Odeurs, exclamation et haut degré

Abstract

In this article, we will examine two forms of exclamative construction : ça pue ! and qu'est-ce que ça pue ! Both forms are used to express an immediate olfactory sensation in French. First, we will attempt to ascertain that given the inherent hedonic undertones (pleasant or otherwise) necessarily present in the lexical semantics of olfactory verbs, such indistinct exclamative forms intensify both the olfactory stimulus and the olfactory sensation. We will then go on to demonstrate that the exclamative form is a type of emphatic modality which increases the speaker's immediate reaction to an odour, while the head quantifier, by its very lack of precise definition, indicates an odour so intense as to be beyond the scope of any possible gradation.