94 Anne-Marie Simon-Vandenbergen
In Table 1 the equivalents have been given a cross if they occurred as translations
or sources of one of the three adverbs, and two crosses if they were found more
than once. In view of the small database no conclusions can be drawn about fre-
quencies, although the double crosses give some indication.
The equivalents have been grouped into semantic classes. The first is that of
‘essence’, which I consider to be the core sense of all three adverbs and of essentially
as its formal derivative in particular. It can be seen that – due to the absence of a
formal equivalent of basically in French – the French equivalents express mean-
ings which are primarily expressed by English essentially (essentiellement, pour
l’essentiel, en soi) and fundamentally (fondamentalement). Besides French uses the
semantic equivalent of basically in au fond. The equivalents of essentially largely
overlap, while fundamentally is translated straightforwardly by its formal equiv-
alent fondamentalement. One conclusion is that there is more overlap between
basically and essentially than between either of these and fundamentally. Another
conclusion is, though, that the notion of ‘essence’ is clearly present in the semantic
make-up of all three.
Here are some examples showing French ‘essence’ equivalents of basically. The
abbreviation DEP stands for ‘Debates of the European Parliament’).
(21) So the priorities are determined basically by the regional authorities, not by
the Commission. (DEP, E source)
Dès lors, ce n’est pas la Commission, mais les autorités régionales qui définis-
sent essentiellement les priorités.
(22) As for subsidies, basically, with the exception of those covered by particular
agreements – which we hope will be the case as far as steel and aircraft are
concerned – subsidies generally are covered. (DEP, E source)
Quant aux subventions, elles seront, en principe, couvertes par l’accord, à
l’exception de celles prévues par des accords particuliers, notamment, nous
l’espérons, dans les secteurs de la sidérurgie et de l’aéronautique.
The second semantic group includes equivalents which express that the assertion
applies “predominantly to the part focused” (Quirk et al. 1985: §8.116, their italics).
Quirk et al. refer to these as ‘particularizers’. The class in English includes adverbs
such as chiefly, especially, largely, mainly, particularly, primarily, principally, etc. It is
interesting to note that French equivalents of basically and especially of essentially are
found in this class. The difference between this semantic class and that of ‘essence’
is that particularizers focus on the pragmatic implicature of stating that something
is true ‘in principle’, which is that it is not true or not true to the same extent in all
respects. Particularizers single out specific cases in which the truth of the assertion
applies ‘more’ than in other cases. Here are two examples with such equivalents.