Revista de Estudos da Linguagem

5-30

Authors: Seung-Hwa Lee

This paper discusses the primary stress rules of Brazilian Portuguese (BP). I argue that i) the primary stress rules are category sensitive –there are two distinct rules in BP: one for non-verb forms which applies at the derivational level (level) and the other for verb forms which applies at the inflectional level (level); ii) the primary stress rules are quantity-insensitive; iii) the extrametricality is determined by morphology and is subject to Peripherality Condition.

59-80

Authors: Celso Novaes

This work presents a study of the mental representation of the null subject in Brazilian Portuguese. The analysis of the data is based on the theoretical framework established by Speas (1995). Based on the data collected from five radio and TV interviews, I propose that the null subject in Brazilian Portuguese be represented in two different ways. In the first person, the null subject has a pronominal nature, which places the Brazilian Portuguese together with languages such as Italian and Spanish. In the other persons, the null subject presents a variable nature, which places the Brazilian Portuguese among languages like Chinese and Japanese.

97-149

Authors: Maria Carlota Rosa

In this paper I explore the reflection of the religious context in the concept of universal grammar as it is presented in four missionary grammars written by Jesuit priests in Brazil: Anchieta (1595), Figueira (1621?), Dias (1697) e Mamiani (1699). In the last few decades linguists have seen the return of the expression universal grammar to the literature, as a consequence of the influence of Noam Chomsky’s work. The hypothesis of a common core for all languages has its roots in a tradition which goes back to the Middle Ages. In the Christian West it was thought that the endowment given by God to Adam was uncovered by the confusion of tongues, as a punishment for the Tower of Babel. Therefore the concept of universality in those grammars has its grounds in a very different framework from the chomskyan UG.

189-212

Authors: Eliane Mourão

Analysis of the presence of an empty category and a lexical pronoun in the subject position of tensed clauses in Portuguese. Identification of general structural factors which determine a restriction pattern for the occurence of these categories; and identification of structural factors which are specific to particular types of sentences and which determine change in the pattern.