This paper examines how clause-combining at the grammatical level maps onto relation types between units established at the discourse level. It focuses on adverbial subordination in French, with the aim to compare the interaction between syntactic integration and discursive dependence. The data consist of 250 examples of adverbial subordination from LOCAS-F, a PoS-tagged and richly annotated corpus of spoken French. An exhaustive extraction of subordinating conjunctions was taken from the orthographic transcriptions, then paired with the corresponding soundbites (analysed in Praat). To investigate clause-combining at the grammatical and the discursive level, two coding schemes are used. The grammatical scheme assesses the degree of syntactic dependence, based on the syntactic properties of clefting, pronominal proportionality, and fronting [1]. The degree of discourse dependence is established based on discourse-oriented features like speech-functional value, modality, prosodic integration [2-5]. In a second step, different types of grammatical and discourse linkage are charted through a cluster analysis, thus refining in a systematic fine-grained manner existing clause-combining clines. Thirdly, the resulting configurations are related to the semantic function of the conjunction (e.g. cause, concession) and their domain of use (Ideational, Rhetorical, Sequential, Interpersonal) [3]. A multifactorial analysis will reveal which features (discursive, grammatical, semantic) are the best predictors of the domain in which a conjunction is used. Conversely, a hierarchical cluster analysis will provide the degree of “polygrammaticality” for the different conjunction lemmas, viz. the range of configurations a conjunction may occur in. A low degree of polygrammaticality is expected to be indicative of conventionalized grammatical status, while a high degree points to a bridging context towards new discourse uses. Preliminary findings from a pilot study of 100 examples suggest an interaction between a clause’s syntactic (in)dependence and the discourse relation it establishes: grammatically fully integrated clauses typically establish ideational relations, whereas clauses expressing interpersonal relations are grammatically independent. Moreover, conjunctions expressing cause, concession and condition are more polygrammatical than those expressing temporality, which are characterised by greater grammatical and discursive dependence. Finally, when the same discourse function can be coded by conjunctions with similar meanings (e.g. parce que, puisque), the two tend to occupy different functional niches (with puisque used predominantly in the rhetorical domain). Ultimately, the findings in this study will improve our understanding of clause-combining at the grammar-discourse interface, describing how grammatical affordances of subordination are bent to new uses that come to expression in discourse. References [1] Smessaert, H., B. Cornillie, D. Divjak, and K. van den Eynde. 2005. Degrees of Clause Integration. Linguistics 43: 471–529. [2] Elvira-García, W., P. Roseano, and A.M. Fernández-Planas. 2017. Prosody as a Cue for Syntactic Dependency. Journal of Pragmatics 109: 29–46. [3] Crible, L. and L. Degand (2019). Domains and functions: A two-dimensional account of discourse markers. Discours 24 : 3-35. [4] Verstraete, J-C. 2007. Rethinking the Coordinate-Subordinate Dichotomy. Interpersonal Grammar and the Analysis of Adverbial Clauses in English. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. [5] Debaisieux, J-M, ed. 2013. Analyses linguistiques sur corpus: Subordination et insubordination en français. Paris: Hermes Science publications.