Atuação do aspecto na variação entre os pretéritos mais-que-perfeito e perfeito: algumas considerações sobre o princípio do uniformitarismo

Abstract

Our proposal aims to demonstrate that the Aspect category (in the sense of type situation, according to Vendler, 1967) conditions the variable use of “pretérito perfeito” and “pretérito mais-que-perfeito”, both in actual synchrony and in diachrony. The verbal quadripartite typology, proposed by Vendler, is constituted by the following types of verbs: activities, accomplishments, achievements and states; this typology serves the classification of sentential meanings, and not just of verbs. Therefore, subject, object, verb tense and temporal adverbs exercise the function of determining to what class the object belongs to. The data here considered for the synchronic analysis belongs to interviews that compose VARSUL's database; the diachronic sample, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, encompasses, among other genres, plays, letters, and testimonials. For both perspectives of analysis, we used the statistics program VARBRUL. The results show that more dynamic / less durative situations condition the use of the “pretérito mais-que-perfeito”, whereas less dynamic / more durative situations condition, in its turn, the use of “pretérito perfeito” in both samples, showing the role played by the principle of uniformitarianism (Labov, 1972, 1994).