Home General Interest Chapter 5. The meaning and functions of French je pense (que)
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 5. The meaning and functions of French je pense (que)

A constructionalist and interactional account
  • Juliette Angot and Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
Studies at the Grammar-Discourse Interface
This chapter is in the book Studies at the Grammar-Discourse Interface

Abstract

This paper examines the meanings of the French construction je pense (que) (‘I think (that)’, henceforth JP), as well as its uses in social interaction. We propose an account of JP as a micro-construction with two basic elements of coded meaning, either one of which may be pragmatically foregrounded in a given context of use. As a direct result of its constructional meaning, which we argue is situated at the context level rather than at the content level of discourse, the expression frequently functions as a pragmatic marker in conversation. We show that uses of JP may fulfil both interpersonal, face-related functions and discourse-organizational ones. Our analysis has implications for the way JP and similar expressions in French and other languages are categorized and how their pragmatic functions may be seen to have developed. It also raises interesting questions with regard to the psycholinguistic processing of such constructions.

Abstract

This paper examines the meanings of the French construction je pense (que) (‘I think (that)’, henceforth JP), as well as its uses in social interaction. We propose an account of JP as a micro-construction with two basic elements of coded meaning, either one of which may be pragmatically foregrounded in a given context of use. As a direct result of its constructional meaning, which we argue is situated at the context level rather than at the content level of discourse, the expression frequently functions as a pragmatic marker in conversation. We show that uses of JP may fulfil both interpersonal, face-related functions and discourse-organizational ones. Our analysis has implications for the way JP and similar expressions in French and other languages are categorized and how their pragmatic functions may be seen to have developed. It also raises interesting questions with regard to the psycholinguistic processing of such constructions.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Grammar, discourse, and the grammar-discourse interface 1
  4. Part I. Discourse markers
  5. Chapter 1. On the rise of discourse markers 23
  6. Chapter 2. On the pragmatic development of modal particles in Navarrese-Lapurdian Basque 57
  7. Chapter 3. On divergent paths and functions of ‘background’-based discourse markers in Korean 77
  8. Chapter 4. Reanalysis and the emergence of adverbial connectors in the history of Japanese 101
  9. Part II. Discourse markers
  10. Chapter 5. The meaning and functions of French je pense (que) 127
  11. Chapter 6. Discourse markers and brain lateralization 157
  12. Chapter 7. Vietnamese expletive between grammatical subject and subjectivity marker 195
  13. Chapter 8. The final particle like in Northern English 229
  14. Chapter 9. On pragma-semantics of expressives 245
  15. Part III. Discourse-related grammatical phenomena
  16. Chapter 10. A just amazing marker in French: “Juste” 275
  17. Chapter 11. On how the distinction between reciprocal and collective verbs affects (anti-)control 299
  18. Chapter 12. The rise of cause/reason adverbial markers in Yaqui (Uto-Aztecan) 313
  19. Index 353
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.219.05ang

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Grammar, discourse, and the grammar-discourse interface 1
  4. Part I. Discourse markers
  5. Chapter 1. On the rise of discourse markers 23
  6. Chapter 2. On the pragmatic development of modal particles in Navarrese-Lapurdian Basque 57
  7. Chapter 3. On divergent paths and functions of ‘background’-based discourse markers in Korean 77
  8. Chapter 4. Reanalysis and the emergence of adverbial connectors in the history of Japanese 101
  9. Part II. Discourse markers
  10. Chapter 5. The meaning and functions of French je pense (que) 127
  11. Chapter 6. Discourse markers and brain lateralization 157
  12. Chapter 7. Vietnamese expletive between grammatical subject and subjectivity marker 195
  13. Chapter 8. The final particle like in Northern English 229
  14. Chapter 9. On pragma-semantics of expressives 245
  15. Part III. Discourse-related grammatical phenomena
  16. Chapter 10. A just amazing marker in French: “Juste” 275
  17. Chapter 11. On how the distinction between reciprocal and collective verbs affects (anti-)control 299
  18. Chapter 12. The rise of cause/reason adverbial markers in Yaqui (Uto-Aztecan) 313
  19. Index 353
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2026 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 17.2.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/slcs.219.05ang/html
Scroll to top button