Punctuation functions in relative constructions on classical portuguese: uses and conventions

Author(s)

Aline de Azevedo Rodrigues

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São José do Rio Preto. 2020-10-22.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências Letras e Ciências Exatas. São José do Rio Preto
• Defense date: 2020-09-16
• Advisor: Sanderléia Roberta Longhin

Abstract

In this work we investigate comma usage in relative constructions, focusing on the 18th century Portuguese, in order to identify which comma functions would be competitors during that period and decisive for the multidimensional configuration of the contemporary punctuation system. To achieve this, we analyze two different areas of research: the variation in the use of commas found in 18th century manuscripts written in Brazil, and the rules about comma usage postulated in manuals, orthography treaties and grammar books from this time period. In the analysis of the manuscripts, assuming that the use of comma was not arbitrary and, therefore, there was some regularity in the variation of its usage, we identify which morphosyntactic, semantic-pragmatic and prosodic aspects of the relative constructions could be related to the presence or absence of comma and we verify if there was prevalence of any function. The results indicate that, in the 18th century written Portuguese, the use of comma seems to respond to the multidimensional functioning of the linguistic units, since the employment of this punctuation mark delineates units that are functionally and structurally autonomous in terms of semantic, syntactic, pragmatic and prosodic features, showing that information from different levels of analysis seems to guide the way how writers use comma. In the analysis of grammatical discourses, assuming that the prescript for comma usage gradually gained new bases based on linguistic functioning, we interpret punctuation norms, as well as the functions assigned to comma, and we also compare the rules specifically applied to comma usage in relative constructions in order to verify if the grammar rules of the period researched succeeded in distinguishing restrictive from nonrestrictive relative constructions. As a result, we notice that the 18th century Portuguese punctuation rules did not achieve the distinction between the two types of relative constructions, which seems to have happened in the grammatical tradition only in the early 19th century, possibly due to the influence of French grammarians and philosophical concepts. In addition, we show that the change in the rules about the use of comma in relative constructions seems to have happened gradually, on one hand because of the inconsistencies between the usage and the rules about comma postulated in the grammars, and on the other hand because of the variation found in the rules themselves and among the grammars, given the complexity of the object, highlighted by its historically determined multifunctional constitution. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/01503-0 - Punctuation functions in relative constructions on Classical Portuguese: uses and conventions
• Grantee: Aline de Azevedo Rodrigues
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master