A sintaxe dos advérbios altos, mediais e baixos no português do Brasil: uma análise cartográfica

Abstract

This study assumes that AdvPs are specifiers of functional projections that are rigidly ordered and constitute the Universal Hierarchy (UH) (Cinque, 1999). Within the UH, a distinction is drawn between high, medial, and low AdvPs, which display different syntactic and semantic properties across natural languages. Against this background, the general aim of this dissertation is to contribute to the description of adverbial syntax in natural languages. Specifically, it seeks to (i) identify restrictions on the modification and linearization of high, medial, and low adverbs from Cinque’s (1999) UH in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) sentences with inflected thematic verbs, (ii) investigate the interpretations triggered by high, medial, and low adverbs when occurring in different positions in such sentences, (iii) propose new diagnostic tests for high, medial, and low adverbs, and (iv) examine items that qualify as candidates for high, medial, and low adverbs in BP. Grammaticality Judgments are adopted as the methodological tool of this dissertation. The results related to the first two objectives indicate that AdvPs in the UH may be underspecified with respect to the criterial feature they bear. In the class of high AdvPs, francamente ‘frankly’ is compatible with [+declarative] and [+manner], uma vez ‘once’ with [+past] and [+repetition], and então ‘then’ with [+future], [+evidential], and [+frame]. Among medial AdvPs, normalmente ‘normally’ combines [+habitual] and [+manner], tendencialmente ‘tendentially’ [+tendential] and [+manner], novamente ‘again’ [+event repetition] and [+process repetition], frequentemente ‘frequently’ [+event frequency] and [+process frequency], com gosto ‘willingly’ [+volition] and [+manner], and rapidamente ‘quickly’ [+event acceleration] and [+process acceleration]. Low AdvPs are likewise shown to be compatible with more than one feature, namely agora mesmo ‘just now’ [+retrospection] and [+approximation], brevemente ‘shortly’ [+duration] and [+approximation], quase ‘almost’ [+prospection] and [+completiveness], and bem ‘well’ [+evaluation] and [+manner]. Four diagnostic tests are proposed to identify these readings (Cancellation, Substitution, Entailment, and Co-occurrence), complemented by two criteria for manner readings (paraphrasability with “an X manner” and precedence). From a derivational perspective, features of projections hierarchically higher than TAnteriorP in the UH are checked by simple Merge, whereas features of lower projections are checked via verb movement and VP phrasal movement. Finally, with respect to the third and fourth objectives, the results support a tripartite conception of the UH, in which high, medial, and low AdvPs constitute distinct natural classes with respect to their syntactic behavior, further distinguished by the Elliptical Answer Test, the Direct Modification of Nouns Test, and the Direct Modification of Gradable APs Test, thereby contributing to the view of adverbs as a derived and heterogeneous class.