Cover not available

In:Recent Developments in Functional Discourse Grammar
Edited by Evelien Keizer and Hella Olbertz
[Studies in Language Companion Series 205] 2018
► pp. 207–232

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Subject expression in Brazilian Portuguese

 | Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul
Published online: 22 November 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.205.07deo
Abstract
This chapter analyzes the expression of subjects with identifiable referents in Brazilian Portuguese, using the multi-level architecture of Functional Discourse Grammar (Hengeveld & Mackenzie 2008) and the notions of transparency and opacity as conceived of by this theory. The aim of the chapter is to show that in regard to subject expression, Brazilian Portuguese grammar may be developing into a more transparent system in comparison to its earlier stages and other Romance languages. It is shown that in many cases there is no verbal morphology to cross-reference the argument on the predicate with subjects being expressed by means of a single morphosyntactic unit; since this morphological unit corresponds to single units at higher levels of representation, subject expression involves a one-to-one relation between levels, resulting in a transparent system.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Subject expression in Romance languages
    • 2.1Subject in Romance
    • 2.2Subjects in Brazilian Portuguese
  • 3.Transparency and opacity
  • 4.Data and results
    • 4.1The sample
    • 4.2Transparency in Brazilian Portuguese subject expression
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Corpora
References (44)
References
Amaral, Patricia M. & Schwenter, Scott. 2005. Contrast and the (non)occurrence of subject pronouns. In Selected Proceedings of the 7th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, David Eddington (ed.), 116–127. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barbosa, Pilar, Duarte, Maria Eugênia & Kato, Mary A. 2005. Null subjects in European and Brazilian Portuguese. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics 4: 11–52.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cameron, Richard. 1992. Pronominal and Null Subject Variation in Spanish. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Costa, Armanda & Matos, Gabriela. 2012. Processamento da correferência e sujeitos anafóricos – dados sobre o português europeu e brasileiro. Revista Linguística 8(2): 196–220.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
D’Alessandro, Roberta. 2014. The null subject parameter. Where are we and where are we headed? <[URL]>
Duarte, Maria Eugênia 1993. Do pronome nulo ao pronome pleno: A trajetória do sujeito no português do Brasil. In Português brasileiro: uma viagem diacrônica. Homenagem a Fernando Tarallo, Ian Roberts & Mary A. Kato (eds), 107–129. Campinas: Editora da Unicamp.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1995. A perda do princípio “evite pronome” no português brasileiro. PhD dissertation, Unicamp, Campinas.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2000. The loss of the avoid pronoun principle in Brazilian Portuguese. In Brazilian Portuguese and the Null Subject Parameter, Mary A. Kato & Esmeralda V. Negrão (eds), 17–36. Frankfurt: Vervuert.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2008. O sujeito de referência indeterminada em sentenças infinitivas. Revista do GEL 5(1): 9–30.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duarte, Maria Eugênia & Varejão, Filomena. 2013. Null subjects and agreement marks in European and Brazilian Portuguese. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics 12(2): 101–123.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García Velasco, Daniel, Hengeveld, Kees & Mackenzie, J. Lachlan. 2012. Epilogue: Dynamic morphosyntax in Functional Discourse Grammar. Language Sciences 34: 491–498.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Givón, Talmy. 1976. Topic, pronoun and grammatical agreement. In Subject and Topic, Charles Li & Sandra Thompson (eds), 151–188. New York NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd & Song, K. 2011. On the grammaticalization of personal pronouns. Journal of Linguistics 47(3): 587–630.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hengeveld, Kees. 2012. Referential markers and agreement markers in Functional Discourse Grammar. Language Sciences 34: 468–479.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011a. Introduction: Transparency in Functional Discourse Grammar. Linguistics in Amsterdam 4(2): 1–22.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011b. Epilogue: Degrees of transparency. Linguistics in Amsterdam 4(2): 110–114.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hengeveld, Kees & Mackenzie, J. Lachlan. 2008. Functional Discourse Grammar: A Typologically-Based Theory of Language Structure. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaiser, Georg A. 2009. Losing the null subject. A contrastive study of Brazilian Portuguese and Medieval French. In Proceedings of the Workshop “Null-Subjects, Expletives, and Locatives in Romance” [Arbeitspapier 123], Georg A. Kaiser & Eva Maria Remberger (eds), 131–156. Konstanz: Fachbereich Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Konstanz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kato, Mary A. & Duarte, Maria Eugênia 2014. Restrições na distribuição de sujeitos nulos no português brasileiro. Veredas: Sintaxe das Línguas Brasileiras 18(1): 1–22.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kato, Mary A. 2000. The partial pro-drop nature and the restricted VS order in Brazilian Portuguese. In Brazilian Portuguese and the Null Subject Parameter, Mary A. Kato & Esmeralda Negrão (eds), 223–258. Frankfurt: Vervuert.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leufkens, Sterre. 2015. Transparency in Language: A Typological Study. Utrecht: LOT Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lopes, Celia R. S. 2003. A inserção de ‘a gente’ no quadro pronominal do português [Lingüística Iberoamericana 18], Frankfurt/Madrid: Vervuert/Iberoamericana.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1999. A inserção de a gente no quadro pronominal do português: Percurso histórico. PhD dissertation, UFRJ Rio de Janeiro.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1993. Nós e a gente no português falado culto do Brasil. MA thesis, UFRJ Rio de Janeiro.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lopes, Celia R. S. & Machado, Ana Carolina 2005. Tradição e inovação: Indícios do sincretismo entre segunda e terceira pessoas nas cartas dos avós. In Norma brasileira em construção: Fatos lingüísticos em cartas pessoais do século XIX, Celia R. S. Lopes (ed.), 45–66. Rio de Janeiro: Pós-Graduação em Letras Vernáculas/FAPERJ.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lopes, Celia R. S. & Duarte, Maria Eugênia 2003. De vossa mercê a você: Análise da pronominalização de nominais em peças brasileiras e portuguesas setecentistas e oitocentistas. In Análise contrastiva de variedades do português: Primeiros estudos, Silvia F. Brandão & Maria Antónia Mota (eds), 61–76. Rio de Janeiro: In-Fólio.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lucchesi, Dante. 2014. A simplificação morfológica na expressão do sujeito indeterminado no português afro-brasileiro. Revista Linguística 10(1): 217–298.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Machado Viera, Marcia dos S. 1997. Sujeitos pronominais “nós” e “a gente” em dialetos populares. Graphos 2(1): 5–22.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mayol, Laia. 2010. Contrastive pronouns in null-subject Romance languages. Lingua 120: 2497–2514.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Menon, Odete. 2000. Pronome de segunda pessoa no sul do Brasil: Tu/você/o senhor em Vinhas da Ira. Letras de hoje 35(1): 121–164.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mithun, Marianne. 1990. Third person reference and the function of pronouns in Central Pomo natural speech. International Journal of American Linguistics 56: 361–376.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Olbertz, Hella. 2017. O sujeito nulo nas línguas românicas: Uma abordagem discursivo-funcional. Paper read at the Congresso Internacional da ABRALIN, Niterói.
Posio, Pekka. 2013. Expression of first person singular subjects in spoken Peninsular Spanish and European Portuguese: Semantic roles and formulaic sequences. Folia Linguistica 47(1): 253–291.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rizzi, Luigi. 1986. Null objects in Italian and the theory of pro. Linguistic Inquiry 17: 501–557.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rubio, Cassio F. 2008. A concordância verbal na região noroeste do Estado de São Paulo. MA thesis, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São José do Rio Preto.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scherre, Maria M. & Naro, Antony. 2006. Mudança sem mudança: A concordância de número no português brasileiro. Scripta 9/18: 109–131.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scherre, Maria M., Dias, Edilene Patrícia, Andrade, Carolina & Martins, Germano Ferreira. 2015. Variação dos pronomes tu e você. In Mapeamento sociolinguístico do português brasileiro, Marco A. Martins & Jussara Abraçado (eds), 133–172. São Paulo: Contexto.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siewierska, Anna. 2004. Person. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Silva-Corvalán, Carmen. 2003. Otra mirada a la expresión del sujeto como variable sintáctica. In Lengua, variación y contexto: Estudios dedicados a Humberto López Morales, Vol. 2, Francisco Moreno Fernández, José Antonio Samper Padilla, María Vaquero, María Luz Gutiérrez Araus, César Hernández Alonso & Francisco Gimeno-Menéndez (eds), 849–860. Madrid: Arco/Libros.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Veríssimo, Victor. 2017. A evolução do conceito de parâmetro do sujeito nulo. Entrepalavras 7(1): 76–90.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zilles, Anna. 2002. Grammaticalization of a gente in Brazilian Portuguese. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 8(3): 297–310.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corpora
Davies, Mark. & Ferreira, Michael. 2006. Corpus do Português: 45 Million Words, 1300s–1900s <[URL]>
Gonçalves, Sebastião Carlos Leite. 2003. Iboruna: Amostras eletrônicas do português falado no interior paulista. <[URL]>
Raso, Tomasso & Mello, Heliana. 2012. C-oral-Brasil I: Corpus de referência do português brasileiro falado informal. <[URL]>
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue