Portuguese syntax in constructional perspective: properties and challenges
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21165/el.v48i1.2179Keywords:
constructional approach, syntax, linguistic change, grammatical construcctionalization.Abstract
The constructional approach to grammar at the syntactic level of language, as well as its limits and challenges, is presented and discussed in this article; it is based on the theoretical framework of Usage-based Functional Linguistics, as presented by Traugott and Trousdale (2013) and Bybee (2010, 2015), among others. The starting point is the assumption that language is, at all its levels, a network of constructions, taken as a symbolic pairing of meaning and form, based on Goldberg (1995, 2006) and Croft (2001); such constructs establish vertical and horizontal relationships in the network. To demonstrate the constructional treatment in the syntactic level of Portuguese grammar, the textual connector construction was chosen, based on the [LocV]connect scheme, following Rocha’s (2016) research. This author, from a historical perspective, identifies and highlights the contextual micro-steps, or neonalyses, that led to the grammatical constructionalization [LocV]connect in the Portuguese grammar.Downloads
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