(Inter)subjectification in the constructionalization process of the construction [por conta de(x) “on account of(x)”]causal in Portuguese:

a diachronic analysis

Abstract

From the analysis of 437 data representing eight centuries of the Portuguese Language (13th century to the 20th century), we investigated the process of linguistic change that gave rise to the causal construction [por conta de(X) “on account of (X)”]. This study adopted an analytical perspective that considers the intersubjective nature of language (Traugott, 2010; 2014). The investigation undertaken have revealed that the property of establishing a causal relationship between two nominal terms emerges in the language in the 16th century, based on a process of semantic abstraction that emerged in the previous century. Until this period, the construction was used only in its concrete sense, to mark relationships related to the universe of economics. In the 15th century, there is a semantic expansion via subjectification that extended the meanings of the construction to the field of social relations. In the following century, the subjectified construction started to encode meanings centered on the interlocutor via intersubjectication, process responsible for the consecration of linguistic change.