Hypothetical comparison clauses are formally defined by the presence of a complex conjunction featuring a comparative component (e.g. comme in French and como in Spanish) and a conditional – or hypothetical – one (e.g. si in both French and Spanish). The question is: what are they used for? In this thesis, I have developed a functional typology of comme si-clauses in French and como si-clauses in Spanish – that is, I have inventoried and described which meanings these clauses convey in speakers’ discourse. Secondly, I was interested in understanding how each of these functional uses ‘gives form’ to comme si- and como si-clauses as regards their relational behaviour (i.e. the different ways in which they relate to – or combine with – other clauses) at four levels of linguistic organisation, viz. syntax, interpersonal values, discourse-pragmatic dependency and prosody. This multilevel approach allowed me to document comme si- and como si-clauses from a richer perspective than hitherto adopted, as well as to account for how these levels of organisation interact. Ultimately, this thesis has a particular interest in main-clause uses of formally-subordinate clauses (like those introduced by comme si and como si), and so relies on its corpus-based analysis to describe this phenomenon synchronically, as well as hypothesising about its diachronic development.

How do grammar and discourse interact? Answers from subordination, coordination and insubordination