The emergency of the functional domain and the construction grammar approach

the case of “que nem” in Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract

According to the language conception adopted by the Construction Grammar (CROFT, 2001) and the constructional perspective of change (TRAUGOTT; TROUSDALE, 2013; TEIXEIRA; ROSÁRIO, 2016), we aim, in this study, to analyze the functional domain of the “que nem” in the Portuguese language. Therefore, we are anchored in the studies of Vieira e Sousa (2019), who focused on the investigation of the “que nem” as a connector and the constructional analysis of Discourse Markers (DMs) undertaken by Sambrana (2017). As a methodological methodological resource, we use the data from Corpora Popular and Culto from Vitória da Conquista, in addition to using the qualitative method for data analysis. The results showed that “que nem” is in the process of moving from functional domain to integrating, also, the constructional network of the DMs, in the route [QUE NEM]connect --> [QUE NEM]_DMs, being used, above all, with the function of maintaining the conversational shift.