Causality and the PA/SN distinction

Abstract

We analyze two constructions expressing the negation of a causal relation in contemporary European Portuguese, nem por isso (lit. ‘not for this [reason]’) and não porque…mas porque (‘not because…but rather because’). We propose that the PA/SN distinction, established for adversative connectives (e.g., Spanish pero and German aber as PA, Spanish sino and German sondern as SN), can be extended to the domain of causality and provides insight on the properties of these two causal constructions. We show that their sensitivity to different types of conversational implicature as well as their interaction with negation are reminiscent of the distinction between restrictive and exclusive adversatives. Our investigation, which is the first semantic-pragmatic analysis of negated causality in European Portuguese, allows us to formulate historical predictions concerning the relation between types of negated causality and the possible development of adversative markers. Our findings provide synchronic evidence for a diachronic semantic path from negated causality to adversative meaning that has been posited for several Romance languages (e.g., Italian però, Spanish pero). Specifically, using contemporary corpus data, we show that the properties of nem por isso provide insight into the bridging contexts for semantic change from causal to adversative meanings. In addition, we identify a type of negated causality that fits within strategies of corrective contrast not exclusive to the domain of causal relations.

Keywords

• adversative connectives
• causality
• negation
• portuguese