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30 janvier 2024
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info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2802-2777
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Mots-clés
pragmatics semantics grammaticalization agentivity presupposition ambiguity periphrasis delexicalized speaker involvement cognitive gap referent of the subject implicit modality interpersonal relationship speech cohesionSujets proches
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Françoise Lachaux, « Be to, grammaticalisation et ambiguïté énonciative », Anglophonia Caliban/Sigma, ID : 10.4000/anglophonia.198
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Résumé
As the title indicates, this paper addresses the issues of grammaticalization and ambiguity, and the relation between the two, in the case of the be to construction.As a verbal periphrasis devoid of any lexical element, only to be found in the simple present and simple preterite (*be to, *being to, *been to), and so very concise as to be labelled as “minimalist”, be to raises several challenging questions, concerning its alledged closeness to passive constructions (such as be supposed to / be expected to), and its superficial morphological similarity with have to.The apparent absence of any marks of involvement on the speaker’s part, together with the cognitive gap created by the lack of lexical basis, leave a vacuum on the semantic and pragmatic levels: could grammaticalization be linked with some strategy of concealment and implicit modality?