Relativas explicativas: aspectos sintáticosemânticos e textual-discursivos

Abstract

Based on the theoretical presuppositions of the functionalist paradigm, a research was done on the syntactic-semantic and textual-discursive aspects of the explicative relative sentence in texts written in contemporary Portuguese. These texts are part of the technical, journalistic, novelistic and dramatic literatures of the Contemporary Written Language Database in Brazil, which are stored in the Lexicographical Studying Center of the Science and Letters College, UNESP from Araraquara in São Paulo – Brazil. In this study, it was developed a discussion related to the explicative relative sentence properties which are presented by the traditional and descriptive grammars of the Portuguese language, as well as by some functionalist orientation researches, in order to make a comparison with some structures, after analyzing 503 occurrences. At first, these structures were considered too similar: the non-restrictive appositives and the adverbial ones. The obtained results in this research confirm the hypothesis that the explicative relative sentences are similar to the appositive structures, above all considering the characteristics of the textual-discursive plan; but they move away from the prototypical representation of the apposition by the syntactic-semantics asymmetry which is observed in the relative structure. The analyzed data also confirm the hypothesis that the explicative relative sentence is similar to the adverbial structures while working as an alternative articulation manifestation of circumstantial contents (by means of inferred relational proposals of cause, consequence and concession); but, in contrast with them, it can be directly used for serving to the purpose of conducting some information to the argumentative-attitudinal arrangement of the identity of the discursive referents. From the obtained results of this research, it was discussed a proposal of a productive and reflexive approach of the relative sentence in the grammar teaching process at schools. It is important to mention that this research will certainly contribute to the descriptive and linguistic analysis of the contemporary Portuguese language, as well as to the teaching process, which is supposed to try to get the extension of the textual-discursive students’ competence by turning the linguistic analysis and the reading-comprehension and writing lessons into more consistent and coherent classes in relation to the effective use of the language.