Topics in Brazilian Portuguese Syntax
Sonia Cyrino
Department of Linguistics
University of Campinas, Brazil
[email protected]
The course will provide an overview of some syntactic phenomena of
Romance languages (null subjects, null objects, clitic/non-clitic pronouns and
bare nominals) in their manifestation in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). The goal is
to make students familiar with these properties and the contribution the
analysis of BP syntax brings to their understanding and to syntactic theory.
This will be accomplished by looking at these specificities of BP from two
points of view. On the one hand, European Portuguese and other Romance
languages will be considered in comparison to BP and, on the other hand, the
diachronic development of these characteristics in BP will be explored as a
way of explaining their present syntax in the language.
Class 1: On null subjects
Brazilian Portuguese is not a Null Subject language as European Portuguese,
Italian and Spanish. Brazilian is not like French either, since null subjects are
allowed in certain contexts. In this class the main proposals to explain this
different behavior will be explored.
Class 2: The syntax of pronouns
Brazilian Portuguese, unlike European Portuguese and other Romance
languages, has lost some clitics. Besides, BP has generalized proclisis. In this
class, the pronominal system in Brazilian Portuguese will be presented
alongside its diachrony.
Class 3: The null object
One of the consequences of the loss of third person clitics in BP is the
emergence of null objects. As such, there are specific properties that make
the null object in Brazilian Portuguese different from the phenomenon in other
languages. This class will deal with these topics.
Class 4: On bare nominals
Brazilian Portuguese has been known to allow Bare Nominals both in subject
and in object position, which makes it different from other Romance
languages. In this class the semantics/syntax of these elements will be
explored with reference to Spanish and Catalan.
Selected references
Cardinaletti, A. & M. Starke (1999). The typology of structural deficiency: A case
study of the three classes of pronouns. In H. van Riemsdijk (ed.). Clitics in the
Languages of Europe. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 145-233.
Cyrino, S. (1997) O objeto nulo no português do Brasil - um estudo sintáticodiacrônico. Londrina, Editora da UEL.
Cyrino, S. & Espinal, M.T. (2011) Object bare nominals in Brazilian Portuguese:
more on the DP/NP analysis. Paper presented at the CSSP 2011, Paris.
Espinal, M.T. (2010). Bare nominals in Catalan and Spanish. Their structure and
meaning. Lingua 120, 984-1009.
Espinal, M.T. & J. Mateu (2011). Bare nominals and argument structure in Catalan
and Spanish. The Linguistic Review 28, 1-39.
Espinal, M.T. & L. McNally (2007). Bare singular nominals and incorporating verbs.
In G. Kaiser & M. Leonetti (eds.). Definiteness, Specificity and Animacy in IberoRomance Languages. Arbeitspapier 122, 4562. University of Konstanz.
Espinal, M.T. & L. McNally (2011). Bare nominals and incorporating verbs in Catalan
and Spanish. Journal of Linguistics 47, 87-128.
Galves, C. (2001)- Ensaios sobre a gramática do português brasileiro. Campinas,
Editora da Unicamp.
Kato, M. & Negrão, E. (2000) Brazilian Portuguese and the Null Subject Parameter.
Madrid, Frankfurt: Iberoamericana/Vervuert.
Müller, A & F. Oliveira (2004) Bare Nominals and Number in Brazilian and European
Portuguese. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics 3(1): 1-30.
Roberts, I. & Kato, M. (1993) Português Brasileiro- uma viagem diacrônica.
Campinas, Pontes/Editora da Unicamp.
Schmitt, C. & A. Munn (1999). Against the Nominal Mapping Parameter: Bare Nouns
in Brazilian Portuguese. In P. Tamanji, M. Hirotani & N. Hall (eds.). Proceedings
of NELS 29, 339-353.