The [VacontecimentoQUE] construction and the connection of unequal statements in Portuguese: the caveat as a discursive attitude

Abstract

This work addresses the contrastive connection of utterances in contemporary Portuguese, investigating the semantic specifications and the caveat value of constructions [V_{acontecimento}QUE]. These constructions are formed by event verbs (acontecer, ocorrer and suceder), inflected in the third person singular of the present indicative, followed by the particle que. It is proposed that such constructions are used by speakers to introduce a rupture in the discourse, redirecting the argument that is constructed through the addition of more salient information. After constructional changes, ongoing research considers that micro-constructions such as acontece que, ocorre que and sucede que start to function as connectors that establish relations of inequality between segments. In the light of usage-based linguistics and based on the constructional approach to grammar, the analysis addresses the specificities of [V_{acontecimento}QUE] when connecting sentences, involving syntactic, semantic and pragmatic aspects. The studies of Halliday (1985; 2004) and Neves (1984; 2011) regarding clause connections are used as theoretical basis. Contrastive notions, based on Lakoff (1971), Longhin (2003), Neves (2011), Castilho (2016), and Azeredo (2018) are also used in the analysis. Primarily qualitative in nature, this research has as its corpus statements by senators, already available transcribed on the Senate's institutional website. The partial results indicate that statements introduced by [V_{acontecimento}QUE] constructions mark a rupture in the discourse due to the addition of a new clause that changes the direction of the argumentation. This new argument, in turn, may be loaded with a caveat effect, a speaker's discursive atitude which is a result of the pragmatic focusing effect in combination with the violation of semantic expectancy. The semantic specifications identified for [V_{acontecimento}QUE] are: (i) simple contrast, (ii) partial contrast, which can restrict or detail the preceding segment, (iii) contrast by non-realization, (iv) inferential contrast by justification and (v) discursive-pragmatic contrast by focusing. Caveat is most salient in the partial contrast specification.