Svenska villkorskonstruktioner och axiologi

Abstract

This article examines conditionals with a conspicuous axiological value in Swedish. Three types of previously unstudied axiological constructions are investigated. The first type is the potential construction with Quantifiers of Factual Proximity (QPF): Om du säger ett ord till_QPF slår jag dig på käften (‘If you say one more word, I will punch you in the face’). The second type is the counterfactual construction with QPF: Om han tagit ett steg till, hade han varit död (‘If he had taken one more step, he would have been dead’). The third type is the norm-breaking potential construction with the Compound conditional and the Pluperfect: Det skulle ha betytt allt om jag hade fått dom (‘It would mean [lit. would have meant] everything if I got [lit. had got] them’). The different speech acts that the constructions perform are also studied: the construction types carry out expressive speech acts and some other speech acts as “threats” and “promises”. From a typological perspective, it will be contended that the first and the second construction types are universal, while the third is language-specific.