Constructionalization and competition of concessive and concessive-conditional connectors instantiated by the scheme [Xque] in Portuguese

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the formation of the connectors ainda que and mesmo que – both with the meaning even though – instantiated by the [Xque] schema in Portuguese, as well as to verify their uses in contexts in which they could be in competition. Data were collected from the Corpus of Portuguese, from the 13th to the 20th century, in order to observe the processes of change through which the analyzed items were passed, as well as to propose the linguistic network of which the constructions are part. The research follows a constructional approach to linguistic change (TRAUGOTT; TROUSDALE, 2013) from the perspective of The Usage-Based Linguistics. The data show that the analyzed connectors underwent a process of constructionalization, since there were changes in the form and in the function, creating new constructions in the language. They also show that, although semantically similar, these connectives tend to be used in different pragmatic-discursive contexts.