Portuguese Syntax 5
Subjunctives and Infinitives
1. Morphology
subjunctive and infinitive both inherited from Latin
• subjunctive extended morphologically (future subjunctive) but restricted syntactically
• infinitive extended morphologically and syntactically: personal infinitive; infinitive as
principal nominal form of the verb (cp Latin gerund, gerundive, participles)
2. Mood / Modo (conjuntivo, infinitivo)
a) labels for verb forms (like tense labels)
indicativo-imperativo-conjuntivo-infinitivo-condicional
(but cf. Cunha & Cintra - infinitivo = "forma nominal do verbo").
b) modality - "the speaker's committment with respect to the factual status of what he is
saying" (Lyons).
e.g. interrogative (question), volitive (wish), jussive (command), optative (hope),
dubitative (doubt) etc.
modality is expressed by
a) auxiliary and semi-auxiliary verbs (poder, dever, querer, haver de)
b) semantic content of main verbs (perguntar, mandar, esperar, crer, duvidar,
estranhar-se) and predicative adjectives (possível, provável)
c) adverbs (talvez, possivelmente)
d) verb form (indicative-imperative-subjunctive)
3. Syntactic structures
Subjunctives and infinitives are found in specific types of complementation structures:
• infinitives have no overt complementiser and are dependent on a higher sentence or
auxiliary verb for whatever person-number, tense-aspect values (if any) they have ;
• subjunctives require complementisers.
VP
V
CP
Spec
Comp'
Comp
IP
Spec
I'
I
VP
V’
esperamos
esperamos
que
faça
fazer
NP
4. Subjunctive (EP conjuntivo BP subjuntivo)
Traditional problem: "what is the meaning of the subjunctive?"
i.e.
(i) Does the subjunctive have any meaning? (how do we define the meaning of a verb
form?).
(ii) If so, what is it (does it have one constant/basic meaning)?
Established functional/structural definition: "meaning implies choice", any form exclusively
required by rule is a servitude grammatical and thus redundant (meaningless in the sense of not
responsible for conveying meaning, even if it is strongly associated with the meanings expressed
in the contexts in which it occurs).
The meaningfulness of the subjunctive thus depends on the posssibility of contrasts between
subjunctive and indicative. These are much fewer in Romance than in Latin, where the
subjunctive was used as the main verb of conditional constructions, in modalised questions quid
facerem? = que faria eu?, and in indirect questions, as well as in purpose and result clauses (but
not temporal clauses) introduced by ut. This situation is partly continued in Old Portuguese,
where phrases such as quis Deus que, prougue a Deus que are more widely used in narrative:
Quis Deus que acharon o menino vivo
Quis a piedade de Deus que se mostrasse
a)
Subjunctive vs indicative in main clauses
imperative
faça, não faças vs. indicative
optative/volitive
oxalá; (que) venha cedo, quem soubesse
potential
Talvez...
Note that in every case (except the imperative) there is some modal element preceding the
subjunctive.
b)
Subjunctive excluding indicative in subordinate clauses
i) volition
quero que, mando que, desejo que
ii) doubt
não creio que
iii) necessity/
é preciso/possível/necessário que
probability/improbability..
iv) indefinite antecedents:
não há ninguém que saiba;
v) improbable and impossible conditions se tiver /tivesse /tivesse tido sorte
caso vier
vi) references to relative future tense:
quando/enquanto/até que ..
vii) idiomatic adverbial phrases: seja o que for ... quer chova, quer faça sol, saio.
viii) concessives:
embora / apesar de que ele tenha sorte, não aposto nele
ix) prepositional complements:
para que, sem que,
a não ser que, daí que, como que
x) subject clauses: não me importa que saibam
c)
Indicative-subjunctive contrasts in subordinate clauses:
i)
ambiguous modality
creio que esta/esteja aqui
of main verb
digo que se vai/se vá embora
ii)
ambiguous modality of conjunctions:
result vs. intention
de maneira que
iii)
specificity
a senhora que tem casa
uma senhora que tem casa
a senhora que tiver casa
uma senhora que tenha casa
Analysis: subjunctive is usually selected by concord with the modality of its governor (main
clause, complementiser). Main clause subjunctives could be analysed as subordinate clauses
dependent on an abstract (unrealised) main verb or modal complementiser.
The subjunctive has modal connotations consistent with its appearance in such contexts. It has
been labelled the mood of "non-assertion", of "subjective reservation", of hypothesis or
possibility. It is doubtful whether one formulation can in fact cover all its uses.
5. The future subjunctive
Is the Future Subjunctive a subjunctive? Its origin is in the Latin Future Perfect (which is why
verbs with irregular perfect stems (fazer - fizeram) have the same irregularity in the Future
Subjunctive (fizerem). It is restricted to subordinate clauses, but the determining context is
temporal rather than modal. The choice of Present vs. Future Subjunctive is determined partly
by time reference of governing conjunction
fut subj. = quando, se, depois que, enquanto: predicted events simultaneous with or
preceding future events referred to in a main clause. (In conforme, como, the relationship is
logical rather than temporal.)
pres subj. = antes que, até que, (enquanto não): possible events subsequent to (or
terminating) the future events referred to in the main clause
Conjunctions ambiguous in this respect (logo que, assim que, sempre que) allow both
subjunctives.
6. The Personal Infinitive
Once thought to derive historically from a Latin Imperfect Subjunctive reinterpreted as an
infinitive (linked with the derivation of the regular past subjunctive from the Latin pluperfect
subjunctive):
Placuit nobis ut faceremos
Prougue (que) nos fazermos... (vs prougue que fezessemos)
More likely to be an independent development of the infinitive, used more and more as a
nominal form of the verb, aided by the emergence of the future subjunctive (in regular verbs)
analysable as infinitive + personal endings. Both forms are found in Portuguese from the earliest
texts, so that there is no evidence for any intermediate stages.
Picandon, por vós vos muito loardes
non vo-lo catarán por cortesia
nen por entrardes na tafularia
nen por beverdes nen por pelejardes:
e se vos esto contaren por prez
nunca Nostro Senhor tan cortês fez
como vós sodes, se o ben catardes. (Joan Soares Coelho)
What is so unique about the personal infinitive?
a) infinitive with specified subject (found in many languages)
b) infinitive inflected for person/number (rare, and syntactically problematic)
The infinitive as nominal form of the verb can replace subordinate and nominal clauses,
neutralising contrasts of mood. The personal infinitive permits this to occur in a wider range of
contexts than in other languages.
Convoquei a reunião para falar (falarmos-falares-falarem) deste assunto
Conversely, it creates redundancies where the subject of the infinitive is predictable or explicit.
Obrigou os meninos a voltar(em)
Será difícil eles aprovarem a proposta vs É-nos difícil aprovar(mos) a proposta
BP is more restrictive than EP on range of contexts allowing personal infinitives as
complements:
Lamento os amigos terem recebido pouco dinheiro (EP, BP)
Afirmo os deputados terem trabalhado pouco (EP, BP?)
Desejava terem os deputados trabalhado mais (EP, BP??)
Eles aprovarem a proposta será difícil (EP, BP*)
(BP seems to require that the subject of the infinitive should be in the position of the object of the
main clause verb.)
Reading:
B. Comrie and H. Holmback `The future subjunctive in Portuguese: a problem in Semantic
theory', Lingua, 63, 1984, 213-253.
H. Sten, L'emploi des temps en portugais moderne Copenhagen 1973
M.M. Azevedo O subjuntivo em português
T. Maurer Jr. O infinito flexionado português 1968 (Part 2)
H. Sten `L'infinito impessoal et l'infinito pessoal en portugais moderne', Boletim de Filologia,
13, 83-142, 201-256.
A. Brakel, `Infinitives, subjects, word-order and case in Portuguese and Spanish', Hispania, 63,
1980, 85-91
K-K. Korner, `Infinito flexionado e classificação das línguas', in Herculano de Carvalho &
Schmidt-Radefeld Estudos de Linguística Portuguesa 1984.
(Advanced)
E. Raposo 'Case Theory and Infl-to-Comp: the inflected infinitive in European Portuguese',
Linguistic Inquiry, 18, 1987, 85-109
M. Painter 'The inflected infinitive in Brazilian Portuguese' Language Quarterly, 29, 1991, 146