Chapter 5. The production of variable number agreement in Brazilian Portuguese

In standard Brazilian Portuguese (BP), as well as in other Romance languages, possessives have uninterpretable number features, which are valued via nominal agreement. However, dialects of BP, especially the one spoken in Minas Gerais, have shown that 2nd person possessives, in postnominal position, do not have number agreement with the noun. In order to account for these facts, I will argue that, in this grammar, number features on 2nd person possessives are reanalyzed as being: (i) associated with the person (rather than the noun) and (ii) valued. From the frst postulation, ‘seu' is expected to be the possessive for 2nd person singular, and ‘seus' for 2nd person plural. From the second postulation, no number concord is expected to be triggered on the possessive. In addition, based on Danon (2011) and Norris (2014), I will argue that cardinals divide BP DPs into two domains in that phrases located above NumP are marked with the plural morpheme, while phrases below it are unmarked. In this sense, because prenominal possessives precede cardinals (NumP), they must be marked with the plural morpheme for nominal agreement; whereas postnominal possessives, which follow NumP, must be unmarked. Free from the plural marking associated with nominal agreement, postnominal 2nd person possessives favor the reanalysis of the morpheme ‘-s' as indicating the number associated with person features.

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Correlative Coordination and Variable Subject–Verb Agreement in German

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages6020067 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 67

Author(s):

Claudia Felser ◽

Anna Jessen

Keyword(s):

Variable Number ◽

Sentence Completion ◽

Relative Timing ◽

Number Agreement ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

Completion Task ◽

Relative Proximity ◽

Acceptability Rating ◽

Linguistic Approaches ◽

Relative Weighting

Coordinated subjects often show variable number agreement with the finite verb, but linguistic approaches to this phenomenon have rarely been informed by systematically collected data. We report the results from three experiments investigating German speakers’ agreement preferences with complex subjects joined by the correlative conjunctions sowohl…als auch (‘both…and’), weder…noch (‘neither…nor’) or entweder…oder (‘either…or’). We examine to what extent conjunction type and a conjunct’s relative proximity to the verb affect the acceptability and processibility of singular vs. plural agreement. Experiment 1 was an untimed acceptability rating task, Experiment 2 a timed sentence completion task, and Experiment 3 was a self-paced reading task. Taken together, our results show that number agreement with correlative coordination in German is primarily determined by a default constraint triggering plural agreement, which interacts with linear order and semantic factors. Semantic differences between conjunctions only affected speakers’ agreement preferences in the absence of processing pressure but not their initial agreement computation. The combined results from our offline and online experimental measures of German speakers’ agreement preferences suggest that the constraints under investigation do not only differ in their relative weighting but also in their relative timing during agreement computation.

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Enhancing Dialogue between Variationist Sociolinguistics and Minimalist Syntax: Plural Agreement in Afro-Bolivian Spanish

Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics ◽

10.1515/shll-2013-1141 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sandro Sessarego

Keyword(s):

Variable Number ◽

Statistical Analyses ◽

Number Agreement ◽

Determiner Phrases ◽

Generative Theory ◽

Variationist Sociolinguistics ◽

Plural Marking ◽

Minimalist Syntax

AbstractThis paper analyzes processes of variable number agreement marking in Afro- Bolivian Spanish (ABS) Determiner Phrases (DPs). In line with several sociolinguistic studies of this kind (Guy 1981, Poplack 1979, 1980, Scherre 2001, etc.), this work provides detailed VARBRUL statistical analyses for the cases of plural marking variability found in this dialect. However, differently from traditional sociolinguistic accounts, results are explained by adopting recent minimalist assumptions on agreement and feature valuation processes (Frampton & Gutman 2000). In doing so, the present study attempts to enhance dialogue between variationist sociolinguistic and generative theory.

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Remodeling the age variable: Number concord in Brazilian Portuguese

Language Variation and Change ◽

10.1017/s0954394512000269 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 1-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Anthony Julius Naro ◽

Maria Marta Pereira Scherre

Keyword(s):

Age Groups ◽

Variable Number ◽

Brazilian Portuguese ◽

Reverse Direction ◽

Age Group ◽

Social Dimensions ◽

Age Cohorts ◽

Social Patterns ◽

Age Patterns ◽

Set Up

AbstractWe analyze change in variable subject/verb and noun phrase concord in Rio de Janeiro Portuguese using trend samples from 1980 and 1999/2000. Plural marked forms exhibit increased frequency in this period, reversing earlier trends toward loss or stability in a development typical of flows and counterflows in the community. The directionality of most structural and social dimensions does not change, but age patterns shift. Our aim is to investigate how groups of speakers evolve over time. Comparison of same-age groups at different moments does not yield insight and is not conducive to apprehending patterns of evolution because speakers move from one age group to another. We set up age cohorts so as to sample virtually the same universes. Examining age cohorts, we see increased frequency of number concord, although the original pattern of relative usage is preserved. Speakers are on the move, but constrained by social patterns in which they are situated. The pattern is broken precisely by those who were not in it, the unborn in the 1980s, who reverse direction dramatically toward increased usage of concord.

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O mecanismo da variação da concordância no Português: observações quanto a marcas nos verbos e nos nomes (The mechanism of variation in agreement in Portuguese: observations concerning agreement marking on verbs and nouns)

Estudos da língua(gem) ◽

10.22481/el.v13i2.1301 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 59

Author(s):

Norma Da Silva Lopes

Keyword(s):

Noun Phrase ◽

Brazilian Portuguese ◽

Number Agreement ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

Verbal Agreement

Este artigo discute a respeito de fenômenos distintos: a variação da concordância verbal e a de gênero e a de número no sintagma nominal do Português Brasileiro. A apresentação objetiva mostrar que há uma restrição linguística comum aos diferentes fenômenos, que atua fortemente na escolha das variantes.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Concordância verbal. Concordância de gênero e de número. Português. Morfemas. ABSTRACTThis paper discusses three different phenomena: variation in verb agreement, and in gender and number agreement in the noun phrase, in Brazilian Portuguese. It aims to show that there is a common linguistic restriction on these different phenomena, which strongly conditions the choice of variants.KEYWORDS: Verbal Agreement. Gender and numbe agrément. Portuguese. Morphemes.

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Infinitive verbs, verbal agreement and perceived competence / Verbos infinitivos, concordância verbal e competência percebida

Revista de Estudos da Linguagem ◽

10.17851/2237-2083.27.4.1671-1700 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 1671

Author(s):

Fernanda Canever ◽

Ronald Beline Mendes

Keyword(s):

Variable Number ◽

Brazilian Portuguese ◽

Social Characteristics ◽

Frequency Of Occurrence ◽

Auxiliary Verbs ◽

Initial Hypothesis ◽

Subject Agreement ◽

Adverbial Clauses ◽

Verbal Agreement ◽

Syntactic Context

Abstract: This paper examines how competent speakers of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) sound depending on variable number inflection of infinitive verbs (INF). Recent research has shown high rates of inflected infinitives in syntactic contexts in which it is prescriptively optional, such as adverbial clauses (CANEVER, 2012, 2017). According to that work, inflected infinitives also occur in nonstandard contexts, such as complements of auxiliary verbs, which can be taken as cases of hypercorrection. Informed by these findings and given the prestige usually associated with overtly marking verbal agreement in Brazil (SCHERRE; NARO, 2006, 2014), this study uses a modified matched-guise task (LAMBERT et al., 1960) in order to check whether speakers sound more educated, more intelligent and more formal in their INFflex-guise, and whether these perceptions vary significantly according to the syntactic context, the grammatical person and listeners’ social characteristics (e.g. age). Results show that speakers are judged as more competent-sounding in their uninflected (INFø) guises, contradicting the initial hypothesis. However, further analyses show that this effect is stronger in the hypercorrect context as opposed to the syntactic context in which INFflex is more frequent. These results indicate a relation between frequency of occurrence in production and sociolinguistic perception, with higher rates of use translating into more neutral perceptions. Moreover, older respondents presented stronger reactions to INFflex guises, while younger respondents’ judgments tended to be more neutral. Such age effects suggest a change in progress in the sociolinguistic perceptions associated to (INFflex).Keywords: infinitive verbs; verb-subject agreement; perception.Resumo: Este artigo examina quão competente soa o falante de português brasileiro (PB) a depender da flexão do infinitivo (INF). Pesquisas recentes demonstram altas taxas de infinitivos flexionados em contextos sintáticos opcionais, tais como orações adverbiais (CANEVER, 2012, 2017). De acordo com esses trabalhos, infinitivos flexionados também ocorrem em contextos não padrão, tais como complementos de verbos auxiliares, que podem ser considerados casos de hipercorreção. Considerando-se esses achados e o prestígio usualmente associado à marcação de concordância verbal no Brasil (SCHERRE; NARO, 2006, 2014), este estudo desenvolve uma versão modificada de um teste de estímulos pareados (LAMBERT et al., 1960) para checar se o emprego de INFflex faz com que falantes soem mais educados, mais inteligentes e mais formais, bem como se tais percepções variam a depender do contexto sintático, da pessoa gramatical e de características dos ouvintes (p. ex. idade). Os resultados mostram que falantes foram julgados como mais competentes na presença de INFø, contrariando a hipótese inicial; análises mais detalhadas mostram, porém, que esse efeito é mais forte no contexto de hipercorreção em oposição ao contexto sintático no qual a variante INFflex é mais frequente. Tal resultado indica uma relação entre frequência de ocorrência na produção e percepção sociolinguística, com taxas mais altas de emprego traduzindo-se em percepções mais neutras. Além disso, respondentes mais velhos apresentaram reações mais polarizadas em relação a INFflex enquanto os mais jovens tenderam à neutralidade. Tal efeito de idade sugere uma mudança de percepção sociolinguística em progresso.Palavras-chave: verbos infinivos; concordância verbal; percepção.

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Phrase-level parallelism effect on noun phrase number agreement

Language Variation and Change ◽

10.1017/s0954394501131042 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 91-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Maria Marta Pereira Scherre

Keyword(s):

Parallel Processing ◽

Puerto Rican ◽

Noun Phrase ◽

Brazilian Portuguese ◽

Universal Principle ◽

Vast Number ◽

Number Agreement ◽

Puerto Rican Spanish ◽

Level Parallelism

Linguistic parallelism (i.e., the tendency of similar forms to occur together within a stretch of discourse) has been shown to be very strong in many linguistic phenomena and in a vast number of languages. Examining the role of phrase-level parallelism on noun phrase number agreement, this article demonstrates that Puerto Rican Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese exhibit more similarities than differences with regard to this constraint. A detailed analysis of Brazilian Portuguese data is presented, and the results are compared with those found by Poplack (1980a) for Puerto Rican Spanish. Guy's (1981a) and Labov's (1994) hypothesis about missing zeroes in Brazilian Portuguese is also discussed. In conclusion, it is claimed that the phrase-level parallelism effect on noun phrase number agreement is embedded in a universal principle of linguistic use: parallel processing.

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Variation under a psycholinguistic perspective: number agreement in Brazilian Portuguese and its impact for the schooling

Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language Literatures in English and Cultural Studies ◽

10.5007/2175-8026.2019v72n3p101 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 72 (3) ◽

pp. 101-122

Author(s):

Ana Paula Da Silva Passos Jakubów ◽

Letícia M. Sicuro Corrêa

Keyword(s):

Language Production ◽

Brazilian Portuguese ◽

Metalinguistic Awareness ◽

Number Agreement ◽

Production Experiment ◽

Single Speaker ◽

L1 And L2 ◽

The Impact ◽

6Th Graders ◽

Type Of School

This paper discusses the impact of schooling in the production of number agreement in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) by 6th graders in Rio de Janeiro. Number agreement in BP can vary between: (a) redundant, the standard variety or (b) non-redundant, non-standard forms. Such variation is influenced by speakers’ socioeconomic status (SES) and educational level (Naro, 1981; Scherre & Naro, 1998 among many others). Results of an elicited production experiment carried out with 6th graders suggest influence of SES/ type of school and academic performance in language production; the effects of schooling and metalinguistic awareness are discussed. An account of language production is presented by conciliating L1 and L2 models of speech production, considering the possibility of the coexistence of varieties in a single speaker to be akin to bilingualism.

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