Marco Antônio de Oliveira

Aspectos da difusão lexical

ln this text we discuss the role of the phonetic context in sound changes. Our position is that the phonetic context will act only a posteriori, as a possible stabilizer of innovations, and not a priori, as a trigger of sound changes. This being the case we argue that we can deal with phonetic effects even in a diffusionist approach to sound changes. Finally, we suggest that this approach leads to a considerable reduction of the scope of variation.

Reanalisando o processo de cancelamento do ( r ) em final de sílaba

Abstract This paper is an attempt to reanalyse the process of final (r) deletion in Portuguese nominals according to the Lexical Diffusion Model. This analysis considers not only structural factors, mainly the lexical item, but also the individual as an important factor in the spread of the process, according to Shen (1990). Evidence is provided to show that the idea advanced in Oliveira (1991), that all sound changes are instances of lexical diffusion processes, is superior to the analysis provided by Oliveira (1983), cast in the Neogrammarian Model, for the same process.

Canonicidade silábica e aprendizagem da escrita

In this paper we examine the influence of the syllable structure of spoken Portuguese on the acquisition of written forms. Our main hypothesis is that spoken language offers a first model for the construction of written forms and so, by identifying the syllabic coda as a point of instability in spoken Portuguese, since it is subject to many phonological processes, we may predict that students will also present writing variations exactly at these same points. Our investigation takes into account structural as well as non-structural factors and we conclude that there is a strong correlation between instability in the syllabic coda and variation in their weitten representation.

O Léxico como Controlador de Mudanças Sonoras

ln this paper I keep the diffusionist assumption that sound changes are better viewed as controlled by the lexicon. AIso, I propose here that the lexicon should be taken as the output of grammar. ar, in other words, I propose that the lexicon should be analyzed in terms of the utterances in which it occurs, with all the contextuai information that it carnes, and not in terms of its virtual characteristics.

Morfologia: Algumas notas sobre o conceito de morfema e os modelos estruturais de análise morfólogia

Resumo: Este texto procura apresentar uma orientacao ao estudo do desenvolvimento da morfologia estrutural americana, desde Bloomfield (1926) ate koutsoudas (1963), focalizando principalmente a evolucao do conceito de morfema. Sao abordados aqui os principais modelos de analise morfologica (i.e., Item e arranjo, Item e Processo e o Metodo do Traco Comum) e sao discutidas as suas diferencas no que se refere a segmentacao, ao agrupamento e a alternância morfofonemica. Abstract : This text is an orientation to the study of the development of American Structural Morphology, ranging from Bloomfield (1926) to koutsoudas (1963). One of the main points of this text has to do with the notion of morpheme and the ways in which it has changed through time. Also, I present here the main models for morphological analysis (i.c., Item and Arrangement, Item and Process and the Common Feature Method) and I discuss their differences in terms of segmentation, grouping and morphophonemic alternation.

Resíduos históricos como um caso de variação sincrônica no português do Brasil

Resumo: Este artigo e uma tentativa de se mostrar como o presente pode ter usado para se explicar o passado. Os dados sincronicos utilizados aqui se referem a regra variavel de concordância entre sujeito e verbo no portugues coloquial moderno do Brasil. Conforme ja foi notado na literatura sobre este problema, algumas classes verbais apresentam uma frequencia maior de neutralizacao entre a 3a Pessoa do Plural e a 3a Pessoa do Singular do que outras classes. Este fenomeno foi explicado tanto em termos do principio da saliencia fonica, quanto em termos de uma interacao entre regras fonoogicas e sintaticas. A questao diacronica, por outro lado, se refere a origem da terminacao verbal - ao na terceira pessoa do plural do Perfeito do Indicativo. Para esta questao podemos encontrar tambem mais de uma resposta na literatura. Procuro mostrar aqui que a terminacao - ao em questao e uma criacao analogica, e que a maioria dos casos de neutralizacao entre a 3a PP e a 3a PS no portugues coloquial brasileiro e herdada, ou seja, estes casos constituem residuos historicos refletidos no portugues de hoje. Abstract: This paper is an attempt to show how the present can be used to explain the past. The synchronic data that I use have to do with the variabte subject-verb agreement rule in Modern Colloquial Brazilian Portuguese. It has been noted in the literature on this question that some verbal classes present a larger frequency of neutralization between 3rd Person Plural and 3rd Person Singular verbal forms than other classes. This has been explained either in terms of the principle oi phonic salience or in terms of an interaction between phonological and syntactic rules. The diachronic question has to do with the origin of the verbal ending - ao in the 3rd Person Plural of the Perfect of the Indicative, for which more than one answer is found in the literature. It is argued here that the verbal ending - ao of the 3rd PP of the Perfect of the indicative is an analogical creation and that most of the cases of neutralization between 3rd PP and 3rd PS in Modern Colloquial Brazilian Portuguese are inherited, i.e., they constitute histonical residues reflected in present day Portuguese.

Clitic placement in Portuguese

Abstract : In this paper I will examine the conditions on the positioning of non-reflexive clitic pronouns in Portuguese. I will argue that clitic pronouns can be reordered only inside the sentences where they are generated and that, consequently, they cannot be moved out their original sentences to be attached to a verb in a higher sentence. A grammar of clitic placement in Portuguese will be offered to generate only the grammatical sentences and to block the ungrammatical ones. I will argue also that those cases in Portuguese in which a pronoun originated in an embedded sentence appears in the surface structure as a clitic attached to a verb in the matrix sen tence do not get there via clitic movement, but by a different transformation, namely Raising from Subject to Object.

Towards a social science of language - papers in honor of William Labov volume 1: variation and change in language and society

Este é o primeiro volume, de uma série de dois, dedicado a William Labov. Trata-se de uma homenagem bastante justa a um dos lingüistas de maior importância para a área em todos os tempos, cujo trabalho vem ampliando, desde o início da década de 60, nosso conhecimento sobre um dos pontos centrais da lingüística, a mudança lingüística. O trabalho de Labov configurou um paradigma diferente, de natureza dinâmica, onde a língua deixa de ser vista como uma estrutura estática e passa a ser vista como um sistema em constante mutação e profundamente comprometido com a estrutura social em que se insere. Os volumes que compõem esta homenagem são, portanto, uma tentativa de resgatar a dívida imensa que a lingüística e os lingüistas (mesmo aqueles que têm outra inclinação teórica são unânimes em reconhecer a importância de seu trabalho) têm para com Labov.