But Take Care of Emily

Despite the great variety of ways in which it is used, mais 'but' in dramatic dialogues has a permanent basic value, analogous to its value in continuous texts. This is shown by classifying occurrences of mais in the first two scenes of Occupe-toi d'Amelie ([Take Care of Emily], a play by Feydeau). The following categories are used: (1) inside an utterance - P mais Q; (2) introducing an utterance - mais Q: (A) in answer to a previous utterance of P: (a) in opposition to the utterance of P, (b) in opposition to conclusions derived from P, & (c) in opposition to the truth of P; & (B) in answer to nonverbal behavior or to a situation; & (3) isolated, not introducing a specific Q. It is argued that there are not different mais, but different conditions governing the use of a single invariant semantic value. This finding requires a broadening of the notion of context to include underlying attitudes, opinions, & supposedly self-evident facts. Modified HA