Déjà : le temps mis en question

"Dictionaries and linguistic literature classify déjà as an adverb of time, considering that its meaning is linked to the notion of «precocity», but they also recognize an interrogative use that appears to express a momentary forgetfulness, as well as another use, in which this lexical unit would refer to a «partial result», among others. Here it is proposed that the various values of déjà can be described as semantic entities of the same lexical unit, applying a semantic-pragmatic perspective that takes polyphony into account. These semantic entities have a common trait, anteriority, and respond to a particular treatment of this anteriority (temporal or enunciative), thus allowing the various uses of déjà to be characterized based on specific linguistic properties."