Resumen de Semantic change from space-time to contrast: The case of Italian adversative connectives
Adversative connectives such as alternatively, conversely, besides and while have lexical sources belonging to the spatial-temporal dimension. Over time, they develop different contrastive values such as opposition, correction and counterexpectation. In this paper, I analyze the semantic change of the two Italian adversative connectives anzi ‘or better/rather/on the contrary’ and invece ‘instead’, from their original temporal and spatial meanings to their contemporary meanings of oppositive, corrective and counterexpectative contrast. Focusing on these two case studies, my main goal is to identify tendencies in semantic change, and particularly, the links between the domain of spatial-temporal relations and that of contrast relations. In order to do so, the factors intervening in the development of anzi and invece are examined, with particular attention to the inferential mechanisms at work. The results of the analysis show that pragmatic context as well as lexical origins play a crucial role in the rise of different contrastive values.
