LINGUIST List 10.636

Thu Apr 29 1999

Qs: Move reference, Portuguese verbs and predicates

Editor for this issue: Brett Churchill <brettlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Tan Bee Tin, definition of 'move' (reference)
2. claudel, Verbs and predicates - special cases

Dear all

The term 'move' has been used by Bellack et al (1966), Sinclair and
Coulthard (1975), and then by those in genre analysis (e.g. Swales).
However, I still can't find any definition of 'move' in the books by the
above authors. Does anyone know any references where the term
'move' is defined.

- ------------------------------------------------------
Tan Bee Tin
University College Chichester, UK
Email: T.Beetinchihe.ac.uk

Dear Linguists,

I am working on a portuguese verb form which is used in many acceptions as
it preceeds an expression with preposition, or an adjectiv, or an adverb. It
is FICAR. I've found 15 cases where this verb has different meanings but I
have a problem: I've just found that in two of these cases the meaning of
the verb is not completed by its arguments but by another constituent which
comes after the expression with preposition or the adjectiv.

1. Ele ficou magro enquanto esteve preso.

ficou magro = FICAR + Adjectiv
enquanto esteve preso = defines the type of the predicate as a Basic
Estative Predicate because of the notion of duration in time

2. Ele ficou magro depois de um longo regime.

ficou magro = FICAR + Adjectiv
depois de um longo regime = defines the type of the predicate as a Basic
Processual Predicate because of the notion of consequence, altough we have
here the same lexical forms (ele ficou magro) as in the first example.

As I'm working in a functional approach (Dik, Peres) I would appreciate
knowing of some paper or article about predication of verbs in special cases
like these, but with a pragmatic approach.

Thanks in advance.
Ida Rebelo
Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro - Brasil