Regularization and Innovation: A Usage-Based Approach to Past Participle Variation in Brazilian Portuguese
This project explores the synchronic variation of participle forms in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). Despite general systematicity, the language maintains many historically irregular participles, which often compete with regularized variants. The language has also developed innovative participles, which...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Languages |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/9/2/52 |
| _version_ | 1797297681172791296 |
|---|---|
| author | Kendra V. Dickinson |
| author_facet | Kendra V. Dickinson |
| author_sort | Kendra V. Dickinson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This project explores the synchronic variation of participle forms in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). Despite general systematicity, the language maintains many historically irregular participles, which often compete with regularized variants. The language has also developed innovative participles, which tend to exist in variation with regular forms. Adopting a usage-based framework, the study examines how analogical processes affect persistent irregular participles and short-form forms in BP, emphasizing the role of grammatical context and frequency. Data are drawn from the Portuguese Web 2011 corpus, including 12 verbs with long-form Latinate irregulars (<i>n</i> = 4800) and 8 verbs with short-form forms (<i>n</i> = 3200). The results show that long-form Latinate irregulars are more common as adjectives and with the verb <i>estar</i>, while regularized forms are prevalent with <i>ser</i> and in perfect constructions. Conversely, short-form participles occur least frequently in perfect constructions, showing a tendency towards the maintenance of regularity in this context. Additionally, verbs that occur more often in perfect constructions are most resistant to innovation. These findings indicate that perfect constructions play a dual role in <i>promoting</i> and <i>preserving</i> regularity in BP and shed light on how grammar–internal relationships and contexts of occurrence play a role in language variation and change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:24:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7fb6e736a91f483289635ffe868b57d2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:24:51Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-7fb6e736a91f483289635ffe868b57d22024-02-23T15:24:24ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2024-01-01925210.3390/languages9020052Regularization and Innovation: A Usage-Based Approach to Past Participle Variation in Brazilian PortugueseKendra V. Dickinson0Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USAThis project explores the synchronic variation of participle forms in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). Despite general systematicity, the language maintains many historically irregular participles, which often compete with regularized variants. The language has also developed innovative participles, which tend to exist in variation with regular forms. Adopting a usage-based framework, the study examines how analogical processes affect persistent irregular participles and short-form forms in BP, emphasizing the role of grammatical context and frequency. Data are drawn from the Portuguese Web 2011 corpus, including 12 verbs with long-form Latinate irregulars (<i>n</i> = 4800) and 8 verbs with short-form forms (<i>n</i> = 3200). The results show that long-form Latinate irregulars are more common as adjectives and with the verb <i>estar</i>, while regularized forms are prevalent with <i>ser</i> and in perfect constructions. Conversely, short-form participles occur least frequently in perfect constructions, showing a tendency towards the maintenance of regularity in this context. Additionally, verbs that occur more often in perfect constructions are most resistant to innovation. These findings indicate that perfect constructions play a dual role in <i>promoting</i> and <i>preserving</i> regularity in BP and shed light on how grammar–internal relationships and contexts of occurrence play a role in language variation and change.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/9/2/52language variation and changeusage-based grammarlinguistic analogy |
| spellingShingle | Kendra V. Dickinson Regularization and Innovation: A Usage-Based Approach to Past Participle Variation in Brazilian Portuguese Languages language variation and change usage-based grammar linguistic analogy |
| title | Regularization and Innovation: A Usage-Based Approach to Past Participle Variation in Brazilian Portuguese |
| title_full | Regularization and Innovation: A Usage-Based Approach to Past Participle Variation in Brazilian Portuguese |
| title_fullStr | Regularization and Innovation: A Usage-Based Approach to Past Participle Variation in Brazilian Portuguese |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regularization and Innovation: A Usage-Based Approach to Past Participle Variation in Brazilian Portuguese |
| title_short | Regularization and Innovation: A Usage-Based Approach to Past Participle Variation in Brazilian Portuguese |
| title_sort | regularization and innovation a usage based approach to past participle variation in brazilian portuguese |
| topic | language variation and change usage-based grammar linguistic analogy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/9/2/52 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kendravdickinson regularizationandinnovationausagebasedapproachtopastparticiplevariationinbrazilianportuguese |