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The verbal imperative in Brazilian capitals: An analysis of data from the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil Project

  • Josane Moreira de Oliveira
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Wh-exclamatives, Imperatives and Wh-questions
This chapter is in the book Wh-exclamatives, Imperatives and Wh-questions

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the variable realization of the verbal imperative in Brazilian Portuguese, that can be produced with the indicative or the subjunctive forms. We present a dialectological and sociolinguistic panorama of the realization of the verbal imperative, based on data collected across the country by the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil Project (ALiB). We aim to map the variable use of imperative forms in Brazilian Portuguese; to analyze the relationship between this use and the social variables gender, age bracket, and schooling of the informants; and to analyze the role of some linguistic variables (sentence polarity, number of syllables in the verb, verbal paradigm, and verb) that place constraints on the choice of variants. Specifically, in this text, we present the results of the analysis of data from Brazilian state capitals, revealing that the phenomenon is configured as variable, and there is a still productive use of the imperative associated with the subjunctive form.

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the variable realization of the verbal imperative in Brazilian Portuguese, that can be produced with the indicative or the subjunctive forms. We present a dialectological and sociolinguistic panorama of the realization of the verbal imperative, based on data collected across the country by the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil Project (ALiB). We aim to map the variable use of imperative forms in Brazilian Portuguese; to analyze the relationship between this use and the social variables gender, age bracket, and schooling of the informants; and to analyze the role of some linguistic variables (sentence polarity, number of syllables in the verb, verbal paradigm, and verb) that place constraints on the choice of variants. Specifically, in this text, we present the results of the analysis of data from Brazilian state capitals, revealing that the phenomenon is configured as variable, and there is a still productive use of the imperative associated with the subjunctive form.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I: Wh-Exclamatives
  5. Exclamatives: An overview 23
  6. On the role of IP-related functional categories in the derivation of wh-exclamatives 53
  7. “What a great paper!”: A semantic analysis of wh-exclamatives with predicates of personal taste 85
  8. Copular exclamatives and gender agreement 117
  9. The perception of wh-exclamatives, free small clauses, and wh-questions in Brazilian Portuguese 143
  10. Part II: Imperatives
  11. Imperative clauses 173
  12. The verbal imperative in Brazilian capitals: An analysis of data from the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil Project 227
  13. Past imperatives 255
  14. Imperative sentences and their subjects 283
  15. Part III: Wh-questions
  16. A framework for the study of Romance wh-questions, with special reference to Italo-Romance 315
  17. Using semantic inferences to distinguish between free relative and embedded questions: An analysis of ambiguous embedded clauses 359
  18. The left-peripheral syntax of Brazilian Portuguese cadê 387
  19. Aspects of the development of wh-questions in child Brazilian Portuguese 409
  20. Wh-questions, intervention effects and beyond: An assessment of Brazilian Portuguese-speaking schoolchildren’s linguistic abilities 441
  21. Subject index 461
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111183176-008

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I: Wh-Exclamatives
  5. Exclamatives: An overview 23
  6. On the role of IP-related functional categories in the derivation of wh-exclamatives 53
  7. “What a great paper!”: A semantic analysis of wh-exclamatives with predicates of personal taste 85
  8. Copular exclamatives and gender agreement 117
  9. The perception of wh-exclamatives, free small clauses, and wh-questions in Brazilian Portuguese 143
  10. Part II: Imperatives
  11. Imperative clauses 173
  12. The verbal imperative in Brazilian capitals: An analysis of data from the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil Project 227
  13. Past imperatives 255
  14. Imperative sentences and their subjects 283
  15. Part III: Wh-questions
  16. A framework for the study of Romance wh-questions, with special reference to Italo-Romance 315
  17. Using semantic inferences to distinguish between free relative and embedded questions: An analysis of ambiguous embedded clauses 359
  18. The left-peripheral syntax of Brazilian Portuguese cadê 387
  19. Aspects of the development of wh-questions in child Brazilian Portuguese 409
  20. Wh-questions, intervention effects and beyond: An assessment of Brazilian Portuguese-speaking schoolchildren’s linguistic abilities 441
  21. Subject index 461
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