L’auxiliaire do dans les affirmations non polémiques en anglais

Abstract

When used in affirmative sentences the English auxiliary do is often characterized as expressing more or less polemical values. Yet do often occurs in affirmative utterances where no (potential) disagreement between interlocutors is involved. In the following article we will first show how polemical values of affirmative do result from contextually inferred interpretations. Our claim is that for a unified account of all uses of the auxiliary do (and grammatical morphemes at large), the notions of agreement/ disagreement between interlocutors must first be examined at the systemic level where no such pragmatic notions exist. In line with the interlocutive model we have developed (Douay, Roulland, 2014), we will define do as the marker of a specific interlocutive pattern. Such characterization at a systemic level where roles and not individuals are involved will allow us to bring into focus what is constant in the meaning of the form as opposed to what is context-dependent. Introduction.