Benoît Leclercq
Biographic Data
| ID | 6551468 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Benoît Leclercq |
| GIVEN NAMES | Benoît |
| FAMILY NAME | Leclercq |
| SIGNATURE | LECLERCQ B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Université Paris 8 |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3376-4045 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 7 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Investigating diachronic shifts within a domain of English modality
The English modals have been used as case studies in many domains of linguistic enquiry. Their diachronic development and patterns of synchronic variation in historical and contemporary corpora have been used to develop theories of linguistic representation, to further understanding of correlations between structure and use, and to investigate relationships between form and meaning. However, much of this research explores only the modals themselv…
The principle of no equivalence
Synonymy avoidance has been a recent topic of theoretical contention in Construction Grammar. This paper defines, unpacks, and models the ‘principle of no equivalence’ previously sketched by Leclercq, Benoît & Cameron Morin. 2023. No equivalence: A new principle of no synonymy. Constructions 15. 1–16 to better account for this phenomenon of linguistic knowledge and use. First, we detail three domains of constructional function covered by the prin…
The post-modal grammaticalisation of concessive may and might
The decline of certain core modals in English, including may and might , is a well-documented phenomenon (cf. Daugs 2017 ). It is less clear, however, whether this tendency will lead to the loss of these modals or whether other changes are also underway. I aim to address this issue by looking at the use of may and might in concessive clauses. I will first present the results of a corpus study (COHA) aimed at understanding the diachronic developme…
Ad hoc concepts and the relevance heuristics
The idea that interpreting a lexeme typically involves a context-dependent process of meaning construction has in recent years become common ground in linguistic theory. This view is very explicit in relevance theory ( Sperber and Wilson 1995 ), which posits that speakers systematically infer ad hoc concepts ( Carston 2002 ). Such an approach raises theoretical issues, though. First, it directly poses a challenge for the exact nature of (and diff…
Making meaning with be able to
This article sheds new light on the usage constraints of be able to , by combining empirical evidence from the British National Corpus (BNC, Davies 2004–) with theoretical insights on the semantics–pragmatics interface. First, we show that be able to does not, contrary to the general assumption, express only ‘ability’ but it shares most of the root meanings usually associated with the possibility modals can and could (Coates 1983: 124). The data …
From modals to modal constructions
The goal of this paper is to present the results of a corpus analysis aimed at identifying n-grams (i.e., lexical sequences) with the modals can , could and be able to . While details about the functional profile of these verbs are still being discussed (e.g., Leclercq & Depraetere 2022 ), it is surprising that relatively scarce attention is given to the lexico-grammatical patterns in which they are found and which come with their own semantic an…
Coercion
The goal of this paper is to investigate the possibility of a cross-theoretical understanding of coercion , a “kind of contextual enrichment/adjustment” ( Lauwers & Willems 2011 : 1220), by combining insights from Construction Grammar and Relevance Theory. In Construction Grammar, coercion has mostly been discussed in terms of the semantics of the linguistic items that occur in the sentence and how these interact with each other. Relevance Theory…
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Coercion
The goal of this paper is to investigate the possibility of a cross-theoretical understanding of coercion , a “kind of contextual enrichment/adjustment” ( Lauwers & Willems 2011 : 1220), by combining insights from Construction Grammar and Relevance Theory. In Construction Grammar, coercion has mostly been discussed in terms of the semantics of the linguistic items that occur in the sentence and how these interact with each other. Relevance Theory…
Making meaning with be able to
This article sheds new light on the usage constraints of be able to , by combining empirical evidence from the British National Corpus (BNC, Davies 2004–) with theoretical insights on the semantics–pragmatics interface. First, we show that be able to does not, contrary to the general assumption, express only ‘ability’ but it shares most of the root meanings usually associated with the possibility modals can and could (Coates 1983: 124). The data …
From modals to modal constructions
The goal of this paper is to present the results of a corpus analysis aimed at identifying n-grams (i.e., lexical sequences) with the modals can , could and be able to . While details about the functional profile of these verbs are still being discussed (e.g., Leclercq & Depraetere 2022 ), it is surprising that relatively scarce attention is given to the lexico-grammatical patterns in which they are found and which come with their own semantic an…
Ad hoc concepts and the relevance heuristics
The idea that interpreting a lexeme typically involves a context-dependent process of meaning construction has in recent years become common ground in linguistic theory. This view is very explicit in relevance theory ( Sperber and Wilson 1995 ), which posits that speakers systematically infer ad hoc concepts ( Carston 2002 ). Such an approach raises theoretical issues, though. First, it directly poses a challenge for the exact nature of (and diff…
The post-modal grammaticalisation of concessive may and might
The decline of certain core modals in English, including may and might , is a well-documented phenomenon (cf. Daugs 2017 ). It is less clear, however, whether this tendency will lead to the loss of these modals or whether other changes are also underway. I aim to address this issue by looking at the use of may and might in concessive clauses. I will first present the results of a corpus study (COHA) aimed at understanding the diachronic developme…
Investigating diachronic shifts within a domain of English modality
The English modals have been used as case studies in many domains of linguistic enquiry. Their diachronic development and patterns of synchronic variation in historical and contemporary corpora have been used to develop theories of linguistic representation, to further understanding of correlations between structure and use, and to investigate relationships between form and meaning. However, much of this research explores only the modals themselv…
The principle of no equivalence
Synonymy avoidance has been a recent topic of theoretical contention in Construction Grammar. This paper defines, unpacks, and models the ‘principle of no equivalence’ previously sketched by Leclercq, Benoît & Cameron Morin. 2023. No equivalence: A new principle of no synonymy. Constructions 15. 1–16 to better account for this phenomenon of linguistic knowledge and use. First, we detail three domains of constructional function covered by the prin…
Philosophy (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Linguistics (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (5 works) · Epistemology (4 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (4 works) · Artificial Intelligence (3 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (3 works) · Cognition (2 works)