A opcionalidade entre pronome nulo e pronome lexical para leitura correferente em português brasileiro

Abstract

It is known that Brazilian Portuguese is not a categorical language when it comes to the pro-drop parameter (CHOMSKY, 1981). When the subject of the subordinate is corresponding to the subject of the main clause, it will be null in a pro-drop language and pronominal in a non-pro-drop language. According to the literature, in Brazilian Portuguese there is the option of using either null or pronominal subject in these cases, although there are indications that the null will be interpreted as corresponding to the main subject, while the pronominal is always related to any other referent, just as it happens in Portuguese European. The problem, then, is to find out why Brazilian Portuguese retains two forms to mean the same thing and whether there is any tendency on the interpretation of each construction. Through a questionnaire, it was possible to identify that Brazilian Portuguese really preserves both forms with a tenuous interpretive preference.