Contrastive substitutive correlative constructions

a usage-based functional analysis

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to examine the usage patterns of contrastive substitutive correlative constructions (CSCC) in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), from the perspective of Usage-Based Functional Linguistics. SCCS are rarely discussed by grammars. They are configured as constructions formed by protasis (negative element) + apodosis (adversative connector, followed or not by affirmative reinforcement particle). As for the data for analysis, we take as corpora the news site of Folha de São Paulo. Based on a qualiquantitative methodology, we selected 61 data, in Portuguese language. Ten types of constructions instantiated by the standard 'Neg X, Conect Y' were found. The CSCC, as all correlative constructions, are endowed with strong argumentative value.