On the development of the illocutionary uses of "pure": diachronic evolution and contexts of reanalysis

Abstract

This study investigates some aspects of the semantics and pragmatics of the adverb pure from a diachronic perspective. Relying on the description of corpus examples, an overview of the evolution of the adverb pure will be outlined and quantitative data will be presented on the development of the different functions of pure along progressive historical and linguistic stages, from ancient to contemporary Italian. In particular, the development of the illocutionary values of the adverb is explored, that is contexts of use in which pure operates as a modifier of the illocutionary force of the speech act. In addition, combining tools from historical linguistics (analysis of bridging contexts, conventionalization of contextual meanings) and interactional linguistics (analysis of communicative sequences, management of the common ground and conversational inferences), some contexts that may have fostered the reanalysis of pure and the emergence of its illocutionary values will be examined in more detail.