That construction suffered [MóX] change: possible process of constructionalization of [MóX]

Abstract

The article presents the excerpt of a master’s research in development and discusses the possible constructionalization of the Informality and Intensification [MóX] Construction, aka the [MóX] construction, in Brazilian Portuguese. In the light of Usage-Based Functional Linguistics (GOLDBERG, 2006; CROFT, 2001; HILPERT, 2014; PEREK, 2015; BYBEE, 2010; TRAUGOTT and TROUSDALE, 2013), having as theoretical support the UBCG, the present work aims to map, analyze and synchronically describe the contexts of use of expressions such as [Mó saudade], [Mó legal], [Mó relembrando], [Mó mal] in BP in an attempt to understand how this possible process of constructionalization took place. From a constructional perspective, some properties of the form-meaning pairing will be observed, as these criteria determine and define the new node in the constructional network. To strengthen the idea that [MoX] construction can be an example of change, as defended by the constructionalization model, domain-general cognitive processes such as chunking and enriched memory will be included. In order to place the study and prove the creation of this new node, it was necessary to go back to Latin, Galician-Portuguese, 20Cth and 21Cst Portuguese by mapping including data extracted from Twitter. The data were used to historically analyze the evolution and transformation of the construction.