, lui is the person, and the example is Il lui a piqué son portefeuille. When the person is the direct object and the clause has no Theme, the clitic is le or la: Académie Son associé le vole depuis des années, TLFi son jardinier la vole comme dans un bois. m’ in Larousse On m’a volé and vous in the TLFi line il vous a volé vos montres do not show that contrast. leur is unprinted as the dative clitic of voler in the lines checked here.

What is different from the English gloss. English Wiktionary prints the source of steal in from (stolen from the gallery, stolen from us, They stole all my money (from me)) and does not print a bare indirect object as that source. French prints the person stolen from as a dative: à plus a noun phrase, or the clitic lui. That à is the marker TLFi prints on donner in the parenthesis (quelque chose à quelqu’un). It is not a from-phrase.

What is different from German. stehlen and rauben put the Theme in the accusative and the Victim in the dative. That pair matches the French direct Theme and dative Victim. berauben puts the Victim in the accusative and the Theme in the genitive (geh. jmdn. einer Sache berauben). French has no genitive. The closest printed same-verb line is TLFi’s Voler qqn de qqc., filled by le voler de ses vêtements. dépouiller qqn de qqch is the companion the Académie and TLFi print with that de-Theme: Un escroc l’a dépouillé de toutes ses économies.

What is different from Spanish. robar puts the Victim in the indirect object, le or a plus a noun phrase. Clitic doubling is the ordinary description of that indirect object, and the Spanish page records that le and a full a-phrase are not stacked in one printed robar clause. French lui is the dative clitic, with no obligatory doubling of a full noun phrase: no line checked here puts lui and a full à-phrase in one voler clause. French has no personal a, so voler à quelqu’un and voler quelqu’un are formally distinct: the first is the dative possessor-source, the second is the direct-object Victim.

Places · who wears which marking

The three-place lines do not stack every marking in one clause. Larousse prints the dative clitic and the Theme together: On lui a volé son portefeuille. A full à-phrase beside a Theme is printed on other nouns (Voler des idées à un auteur étranger, Voler la vedette à quelqu’un) and on dérober (qui en dérobait aux Allemands). The Code civil line inside TLFi is the relative auquel il a été volé une chose: auquel is à plus the person, and une chose is the Theme. The direct-object person, with no Theme in the clause, is Académie le vole and TLFi la vole. The de-Theme beside that person is the TLFi header Voler qqn de qqc.

Printed voler frame · dative Victim · direct Theme

✓ On lui a volé son portefeuille Larousse · voler sense 1

someone stole his or her wallet · lui is the person · son portefeuille is the Theme

Printed line with no Theme · the person is the direct object

✓ Son associé le vole depuis des années Académie · voler [II] sense 2

his partner has been robbing him for years · le is the person · no Theme is in the clause

Printed de-Theme · the person stays the direct object

✓ pour le voler de ses vêtements TLFi · VOLER² · header Voler qqn de qqc. · Queffélec, Recteur, 1944

in order to rob him of his clothes · le is the person · de ses vêtements is the Theme

Places of French steal: introducer, marking, status, English, German, and Spanish marking
Place	Introduced by (working)	French marking	Status in the sources	English, German, and Spanish marking
Thief	Spec,Voice	subject of voler (son associé in the Académie line; on in Larousse On lui a volé)	structural subject · the Académie prints the present cells je vole, tu voles, il vole, nous volons, vous volez, ils volent · Larousse’s example contains a volé	subject of steal and of rob · subject of stehlen · subject of robar
Victim · dative, Theme present	low Appl · possessor-source · revisable	lui, or à + DP	Larousse On lui a volé son portefeuille · Larousse piquer: le lui chiper, Il lui a piqué son portefeuille · Académie on lui a volé son tour au manège · full à-DP on Voler des idées à un auteur étranger and on Voler la vedette à quelqu’un · TLFi auquel il a été volé une chose · no served voler line puts lui and a full à-DP in one clause · leur is unprinted as this clitic	English from + the person · German dative on stehlen (ihm) · Spanish indirect le or a + DP, with doubling in the ordinary description of that frame
Victim · direct, no Theme	low Appl · possessor-source · revisable · the case is not the dative of the wallet line	le / la · a full person as direct object	Académie sense 2 defines Dépouiller quelqu’un de ce qui lui appartient and prints Son associé le vole depuis des années and Nous avons été volés dans la nuit · the de is inside that definition · it is not a phrase in those examples · TLFi prints la vole inside son jardinier la vole comme dans un bois	object of English rob · accusative Victim of berauben · Spanish lo / la in DPD §1b · French has no personal a, so this direct object is not spelled with the dative à
Theme · direct	complement of the root	direct object (son portefeuille, de l’argent, de la nourriture, des outils)	structural direct object beside the dative person · TLFi prints Voler de l’argent, une lettre, une montre and voler du pain, des poules with no person in those strings · Larousse sense 3 and Académie la vedette use the same cloth on nouns that are not a purse	object of steal · accusative of stehlen · direct object of robar beside le
Theme · de	complement of the root · the marking is not the direct object of the wallet line	de + the thing, beside a direct person	TLFi header Voler qqn de qqc. · Queffélec le voler de ses vêtements · Académie and Larousse examples of the direct person do not add de · dépouiller prints the same cloth: Académie l’a dépouillé de toutes ses économies · TLFi la dépouiller de son misérable petit pécule	English of on rob · German genitive on berauben · Spanish prints no robar a alguien de algo
Place	not a fourth argument in this drawing	direct object of dévaliser and of cambrioler where a place is printed · dans la rue and dans les grands magasins beside voler	une banque is unprinted as a frame of dévaliser in TLFi, Larousse, and the Académie · printed places are Académie Dévaliser une maison, Larousse Dévaliser une bijouterie, TLFi les boutiques and la boutique · cambrioler prints un appartement, un magasin, une villa	English He robbed three banks · Spanish Robaron un banco · those place-objects are not a French dévaliser une banque line

Marking map. à on this verb is the dative. Read the clitic, then the marker.

Dative of the Victim, Theme present. Larousse sense 1 prints On lui a volé son portefeuille. lui is the person. son portefeuille is the Theme. The same entry’s sense 3 prints a full à-phrase on a different noun: Voler des idées à un auteur étranger. The Académie prints on lui a volé son tour au manège and Voler la vedette à quelqu’un. The turn and the spotlight are not a purse. The cloth is the one the wallet line uses. TLFi’s Code civil quotation is auquel il a été volé une chose. Larousse piquer, sense 13, marked Familier, spells the frame as Voler quelque chose à quelqu’un, le lui chiper.
à is the dative, and it is the marker of donner. TLFi donner prints the parenthesis (quelque chose à quelqu’un) under the sense of providing or sending. The à of voler quelque chose à quelqu’un is that dative, read here as a possessor-source. It is not a second direct object. The clitic beside the Theme is lui, the clitic Larousse prints in On lui a volé son portefeuille and in le lui chiper. A doubled clause, clitic plus full à-phrase, is unprinted on voler. The two pieces stay in separate citations.
The direct-object person, and the de-Theme. Académie sense 2 is Dépouiller quelqu’un de ce qui lui appartient, with Son associé le vole depuis des années and Nous avons été volés dans la nuit. Those examples have the person as le or as the passive subject, and they do not contain de. TLFi does print the header Voler qqn de qqc. and Queffélec’s pour le voler de ses vêtements. That de is a dictionary frame. It is not supplied to the Académie examples. Larousse sense 2 prints On m’a volé, on m’a tout pris. m’ can be dative or accusative. The line does not decide the clitic test.
voler quelqu’un à quelqu’un is a person taken from a person. TLFi’s etymology header records Voler qqn and Voler qqc., and the 1834 formula voler qqn à qqn, with Kock’s le lui voler and the bracket [son cousin]. le is the person taken. lui is the person stolen from. The cousin is not a purse. The line stays off the wallet frame. It does show the same clitic split: accusative for the thing or person taken, dative for the person deprived.
dérober, only the frames that are printed. TLFi prints Dérober qqc. (à qqn). Van der Meersch has qui en dérobait aux Allemands: en is the Theme, aux Allemands is a full dative. Dérober qqn is labeled Vieilli. Larousse labels the transitive article Littéraire and prints On lui a dérobé son portefeuille. The Académie prints On lui a dérobé son sac, ses bijoux and does not print Littéraire. TLFi does not print that label either. The labels are not ranked here.
dévaliser, person or place, Theme not a separate argument. TLFi prints Il vous a dévalisées, with the participle agreeing, and Deux encaisseurs ont été dévalisés. The place lines are dévaliser les boutiques, La petite dévalisait la boutique, and dévalise vos poches. The Académie prints Des voleurs l’ont dévalisé, Il s’est fait dévaliser en pleine rue, and, marked Par extension, Dévaliser une maison. The definition Dépouiller quelqu’un de son argent, de son bagage contains de. The examples do not fill it. Larousse prints Dévaliser une bijouterie. une banque is not a definitional frame in these three articles. The Académie also prints Fam. Les invités ont dévalisé le buffet. That labeled line is the buffet, not the theft of a purse.
cambrioler. TLFi prints a place as direct object: Cambrioler un appartement, un magasin, une villa, and Morand’s son domicile venait d’être cambriolé. It also prints a person: cambrioler une Allemande. A rare header is Cambrioler qqn de qqn ou de qqc., with Toulet’s me cambrioler de mes pénitents. The penitents are not a purse. Cambrioler qqc. chez qqn is also printed. The entry notes Ds Ac. 1932.
dépouiller. TLFi prints Dépouiller qqn de tous ses biens and dépouiller les cadavres de leurs bijoux, and Goncourt’s la dépouiller de son misérable petit pécule. The Académie prints Un escroc l’a dépouillé de toutes ses économies, Les voleurs l’ont dépouillé de tout ce qu’il portait sur lui, and Dépouiller quelqu’un de son patrimoine. The person is direct. The Theme is de. That is the printed companion of TLFi’s Voler qqn de qqc., and it is the French cloth nearest to the genitive Theme of berauben. It is not a genitive.
piquer and chiper, only with the printed Familier label. Larousse piquer sense 13 is marked Familier and defined Voler quelque chose à quelqu’un, le lui chiper, example Il lui a piqué son portefeuille. TLFi’s article of piquer does not print that theft frame; the theft wording there is in the etymology. This page cites Larousse for the frame. TLFi chiper is headed Familier and defined Voler un objet de peu de valeur, with Duhamel’s chiper le rasoir de l’un et le blaireau de l’autre. Chiper qqn is labeled Rare. Larousse chiper is marked Familier: Voler, dérober quelque chose (à quelqu’un), example Qui m’a chipé mon stylo ? TLFi’s synonym string on VOLER² includes fam., pop. barboter, carotter, faucher, piquer. Larousse labels faucher populaire on the synonyms of voler sense 1. populaire is not Familier. faucher has no frame on this page.
Morphology, the cells the entries print. The Académie prints the present of voler: je vole, tu voles, il vole, nous volons, vous volez, ils volent. Larousse’s wallet line contains a volé. The participle is in Nous avons été volés and in voitures volées, tableaux volés. Those are the cells and the phrases the entries print. No further cell is filled here.

EN ⇄ FR valency strip

Each row lines up one English slot with a French slot. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same object status), or shift (a from-phrase ↔ a dative, or an of-phrase ↔ de). Printed dictionary lines come first. Every other French sentence is constructed, modelled on a printed line. They show the working alignment, not frequency, and not a bilingual corpus.

English–French valency alignment for steal, one row per argument
Slot	EN form	FR form	Align	EN example	FR example
Thief	SUBJ of steal	subject	=	They stole all my money English Wiktionary · steal	Son associé le vole Académie · voler [II]
Victim · dative	from + person on steal	lui or à + DP	shift · one French dative · English spells from	stolen from us · (from me) English Wiktionary · steal	On lui a volé son portefeuille Larousse · à un auteur étranger Larousse · not a purse
Theme	object of steal	direct object	=	They stole all my money English Wiktionary	son portefeuille Larousse · de l’argent TLFi
Victim · direct · no Theme	object of rob	le / la	= · the Theme is not an oblique in these examples	He robbed three banks English Wiktionary · rob sense 1 · the banks are the place	le vole Académie · la vole TLFi
Theme beside a direct Victim	of + the thing, where printed	de + the thing	shift · of ↔ de · German spells the genitive	robbed the soldiers of their pay English Wiktionary · Shakespeare citation under sense 2	le voler de ses vêtements TLFi · Queffélec · de toutes ses économies Académie · dépouiller
Doubling	unprinted as clitic plus from in one steal line here	lui and a full à-DP in one clause	Spanish describes le with a · French prints the pieces in different clauses	stolen from us English Wiktionary	lui … à-DP together unprinted on voler · not a dictionary line
Bare indirect object of steal	He stole me a book · the Low German note calls this the för reading	not the French lui	French lui is the person stolen from · the English bare object in that note is not	He stole me a book English Wiktionary · Low German note on stehlen	lui in On lui a volé son portefeuille Larousse · the English gloss of that frame is from, not a bare me

The strip below is a set of small multiples. Each card holds one frame, with English on top and French under it. The subject chip is the Thief. A card that quotes a dictionary line has no added name.

EN · FR · voler

lui + direct Theme

They stole the wallet from him

On lui a volé son portefeuille

FR · Larousse · dative Victim · direct Theme · EN from

RolesHide roles VictimTheme

Victim him · lui Theme the wallet · son portefeuille

Move the Victim is dative · English spells from · the clitic is lui

EN · FR · no Theme

le / la

rob him

Son associé le vole

FR · Académie · direct Victim · no Theme in the clause

RolesHide roles Victim

Victim him · le

Move closest to rob · le is not lui

EN · FR · de

Voler qqn de qqc.

rob him of his clothes

le voler de ses vêtements

FR · TLFi · direct Victim · de-Theme · not a genitive

RolesHide roles VictimTheme

Victim him · le Theme his clothes · de ses vêtements

Move nearest to berauben · French spells de, not the genitive

EN · FR · place

une bijouterie

He robbed three banks

Dévaliser une bijouterie

FR · Larousse · dévaliser · the place is the object · une banque is unprinted

RolesHide roles Place

Place a jeweller’s · une bijouterie

Move no separate Theme is in the example

Examples

Argument difference. English steal X from Y puts the Theme in the object and the source in from. French voler puts the Theme in the direct object and the Victim in the dative, à or lui. English rob Y (of X) puts the person or the place in the object. French prints that person as a direct object in Académie le vole and TLFi la vole, and it prints a de-Theme beside that person only in TLFi’s Voler qqn de qqc. German berauben puts a genitive Theme beside an accusative Victim. French prints de, not a genitive. Spanish robar a alguien can be indirect or direct because of personal a. French voler à quelqu’un and voler quelqu’un are not the same marker. The dative Victim is inside the verb’s domain on the working drawing. It is not an English bare indirect object, and it is not the from-phrase spelled again in French.

Senses kept off the wallet frame, and quoted so their objects are not reread as a purse. Larousse sense 3 is Voler des idées à un auteur étranger. Larousse sense 5 is Voler un baiser à quelqu’un. The Académie prints Voler la vedette à quelqu’un and on lui a volé son tour au manège. TLFi’s 1834 formula voler qqn à qqn takes a person from a person. TLFi also prints Voler qqc. sur qqc. for a dishonest levy. Larousse’s intransitive theft line is Il vole dans les grands magasins. The fly entry is a separate headword, named once above.

Dictionary frames and lines · checked · quoted as printed

On lui a volé son portefeuille Larousse · voler · larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/voler/82450 · sense 1 · lui · direct Theme

On m’a volé, on m’a tout pris Larousse · sense 2 · m’ does not show lui against le · synonyms in that sense include dépouiller, détrousser, dévaliser

Voler des idées à un auteur étranger · Voler un baiser à quelqu’un · Il vole dans les grands magasins Larousse · senses 3 and 5, and the intransitive theft line · the ideas, the kiss, and the shops are not a purse · etymology parenthesis (peut-être de voler 1)

Voler de la nourriture, de l’argent · Elle s’est fait voler son sac à main dans la rue · Voler avec effraction · voitures volées, tableaux volés · on lui a volé son tour au manège · Voler la vedette à quelqu’un Académie · voler [II] sense 1 · dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9V1143 · the faire line is quoted, not analysed

Dépouiller quelqu’un de ce qui lui appartient. Son associé le vole depuis des années. Nous avons été volés dans la nuit. Académie · sense 2 · le · passive of the person · de is in the definition

je vole, tu voles, il vole, nous volons, vous volez, ils volent Académie · present cells of voler

Voler de l’argent, une lettre, une montre · voler du pain, des poules · volait des outils · Voler avec effraction · auquel il a été volé une chose · Voler qqn de qqc. · pour le voler de ses vêtements · son jardinier la vole comme dans un bois · voler qqn à qqn · le lui voler [son cousin] TLFi · VOLER² · cnrtl.fr/definition/voler/1 · the cousin line is not a purse · synonym string dérober, prendre, soustraire, subtiliser; fam., pop. barboter, carotter, faucher, piquer

Dérober qqc. (à qqn) · qui en dérobait aux Allemands · Dérober qqn TLFi · dérober · Vieilli on the person-object · cnrtl.fr/definition/dérober

On lui a dérobé son portefeuille Larousse · dérober · the transitive article is labeled Littéraire · larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/dérober

On lui a dérobé son sac, ses bijoux Académie · dérober · dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9D1678 · no Littéraire label in the text read

Il vous a dévalisées · Deux encaisseurs ont été dévalisés · dévaliser les boutiques · La petite dévalisait la boutique · dévalise vos poches TLFi · dévaliser · cnrtl.fr/definition/dévaliser · the About line il vous a volé vos montres, votre argent is voler, and vous does not show lui against le

Des voleurs l’ont dévalisé. Il s’est fait dévaliser en pleine rue. Dévaliser une maison. Fam. Les invités ont dévalisé le buffet. Académie · dévaliser · dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9D2176 · definition Dépouiller quelqu’un de son argent, de son bagage · de unfilled in the examples

Dévaliser une bijouterie Larousse · dévaliser · larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/dévaliser/24924

Cambrioler un appartement, un magasin, une villa · son domicile venait d’être cambriolé · cambrioler une Allemande · Cambrioler qqn de qqn ou de qqc. · me cambrioler de mes pénitents TLFi · cambrioler · cnrtl.fr/definition/cambrioler · the rare de is not a purse

Dépouiller qqn de tous ses biens · la dépouiller de son misérable petit pécule TLFi · dépouiller · cnrtl.fr/definition/dépouiller

Un escroc l’a dépouillé de toutes ses économies. Les voleurs l’ont dépouillé de tout ce qu’il portait sur lui. Dépouiller quelqu’un de son patrimoine. Académie · dépouiller · dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9D1572

Familier. Voler quelque chose à quelqu’un, le lui chiper : Il lui a piqué son portefeuille. Larousse · piquer sense 13 · larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/piquer · le the thing · lui the person

Familier. Voler un objet de peu de valeur · chiper le rasoir de l’un et le blaireau de l’autre TLFi · chiper · cnrtl.fr/definition/chiper · Duhamel · Chiper qqn labeled Rare

Familier. Voler, dérober quelque chose (à quelqu’un) : Qui m’a chipé mon stylo ? Larousse · chiper · larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/chiper/15407

(quelque chose à quelqu’un) TLFi · donner · cnrtl.fr/definition/donner · the same à as the dative of voler

prendre quelque chose à quelqu’un sans son accord Wiktionnaire · voler verbe 2 · fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/voler · secondary · verbe 1 is fly

Three irreplaceable paintings were stolen from the gallery. · The problem is the two bicycles stolen from us. · They stole all my money (from me). English Wiktionary · steal · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steal

He robbed three banks. · I never robbed the soldiers of their pay. English Wiktionary · rob · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rob

der Dieb hat ihm die Uhr gestohlen · geh. jmdn. einer Sache berauben German · quoted on stehlen · dative Victim, and the genitive Theme

Le robaron la cartera Spanish · quoted on robar · indirect Victim · direct Theme

Strings below are constructed, modelled on the printed lines. They are not spontaneous-speech citations and not dictionary lines. Pat continues the named-participant series. A name does not spell function. lui spells the dative. le spells the direct object. le portefeuille follows Larousse’s portefeuille. à Marie follows the shape of à un auteur étranger and of à quelqu’un, and no served line puts the clitic and that full phrase together. No constructed line adds de, leur, or une banque.

✓ Pat lui a volé le portefeuille.

RolesHide roles ThiefVictimTheme

Thief Pat Victim lui Theme le portefeuille

constructed · modelled on Larousse On lui a volé son portefeuille · dative clitic · direct Theme · no full à-phrase

✓ Pat a volé le portefeuille à Marie.

RolesHide roles ThiefVictimTheme

Thief Pat Victim à Marie Theme le portefeuille

constructed · à-phrase only · the shape is Larousse à un auteur étranger, Académie à quelqu’un, and TLFi aux Allemands on dérober · a purse and a name are not in one printed clause · lui is not in this line

✓ Pat le vole.

RolesHide roles ThiefVictim

Thief Pat Victim le

constructed · modelled on Académie Son associé le vole · direct object · no Theme · not the dative lui

✓ On lui a volé son portefeuille Larousse · dative · direct
✓ le lui chiper Larousse · piquer · Familier · le the thing · lui the person
✓ auquel il a été volé une chose TLFi · Code civil · à · Theme
✓ Son associé le vole depuis des années Académie · direct person · no Theme
✓ la vole TLFi · direct person
✓ le voler de ses vêtements TLFi · Voler qqn de qqc.
✓ On lui a dérobé son portefeuille Larousse · dérober · Littéraire
✓ l’a dépouillé de toutes ses économies Académie · dépouiller · direct person · de-Theme
✓ Dévaliser une bijouterie Larousse · place as object
✓ Cambrioler un appartement TLFi · place as object

What the passive and the principal parts show

Two passives of voler are printed, and they are not one three-place clause. The Académie prints Nous avons été volés dans la nuit: the person is the subject, and no Theme is in the clause. TLFi quotes the Code civil’s impersonal auquel il a été volé une chose: the Theme stays in the clause, and the person is auquel. Nothing further is constructed. Elle s’est fait voler son sac à main dans la rue is the Académie’s faire line. It is quoted above. It is not given a causative analysis on this page. The note on promotion is Causative templates and argument selection.

Other passives, only where printed. TLFi prints Deux encaisseurs ont été dévalisés. Morand’s son domicile venait d’être cambriolé promotes the place. The Académie prints Il s’est fait dévaliser en pleine rue. Those lines are not passives of the wallet frame of voler.

Principal parts. The Académie prints the six present cells listed above. Larousse’s example contains a volé. The participle appears as volés and as volées in the phrases already quoted. No particle is printed on voler.

Derivations · working sketches, revisable

Each sketch is a working drawing, not a locked analysis. The drawing gives the Thief to Voice, the Victim to low Appl, and the Theme to the root. The Victim is a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain, analogous to the dative Victim on stehlen, to the indirect Victim on robar, and to the dative Learner on enseigner. The function of the Victim changes with the frame. Open one sketch at a time. Which phrase is the structural object, when the person is direct and the Theme is de or absent, is not settled here. Which theta role is the object is the revisable note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.

Voice · the Thief is the external argument

Constructed · one external argument

[CP Pat_1
  [TP t_1
    [VoiceP t_1 Voice                     ← Thief = Spec,Voice
      … voler … ]]]

✓ Pat lui a volé le portefeuille. constructed

✓ Son associé le vole depuis des années Académie · son associé is the Thief

The external argument is the Thief. English keeps that one subject on steal and on rob. French does not keep the Victim and the Theme in one function under that subject: the Victim is dative when the Theme is the direct object, and the Victim is direct in the Académie line, which prints no Theme.

Low Appl · the Victim as possessor-source · the root takes the Theme

voler · dative Victim · direct Theme · working, revisable

[VoiceP Pat Voice
  [ApplP_LOW [lui]_DAT Appl                   ← Victim · possessor-source · dative
    [VP √vol-
       [Theme le portefeuille ]_DO ]]]        ← Theme · direct object

The direct-object Victim keeps the same three roles and changes the function. Where TLFi prints de, the drawing puts that phrase with the root. Where the Académie prints no Theme, the root’s complement is absent from the clause.

[VoiceP Pat Voice
  [ApplP_LOW [le]_DO Appl                     ← Victim · direct · not the lui of the wallet line
    [VP √vol-
       [Theme  de … ] ]]]                     ← Theme in de where TLFi prints it · absent in le vole

✓ On lui a volé son portefeuille Larousse · dative Victim · direct Theme

✓ Son associé le vole Académie · direct Victim · no Theme

✓ pour le voler de ses vêtements TLFi · direct Victim · de-Theme

✓ geh. jmdn. einer Sache berauben German · WDG · accusative Victim · genitive Theme · that genitive has no French match · the printed French cloth is de

English, German, and Spanish · from, the genitive, and le

Working · no English steal page is opened · the German page is stehlen · the Spanish page is robar

[VoiceP Pat Voice                                  ← Thief
  [VP √STEAL
     [Theme a wallet ]
     [PP from [ her ]]]]                        ← source in from
                                                · French lui / à is that person
                                                · not a from-phrase
                                                · not a bare indirect object

English Wiktionary’s steal lines put the source in from. French lui in On lui a volé son portefeuille is the Victim, and the English of that frame is the from-person. German ihm in der Dieb hat ihm die Uhr gestohlen is the same Victim, in the dative. German berauben flips the cases and prints a genitive Theme. French TLFi flips the person to a direct object and prints the Theme in de. Spanish le matches the French dative, and Spanish personal a leaves robar a alguien formally open between indirect and direct. French à does not.

Layer-by-layer parallel: English steal and rob, German stehlen and berauben, Spanish robar, French voler
Layer	steal / rob (EN)	stehlen / berauben	robar	voler
Spec,Voice	Thief	Thief	Thief	Thief
Victim	from-phrase on steal · object of rob	dative on stehlen · accusative on berauben	indirect le / a when the Theme is direct · direct lo / la in §1b · personal a leaves a full phrase open	dative lui / à when the Theme is direct · direct le / la with no Theme · à and a bare person are formally distinct
Theme	object of steal · of-phrase on rob, where printed	accusative on stehlen · genitive on berauben, marked gehoben	direct object beside le · unexpressed in the §1b examples · de algo unprinted as a frame	direct object beside lui · de in TLFi Voler qqn de qqc. · not a genitive
Doubling	unasserted here	the dative pronoun and a full dative are separate citations on the German page	le with a full a-phrase is the ordinary indirect-object description	lui and a full à-DP are printed in different clauses · not doubled here

On enseigner the added argument is a dative Learner and the direct object is the Content. On voler the dative is the Victim and the direct object is the Theme. The analogy is the added possessor-source, and the shared à / lui. It is not a claim that a Learner and a Victim are one role.

dérober, dévaliser, cambrioler, and dépouiller are notes on this page, not further pages. piquer and chiper stay notes, and only with the printed Familier label. Languages of steal: German · stehlen / rauben / berauben · Spanish · robar · French · voler · Russian · украсть / красть · Italian · rubare · Japanese · 盗む · Polish · kraść / ukraść · Hungarian · lop / ellop · Dutch · stelen · Norwegian · stjele · Bulgarian · крада / открадна · Chinese · 偷 (tōu). Closest sibling for the dative added argument: teach · French · enseigner. No English steal page.

Notes

Working paper · October 2026 · French micro-entry · Beyond Index 2

Theft in French is not one function frame. Thief (Voice, subject), Victim (low Appl, a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain, working and revisable), Theme (complement of the root). On the wallet frame the Theme is the direct object and the Victim is dative, lui or à. With no Theme the person is the direct object, le or la. TLFi prints Voler qqn de qqc. No genitive Theme is printed. French has no personal a. English steal takes the source in from.

FR micro-entry live Beyond Index 2 Low Appl of the Victim unranked DE stehlen live ES robar live FR enseigner live

Sense × language: steal · French (voler). The theft sense is the page. The fly entry is a separate headword. The ideas, the kiss, the spotlight, and the cousin stay off the wallet frame. dérober, dévaliser, cambrioler, and dépouiller stay notes. No English steal hub. German: steal · stehlen / rauben / berauben. Spanish: steal · robar. Geometry neighbor: teach · enseigner, for the dative added argument. Index 2 French Transfer cites échanger, donner — not voler.

Places
EN ⇄ FR strip
Examples
Voice
Derivations
Hierarchy
Geometry
Open items
Corpus and sources

Working paper. French micro-entry of steal, beside the German and Spanish pages. Dictionary frames were checked on TLFi (voler, dérober, dévaliser, cambrioler, dépouiller, donner, chiper), on Larousse (voler, dérober, dévaliser, piquer, chiper), on the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 9e éd. (voler [I] and [II], dérober, dévaliser, dépouiller), and on the Wiktionnaire and English Wiktionary as secondary.

Constructed examples. Dictionary lines are marked as printed. Every other full clause is marked constructed. Pat lui a volé le portefeuille and Pat a volé le portefeuille à Marie keep the clitic and the full à-phrase in separate clauses, as the sources do. Pat le vole follows the Académie. A doubled lui plus à-phrase is unprinted and is not constructed. leur and une banque are unprinted on these frames and are not constructed.

Arity. Index 2 does not list voler. Surface count can name a thief, a victim, and a thing taken. The lexicon does not list three co-arguments of one flat V, and it does not list one function frame for every line. Voice adds the Thief. Low Appl adds the Victim. The root takes the Theme. dans of a place, and the place-object of dévaliser or cambrioler, are not a further sister of the wallet frame.

What this page does not do. It does not open a separate page for dérober, dévaliser, cambrioler, dépouiller, piquer, or chiper. It does not open an English page of steal. The fly entry stops at the one-line disambiguation.

Hierarchy

Not a flat grid of three sisters, and not one function frame copied from the English gloss. Voice adds the Thief. Low Appl adds the Victim, as a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain. The root takes the Theme. The function of those two dependents is the frame’s. The drawing is working and revisable.

What French changes, against English steal X from Y, is the Victim’s marker. The person is a dative, lui or à plus a noun phrase, the same à as TLFi’s donner parenthesis (quelque chose à quelqu’un), not a from-phrase. What French changes, against German berauben, is the Theme’s case. The accusative Victim of berauben has a genitive Theme. The direct-object Victim of voler has TLFi’s de, and dépouiller prints that de as well. What French changes, against Spanish robar, is the marker of a full person: there is no personal a, voler à quelqu’un and voler quelqu’un are distinct, and lui is not doubled with a full à-phrase in one printed clause.

Geometry · French theft beside the live German dative and the live Spanish indirect object

English steal. Source in from, person or place. Theme as object. A bare him is not that source. No English page is opened.
English rob. The person or place is the object. of is printed for the thing in the deprive citations. No English page is opened.
stehlen and rauben. Accusative Theme, dative Victim. The French dative Victim and direct Theme match that pair.
berauben. Accusative Victim, genitive Theme, marked gehoben. French has no printed genitive Theme. TLFi’s Voler qqn de qqc. and Académie dépouiller … de … are the printed de analogues.
robar. Indirect Victim, direct Theme, clitic le. With no Theme, le can keep the person indirect, and lo or la makes the person direct. Personal a leaves a full phrase open between those two. French lui is not obligatory doubling, and French à is not personal a.
voler, dative Victim. Direct Theme. lui, or à plus the person. The clitic test beside a Theme is lui, not le or la.
voler, direct Victim. le or la when no Theme is in the clause. TLFi adds de plus the Theme. The Académie definition contains de. Its examples of le vole do not.
dérober. TLFi Dérober qqc. (à qqn). Larousse Littéraire, On lui a dérobé son portefeuille. The Académie prints the dative and the Theme and does not print Littéraire.
dévaliser. Direct object a person or a place: l’ont dévalisé, une maison, une bijouterie, la boutique. The Theme is not a separate argument in the examples. une banque is unprinted.
cambrioler. Direct object a place or a person. The rare de in Toulet is not a purse.
piquer and chiper. Only with Familier. Larousse piquer prints the formula Voler quelque chose à quelqu’un and the clitics le lui.
enseigner. Dative Learner, direct Content. The dative is the added argument this page compares. The Learner is not a Victim. TLFi’s donner parenthesis shows the same à on a goal. There is no donner page.

Open items

Whether low Appl is the right head for the Victim. The drawing puts a possessor-source inside the verb’s domain, on the analogy of the dative Victim of stehlen, of the indirect Victim of robar, and of the dative Learner of enseigner. The dictionaries print the functions. They do not print that head. The ranking stays open.
leur. Unprinted as the dative clitic of voler in the lines checked here. Not constructed.
Doubling. lui and a full à-DP are printed in different clauses. No served voler line puts them together. Not constructed.
Voler qqn de qqc. Printed as a TLFi header, with Queffélec’s le voler de ses vêtements. The Académie and Larousse examples of the direct person do not add de. The header is not extended to those examples.
une banque. Unprinted as a frame of dévaliser in TLFi, Larousse, and the Académie. The printed places are une maison, une bijouterie, les boutiques, and, for cambrioler, un appartement, un magasin, une villa.
m’ and vous. Larousse On m’a volé and TLFi il vous a volé vos montres do not show lui against le or la. The clitic test uses the third-person lines that do.
Littéraire on dérober. Printed on the Larousse transitive article. Unprinted in the TLFi text and in the Académie text read here. Not ranked.
A dative with no Theme. lui in the wallet lines has a Theme. A clause with lui and no Theme is unprinted. Not constructed.
A personal passive of the wallet frame. The printed passives are the Académie’s person, Nous avons été volés, and TLFi’s impersonal il a été volé une chose. A further passive is not constructed.

Corpus filenames and sources checked

Dictionary frames: TLFi VOLER² at the numbered article, dérober, dévaliser, cambrioler, dépouiller, donner, and chiper; Larousse voler, dérober, dévaliser, piquer, and chiper; Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 9e éd., voler [I], voler [II], dérober, dévaliser, and dépouiller; Wiktionnaire voler; English Wiktionary steal and rob. The German and Spanish theft frames are the lines already on steal-de.html and steal-es.html. Constructed clauses put a printed function on a named thief. Index 2 does not list this lemma. French Transfer in Index 2 is échanger, donner.

TLFi · voler cnrtl.fr/definition/voler · VOLER¹ fly · cnrtl.fr/definition/voler/1 · VOLER² steal · on the numbered article: Voler qqn de qqc. · le voler de ses vêtements · la vole · auquel il a été volé une chose · le lui voler [son cousin]
TLFi · dérober cnrtl.fr/definition/dérober · Dérober qqc. (à qqn) · aux Allemands · Dérober qqn Vieilli
TLFi · dévaliser cnrtl.fr/definition/dévaliser · Il vous a dévalisées · ont été dévalisés · les boutiques · la boutique · vos poches
TLFi · cambrioler cnrtl.fr/definition/cambrioler · un appartement, un magasin, une villa · une Allemande · rare de mes pénitents
TLFi · dépouiller cnrtl.fr/definition/dépouiller · Dépouiller qqn de tous ses biens · de son misérable petit pécule
TLFi · donner cnrtl.fr/definition/donner · parenthesis (quelque chose à quelqu’un)
TLFi · chiper cnrtl.fr/definition/chiper · header Familier · Voler un objet de peu de valeur
Larousse · voler larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/voler/82450 · On lui a volé son portefeuille · (peut-être de voler 1) · chiper familier · piquer familier · faucher populaire, no frame here
Larousse · dérober larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/dérober · Littéraire · On lui a dérobé son portefeuille
Larousse · dévaliser larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/dévaliser/24924 · Dévaliser une bijouterie
Larousse · piquer larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/piquer · sense 13 Familier · Voler quelque chose à quelqu’un, le lui chiper · Il lui a piqué son portefeuille
Larousse · chiper larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/chiper/15407 · Familier · Qui m’a chipé mon stylo ?
Académie, 9e éd. · voler [I] dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9V1142 · fly · separate from [II]
Académie, 9e éd. · voler [II] dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9V1143 · On lui a volé the turn · le vole · Nous avons été volés · present cells
Académie, 9e éd. · dérober dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9D1678 · On lui a dérobé son sac, ses bijoux
Académie, 9e éd. · dévaliser dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9D2176 · l’ont dévalisé · Dévaliser une maison · Fam. the buffet
Académie, 9e éd. · dépouiller dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9D1572 · l’a dépouillé de toutes ses économies
Wiktionnaire · voler fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/voler · verbe 1 fly · verbe 2 prendre quelque chose à quelqu’un sans son accord
English Wiktionary · steal en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steal · from the gallery · from us · (from me)
English Wiktionary · rob en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rob · He robbed three banks · of their pay

Records the dative Victim and the direct Theme of voler, the direct Victim when the Theme is absent, TLFi’s de-Theme, and the printed frames of dérober, dévaliser, cambrioler, dépouiller, piquer, and chiper. Records the present cells and a volé as printed. Does not open an English page.