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Chapter 8. Clitic climbing in the speech of Braga and Lisbon

  • Pilar Barbosa , Maria da Conceição de Paiva and Kellen Cozine Martins
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Studies on Variation in Portuguese
This chapter is in the book Studies on Variation in Portuguese

Abstract

In European Portuguese, clitic pronouns can be attached to the highest verb in certain verbal clusters, a process known as clitic climbing (CC). According to some authors (Magro, 2005), CC is more productive in the Northern varieties of European Portuguese. In this chapter, we present and discuss the findings of a comparative analysis of Braga and Lisbon oral speech. Our main claim is that CC is a stable variation phenomenon. By means of a multivariate analysis, we show that CC is more frequent than attachment of the clitic to the infinitive in the two varieties. Moreover, we discuss evidence in favor of the claim that this syntactic variation presents the same configuration in both varieties: it is lexically constrained and not socially marked.

Abstract

In European Portuguese, clitic pronouns can be attached to the highest verb in certain verbal clusters, a process known as clitic climbing (CC). According to some authors (Magro, 2005), CC is more productive in the Northern varieties of European Portuguese. In this chapter, we present and discuss the findings of a comparative analysis of Braga and Lisbon oral speech. Our main claim is that CC is a stable variation phenomenon. By means of a multivariate analysis, we show that CC is more frequent than attachment of the clitic to the infinitive in the two varieties. Moreover, we discuss evidence in favor of the claim that this syntactic variation presents the same configuration in both varieties: it is lexically constrained and not socially marked.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. The study of variation in Portuguese 1
  4. Part 1. Variation within national varieties of Portuguese
  5. Chapter 1. Stressed vowels of European Portuguese in spontaneous speech 23
  6. Chapter 2. Glide insertion to break a hiatus across words in European Portuguese 49
  7. Chapter 3. Building a prosodic profile of European Portuguese varieties 81
  8. Chapter 4. The yes-no question contour in Brazilian Portuguese 111
  9. Chapter 5. “ Vocês tenham cuidado, sois educadas para isso” 135
  10. Chapter 6. Variable use of strong preterites 153
  11. Chapter 7. Conditions on variation in pre-nominal possessives in European Portuguese 177
  12. Chapter 8. Clitic climbing in the speech of Braga and Lisbon 199
  13. Chapter 9. Linguistic and social embedding of variable concord with 1st plural nós ‘we’ in Brazilian Portuguese 219
  14. Chapter 10. Analyzing a parametric change in Brazilian Portuguese 233
  15. Part 2. Variation across national varieties of Portuguese
  16. Chapter 11. Agreement in Portuguese 257
  17. Chapter 12. The Portuguese inflected infinitive across varieties 279
  18. Chapter 13. Dative variation in the Portuguese of São Tomé 301
  19. Chapter 14. Simple past with pluperfect interpretation 321
  20. Proper-name index 341
  21. Subject index 343
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.14.08bar

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. The study of variation in Portuguese 1
  4. Part 1. Variation within national varieties of Portuguese
  5. Chapter 1. Stressed vowels of European Portuguese in spontaneous speech 23
  6. Chapter 2. Glide insertion to break a hiatus across words in European Portuguese 49
  7. Chapter 3. Building a prosodic profile of European Portuguese varieties 81
  8. Chapter 4. The yes-no question contour in Brazilian Portuguese 111
  9. Chapter 5. “ Vocês tenham cuidado, sois educadas para isso” 135
  10. Chapter 6. Variable use of strong preterites 153
  11. Chapter 7. Conditions on variation in pre-nominal possessives in European Portuguese 177
  12. Chapter 8. Clitic climbing in the speech of Braga and Lisbon 199
  13. Chapter 9. Linguistic and social embedding of variable concord with 1st plural nós ‘we’ in Brazilian Portuguese 219
  14. Chapter 10. Analyzing a parametric change in Brazilian Portuguese 233
  15. Part 2. Variation across national varieties of Portuguese
  16. Chapter 11. Agreement in Portuguese 257
  17. Chapter 12. The Portuguese inflected infinitive across varieties 279
  18. Chapter 13. Dative variation in the Portuguese of São Tomé 301
  19. Chapter 14. Simple past with pluperfect interpretation 321
  20. Proper-name index 341
  21. Subject index 343
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