Semantic Changes of As Well As and its Discourse Function

Hitoshi Nakayama

The purpose of this paper is to point out that there can be some shift in the focus of the sentence which includes a ‘complex preposition’ as well as. It is generally considered that as well as usually has a similar meaning to ‘in addition to’ or ‘not only... but also’ and that it introduces information which is already known to the listener/reader while the rest of the sentence gives new information. As well as also bears a similar function as a cooperative conjunction like and, in which case the phrase that precedes as well as receives the same emphasis as the one that follows it. More intriguing, however, is the fact that there are some cases in which the information structure mentioned above is reversed; the element following as well as receives more weight than the preceding one.

I offer a comprehensive explanation for this focus shift in terms of the semantic change of as well as on the one hand and certain general or pragmatic principles in discourse on the other. I conclude that the correlation between the two factors triggers the focus shift from the element preceding as well as to the element following.