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RESEARCH PRODUCT

From theme to rheme: The evolution of causal conjunctions of temporal origin in Catalan

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AbstractWe trace the evolution of two causal conjunctions of temporal origin in Catalan,pus (que)‘since’ (laterpuix (que)), which ultimately derives from Latinpost‘after,’ andja que‘since,’ ultimately fromiam‘already.’ We focus on the different causal meanings that these connectors may express at different stages. The analysis of our Catalan corpus, which spans from the 13th to the 20th century, reveals a clear diachronic tendency for clauses headed by these conjunctions to be increasingly more frequently placed after the main clause. Given the expected correlation between clausal order and pragmatic function, we interpret these facts as showing that the thematic usage of clauses (primarily expressing causes oriented to the illocutionary force or the modal value) is prior to their interpretation as having rhematic causal value. These findings replicate the results that have been reported for the cognate Spanish conjunctions (with some time lag for Catja quevis-à-vis Spya que). and thus show a parallel evolution in the two languages. Furthermore, as in Spanish,puix (que)andja queshow a very similar evolutionary pattern, with the difference that the latter connector develops a few centuries later, providing some evidence for the cyclic character of this evolution (i.e, as the older connector moved along its grammaticalization path, a second connector arose to replace it in its original value and started evolving in the same direction).