Os sintagmas determinantes nus objetos [+específicos] [+ definidos] no português afro brasileiro de Helvécia.

Abstract

This thesis studies the determiner phrase (DP) in object position in the Afro-Brazilian Portuguese of Helvécia (PABH), combining the generative-descriptive theoretical approach and labovian variationist sociolinguistics. The variation in use of DPs with and without a determiner in this variety of Portuguese was systematized and described in a corpus of 18 stratified interviews in three age groups and both genders: group 1 - speakers between 20 and 40 years of age; group 2 - speakers between 41 and 60 years; and group 3 - speakers ≥ 65 years. By means of the quantified data, the profile of the variation presented by the three age groups was traced. The analysis showed that in PABH, as in wider Brazilian Portuguese, the use of a singular DP is allowed, yet is freer in PABH, where it can have a [+ Specific] [+ Definite] reading. The older generations of the community would have acquired a system for marking definiteness and referentiality different from that of Brazilian Portuguese, due to the situation of linguistic contact prevalent in the community in the mid-nineteenth century. For the data analysis, two statistical programs were used: a) the TVARB; and b) Goldvarb-X. The first one observed the behavior of all three variants of the dependent variable: the definite article, demonstrative and zero determiner. The second program was used to guarantee more rigor in the results by way of significance tests. In the analysis performed by Goldvarb-X, the factor groups age group, presence of other material that confers referentiality, familiarity and number notion in the DP were identified as influential in the use of zero determiner. The age group revealed a more conservative use by the older speakers in age group 3 (with preference for the null determiner), a transient behavior in age group 2 (with preference for the demonstrative), and a use closer to that of general PB among the speakers of age group 1 (with preference for the definite article). This profile points to an ongoing change in the PABH definiteness marking system. However, the relevance of the group presence of other material that confers referentiality reflects the multifunctional character of DPs in PABH, pointing to the importance of the interface between the grammatical and extra-grammatical levels to derive correct interpretations, thus enabling the [+ Specific] [+ Defined] reading. The variable familiarity reveals the role of pragmatics in the use of the null determiner and the group number notion in the DP confirms the relation between the singular DP and the use of the null determiner.