Pseudo(-) in French and Greek: Categorization and approximation

Abstract

Pseudo(-) is generally considered to be a prefix or a prefixoid unit with an evaluative value of pragmatic approximation and negative polarity: pseudo(-)X presents a distortion with respect to a standard X. It then enters the paradigm of expressions responsible for infusing subjectivity into the discourse. The interpretative mechanisms in play exploit two dimensions, semantic and pragmatic, according to principles that will be explained in this paper. Furthermore, our contribution aims to highlight the semantic dimension in the interpretation of pseudo(-) both in Greek and French and to show how it exploits the semantic and categorial properties of the nouns that are postposed to it, leading to three main types of categorization (pseudo(-)X belongs to the category X but it is not a good exemplar, pseudo(-)X is clearly not an X the categorization remains undecidable) and to several readings.