Representation and Processing of the Inflected Infinitive in Brazilian Portuguese: an eye-tracking study

Marcello Modesto; Marcus Maia

doi:10.17851/2237-2083.25.3.1183-1224

Representation and Processing of the Inflected Infinitive in Brazilian Portuguese: an eye-tracking study

Marcello Modesto, Marcus Maia

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, we examine the syntactic representation and processing characteristics of null subjects of inflected nonfinite clauses in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). After reviewing some literature on generativesyntax Control and discussing the peculiarities of BP diachrony, we present an eye-tracking experiment which proves that a control interpretation of null subjects of inflected nonfinite clauses is not only psychologically real in BP, but it is actually the preferred option in a task in which a strict comparison with arbitrary PRO is entertained. We then discuss the implications of the experiment to syntactic theory and the analysis of Control and speculate on the role of third factor explanations in the architecture of human language.

Keywords: generative syntax; sentence processing; nonfinite control; inflected infinitives; Brazilian Portuguese; eye-tracking.

Resumo:Este estudo examina a representação sintática e as características de processamento de sujeitos nulos de orações infinitivas flexionadas em português brasileiro (PB). Após revisão de parte da literatura atual sobre a Teoria do Controle e discussão das peculiaridades da diacronia do PB, o artigo apresenta um experimento envolvendo rastreamento ocular que comprova que a interpretação controlada do sujeito da infinitiva flexionada é não apenas real psicologicamente, mas também a opção preferida numa tarefa em que se compara a leitura controlada à leitura arbitrária. Discute-se, então, as implicações desse experimento com relação à teoria sintática e à Análise do Controle e especula-se sobre o papel de explicações com base no conceito de terceiro fator na arquitetura da linguagem humana.

Palavras-chave: sintaxe gerativa; processamento de frases; controle não finito; infinitivos flexionados; português brasileiro; rastreamento ocular.

Keywords

generative syntax; sentence processing; nonfinite control; inflected infinitives; Brazilian Portuguese; eye-tracking.

Full Text:

PDF

References

AMBAR, M. “Aux-to-COMP” and lexical restrictions on verb movement. In: CINQUE, G.; KOSTER, J.; POLLOCKJ.Y; RIZZI, L.; ZANUTTINI, R. (Org.). Paths towards universal grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1994. p. 1-24.

AMBAR, M. Inflected infinitives revisited: Genericity and single event. Canadian Journal of Linguistics, Cambridge University Press, v. 43, p. 5-36, 1998.

BETANCORT, M.; CARREIRAS, M.; ACUÑA-FARINA, C. Processing controlled PROs in Spanish. Cognition, Elsevier, v. 100, p. 217-282, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2005.04.001

BETANCORT, M.; MESEGUER, E.; CARREIRAS, M. The empty category PRO: Processing what cannot be seen”. In: CARREIRAS, M.; CLIFTON, C. (Org.). The online study of sentence comprehension: Eyetracking, ERP, and beyond. C. Brighton: Psychology Press, 2004.

BOBALJIK, J.; LANDAU, I. Icelandic Control is not A-movement: The Case from Case. Linguistic Inquiry, MIT Press, v. 40, p. 113-132, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1162/ling.2009.40.1.113

BOECKX, C.; HORNSTEIN, N. The Virtues of Control as Movement. Syntax, Wiley Online Library, v. 9, p. 118-130, 2006.

BOECKX, C.; HORNSTEIN, N.; NUNES, J. Control as movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511761997

CAVALCANTE, S. R. O. O uso de SE com infinitivo na história do português: do Português Clássico ao Português Europeu e Brasileiro modernos. 2006. Tese (Doutorado) – Unicamp, Campinas, 2006.

CAVALCANTE, S. R. O.; DUARTE, M. E. L. Sujeitos de referência arbitrária em sentenças infinitivas do português e o parâmetro do sujeito nulo. In: TSIPLAKOU S.; KARYOLEMOU, M.; PAVLOU, P. (Org.). Language Variation – European perspectives II: selected papers from the 4th international conference on language variation in Europe. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2009. p. 47-58.

CHOMSKY. N. Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1965.

CHOMSKY, N. Three factors in Language Design. Linguistic Inquiry, v. 36: n. 1, p. 1-22, Winter 2005. doi: 10.1162/0024389052993655

CYRINO, S. M. L. O objeto nulo no português do Brasil e no português de Portugal. Revista da ABRALIN, Abralin, v. 25, p. 173-181, 2001.

CYRINO, S. M. L.; LOPES, R. Null objects are ellipsis in Brazilian Portuguese. The Linguistic Review, De Gruyter, v. 33, p. 1-19, 2016.

DI SCIULLO, A.M.; AGUERO, C. The delay of Condition B Effect and its Absence in Certain Languages. Language and Speech, Sage Publications, v. 51, p. 77-100, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1177/00238309080510010601

DUARTE, M. E. A perda do princípio “evite pronome” no português brasileiro. 1995. Tese (Doutorado) - Unicamp, Campinas, 1995.

FARACO, C. A. Norma culta brasileira: desatando alguns nós. São Paulo: Parábola, 2008.

FARACO, C. A. História sociopolítica da língua portuguesa. São Paulo: Parábola, 2016.

FIGUEIREDO SILVA, M. C. La position sujet en Portugais Brésilien. 1994. Dissertation (Doctoral) - Université de Genève, Genève, 1994.

FODOR, J. D. Empty categories in sentence processing. Language and Cognitive Processes, Taylor & Francis Online, v. 4, p. 155-209, 1989.

FRAZIER, L. On comprehending sentences: syntactic parsing strategies. 1979. Dissertation (Doctoral) - University of Massachusetts, Connecticut, 1979. [Reproduced by Indiana University Linguistics Club.]

FRAZIER, L.; CLIFTON JR., C.; RANDALL, J. Filling gaps: decision principles and structure in sentence comprehension. Cognition, Elsevier, v. 13, p. 187-222, 1983. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(83)90022-7

FRAZIER, L.; RAYNER, K. Making and correcting errors during sentence comprehension: Eye movements in the analysis of structurally ambiguous sentences. Cognitive Psychology, Elsevier, v. 14, p. 178-210, 1982. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(82)90008-1

GALVES, A.; GALVES, C. A case study of prosody driven language change: from classical to modern EP. 1995. Ms. - UNICAMP-USP, Campinas, 1995. Disponível em: http://www.lllf.uam.es/~clase/acceso_local/prosodydriven.pdf.

GALVES, C. O enfraquecimento da concordância em português brasileiro. In: ROBERTS, I.; KATO, M. A. (Org.). Português Brasileiro, uma viagem diacrônica. Campinas: Editora da Unicamp, 1993. p. 387-408.

GALVES, C. Ensaios sobre as gramáticas do português. Campinas: Editora da Unicamp, 2001.

GONÇALVES, A.; SANTOS, A. L.; DUARTE, I. (Pseudo-)Inflected infinitives and Control as Agree. In: LAHOUSSE, K.; MARZO, S. Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory: Selected papers from ‘Going Romance’ Leuven. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2014. p. 161-180. https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.6.08gon

GRANO, T. A. Control and restructuring at the syntax-semantics interface. Dissertation (Doctoral) – University of Chicago, Chicago, 2012.

GRANO, T. A. Control and restructuring. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198703921.001.0001

GUY, G. R. Linguistic variation in Brazilian Portuguese: Aspects of the phonology, syntax, and language history. 1981. Dissertation (Doctoral) - University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1981.

HORNSTEIN, N. Movement and Control. Linguistic Inquiry, MIT Press, v. 30, p. 69-96, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1162/002438999553968

ILARI, R.; BASSO, R. O português da gente: a língua que estudamos, a língua que falamos. São Paulo: Ed. Contexto, 2006.

KATO, M. A. Strong and weak pronominals and the null subject parameter. Probus, Berlin, v. 11, n. 1, p. 1-38, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1515/prbs.1999.11.1.1

KATO, M.; NEGRÃO, E. V. (Org.). Brazilian Portuguese and the null subject parameter. Frankfurt: Vervuert-Iberoamericana, 2000.

KROCH, A. Syntactic Change. In: BALTIN, M.; COLLINS, C. (Org.). The Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Theory. Oxford, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2001. p. 699-729. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470756416.ch22

LANDAU, I. Elements of Control: Structure and meaning in infinitival constructions. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3943-4

LANDAU, I. Severing the Distribution of PRO from Case. Syntax, Wiley Online Library, v. 9, p. 153-170, 2006.

LANDAU, I. Two Routes of Control: Evidence from Case Transmission in Russian. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, Springer Link, v. 26, p. 877-924, 2008.

LANDAU, I. Control in generative grammar: a research companion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139061858

LANDAU, I. A two-tiered theory of Control. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262028851.001.0001

LEMLE, M. Análise sintática. São Paulo: Ática, 1984.

LIGHTFOOT, D. How to set parameters: Arguments from language change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991.

LUCCHESI, D. As duas grandes vertentes da história sociolinguística do Brasil. DELTA, São Paulo, PUC-SP, v. 17, p. 97-130, 2001.

LUCCHESI, D. Sistema, mudança e linguagem: um percurso na história da linguística moderna. São Paulo: Parábola, 2004.

LUCCHESI, D. A concordância verbal e a polarização sociolinguística do Brasil. UFBA, 2012. Unpublished paper.

LUCCHESI, D.; BAXTER, A.; RIBEIRO, I. O Português Afro-Brasileiro. Salvador: EDUFBA, 2009. https://doi.org/10.7476/9788523208752

MADEIRA, A. M. On the Portuguese inflected infinitive. In: XX INCONTRO DI GRAMMATICA GENERATIVA, XX., 1994. Pádua. Teoria del Linguaggio e Analisi Lingüística. Pádua: Unipress, 1994. p. 289-314.

MATTOS E SILVA, R. V. Uma sócio-história do português brasileiro. São Paulo: Parábola Editora, 2004.

MAURER Jr., T. M. O infinitivo flexionado português. São Paulo: Ed. Nacional; EdUSP, 1968.

McELREE, B.; BEVER, T. G. The psychological reality of linguistically defined gaps. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Springer Link, v. 18, p. 21-35, 1989.

McFADDEN, T.; SUNDARESAN, S. Finiteness in South Asian languages: an introduction. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, Springer Link, v. 32, p. 1-28, 2014.

MILLER, D. G. Nonfinite Structures in Theory and Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

MODESTO, M. On the identification of null arguments. Dissertation (Doctoral) - University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, 2000a.

MODESTO, M. Null subjects without “rich” agreement. In: KATO, M. A.; NEGRÃO, E. V. (Org.). Brazilian Portuguese and the null subject parameter. Frankfurt: Vervuert- Iberoamericana, 2000b. p. 147-174.

MODESTO, M. Topic prominence and null subjects. In: BIBERAUER, T. (Org.). The limits of syntactic variation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, 2008. p. 375-410. https://doi.org/10.1075/la.132.17mod.

MODESTO, M. What Brazilian Portuguese says about control: remarks on Boeckx & Hornstein. Syntax, Wiley Online Library, v. 13, n. 1, p. 78-96, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9612.2009.00136.x

MODESTO, M. Finite control: Where movement goes wrong in Brazilian Portuguese. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics, Lisboa, Ubiquity Press, v. 10, n. 1, p. 3-30. 2011.

MODESTO, M. Inflected infinitives in Brazilian Portuguese and the theory of control. In: GONÇALVES, A. (Org.). Complement Clauses in Portuguese: Syntax and Acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 2016. In press.

MODESTO, M. Inflected infinitives and restructuring in Brazilian Portuguese. In: KATO, M. A.; ORDÓÑEZ F. (Org.). Morphosyntax of Spanish and Portuguese in Latin America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. p. 157-176. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190465889.003.0007.

MOREIRA DA SILVA, S. Etudes sur la symétrie et l’asymétrie SUJET/OBJET dans le Portugais du Brésil. 1984. Dissertation (Doctoral) - Université de Paris VIII, Paris, 1984.

NARO, A.; SCHERRE. M. M. P. Origens do português brasileiro. São Paulo: Parábola Editorial, 2007.

NEGRÃO, E. V. Anaphora in Brazilian Portuguese complement structures. Dissertation (Doctoral) - University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1986.

NEGRÃO, E. V. O português brasileiro: uma língua voltada para o discurso. 1999. Tese (Livre-docência) - Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 1999.

NEGRÃO, E. V.; VIOTTI, E. Brazilian Portuguese as a Discourse-Oriented Language. In: KATO, M. A.; NEGRÃO, E. V. (Org.). Brazilian Portuguese and the Null Subject Parameter. Frankfurt: Vervuert-Iberoamericana, 2000. p. 105-125.

NICOL, J.; SWINNEY, D. The role of structure in coreference assignment during sentence comprehension. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Springer Link, v. 18, p. 5-19, 1989.

NUNES, J. Inherent case as a licensing condition for A-movement: The case of hyper-raising constructions in Brazilian Portuguese. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics, Lisboa, Ubiquity Press, v. 7, n. 2, p. 83-108, 2008.

OSTERHOUT. L.; NICOL, J. The time-course of antecedent activation following empty subjects. 1988. Unpublished manuscript.

OUSHIRO, L. Identidade na Pluralidade. Tese (Doctorado) - Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2015.

PIRES, A.; ROTHMAN, J. Building bridges: Experimental L1 acquisition meets diachronic linguistics. In: GUIJARRO-FUENTES, P.; DOMÍNGUEZ, L. (Org.). New directions in language acquisition: Romance languages in the generative perspective. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010. p. 357-385.

PONTES, E. O tópico no português do Brasil. Campinas: Pontes, 1987.

POSSENTI, S. Por que (não) ensinar gramática na escola. Campinas: Mercado de Letras, 1996.

QUICOLI, A. C. Inflection and parametric variation: Portuguese vs. Spanish. In: FREIDIN, R. (Org.). Current issues in comparative grammar. Amsterdam: Springer, 1996. p. 46-80. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0135-3_2

RAPOSO, E. Case theory and Infl-to-Comp: The inflected infinitive in European Portuguese. Linguistic inquiry, MIT Press, v. 18, n. 1, p. 85-109, 1987.

RAPOSO, E. Prepositional infinitival constructions in European Portuguese. In: JAEGGLI, O.; SAFIR, K. (Org.). The null subject parameter. Amsterdam: Springer, 1989. p. 277-305. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2540-3_10

ROBERTS, I.; KATO, M. A. (Org.). Português brasileiro: uma viagem diacrônica. Campinas: Ed. da Unicamp, 1993.

RODRIGUES, C. Impoverished morphology and A-movement out of Case domains. Dissertation (Doctoral) - University of Maryland, College Park, 2004.

RODRIGUES, C. Agreement and Flotation in Partial and Inverse Partial Control Configurations. In: DUBINSKY, S.; DAVIES, W. (Org.). New Horizons in the Analysis of Control and Raising. Dordrecht: Springer, 2007. p. 213-229. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6176-9_9

RODRIGUES, C.; HORNSTEIN, N. Epicene Agreement and Inflected Infinitives When the Data Is “Under Control”: A Reply to Modesto (2010). Syntax, Wiley Online Library, v. 16, p. 292-309, 2013.

ROSENBAUM, P. The Grammar of English Predicate Complement Constructions. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. 1967.

ROTHMAN, J.; DUARTE, I.; PIRES, A.; SANTOS, A. L. How early after all?: Inflected infinitives in European and Brazilian Portuguese L1 production. In: STAVRAKAKI, S.; LALIOTI, M.; KONSTATINOPOULOU, P. (Org.). Advances in Language Acquisition. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

SCIDA, E. The inflected infinitive in Romance Languages. New York: Routledge Taylor, 2004.

SCHERRE, M. P.; NARO, A. J. Mudança sem mudança: a concordância de número no português brasileiro. SCRIPTA, Belo Horizonte, PUC Minas, v. 18, p. 107-129, 2006.

SHEEHAN, M. Partial Control in Romance Languages: the covert comitative analysis. In: LAHOUSSE, K.; MARZO, S. (Org.). Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2014. p. 181-198. https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.6.09she

SHEEHAN, M. Partial pro-drop. In. A. GONÇALVES (Org.). Complement Clauses in Portuguese: Syntax and Acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2016. In press.

SIGURÐSSON, H. A. The Case of PRO. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, Springer Link, v.26, p. 403-450, 2008.

SILVA NETO, S. da. Introdução ao estudo da língua portuguesa no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Presença, 1950.

SITARIDOU, I. The synchrony and diachrony of Romance Infinitives with nominative subjects. Dissertation (Doctoral) – University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, 2002.

SITARIDOU, I. Romance infinitives with subjects, subjunctive obviation and control theory. In: EUGUREN, L.; FERNÁNDEZ-SORIANO, O. (Org.). Coreference, modality, and Focus. Amsterdan: John Benjamins, 2007. p. 191-219. https://doi.org/10.1075/la.111.10sit

SUNDARESAN, S.; McFADDEN, T. Subject distribution in Tamil and other languages: selection vs. case. Journal of South Asian Languages, De Gruyter, v. 2, p. 5-34, 2009.

SUNDARESAN, S. Making sense of silence: finiteness and the (OC) pro vs. pro distinction. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, Springer Link, v. 32, p. 59-85, 2014.

SZABOLCSI, A. Overt nominative subjects in infinitival complements: Data, diagnostics, and preliminary analyses. In: IRWIN, P.; MALDONADO, V. V. R. (Org.). Papers in syntax: NYU Working Papers in Linguistics. New York: New York University, 2009. v. 2, p. 1-55.

TARALLO, F. On the alleged Creole origin of Brazilian Portuguese: untargeted syntactic change. Cadernos de Estudos Lingüísticos, Campinas, Unicamp, v. 15, p. 137-161, 1988.

TARALLO, F. Diagnosticando uma gramática brasileira: o português d’aquém e d’além mar ao final do século XIX. In: ROBERTS I.; KATO, M. A. (Org.). Português brasileiro: uma viagem diacrônica. Campinas: Editora da Unicamp. 1993. p. 69-105.

TROTZKE, A.; BADER, M.; FRAZIER, L. Third Factors and the Performance Interface in Language Design. Biolinguistics, Cyprus, University of Cyprus v.7, p. 1-34, 2013. Available at: .

WURMBRAND, S. Restructuring cross-linguistically. In: NORTH EASTERN LINGUISTICS SOCIETY ANNUAL MEETING, 45., 2015, Amherst. BUI, T.; ÖZYILDIZ, D. (Org.). Proceedings… Amherst: University of Massachusetts, GLSA, 2015. p. 227-240.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17851/2237-2083.25.3.1183-1224