On so-called adversative nisi

Abstract

This paper is concerned with certain semantic and pragmatic properties of the Latin connector nisi. The discussion is structured in three sections. The first gives a short introduction of the main functions of nisi identified in the scholarship on the topic. The second offers a diachronic overview of its uses, based on selected literary sources, from Plautus up to Late Latin. The third focuses specifically on the adversative value of the conjunction. Here I show, among other things, the existence of two different types of adversativity which can be traced back to the two standard functions of nisi. The main results are summarized in a concluding paragraph.

Keywords

• diachrony
• late Latin
• adversative value
• connector