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University of Bologna
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M. Esperanza TORREGO, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Grammar and pragmatics: the textual uses of repente / subito
It is not rare in languages that temporal - aspectual adverbs have scope either over a first level of information, the predicate, as in (1), or over a second level of information, a whole predication or a set of them, as it is the case of (2) (cf. f.e. Orlandini 1997, Risselada 1996, Torrego 2002). Apart from these uses within representative levels, some of these adverbs take scope over higher levels of discourse as well, working as pragmatical markers. This is the case of repente / subito in cases as (3):
(1) Neque enim potest quisquam nostrum subito fingi neque cuiusquam repente vita mutari aut natura converti ("for no one of us can be fashioned in a moment nor can a man's life be suddenly changed or his nature", Cic. Sull. 69,11)
(2) Verres simul ac tetigit provinciam, statim Messana litteras dedit ("Verres, as soon as he touched the soil of Sicily,promptly wrote from Messana" (Cic. Ver. 1.27)
(3) repente paucis post diebus, cum minime exspectarem, venit ad me Caninius mane ("suddenly, few days afterwards, when I didn't expect it at all, Caninius came at home in the morning", Cic. Fam. 9.2.1)
In this paper I deal with the uses of repente / subito illustrated in (3). My aim is to investigate into the communicative factors which condition the occurrence of these adverbs in order to inquire the pragmatic role they fulfill. For this purpose, following the framework proposed by Kroon (1995:115-25, 1998:221), I'll pay attention to the way in which the information is organised, looking, at least, at the following relevant parameters:
(i) The distribution of known - new information.
(ii) The typology of predicate of the "information unit" where the adverb is.
(iii) The verbal tense or tenses in this unit.
(iv) The coocurrence of other elements, for instance particles, conjunctions etc.
References
- C. Kroon 1995, Discourse particles in Latin. A study of nam, enim, autem, uero, and at. Amsterdam, Gieben.
- C. Kroon 1998, "A framework for the description of Latin discourse markers", Journal of Pragmatics 30, 205-223.
- A. Orlandini 1997, "Adverbes d'énoncé et adverbes d'énonciation en latin: forte, fortasse", LALIES 17, 251-60.
- R. Risselada 1996, 'And now for something completely different? Temporal discourse markers: Latin nunc and English now', R. Risselada et al. (eds.), On Latin. Linguistic and literary studies in honour of Harm Pinkster. Amsterdam: Gieben, p. 105-25.
- M.E. Torrego 2002, "Statim, paulatim, repente, subito: Scope and Lexical Aspect", in A.M. Bolkestein et alii (eds.), Theory and description in Latin linguistics, Amsterdam, Gieben, 348-61.
Most recent modifications: February 18, 2003 – latling@classics.unibo.it
Source: Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Medioevale
No rights can be derived from the information on this Internet-page.
- (1) Neque enim potest quisquam nostrum subito fingi neque cuiusquam repente vita mutari aut natura converti ("for no one of us can be fashioned in a moment nor can a man's life be suddenly changed or his nature", Cic. Sull. 69,11)
- (2) Verres simul ac tetigit provinciam, statim Messana litteras dedit ("Verres, as soon as he touched the soil of Sicily,promptly wrote from Messana" (Cic. Ver. 1.27)
- (3) repente paucis post diebus, cum minime exspectarem, venit ad me Caninius mane ("suddenly, few days afterwards, when I didn't expect it at all, Caninius came at home in the morning", Cic. Fam. 9.2.1)
(i) The distribution of known - new information.
(ii) The typology of predicate of the "information unit" where the adverb is.
(iii) The verbal tense or tenses in this unit.
(iv) The coocurrence of other elements, for instance particles, conjunctions etc.
- References
- C. Kroon 1995, Discourse particles in Latin. A study of nam, enim, autem, uero, and at. Amsterdam, Gieben.
- C. Kroon 1998, "A framework for the description of Latin discourse markers", Journal of Pragmatics 30, 205-223.
- A. Orlandini 1997, "Adverbes d'énoncé et adverbes d'énonciation en latin: forte, fortasse", LALIES 17, 251-60.
- R. Risselada 1996, 'And now for something completely different? Temporal discourse markers: Latin nunc and English now', R. Risselada et al. (eds.), On Latin. Linguistic and literary studies in honour of Harm Pinkster. Amsterdam: Gieben, p. 105-25.
- M.E. Torrego 2002, "Statim, paulatim, repente, subito: Scope and Lexical Aspect", in A.M. Bolkestein et alii (eds.), Theory and description in Latin linguistics, Amsterdam, Gieben, 348-61.
Most recent modifications: February 18, 2003 – latling@classics.unibo.it
Source: Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Medioevale
No rights can be derived from the information on this Internet-page.