Word order in English and French

What is it about?

This study investigates and compares the placement patterns of adverbial connectors of contrast in English and French, using a combined corpus linguistic and systemic functional approach. The classification of position relies on the core SFL notions of Theme and Rheme.

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Why is it important?

The study demonstrates the importance of making distinctions within the Rheme - usually viewed as one single entity in Systemic Functional research - in order to provide a detailed account of the placement patterns of adverbial connectors in English and French, and of the differences between the two languages in that respect. In addition, the corpus results reveal that the various rhematic positions are not equivalent in terms of the discourse effects that they produce.