Metonymischer Bedeutungswandel und pragmatische Strategien

Zur Geschichte von frz. quand même*

Abstract

Research on semantic change typically separates content words and function words. With content words, it is the semantic type of change (metaphor, metonymy etc.) that tends to be focused. With function words and discourse particles, however, concepts like subjectification and intersubjectification (Traugott / Dasher 2002) are privileged. In my article I propose a study of the French discourse particles quand même, which evolved metonymically from an adverb to a particle. As this study will show, the difference between semantic change of content words and semantic change of function words is not in the type of relation between source concept and target concept. Rather it lies in the type of pragmatic strategy that conducts speakers to use a form with a novel function in discourse.