Comment le dire. A propos d'ajustement, en quelque sorte

Language activity is based on a symbolic gap between the actual state of affairs and their representation, through speech, in a linguistic system. This implies a measurement of the distance between the thought contained within what is said and what is being referred to in saying it; the distance between the various possible ways of saying; and the distance, in an inter-subjective relationship, between the speaker and the other with whom he is communicating. From a linguistic standpoint, this assessment resembles processes for evaluating utterances according to a two-dimensional validation (how what is said is validated or able to be validated) and valuation (how what is said is valid). Valuation also concerns forms of enunciation which are conditional upon what is to be said or meant. These considerations are based upon the notions of referential value and adjustment in Culioli’s theory of enunciative operations. This theory is first examined, in order that the measuring process – how to say it – may be understood. The process is then demonstrated through the examination of a text and study of the marker en quelque sorte.