Premise conditionals are echoic thematic conditionals

This paper discusses the information structural properties of so-called premise (also factual) conditionals, conditional sentences whose antecedent repeats previously evoked content. We argue that, semantically, premise conditionals are hypothetical conditionals, with two pragmatic properties: their...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Castroviejo, Elena, Mayol, Laia
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:rdupf_______::ec88e5b013e2776bb5ae3fbcd384dc7a
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10230/73514
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2024.03.010
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Premise conditionals
Hypothetical conditionals
Information structure
Theme
Rheme
Echoicity
Descripción
Sumario:This paper discusses the information structural properties of so-called premise (also factual) conditionals, conditional sentences whose antecedent repeats previously evoked content. We argue that, semantically, premise conditionals are hypothetical conditionals, with two pragmatic properties: their antecedent is echoic and thematic. We show that some of the differences identified in the literature between hypothetical and premise conditionals follow from the informational status of the antecedent. While the antecedent of a premise conditional is thematic, the antecedent of a hypothetical conditional can also be rhematic. Rhematic conditionals happen to be compatible with all the characteristics that stand out as incompatible with premise conditionals. Additionally, we argue that echoicity is a definitional property of the premise reading of indicative conditionals.