Metalinguistic operators with reference to French

the long version

This study focuses primarily on the interface between Anscombre and Ducrot's Argumentation Theory and certain types of expression here defined as metalinguistic operators. These operators, as construed by Argumentation Theory, are directly linked to various issues of particular relevance to Linguistic Theory: semantic constraints on context, the nature of procedural meaning, objective versus subjective aspects of meaning, the relationship between cohesion and coherence in discourse, and the link between linguistic and cognitive function.