O conector Supondo Que no Português

Abstract

This research aims to investigate, in the light of the functionalist theory, the use of supondo (que) (supposing that) as a connector. This work is based on a functionalist theory and considers the language in its dynamicity, subjected to changes. In this context we aim to prove that supposing that can assume a different function from the predication function predicted by the verb: the conditional connective one. It is known that the adverbial connectors commonly develop from verbs, adverbs and prepositions, as the extensive literature about conjunction grammaticalization demonstrates, (Traugott, 1985; Thompson & Longrace, 1985; Lenker & Meurman-Solin, 2007). Hirata-Vale (2012) and Oliveira (2008; 2014) have pointed out the fact that supposing that can be used as an adverbial connector of conditional value. There are also similar proposals to Visconti’s (2004), that analyses the connector supposing that as a conditional conjunction in English. To test it as a connector, we based on Kortmann’s adverbial conjunctions defining criteria (1996): (i) the adverbial subordinators are forms which do not inflect; (ii) the adverbial subordinators operate in a finite subordinate clause; (iii) they do not accomplish a syntactic function; (iv) they assume a non-flexible position on the edge of the clause on which they operate (v) they do not belong to a register of the language; and the parameters of conditionality defined by Dancygier (1998): (i) verbal forms used and the non-factuality marked by them; (ii) epistemic posture on the conditional clause; (iii) casuality between p and q; (iv) sequentiality between the protasis and the apodosis; (v) non-assertiveness of the connector; (vi) conditional clause position and (vii) function of the connector as an introducer of mental spaces. For these analyses, we must take into account the use of supposing that in real situations of the language, therefore, the material forming the analysed corpus was collected from Corpus do Português, (www.corpusdoportugues.org.br), composed by texts on the oral and written records, in Portuguese dated from the thirteenth to the twentieth century and, as a way to complement the sampling, we used the searching computing tool webcorpora, which searches linguistic data on the internet. This work is expected to demonstrate the conjunctional status of the supposing that and the conditional value established by it.