THE VERB-NOMINAL PERIPHRASE IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE: A STUDY OF VARIATION BY PATTERN/DISCURSIVE PARADIGM BETWEEN CONSTRUCTIONS WITH THE SUPPORT VERB “DAR”

Abstract

This paper deals with discursive paradigm variation between [DAR (uma/a/sua) X-ada]
and [DAR (uma/a) X-ida] constructions with support verb, such as: “dar (a) partida”, “dar (a/uma)
saída”, “dar (a/uma/sua) arrancada”, “dar (a) largada”, “dar (uma) começada”, “dar uma iniciada”
e “dar (a/uma) entrada” (similar to “give a (little) start”, “get a (quick) start”, “make a start”, “take a
start”). We aim to observe the degree of instability of these verb-nominal periphrases and to
investigate the relationship between variation and discursive pattern/paradigm. We believe the
meaning of some constructions is more stable than others because of their association with a particular

context/“application domain”. The data were taken from Google (several discursive domains) and
submitted to quantitative and qualitative analysis. For this, we are based on the theoretical assumptions
of Functional Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and the approach of Construction Grammar (GOLDBERG,
1995 and 2006; TRAUGOTT & TROUSDALE, 2013; MACHADO VIEIRA, 2016). In order to verify
what would be some of the motivations for the variation and if there would be semantic or pragmatic
differences between the constructions, we observed the thematic, the textual genre, the type of speech
act, the type of determinant and its number, the concreteness the complement of verb-nominal
periphrases and the possibility of equivalence with simple verb. The results indicate that, although all
constructions under analysis indicate an inceptive aspect, there is a difference between them
depending on the discursive context in which they are found (discursive pattern/paradigm).
Keywords: Construction Grammar. Variation by discursive paradigm. Constructions with