Análise do verbo cair com ênfase no seu uso como verbo-suporte : um estudo na perspectiva da gramática de construções

Abstract

This research is dedicated to studying the verb CAIR with emphasis on its use as a support verb. The analysis describes the constructions of the support-verb CAIR, conjugated in the third person singular of the perfect indicative past tense, in the contexts of use of Brazilian Portuguese. The study is based on the perspective of the grammar of constructions (BAGNO; CASSEB-GALVÃO, 2017; BARROS, 2016; BYBEE, 2007, 2015, 2016; CROFT, 2001; GOLDBERG, 1995, 2006; TRAUGOTT, 2012, 2015; TRAUGOTT; TROUSDALE, 2013) and in studies on the verb (ILARI; BASSO, 2014; SILVA, 2016). The research is descriptive in nature, as it describes and analyzes the constructions of the verb CAIR, with emphasis on its use as a support verb in Portuguese. It starts with the definition that the constructions with the support-verb CAIR are instantiated in a pairing between form and meaning, constituted by a periphrase, which presents in its prototypical morphosyntactic configuration a verb with a support function and a nominal nucleus with an informational function. Such constructions operate, prototypically, in the basic clause organization, at the level of predication, performing the function of a predicate. We consider that the constructions with the support-verb are part of the speakers' linguistic knowledge and, for this reason, their meaning is related to several conceptual cognitive domains. We analyzed 59 excerpts from the Corpus do Português (DAVIES, 2016). The results demonstrate that the constructions with the support-verb CAIR consist of an abstract cognitive scheme, which instantiates other constructions at the level of subschemas in the language. These constructions are related to a generalization categorized by language users who constantly seek innovations at the predicate level to better compose their communicative and discursive relationships. In view of linguistic changes, the constitution of the cognitive schema of constructions with the support-verb CAIR occurs gradually, in small stages, and through general domain cognitive processes, such as analogy.