A relevance theoretic analysis of contrast connectives in Spanish : pero and aunque

Abstract

This thesis presents a pragmatic analysis of a number of contrast connectives in Spanish, in particular pero ‘but’ and aunque ‘although’. The study follows the theoretical framework of Relevance Theory (RT). The ideas put forward in this analysis build on previous RT analyses of the English counterparts, but and although. We provide an account of the fiinction of these connectives based on the notions of the procedural meaning and inferentiality (Blakemore 1987, 1993, 2000, 2002, Iten 1998; 2000(a), 2005 and Hall 2003, 2004, 2005). However, we develop this account further by providing a different analysis of how pero and aunque contribute to the process of utterance comprehension. From a RT point of view, our analysis follows the main tenets on which the theory is based. Our analysis of the connectives pero and aunque builds on the RT position that there is great reliance on the process of inferencing in deriving the meaning explicitly communicated. We propose a procedural meaning for these connectives based on the idea of contrast with alternatives. This analysis favours a view of their effects as arising from the explicit rather than the implicit side of what is communicated. In particular, these connectives are analysed as constraints on the derivation of propositional attitudes and illocutionary forces, which in this theory are described as higher level explicatures. This analysis of pero and aunque, as contributing to the explicit side of communication, contrasts with previous RT studies of their English counterparts but and aunque, in which these latter have been described as constraints on the derivation of the implicit content