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The present research focuses on the French adverb autrement, which is characterized by a wide range of uses. This allows it to function not only as an adverb of manner that modifies the verb, but also as a discourse marker that the speaker employs to connect two fragments of discourse in the case of a thematic break. After an overview of the different uses of autrement, we demonstrate that its emergence as a discourse marker has been facilitated by its core meaning. We then examine the link between the different semantico-referential values of autrement and the adjective autre, to which the adverb is morphologically related. This reveals that the anaphoric character of the adjective is crucial to explaining the potential of autrement to function as a discourse marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution consists of a presentation of our PhD2, which aimed to describe the particular semantic and referential properties of the French adjectives même, pareil, autre and différent, on the basis of the different possibilities for syntactically encoding their arguments. These adjectives have four distinct uses, as a function of the relationship they establish between their arguments. The first chapter examines the cases of même / pareil / autre / différent when followed by an overt second argument introduced by a preposition or a complementizer. In chapters 2, 3 and 4, anaphoric readings, NP-internal readings and NP-dependant readings are examined one by one. The main data we report here account for why même, pareil, autre and différent do not syntactically encode their arguments in exactly the same way. The proposal also explains the various meanings identified with these adjectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the issue is presented in which the editor reflects on the notion of identity in linguistics, discusses the articulation of the concept of identity and the difference in the verbs of resemblance in French, and mentions a prototype of automated system of writing assistance.