Concessive constructions, scalarity and intersubjectivity: contrastive analysis of [ainda que p, q] and [mesmo que p,q]

Abstract

From the theoretical perspective of Cognitive Linguistics, this work contrasts the concessive constructions [AINDA QUE P, Q] and [MESMO QUE P, Q] in Brazilian Portuguese journalistic texts. Based on data extracted from the Portuguese corpus (www.corpusdoportugues.br) and the NILC/ São Carlos corpus (https://www.linguateca.pt), the goal is to establish the semantic-pragmatic difference between the mentioned constructions (Goldberg, 1995). Beyond the syntactic subordination relationship highlighted by traditional grammars, the hypothesis is established that, in semantic terms, both constructions signal incongruence between P and Q but differ pragmatically in relation to the notions of factuality and eventuality, associated with scalarity (Dancygier and Sweetser, 2005). Scalarity, in turn, is related to the speaker’s social experience, so the established causal relationship fits into the notion of Extended Intersubjectivity (tantucci, 2021). The preliminary analysis of concessive constructions demonstrates that the constructions [AINDA QUE P, Q] e [MESMO QUE P, Q] differ based on the notions of factuality and eventuality associated with Epistemic Stance (Fillmore, 1990a, b). More specifically, the analysis indicates that the mental association or dissociation of the speaker can be related to the event described in P or, alternatively, to the causal relationship established between P and Q.