A phrasal construction for an ˋˋex quō libet falsum'' inference

Abstract

The paper looks at the German constructional idiom ``wenn S dann bin ich der Kaiser von China'' `if S then I am the Emperor of China', which is used to express 'I strongly reject the idea that S.' It is argued that this expression should be treated as an idiosyncratic construction. At the same time, all its properties seem to be fully regular. The only idiosyncrasy lies in the obligatory combination of syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic constraints. This makes the expression an interesting test case for (i) the interaction of different modules of grammar, and (ii) our understanding of the interaction of regularity and idiosyncrasy in language.