Aqui, ali, aí e lá no DP no português rural afro-brasileiro deHelvécia-BA.

Abstract

In this study, we describe the syntactic and semantic uses of the lexical items “aqui”, “ali”, “aí” and “lá”, in the determiner phrase (DP) based on data collected from the Afro-Brazilian rural community of Helvécia/BA. The data was quantified in order to delineate the distribution and productivity of the use of “aqui,” “ali,” “aí” and “lá” as a marker of deictic relations and as a marker of specificity. Both in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and in European Portuguese (EP), these elements can used mark deictic relations, indicating proximity to the speaker, “aqui”; proximity to the listener, “aí”; medial distance to the speaker and the listener, “ali”; remote distance to the speaker and listener, “lá”. In the analyzed data, we describe the existence of two systems of deiticity: the first one, observed in the data of the informants in Age Group 3 (more that 60 years), is composed of only on demonstrative, “esse”, which cooccurs with “aqui”/”ali” and “lá”, marking, respectively, opposition of proximity and distal; in the second, characteristic of the informants of the Age Groups 1 and 2 (from 18 to 60 years), there is a possibility of using two demonstratives, “esse” e “aquele”, marking opposition of [+ proximity] and [- proximity] and the reinforcers mark contrastive oppositions in relation to the person of the discourse, speaker / listener, or distancing type. However, in addition to the deitic use, in BP, “aí” and “lá” can be used to indicate a specific reference in undefined DP, as, for exemple, in the sentence “Cátia precisa vencer uma atleta aí para ser campeã” (Mary must win an specific athlete to be champion). In this sentence “aí” acts as a marker of specificity on the DP, marking a specific reference that needs to be overcome. Specificity occurs when the speaker intends to refer to a single individual in the group denoted by the NP, considering that that individual has some notable property. We don’t observe records of the use of initially locative elements acting as markers os specificity in EP and in others Romance languages, then we have the objective to verify a possible influence of linguistic contact in the period of colonization of Brazil. We present them items based on studies of BP, EP an African languages that were brought to Brazil such as Kwa languages, mainly the Gbe subgroup, and the bantu languages, mainly the languages spoken in Angola, as Kimbundu and Umbundo. In Kimbundu, for exemple, there is a pre-nominal marker of specificity and, in the Gungbe, the articles are post-nominal and mark specificity, opposing definiteness. A similar process to what occurred in the BP of Helvécia can be seen in comparison with the creoles languages, as Haitian Creole and as Mauritian Creole, languages formed from the situation of contact, having French as the language of superstrate, where there is, respectively, a post-nominal specificity marker, both from an initially locative lexical item, là. From these analyzes, we can confirm the hypothesis that the uses of “aqui”, “ali”, “aí” and “lá”, as markers of specificity in the Helvecia dialect, are possible results of a situation of contact in a context of generalized multilinguism. We analyze the data separately, reinforcers and specifiers, considering linguistic factors related to both uses, and extralinguistic, such as age range and schooling. We observed that these elements act normally with deictic functions, in co-occurrence with demonstratives. Concerning specificity, we describe that aí” and “lá” are more used with this function that “aqui” and “ali” and the marking of specificity tends to be performed in indefinite structures, but there is possibility of use in defined structures. We observe that the internal structure of the DP (DET[+DEF] / DET[-DEF] / DEM / NOME NU / PRON) has shown to be a conditioning factor for the use of a marker of deictic relations or a marker of specificity. The study of Afrodescendant speech help on the understanding of the emergency process of a marker of specificity and as well as providing a database for analyzing these phenomena in other languages.