Construções de movimento fictivo em Português do Brasil: cognição e corpus

Abstract

The present work aims at describing and analyzing the Fictive Motion Constructions of Brazilian Portuguese(FMC) such as “A Estrada vaiaté a praça…” and “A veiapercorretoda a extensão do braço…”. These constructions use a motion verb with a static theme. As theoretical basis we use the constructs of Cognitive Linguistics (TALMY, 2000; LANGACKER, 1987, 1999, 2008; FAUCONNIER, 1997; FAUCONNIER; TURNER, 2002) and the Usage–based Models of Grammar (LANGACKER, 1987, 1999, 2008; GOLDBERG, 1995, 2006; GOLDBERG; JACKENDOFF, 2004). For methodology, we chose Corpus Linguistics instruments (SARDINHA, 2004; SILVA, 2008) that provided conditions for the construction of a specific corpus, containing 536 examples of FM constructions. The analysisledustotwomain formal patterns: (1) [XNPSYVM (ZPP)] (...o cabelo(NPS)ia(VM)até o pé(PP)) e (2) [XNPS YVM ZNP] (A artéria vertebral(NPS) (...) percorre(VM)o restante da coluna(NP)). The first one and its variations presented 34 types and 372 occurrences; the second one, and its variations, 16 types and 164 occurrences. It’s assumed thatCMFs cognitive motivation comes from conceptual blending processes which integrate an experience of motion domain to a visual domain related to the extension described. This integration promotes a visual scanning of this extension. The conceptual motivation allows the FMC to evocate, in its semantic–pragmatic pole, a space qualifier conceptual matrix which focuses on area, dimension, location, shape, position and direction domains. In pragmatic dimension, FM constructions have descriptive function and make possible the mental reconstruction of static scenes. About discursive environment, we found great number of FMC in genres academic and fiction. They are also related to conversational topics such as anatomy, tourism, geography, urbanism, construction, clothing and routes explanations, because these topics have, as its central subject, trajectories or extensions conceptualized as trajectories. Therefore, our analysis locates FMC as a specific construction standard inside the construction network of Brazilian Portuguese. Besides, our work aims at contributing for the description of a new construction network, related to movement verbs. The analysis of FMC brings out the role of conceptual blending at new constructions building. It also attests the relevance of Cognitive Linguistics embodied language approachand the vision of language as an inventory of constructions shaped in discourse.