De la négation à la focalisation

This paper deals with adnominal autre in correlative structures (e.g. Pierre a suivi un autre chemin que Paul). In the first section, it is shown that this construction can be analysed as a case of relativisation. The subsequent sections propose a semantic-referential description of autre. The data suggest that the adjective functions as a negative operator, whose base meaning can be interpreted as a means of refuting an expectation. It is also concluded that this particular meaning, when combined with negation, enables the speaker to focalise the referent of the entity denoted by the complement, as “pas d’autre N que…” suggests a series of alternatives which are rejected in the same utterance (Cf. Pierre n’a pas d’autre solution que la fuite). Such a use could be interpreted as an emphatic version of adjectival seul