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The topic of the present reflection is Christian religious belief. Specifically, we will use Husserlian tools in order to examine the positional nature of this particular type of belief. We will be less interested in the question concerning the success conditions of this experience and more in its noetic structure. According to our proposal, to believe by faith supposes (although it is not exhausted by) accepting the existence of mundane evidence speaking against this fundamental belief. The believer acknowledges the existence of this contradicting en-doxical basis and nevertheless believes what she believes. We will refer to this simultaneous movement of accepting and cancelling as the concessive structure of the religious attitude. The para-doxical movement of experiencing conflicting evidence as being subjectively ineffective is a key component of this attitude. At least some inchoative conflict with the world is required in order for the religious belief to be religious. Lastly, we will try to show that, with a distinctive terminology, the idea that the Christian religious attitude involves a conflict between subjectivity and world is present not only in Kierkegaard but also in phenomenological figures like Scheler and even Husserl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concessivity in English is often associated with structures like Although it was hot, she went running. Although introduces a subordinate clause. There are also several markers of concessivity associated with coordinate structures, among them, all the same and nevertheless. The development of coordinate markers of concessivity has received little attention. Here I compare the histories of three markers that arose from expressions of identity: all the same, just the same, and at the same time. All arose at various times in Late Modern English. Rich rhetorical contexts for the development of concessive uses of all the same 'exactly the same' are attested in corpora. Contexts for the later development in the US of just the same are less rich, and analogy to all the same is probable. Both came to be well entrenched in concessive use and are used in clause-final as well as clause-initial and occasionally clause-medial position. By contrast, at the same time functions only marginally as a concessive. It is also used as an elaborator and is not attested in clause-final position. Data are analyzed from the perspective of Diachronic Construction Grammar. Implications for some current debates are discussed, specifically for establishing when a construction has come into being, what kinds of contexts enable this emergence, and what level of abstraction is appropriate for analysis of sets of related constructions. Finally, some modifications of hypotheses about position of connectives relative to the clause are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contrastive connector pero 'but' is rigidly sentence-initial in most Spanish varieties. However, at least three Spanish dialects allow locating it at the end of a sentence. This paper discusses the properties of final pero as attested in the dialect spoken in Bahia Blanca (Argentina), i.e., the so-called pero bahiense. First, I demonstrate that pero bahiense cannot be reduced to superficially similar phenomena in Spanish. Then, I offer a comparison between pero bahiense and its sentence-initial counterpart showing that they share a number of non-trivial characteristics but also differ in relevant regards. Based on these properties, I advance an account of the pero bahiense phenomenon according to which instances of pero that express concessivity may optionally attract the CP projection to their left. While the analysis does not cover all properties of pero bahiense, it highlights aspects of the syntax of connective particles that require further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumo: Este trabalho investiga os processos diacrônicos de constituição de duas perífrases conjuncionais concessivas do português, bem que e se bem que. Com respaldo teórico da Gramaticalização, sobretudo Traugott e Dasher (2002), Heine e Kuteva (2007), Bybee (2010), e de alguns pressupostos de teorias pragmáticas sobre concessividade, conforme Anscombre (1980), Ducrot (1984), Moeschler e Spengler (1982), Rossari (2014), a questão maior está na compreensão do elo entre a semântica da fonte adverbial, os processos inferenciais instigados contextualmente e o tipo de significado concessivo. As análises são baseadas em uma amostra diacrônica que reúne textos do português antigo ao moderno e em uma metodologia norteada pelos padrões polissêmicos das construções com suas respectivas propriedades distribucionais. Os resultados fornecem evidências de que, embora se trate de dois fenômenos de mudança que emergem em diferentes estados de língua e em contextos distintos, ambos têm na fonte o advérbio bem, na função de afirmação enfática, e ambos se especializam na expressão de relações concessivas restritivas. Os dados duplamente compatíveis com as interpretações fonte e alvo indiciam processos graduais da pragmática à semântica, nos quais as noções de polifonia e hierarquia argumentativa são importantes. Palavras-chave: junção; concessividade; gramaticalização; diacronia. Abstract: This paper investigates the diachronic establishment process of two concessive conjunctional periphrases in Portuguese, bem que and se bem que. With theoretical support from Grammaticalization, in particular Traugott and Dasher (2002), Heine and Kuteva (2007), Bybee (2010), and some assumptions from pragmatic theories about concessivity, according to Anscombre (1980), Ducrot (1984), Moeschler and Spengler (1982), Rossari (2014), the main issue is about understanding the link between the semantics of the adverbial source, the contextually induced inferential processes and the type of concessive meaning. The analyses are based on a diachronic sample featuring texts from ancient to modern Portuguese, and on a methodology guided by the the constructions’ polysemic standards with their corresponding distributional properties. The results provide evidence that, despite being two change phenomena which arise in different states of language and distinct contexts, both have the adverb bem at their source, in the role of emphatic affirmation, and both specialize in expressing restrictive concessive relations. The data doubly compatible with source and target interpretations evidences gradual processes from pragmatic towards semantics, in which the concepts of polyphony and argumentative hierarchy are of importance. Keywords: junction; concessivity; grammaticalization; diachrony.

In this paper, I discuss processes of language change which have led to the constitution of concessive connectives in two genetically related languages, Latin and Portuguese. I focus on the diachronic developments of the Latin licet, and of bem que and embora, from Portuguese, whose sources are etymologically different: the modal verb licere, the emphatic adverb bem and the volitive adverbial phrase em boa hora. The main purpose is to investigate whether the three phenomena could be taken as stages of an onomasiological cycle of a semantic-pragmatic nature, as proposed by Hansen (2018). Based on studies in Latin linguistics about licet and on the analysis of the grammaticalization processes for bem que and embora in an interactional diachronic sample, I shall argue that, in the three instances of evolution, there has been a stage in which licet, bem and embora have acted as assent markers, and that this usage, in combination with contextual traits, has been crucial to sustain the inferential processes which enabled the concessive interpretation. The similar source and target meanings and the continuity of inferential processes over time also suggest that this is a recurrent path of renewal of the concessive meaning which displays a cyclicity pattern.

This paper analyses concessive resources with a mitigating function which are found in argumentative acts in the PRESEEA corpus from Santiago, Chile. Based on data from 36 semi-structured interviews, the behaviour of concessive-oppositional moves and concessive discourse particles in argumentative acts is analyzed, and their sociolinguistic variation is described in relation to the speakers' gender, age and level of education. The key findings highlight that in Chilean Spanish there are at least 12 strategies that fulfill a mitigating concessive function, among which "sí, pero (yes, but) + negation", "aunque (even though)", "no, pero (no, but) + assertion" and "a pesar (de) que (despite the fact that)" stand out. These strategies are linked to the functions of self-protection and face prevention in the development of the argumentative act. Furthermore, it is also observed that the variation is mostly due to the subject's age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an account of additive concessive conditionals, ACCs, such as the German Wir gehen wandern, auch wenn es regnet 'We will go walking even (lit. also) if it rains'. Concessivity is here understood as an essentially modal notion: the actual world does not conform to contextual assumptions, expectations or priorities (Müller 2016). I adopt a modal analysis of conditionals which interprets them relative to an ordering source (Kratzer, 1986). With ACCs, the concessive interpretation arises from the contradiction between the asserted conditional "if p then q " and the conditional perfection (CP) "if p then not q " of the conditional presupposed by the additive "if not p then q " (Pasch, 1995). This contradiction triggers the inference that the actual world does not conform to the ordering constraints that restrict the CP of the additive presupposition. This account predicts that additive conditionals should not receive a concessive interpretation in contexts that do not support conditional perfection. This prediction is borne out. • Additive concessive conditionals presuppose conditional perfection. • Concessivity characterizes actual world as non-ideal relative to a set of priorities. • Additive concessive conditionals involve a re-ranking of priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the semantic relations expressed by conjunction “but”. The choice of this conjunction is not accidental, since it is one of the most common coordinative conjunctions in the English language and is dated back to the Old English period. The adversative conjunction “but” forms the prototypical core of the semantic-syntactic field of coordinative relations. This conjunction, as the analysis has shown, can realize both conventional and situational relations. The conventional relations actualized by this conjunction are derived from the semantics of the discourse frame, which is formed on the basis of coordinative conjunctive relations. In an adversarial form, these relations are manifested as concessive, adversative-contrastive and so on.

Providing a corpus-based analysis of the contrastive connective -ciman in Korean, this study demonstrates that global connections are as frequent as local connections as opposed to previous literature. In representing various senses possible with a -ciman connection, this study adopts a fuzzy representation, where meanings range from conceptual to discoursal. The identified meanings include explicit contrast, denial of expectation, speech act hedges and idiomatic expressions. The fuzzy representation is supported for at least two reasons. First, categorization of some cases is often blurred. Second, it can better capture the relatedness of various meanings whose enduring sense concerns 'contrast'. It is further revealed that interpretations of -ciman phrases are compositionally made with co-occurring linguistic units. The "pragmatic" meanings of -ciman constructions are explained in terms of different levels of representations in which the contrast occurs. We further investigate the possibility of -ciman as a stance/discourse marker with accompanying expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The additive enclitic =pas of Cuzco Quechua is multifunctional: besides marking additivity it also participates in the marking of concessivity, epistemic possibility and the formation of non-specific indefinite pronouns. This paper provides a description of these functions and proposes that they all involve a presupposition of existential quantification over alternatives. Their differences result from the type of alternatives quantified over, namely focus, epistemic or wh-alternatives. The particular clustering of functions found with =pas has implications for the semantic map of additivity proposed by Forker (2016), and presents a counterexample to three implicational universals it encapsulates. Modifications to the map are proposed to accommodate =pas, including connecting it with the semantic map of modality, and recognizing scalar additivity as a subtype of additivity.

Abstract There is an unnoticed parallelism between what has been called the concessive future (Sarà un professore universitario ma sicuramente è un idiota) 1 in the literature on some Romance languages (and Italian in particular), and what has been labeled 'speech act modality' (He may be a university professor, but he sure is dumb ; Sweetser, 1990: 70) in the literature on English modals. In these parallel literatures, the idea is advanced that the future tense and the English modals may/might are concessive in that they 'concede' to the addressee that p is true and they thus convey 'distancing'. Establishing a connection with irrelevance conditionals (König, 1986 and subsequent literature), we propose a different unified view of these phenomena cross-linguistically, which grounds in the existential epistemic modal semantics of both the future tense in Italian and the epistemic modal in English (and French peut-être) their capacity of enhancing a concessive interpretation in discourse and in particular in an adversative construction. We capitalize on their alternative semantics, as well as on the interaction between the alternatives and the adversative, and propose an account in which distancing is the pragmatic counterpart of the dismissal of a premise that leads to an inconsistency in a pragmatic reasoning per absurdum. We will spell out a variety of pragmatic effects, which have been previously gathered under the label 'distancing' and which correspond, in our analysis, to different strategies to repair the absurdum. Highlights • Existential epistemic modals convey discourse concessivity. • This is observed for Italian future, English 'may/might' and French 'peut-être'. • We challenge the idea of a speech act modality and distancing as part of the meaning of the modal. • The analysis exploits the alternatives introduced by the modals and their interaction with 'but'. • Pragmatic reasoning per absurdum is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper presents a theoretical and empirical discussion about juxtaposed concessive clauses. It proposes an interpretation of distinct constructional patterns outside the prototypical scheme of finite and nonfinite concessive clauses. Based on a written language corpus, by means of the theoretical assumptions of the Usage-Based Functional Linguistics, it is assumed that concessive juxtaposed clauses have special characteristics that distinguish them from the prototypical concessive ones.

This work studies the grammaticalization process of the counter-argumentative connector noresmenys from its origin as a quantifying adverb to the current value of concessive discourse marker, from the 13th to the 18th century. Within the framework of Cognitive Grammar, especially of Grammaticalization Theory and of the latest contributions around Construction Grammar, we explain the evolution of the concessive connector, paying special attention to the Theory of Argumentation and the dynamics of the Theory of Intersubjectification. With a vision of language and language change rooted in use, in this case, metadiscursive use, we carry out a revision of the conceptual sources and values of noresmenys documented in legal, administrative, epistolary and religious Catalan texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study focuses on the research of concessivity in two centres; namely in the Petersburg typological school and in the Moscow school of semantics. It presents the methodology and the results of the analyses of main representatives of the schools. Both schools address concessivity from the perspective of the semantics of concessive operators. In Russian studies, the main attention is given to the conjunction хотя ('although') and its elaborations are based on two directions: a) from the perspective of the semantics of causes and effects; b) from the perspective of the semantics of condition. An interpretative basis of the causal relations is formed by the semantic components 'because' ('потому что'), 'therefore' ('поэтому') and 'it causes' ('влияет'). Interpretations of the aspect of condition corresponds to the semantic component 'if...so' ('если...то'). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical discussion about juxtaposed concessive clauses. It proposes an interpretation of distinct constructional patterns outside the prototypical scheme of finite and nonfinite concessive clauses. Based on a written language corpus, by means of the theoretical assumptions of the Usage-Based Functional Linguistics, it is assumed that concessive juxtaposed clauses have special characteristics that distinguish them from the prototypical concessive ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sefarad is the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While concessives are well-known for their special semantic characteristics, most research has so far been oriented towards hypotactic construction types (although etc.). The present article seeks to complement this trend by investigating the paratactic zwar ... aber-construction in German (roughly equivalent to English 'true ... but'), with a special focus on its patterns of variation. The aim is to document important aspects of this variation from a combined qualitative/quantitative perspective. The basic thesis is that zwar ... aber constitutes the core instantiation of an emergent constructional schema zwar ... aber whose surface variation is structured in a prototype-like fashion. Several functional regularities and statistical correlations are analysed and discussed from the point of view of grammaticalisation theory. The data consist of ca. 10,000 parsed tokens of zwar, mainly from newspaper usage, in the Deutsches Referenzkorpus (DeReKo). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]