Short and stout as she was : relations inter-propositionnelles avec la structure « adjectif + as + sujet + be »
This article deals with phrases introduced by an adjective (which may or may not be preceded by as or so), followed by as used as the subordinator of a finite clause constituted by a subject along with copular be (hereinafter referred to as “adj. + as”): short and stout as she was, that was the high...
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Presses universitaires de Caen
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Discours |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/discours/11046 |
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| author | Bénédicte Guillaume |
| author_facet | Bénédicte Guillaume |
| author_sort | Bénédicte Guillaume |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article deals with phrases introduced by an adjective (which may or may not be preceded by as or so), followed by as used as the subordinator of a finite clause constituted by a subject along with copular be (hereinafter referred to as “adj. + as”): short and stout as she was, that was the highest bit she could reach. The ambivalent link between “adj. + as” and the main clause deserves special attention, as it can be interpreted either in terms of a cause and effect relationship or of concession (paradoxical relationship); more importantly, the study of a corpus of about 240 examples (mostly sampled from the “Corpus of Contemporary American English” – COCA) confirms the intuition according to which the paradoxical interpretation of the relationship between the two clauses is overwhelmingly more frequent than the causal one (by a proportion of about ten to one in my corpus). The fronting of the adjective indicates that the adjective possesses a high degree of a certain quality, thus paving the way for a paradoxical interpretation, as this is often a subjective, non neutral, view of things. “Adj. + as” clauses may turn out to be ambiguous even in the presence of a main clause. It is doubtful, however, that “adj. + as” can merge both the logical and the paradoxical interpretations in its relation to the main clause, as they are too diametrically opposed from a semantic point of view to be able to combine coherently with each other within the same clause. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7c2b9c7c4c774815b1f3a8ac7d215b44 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1963-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Caen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Discours |
| spelling | doaj-art-7c2b9c7c4c774815b1f3a8ac7d215b442025-01-30T09:53:08ZengPresses universitaires de CaenDiscours1963-17232020-12-012710.4000/discours.11046Short and stout as she was : relations inter-propositionnelles avec la structure « adjectif + as + sujet + be »Bénédicte GuillaumeThis article deals with phrases introduced by an adjective (which may or may not be preceded by as or so), followed by as used as the subordinator of a finite clause constituted by a subject along with copular be (hereinafter referred to as “adj. + as”): short and stout as she was, that was the highest bit she could reach. The ambivalent link between “adj. + as” and the main clause deserves special attention, as it can be interpreted either in terms of a cause and effect relationship or of concession (paradoxical relationship); more importantly, the study of a corpus of about 240 examples (mostly sampled from the “Corpus of Contemporary American English” – COCA) confirms the intuition according to which the paradoxical interpretation of the relationship between the two clauses is overwhelmingly more frequent than the causal one (by a proportion of about ten to one in my corpus). The fronting of the adjective indicates that the adjective possesses a high degree of a certain quality, thus paving the way for a paradoxical interpretation, as this is often a subjective, non neutral, view of things. “Adj. + as” clauses may turn out to be ambiguous even in the presence of a main clause. It is doubtful, however, that “adj. + as” can merge both the logical and the paradoxical interpretations in its relation to the main clause, as they are too diametrically opposed from a semantic point of view to be able to combine coherently with each other within the same clause.https://journals.openedition.org/discours/11046ambiguityEnglishadjectivecopredicationcauseconcessiveness |
| spellingShingle | Bénédicte Guillaume Short and stout as she was : relations inter-propositionnelles avec la structure « adjectif + as + sujet + be » Discours ambiguity English adjective copredication cause concessiveness |
| title | Short and stout as she was : relations inter-propositionnelles avec la structure « adjectif + as + sujet + be » |
| title_full | Short and stout as she was : relations inter-propositionnelles avec la structure « adjectif + as + sujet + be » |
| title_fullStr | Short and stout as she was : relations inter-propositionnelles avec la structure « adjectif + as + sujet + be » |
| title_full_unstemmed | Short and stout as she was : relations inter-propositionnelles avec la structure « adjectif + as + sujet + be » |
| title_short | Short and stout as she was : relations inter-propositionnelles avec la structure « adjectif + as + sujet + be » |
| title_sort | short and stout as she was relations inter propositionnelles avec la structure adjectif as sujet be |
| topic | ambiguity English adjective copredication cause concessiveness |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/discours/11046 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT benedicteguillaume shortandstoutasshewasrelationsinterpropositionnellesaveclastructureadjectifassujetbe |