Evénements et localisation spatiale : quand le lieu est un événement

This paper deals with the spatial properties of NPs denoting events in French [ENPs]. Unlike NPs denoting beings or objects, ENPs do not refer to prototypical spatial entities, because of their aspecto-temporal properties. When used as place complements, they involve a temporal location and the dynamic participation of the located entity to the event. The spatial criterion also reveals the heterogeneity of ENPs, suggesting a distinction between planned and collective events (une réunion ‘a meeting’), uncontrolled events (un crime ‘a crime’) and non-physical events (un malentendu ‘a misunderstanding’).