Non-Topicalized Preverbal Subjects in Brazilian Portuguese, Compared to Italian

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_article_1100
dc.title	Non-Topicalized Preverbal Subjects in Brazilian Portuguese, Compared to Italian
dc.contributor.author	Cardinaletti Anna
dc.contributor.author	Quarezemin Sandra
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing
dc.type	Research Article
dc.language.iso	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/annali-di-ca-foscari-serie-occidentale/2017/1/non-topicalized-preverbal-subjects-in-brazilian-po/
dc.description.abstract	This paper investigates the syntax of non-topicalized preverbal subjects in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). In BP, both locative PPs and locative DPs can occur in preverbal position: Na escola do Pedro aceita cartão de crédito; A escola do Pedro aceita cartão de crédito. In the latter case, the verb agrees with the locative. In BP, it is also possible to find non-argument constituents triggering verbal agreement, as in Essa estante cabe muitos livros. These sentences have been analysed as innovative constructions restricted to BP. This paper shows that some of the above structures are also present in other languages, e.g. Italian; not all of them are therefore innovative constructions of BP, and subcases need to be differentiated. The hypothesis is that sentences with preverbal non-argumental subjects have the same syntax as sentences with argumental subjects. What seems to occur in some cases is a modification in the verb thematic grid. We interpret BP’s “flexible diathesis” patterns as revealing that in this grammar, a variety of verbs have undergone a modification of their thematic grid which their counterparts in European Portuguese and other Romance languages did not.
dc.relation.ispartof	Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie occidentale
dc.relation.ispartof	Vol. 51 \| September 2017
dc.issued	2017-09-28
dc.dateAccepted	2017-04-25
dc.dateSubmitted	2017-03-13
dc.identifier.issn
dc.identifier.eissn	2499-1562
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.identifier.doi	10.14277/2499-1562/AnnOc-51-17-19
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	Agreement
dc.subject	Agreement
dc.subject	Brazilian Portuguese
dc.subject	Brazilian Portuguese
dc.subject	Locative preverbal subjects
dc.subject	Locative preverbal subjects
dc.subject	Syntax
dc.subject	Syntax

Research Article
open access peer reviewed

Sandra Quarezemin Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina/CNPq, Brasil

Anna Cardinaletti Università Ca' Foscari

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abstract

This paper investigates the syntax of non-topicalized preverbal subjects in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). In BP, both locative PPs and locative DPs can occur in preverbal position: Na escola do Pedro aceita cartão de crédito; A escola do Pedro aceita cartão de crédito. In the latter case, the verb agrees with the locative. In BP, it is also possible to find non-argument constituents triggering verbal agreement, as in Essa estante cabe muitos livros. These sentences have been analysed as innovative constructions restricted to BP. This paper shows that some of the above structures are also present in other languages, e.g. Italian; not all of them are therefore innovative constructions of BP, and subcases need to be differentiated. The hypothesis is that sentences with preverbal non-argumental subjects have the same syntax as sentences with argumental subjects. What seems to occur in some cases is a modification in the verb thematic grid. We interpret BP’s “flexible diathesis” patterns as revealing that in this grammar, a variety of verbs have undergone a modification of their thematic grid which their counterparts in European Portuguese and other Romance languages did not.

Published

Sept. 28, 2017

Accepted

April 25, 2017

Submitted

March 13, 2017

Language

Keywords: Brazilian Portuguese • Agreement • Locative preverbal subjects • Syntax

permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/2499-1562/AnnOc-51-17-19

Copyright: © 2017 Sandra Quarezemin, Anna Cardinaletti. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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