Contrast in discourse: mas and acontece que at the interface between argumentation and DSMs

Abstract

This article examines the functioning of the connectors mas and acontece que in the organization of contrastive relations in discourse, based on data drawn from the journalistic domain. The study articulates different theoretical perspectives, including the notion of textual articulators (Koch; Elias, 2016), the argumentative approach to P but Q constructions (Anscombre; Ducrot, 1983), the semantic-functional description of the connector mas (Neves,  2000), and the constructional proposal of discourse structuring markers (Traugott, 2022). Methodologically, the analysis adopts the structural representation D1 – connector – D2, which allows examination of how different linguistic units organize argumentative progression in discourse. The results show that mas functions as a prototypical contrast connector, typically linking segments within the same sentence and assigning greater interpretive weight to the second segment. In contrast, the construction acontece que instantiates the same contrastive subschema in a non-prototypical way, frequently introducing an event or fact that reconfigures the interpretive frame previously established in the discourse. The findings highlight how connectors of different grammatical origins may perform similar discourse-organizing functions while producing distinct pragmatic effects.