Parametric change in the grammatical encoding of indirect objects in Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract

This paper examines the syntax of indirect objects (IO) in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). Adopting a comparative perspective we propose that BP differs from European Portuguese (EP) in the grammatical encoding of IO. In EP ditransitive contexts, IO is found in two configurations -one projected by a (low) applicative head and another one involving a lexical/true preposition. We propose that the former property is contingent upon the presence of dative Case marking: namely, the morpheme 'a' that introduces IO (a-DP), whose corresponding clitic pronoun is 'lhe/lhes'. In contrast, important changes in the pronominal system, coupled with the increase in the use of the preposition 'para' are taken as evidence for the loss of the low applicative construction in BP. Thus only the configuration with the lexical/true preposition is found in (Standard) BP. We argue that the innovative properties of IO in BP are due to the loss of the (3rd person) dative clitic and the preposition 'a' as dative Case markers. Under this view, we further account for the realization of IO as a DP/weak pronoun, found in dialects of the central region of Brazil, which points to a similarity with the English Double Object Construction. Finally we show that the connection between the morphological expression of the dative Case and the expression of parameters supports a view of syntactic change according to which parametric variation is determined in the lexicon, in terms of the formal features of functional heads.Brought to you by | University of Iowa Libraries Authenticated Download Date | 6/2/15 2:09 AM

Two base generated structures for ditransitives in European Portuguese

“…We may then conclude that a in all the examples is the same dative case marker preposition, the same type of preposition. So, two different structures for ditransitive verbs on the basis of a possible non-synonymy between the two different variants of the ditransitive construction seem not justified, contrary to which is suggested by Torres Morais & Lima-Salles (2010). Moreover, a e para may co-occur with different meanings, a meaning the goal / origin and para meaning the beneficiary Gonçalves & Raposo 2013, 1177):…”

“…And is there a justification for an applicative head in this sort of dative construction? [16] In Brazilian Portuguese the dominant preposition is para (to, for); and in certain geographical and social varieties even the DOC may be used (see Torres Morais & Lima-Salles (2010). In Mozambique Portuguese the DOC is very common (see Gonçalves 1990Gonçalves , 2002Gonçalves , 2004; for a general presentation of the variation of the IO in non-European varieties of Portuguese see Brito (2008).…”

“…In Mozambique Portuguese the DOC is very common (see Gonçalves 1990Gonçalves , 2002Gonçalves , 2004; for a general presentation of the variation of the IO in non-European varieties of Portuguese see Brito (2008). [17] For details see Torres Morais & Lima-Salles (2010). [18] The treatment is similar with lhe (O João enviou-lhe uma carta, John sent him a letter) with subsequent movements that explain the final word order.…”

“…It is in this direction that the analysis by Torres Morais (2006) and Torres Morais & Lima-Salles (2010) about EP is situated: the idea is that in EP the so called IO is found in two configurations: one where the IO is projected in the specifier position of a low applicative head, as a dative NP, and another one involving a lexical / true preposition, where the IO is the complement of the preposition. This proposal is mainly based on two reasons: (i) the two available IO constructions would not be synonymous; (ii) the preposition a would have two values in EP: as dative marker and as true preposition.…”

Romance languages do not have double objects: evidence from European Portuguese and Spanish

“…b) (Les) dieron (los) caramelos a niños y niñas. 10 According to Morais (2006) and Morais & Lima-Salles (2010) EP presents variation between a DPC which involves a 'true' preposition (a or para) and a DOC which involves the dative Case marker a (or a clitic lhe/lhes). In the first case, a and para encode the same meaning, i.e.…”