Cussing words back and forth: notes on the syntax and interpretability of some expressive items in Brazilian Portuguese

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31513/linguistica.2022.v18n1a52955

Keywords:

expressives, use-conditional, semantics, syntax

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate Brazilian Portuguese expressive items (EIs) that appear in the structures [D IE de DP] (“a merda das chaves”, the damn keys) and in its inverted version, i.e. with the expressive postponed to the characterized DP, [DP of EI] (“as chaves de merda”, the shitty keys). We present a brief inventory of EIs that exhibit this behavior, and then explore their interpretations. In conclusion, we argue, following Basso (2020), that the structure [D EI of DP] is exclusively use-conditional, with local and non-local interpretations, and that the structure [DP of EI] conveys mixed content (simultaneously veri- and conditional use), with an exclusively local interpretation.

Author Biographies

Marina Nishimoto Marques, Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar)

Graduada em Licenciatura em Letras - Português/Espanhol pela Universidade Federal de São Carlos e Mestre em Linguística pela mesma instituição. Atualmente, doutoranda no Programa de Pós-graduação em Linguística na mesma instituição.

Renato Miguel Basso, Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar)

Sou professor da Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), doutor e mestre em Linguística pela Unicamp. Minhas pesquisas se concentram na descrição de fenômenos linguísticos usando as ferramentas da semântica e pragmática formais. Pesquiso, principalmente, sobre a semântica do verbo e dos indexicais, entre outros temas, mas também tenho interesse em linguística história e epistemologia da linguística.
capa Revista Linguística v18 n1

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Published

2022-04-23

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2022): Studies in theory of grammar

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Articles

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