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Article published In: La phraséologie dans les interactions orales et écrites
Edited by Gaétane Dostie and Agnès Tutin
[Lingvisticæ Investigationes 45:2] 2022
► pp. 276–295

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The (inter)subjectification of bottom line phrases

 | Sorbonne Nouvelle University
Published online: 11 April 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/li.00077.pin
Abstract
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.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.Bottom line phrases
    • 1.1Constructionalization of [(the) N is]
    • 1.2Specificities of the bottom line construction: from the left to the right periphery
    • 1.3Distribution of bottom line phrases in the corpus
  • 2.Cataphoric bottom line phrases
    • 2.1A marker of speaker stance
    • 2.2Left collocates of cataphoric bottom line and discursive functions
      • 2.2.1Summation
      • 2.2.2Contradiction
      • 2.2.3(Sub)-topic shift and topic resumption
      • 2.2.4Hesitation
    • 2.3Cataphoric bottom line as a DM
    • 2.4Conclusion on cataphoric bottom line phrases
  • 3.Anaphoric bottom line phrases
    • 3.1Turn or topic closure
    • 3.2Forced alignment
    • 3.3RP bottom line in all sections of COCA
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (50)
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