The grammar of discourse: The case of then

Abstract

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p>This paper presents an analysis of <em>then</em> that appeals to discourse structure. I argue that <em>then</em> does not make any truth-conditional contribution but rather coordinates an anaphoric relation between consecutive discourse-moves. The meaning contribution of <em>then</em> is captured in terms of felicity conditions: <em>then</em> requires that two propositions enter into a ‘causal explanatory claim’-relation in which one (the antecedent) provides the ‘reasons’ for the other (the consequent). This proposal targets <em>then</em> within conditionals and across discourse and considers discourse structure as a key factor in explaining its behavior.</p></div></div></div>