CONDITIONAL CONSTRUCTIONS IN SELF-HELP DISCOURSE

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47456/cl.v14i28.30938

Keywords:

Functional Grammar, Conditional constructions, Self-help discourse

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the functioning of conditional sentences in the self-help discourse in Portuguese. The theoretical foundation consists of discursive studies that characterize the discourse in question as authoritarian and functionalist researches that describe usage language and consider formal, semantic and pragmatic aspects of the conditional sentences of Portuguese. The analyzes are based on the occurrence of prototypical conditional constructions, introduced by the conjunction if, present in a very popular book in Brazil, representative of the self-help discourse. The results reveal, on the one hand, the important role that the conditionals play in this type of discourse for the construction of the argument and for the guarantee of the reader’s involvement in order to achieve their full adherence to the guidelines and proposals for actions to be taken. On the other hand, the specific functioning of factual and eventual conditionals is observed in attenuating the imposing tone that characterizes self-help discourse, while the counterfactual conditionals function to illustrate the theses present on this discourse.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Anna Flora Brunelli, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP)

Doutora e mestra em Linguística pela Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), com pós-doutorado na mesma instituição. É professora do Departamento de Estudos Linguísticos e Literários do Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas da Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Campus de São José do Rio Preto.

Gisele Sousa, UNESP - Câmpus de São José do Rio Preto

Doutora em Linguística e Língua Portuguesa pela Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Campus de Araraquara, com estágio de pós-doutorado na Universidade Católica Portuguesa; mestra em Estudos Linguísticos e graduada em Letras pela UNESP, Campus de São José do Rio Preto. É professora do Departamento de Estudos Linguísticos e Literários do Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas da UNESP, Campus de São José do Rio Preto.

References

BYBEE, J. Language, usage and cognition. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

CHAGAS, A. T. S. A ilusão no discurso da autoajuda e o sintoma social. Ijuí: Editora da Unijuí, 1999.

DIK, S. C. The theory of Functional Grammar. Part II – Complex and derived constructions. New York: Mouton, 1997.

GIVÓN, T. Syntax: a functional-typological introduction (vol. I). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1984.

GIVÓN, T. Syntax: a functional-typological introduction (vol. II). Amsterdam: J. Benjamins, 1990.

GIVÓN, T. Functionalism and Grammar. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins, 1995.

GIVÓN, T. The Functional Approach to Grammar. In: TOMASELLO, M. (ed.). The New Psychology of Language: cognitive and functional approaches to language structure. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1998. p. 41-66.

HAIMAN, J. Conditional are topics. Language, v. 54, p. 564-589, 1978.

HENGEVELD, K.; MACKENZIE, J. L. Functional Discourse Grammar: a typologically- based theory of language structure. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

LANGACKER, R. W. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Vol 1: Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987.

LANGACKER, R. W. Discourse in Cognitive Grammar. Cognitive Linguistics, v. 12, n. 2, p. 143-188, 2001.

NEVES, M. H. M. Gramática de usos do português. São Paulo: EDUNESP, 2000.

RIBEIRO, L. O sucesso não ocorre por acaso. 25a. ed. São Paulo: Rosa dos Tempos: 1992.

TRAUGOTT, E. C. Conditional markers. In: HAIMAN, J. (ed.). Iconicity in syntax. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1985. p. 289-307.

Downloads

Published

14-10-2020

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 28 (2020): Revista (Con)Textos Linguísticos - Estudos Funcionalistas: discurso e gramática

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Revista (Con)Textos Linguísticos

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors assign the copyright of the article to the publisher of Revista (Con)Textos Linguísticos (Graduate Program in Linguistics, Ufes), if the submission is accepted for publication. Responsibility for the content of articles rests exclusively with their authors. The full or partial submission of the text already published in this periodical to any other periodical is prohibited.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.