Ricerc@Sapienza

In German, a two-part connective is widely used consisting of the particle "zwar" and an adversative or concessive correlate ("er ist zwar untreu, aber / dennoch /... ist er ein guter Vater"). In literature "zwar" is seen as performing two functions: as downgrader it weakens an argument; as anticipator it refers cataphorically to a counterargument. However, "zwar" can also appear without correlate ("er ist zwar untreu, er ist ein guter Vater"). This construction is mostly seen as ungrammatical or interpreted as a deficit in performance, and has correspondingly received little attention.
We will show that in the language of the press the "solitary zwar" occurs regularly and fulfills different argumentative functions. In some cases the downgrader zwar refers cataphorically to a counterargument, and the construction can be interpreted as a simple ellipses of zwar...aber. Mostly however zwar has a pure anaphoric function (backward reference) or an anaphoric-cataphoric function (reference both to a preceding and a following counterargument).
We will also try to classify the solitary zwar in relation to different groups of connectives. On the one hand, the solitary "zwar" is seen in relation to the complex connectives containing "zwar" (not only "zwar...aber", but also "obzwar" and "und zwar"); it is shown that all constructions share significant characteristics. On the other hand, the solitary "zwar" is opposed to adversative-concessive connectives such as "aber" and "obwohl", showing to be on the borderline between coordination and subordination.