Counter-subordinative Coordination versus Co-subordinative Coordination: A Syntax / Semantics / Pragmatics Interface Study of And, But and For

Abstract : This paper questions the impermeability of boundaries between syntax, semantics and pragmatics via an analysis of English co-ordinators AND, BUT and FOR. Drawing on a range of examples from different sources, the study demonstrates how co-ordination at the syntactic level may correspond to subordination at semantic and discourse levels. We argue further that BUT and FOR in fact systematically combine syntactic co-ordination and semantic subordination, defying analysis in purely syntactic or semantic terms.