The semantics of particles : advantages of a contrastive and panchronic approach: a study of the polysemy of French déjà and Italian già
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The semantics of particles : advantages of a contrastive and panchronic approach : a study of the polysemy of French déjà and Italian già. / Mosegaard Hansen, Maj-Britt; Strudsholm, Erling.
In: Linguistics, Vol. 46, No. 3, 2008, p. 471-505.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The semantics of particles : advantages of a contrastive and panchronic approach
T2 - a study of the polysemy of French déjà and Italian già
AU - Mosegaard Hansen, Maj-Britt
AU - Strudsholm, Erling
N1 - Fagfællebedømt
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - In this article, we propose a contrastive, panchronic method of semantic-pragmatic analysis, which we find particularly useful for uncovering the subtle distinctions of meaning and use that are characteristic of particle(-like expression)s in many languages. By way of illustration, we offer an in-depth analysis of the synchronic uses and diachronic development of two cognate particles from two Romance languages, namely French déjà and Italian già, equivalent in some of their most salient uses to English already. Synchronically, we have identified fifteen different uses of déjà and già, of which eight are shared between the two particles. We argue that both the gradual diachronic expansion of the range of uses of both items, and the small, but nevertheless clear, differences of use among the two that we observe in synchrony, support an analysis in terms of polysemy, as opposed to monosemy. What we propose is in the first instance a synchronic description of the two particles. The diachronic facts adduced are principally used to support our contention that déjà and già are polysemous, and as an additional tool for identifying which uses should be regarded as separate senses.
AB - In this article, we propose a contrastive, panchronic method of semantic-pragmatic analysis, which we find particularly useful for uncovering the subtle distinctions of meaning and use that are characteristic of particle(-like expression)s in many languages. By way of illustration, we offer an in-depth analysis of the synchronic uses and diachronic development of two cognate particles from two Romance languages, namely French déjà and Italian già, equivalent in some of their most salient uses to English already. Synchronically, we have identified fifteen different uses of déjà and già, of which eight are shared between the two particles. We argue that both the gradual diachronic expansion of the range of uses of both items, and the small, but nevertheless clear, differences of use among the two that we observe in synchrony, support an analysis in terms of polysemy, as opposed to monosemy. What we propose is in the first instance a synchronic description of the two particles. The diachronic facts adduced are principally used to support our contention that déjà and già are polysemous, and as an additional tool for identifying which uses should be regarded as separate senses.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - semantik
KW - pragmatik
KW - partikler
KW - kontrastiv lingvistik
KW - polysemi
KW - fransk
KW - italiensk
KW - synkroni
KW - diakroni
KW - déjà
KW - già
KW - pragmatics
KW - cross-linguistics
KW - French
KW - Italian
U2 - 10.1515/LING.2008.016
DO - 10.1515/LING.2008.016
M3 - Journal article
VL - 46
SP - 471
EP - 505
JO - Linguistics
JF - Linguistics
SN - 0024-3949
IS - 3
ER -
ID: 4360603