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Bottom line occurs in several phrases, including the [(the) N is] construction. Its constructionalization is more advanced than that of other nouns: it can now be used as a true discourse marker, in the left or in the right periphery. The data confirm the influence of position on pragmatic function. Cataphoric bottom line mainly fulfills discursive functions (summation, contradiction, sub-topic shift or topic-resumption), while anaphoric bottom line is an intersubjective expression that signals turn and topic closure and aims at pre-empting potential disalignment. However, the cataphoric discourse marker is also undergoing incipient intersubjectification. This is due to the deletion of the copula, which allows bottom line to have scope over the interlocutor’s discourse rather than simply over its host sentence.

This paper documents the constructionalization of by the same token. Originally, the word same in this phrase did not encode similarity but functioned as an identification emphasizer and a marker of syntactic dependency between the evidential noun token and the clause that followed it. By the same token then acted as a complex subordinator introducing a justification. The data suggest that two non-compositional uses developed from the evidential subordinator during the seventeenth century: a digressive discourse marker and a subordinator combining high degree and consequence. Faced with polysemy and lack of transparency, speakers/hearers then reintroduced some compositionality to the phrase by assigning to same the meaning of similarity that it had elsewhere. From this partial recompositionalization stems today’s elaborative discourse marker. Originally used to connect two consequences of the same premise, it then extended its connective value. It is now polyfunctional and is even often used to connect two contrasting statements. There are signs that it is now often treated by speakers as a member of a constructional network of adversative discourse markers.

La conjonction like signifiant « as if » est censée provenir de la préposition. Cependant, on note un parallèle frappant entre l’emploi post-copule de like avec un sujet impersonnel (ex. : It’s likeAS IF he didn’t see it) et la construction extraposée de l’ancien adjectif like signifiant « likely » avec un complémenteur implicite (ex. : It’s likeADJ ø he didn’t see it). Cet article tente de défendre l’hypothèse de l’origine adjectivale de likeAS IF à l’aide du corpus COHA. En retraçant l’expansion géographique, sémantique et syntaxique de likeAS IF, cette étude suggère que la disparition de l’emploi épithétique de l’adjectif like pour des raisons d’isomorphisme a déclenché la constructionnalisation des deux constructions adjectivales restantes. La constructionnalisation de likeAS IF peut être schématisée ainsi : [it copule Adj [ø + P]] ↔ [probabilité] > [it copule [Comp + P]] ↔ [comparaison]. The conjunction like meaning ‘as if’ is usually considered to derive from the preposition. There exists, however, a striking parallel between the impersonal post-copula use of the conjunction (e.g. It’s likeAS IF he didn’t see it) and the extraposed construction of the now extinct adjective like meaning ‘likely’ with a covert complementizer (e.g. It’s likeADJ ø he didn’t see it). This paper therefore aims at sustaining the hypothesis of the adjectival origin of likeAS IF with the help of the Corpus of Historical American English. By documenting the geographic, semantic and syntactic expansion of likeAS IF, this study suggests that the disappearance of the attributive use of the adjective for reasons of isomorphism triggered the constructionalization of the two remaining adjectival constructions. The constructionalization of likeAS IF can be formalized as follows: [it copula Adj [ø + Clause]] ↔ [probability] > [it copula [Comp + Clause]] ↔ [comparison].

Le but de cette contribution est d’établir quel rôle les facteurs processuels jouent dans l’évolution de l’acceptabilité à partir de deux études de cas : la complémentation infinitive du verbe help (avec ou sans to) et la distribution de la construction [capacité + help]. Les corpus sélectionnés pour cette étude, en particulier COHA et l’Old Bailey, révèlent que ces facteurs ne contribuent pas simplement à expliquer la basse fréquence des structures marginales, mais peuvent même être considérés comme le moteur initiant le changement linguistique, confirmant ainsi la prédiction de Rohdenburg (2003 : 243). Le principe d’horror aequi (Brugmann 1909) s’avère être le facteur initial ayant mené à la disparition actuelle de to après help et les difficultés de traitement cognitif s’avèrent être responsables de l’obsolescence de la construction [capacité + help]NPI. En limitant la fréquence de certaines structures, ces facteurs processuels contribuent à diminuer la familiarité des locuteurs avec ces structures, ce qui finit par affecter leurs jugements d’acceptabilité, et, à terme, la grammaire de la langue. This paper aims at establishing the role of processing factors on the evolution of acceptability in two case studies: the infinitival complementation of the verb help (with or without to) and the distribution of the construction [capacity + help]. The corpora chosen for this study, in particular COHA and the Old Bailey Proceedings, reveal that these factors do not simply help to explain the low frequency of dispreferred structures, but can even be considered the main factor triggering language change, in line with Rohdenburg’s prediction (2003: 243). The principle of horror aequi (Brugmann 1909) turns out to be the initial impetus leading to the current disappearance of to after help and questions of processing are shown to have engendered the obsolescence of the [capacity + help]NPI construction. As these processing factors limit the frequency of dispreferred structures, they contribute to diminishing speakers / hearers’ familiarity with these structures, which gradually alters their acceptability judgements, and, in turn, the grammar of English.

This paper aims at analyzing the various functional and semantic values attributed to the morpheme how in the King James Version of the Bible (KJV), some of which are not prototypical (complementizer, causal interrogative adverb, interrogative pronoun and adverbial relative). In view of the complex semantic and functional network of how, it is necessary first to establish what decoding problems were experienced by the readers. As will be shown, almost each type of how can be misinterpreted in some contexts and quite often only the comparison with other English versions of the Bible, or with the Latin, Greek or Hebrew versions, enables one to interpret the text accurately. The translators seem to have been aware of the interpretation difficulties that this polysemy entailed, because they often managed to limit them by adding material to the communicatively deficient morpheme (e.g. how that, how is it that). The origin of the two main non-prototypical uses of how will then be examined, and it will be demonstrated that conjunctive how is endogenous, while the source of causal how is mainly exogenous. Finally, it will be shown that the causal value of how has not disappeared altogether from Present-Day English, contrary to what the Oxford English Dictionary indicates, and it will be hypothesized that the use of causal how in Scottish Vernacular English is related to that in the KJV.

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Le choix entre les conjonctions de comparaison as et like dépend principalement de facteurs sociolinguistiques et stylistiques. À ces deux marqueurs s’ajoute également the way, qui, bien que rarement évoqué dans la littérature, peut occuper la même case structurelle que ces deux conjonctions. En examinant le fragment de GN the way à la lumière des critères de grammaticalisation (décatégorialisation, perte de variabilité paradigmatique, érosion et décoloration sémantique), nous démontrons qu’il est en effet en passe de devenir une locution conjonctive à part entière. Entre un as parfois vu comme trop formel et un like qui reste stigmatisé dans certains contextes, the way constitue un intermédiaire sociolinguistiquement plus neutre, qui se révèle avoir un rôle central dans la grammaire des conjonctions de comparaison. The choice between the comparative conjunctions as and like depends primarily on sociolinguistic and stylistic factors. In the same syntactic slot, speakers can also use the way, although the literature on comparative conjunctions rarely mentions this third possibility. By examining the incomplete NP the way in light of grammaticalization criteria, such as decategorialization, loss of paradigmatic variability, erosion, and semantic bleaching, I demonstrate that the way is becoming a conjunctive phrase. As an intermediate option between as, which is sometimes considered too formal, and like, which is not yet accepted in every situation, the way seems to be more neutral from a sociolinguistic perspective and is therefore central to the grammar of comparative conjunctions.

National audience; Like est un morphème hautement polysémique et polycatégoriel. En tant que conjonction de Comparaison, il est souvent préféré à son équivalent as if (ou as though) pour des raisons sociolinguistiques et sémantiques, lorsque la syntaxe le permet. C’est ce versant syntaxique que nous étudierons ici, en nous focalisant sur l’incidence de la non linéarité sur la distribution de like. Notre étude sur corpus démontre, dans lignée du principe de complexité cognitive de Rohdenburg (2003), que l’antéposition de P2, la distance entre la conjonction et le verbe de P1, la présence d’un circonstant entre la conjonction et le sujet de P2, ainsi que la longueur du sujet de P2, restreignent l’emploi de like au profit du plus explicite as if.

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International audience; This paper is a study of the expression can help, meaning ‘can refrain/avoid’. It focuses on the polarity and the fixedness of this expression andon its complex complementation. A diachronic corpus study shows that this item is no longer best described as a negative polarity item and that it hasundergone a process of lexicalization. The second half of this article deals with the complex complementation of can (-ed) not help and, more specifically, with the can (-ed) not help but V-structure. This structure is extragrammatical because there exists no similar construction in contemporaryEnglish. However, as will be shown, its use has recently increased at the expense of can (-ed) not help + gerund. This paper will demonstrate that acombination of sociolinguistic, semantic and pragmatic factors, coupled with criteria related to processing ease, may have played a decisive part inthis somewhat paradoxical success. Keywords: idiom; lexicalization; negative

This study aims at analysing the general dynamics of the norm of contemporary English, together with its relationship with linguistic variation. In order to do so, a few subordoners have been selected to illustrate how the centre of gravity of the norm moves along the spatial and social axes. The study of the opposition between zero and to after the verb help is used to document the syntactic americanization of British English and it is shown that the constraints limiting the use of zero have gradually slackened, which led to a complete disappearance of the semantic distinction between the two forms. The said disappearance results from an evergrowing use of the bare infinitive for strategic reasons, particularly in advertizing. The third part deals with conjunction like and analyzes its expansion in English. It is argued that the appearance of this subordoner can be attributed to isomorphic and semantic factors, and to a potential reanalysis of the adjective like meaning likely.. This section also traces how this subordoner has spread through registers and text-types, and through syntactic structures, before becoming a central part of the English syntax. It appears that the success of this innovation reflects the current trends in modes of communication, which tend to favour interpersonal proximity for strategic purposes. From a mere acceptance of informality within the norm, we are now heading towards a new norm of informality.; Ce travail de recherche se donne pour but d’analyser la dynamique générale de la norme de l’anglais contemporain et son rapport avec la variation linguistique. Pour ce faire, nous abordons quelques subordonnants qui illustrent le déplacement du centre de gravité de la norme sur les axes spatial et social. À travers l’étude de la complémentation du verbe help, nous illustrons l’américanisation syntaxique de l’anglais britannique et nous montrons comment les contraintes d’emploi se sont assouplies, pour aboutir finalement, dans le cas de l’opposition help + to + infinitif et help + zéro + infinitif, à une disparition de la distinction sémantique entre les deux formes. Cette disparition est le résultat d’un recours sans cesse plus fréquent à l’infinitif nu pour des raisons stratégiques, surtout dans la publicité. Ensuite, nous nous intéressons au like conjonction et nous analysons son expansion dans la langue. Après avoir expliqué son apparition par des facteurs isomorphiques et sémantiques, auxquels s’ajoute probablement une réanalyse de l’adjectif like signifiant « vraisemblable », nous montrons comment ce subordonnant s’est répandu à travers les registres de langue et les types de texte, ainsi qu’à travers les constructions syntaxiques, jusqu’à devenir un élément non périphérique de la syntaxe anglaise. D’après nous, le succès de cette innovation reflète l’évolution des modes de communication, qui se fondent de plus en plus sur la proximité interpersonnelle à des fins stratégiques. D’une simple acceptation de la familiarité dans la norme, c’est donc de plus en plus vers une norme de familiarité que nous nous dirigeons actuellement.

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