A reflection on the paradigm of deverbal names with the suffixes -ção and -mento in Contemporary Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the paradigm of the deverbal names with the suffixes -ção and -mento in Contemporary Brazilian Portuguese (PBC), from studies carried out by Basílio (1987) and Rio-Torto (1998). To observe the phenomena of productivity, lexicalization, and blockages involving the paradigm of the formation of names in -ção and -mento in PBC, a group of derived words with the suffixes focused on the same base of the total of words with these suffixes were selected, that were found in the Houaiss Electronic Dictionary of the Portuguese Language. Subsequently, from this group, we analyzed the pairs of words of the same base formed with the selected suffixes, and thus we searched the LabLEX (Laboratory of Lexicographic Studies at UNESP) database for all contexts in which words ending with -ção and -mento occur. In this opportunity, we will present a total of 19 pairs of words derived in -ção and -mento with two examples of contexts in which each one occurs. From this sample of names and their use, we intend to observe the main differences that occur when we have two words derived in -ção and -mento from the same base in the PCB.