NE PAS VOULOIR

Question

Je ne veux pas parler avec elle means I REFUSE to speak with her.  NE PAS VOULOIR always entails a refusal. To say I don't want to talk with her would be Je n'ai pas envie de parler avec elle.  Does any one disagree with the above?  This seems pretty fundamental.

Answer

Hi Max - I'm not sure which example or test questions you're referring to as this lesson is about ne... point, nonetheless, I wouldn't interpret ne vouloir pas as a refusal. Certainly if the tone was very strong you could see it that way, but equally if the tone were mild then it could mean a mild desire not to speak. If you wanted to refuse, you'd say Je refuse de parler avec elle, as in English. Hope that helps!

Answer

Gruff, I think you are correct.  I find nothing in CNRTL to support what I was taught on more than one occasion in HS & at Purdue.  Thanks for clearing this up.

Answer

Max, perhaps you're thinking of this distinction:
Je ne voulais pas partir avec elle... [mais à fin, j'ai cédé et nous sommes partis ensemble.]
Je n'ai pas voulu partir avec elle... [et alors, nous sommes partis séparément.]  
(A teacher explained to me that "Je n'a pas voulu" is almost like saying "I refused to".)

So it's a distinction that appears in past tenses, but not in the present (since there's only one present tense in French).

I believe this distinction also holds in affirmative sentences:
Je voulais partir sans elle.  [but I didn't]
Je voulu partir sans elle [and so I did].

I teach French but am not a native speaker, so I can't attest to this with 100% conviction - mais j'ai des amies qui sont francophone de naissance, alors je vais leur poser la question.
À suivre...

Answer

Hi Max, As a native speaker I can confirm that these are different nuances of meanings of not wanting to do something. Je ne veux pas parler avec elle = I don't want /wish to speak to her. Je n'ai pas envie de parler avec elle = I don't feel like speaking to her ( for whatever reason, not in the mood etc..) and as Gareth says - Je refuse de parler avec elle = I refuse to speak to her which is stronger and categorical , she must have upset you in some way !!! Hope this helps!