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 -