Quand le nombre fait sens. Adverbes et adverbialisation du discours politique contemporain: étude logométrique

Abstract

Adverbs are the least clearly defined part of speech in grammars, and for many linguists make up a motley class with mysterious outlines. This paper attempts a unifying definition of the class of adverbs from the perspective of pragmatics. This pragmatic definition is supported by conventional computational analysis as well as by precise frequency counts in contemporary French political speech. This dual ‘logometric’ approach that quantitative and qualitative approaches are inseparable, and claims to account for quality through quantity.