Le circonstant en russe: syntaxe et interlocution
Circumstance in Russian: Syntax and Interlocution

Summary/Abstract: The adjunct is defined as the spatio-temporal and causal background in which the content of the utterance will be correct. The adjunct is not always facultative, even on the syntactic level. This is the case, especially when it is a part of a binary system: the removal of one of the two elements makes the sentence ungrammatical. In terms of information, the speaker builds his/her utterance by taking into consideration what (s)he assumes to be the addressee’s knowledge. The spatio-temporal or causal background may be new, but it may be considered by the speaker as a part of the Theme, and it is placed at the beginning of the utterance. When the background is well known by the addressee, we may wonder why the speaker needs to repeat it. (S)he does it for several reasons: retrieval, disambiguation, demarcation of the area of validity of the utterance.

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