The polyfunctionality of "mesmo" in contemporary European Portuguese
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/diacritica.5016Keywords:
mesmo, polyfunctionality, contemporary European PortugueseAbstract
The main goal of this paper is to contribute to a thorough knowledge of the semantic, syntactic and pragmatic behavior of the item "mesmo" in contemporary European Portuguese. It is assumed that grammatical categories are flexible and there are regular inter-categorial transitions, when the research focus is the usage of language. It is also assumed that the meanings of a polyfunctional lexical item are related through ‘family resemblances’, with partial overlaps. The data analyzed in this paper were collected from CETEMPúblico, an on-line written corpus. The results of the research indicate that "mesmo" may behave as an adjective (even though a non-prototypical one), as an adverb and as an inter-clausal connective. As an adjective, we describe its external and internal dependent uses; as an adverb, two different subtypes were identified: an inclusive focus adverb and an intensifier adverb, modifying the illocutionary force of the utterance. As a connective, we highlight its contribution to the semantics of concessive constructions. In the last section of the paper, there is an attempt to relate the different values of the item.
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