Argumentation and mitigation: The Spanish structure "No es por X, pero Y"
Abstract
The aim of this study is to describe Spanish structures corresponding to the schema No es por X, pero Y, which are very frequent in colloquial language. The greatest point of interest of those structures is the fact that their formal and pragmatic features make them differ from prototypical restrictive adversative clauses.
In this sense, we have analyzed how negation works as it confers a polyphonic nature to the first member of the structure or preface, being one of its essential characteristics. Similarly, we have described the argumentation process that takes place between the initial segment, which functions as a mitigation strategy, and the second member of the structure, which represents the to-be-mitigated speech act, thanks to the relationship established by pero (but).
Finally, we have considered the grammatical features related to the discursive functions previously mentioned.
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