O uso do tu no português brasiliense falado
AUTOR(ES)
Edilene Patrícia Dias
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO
2007
RESUMO
The aim of this research is to analyze the variation of the second person singular pronouns tu/você among speakers from Brasília, and describe the conditioning factors of the variation within different age groups. The study verifies whether the variation happens because these pronouns form a pair of the type T/V, according to the definition proposed by Brown and Gilman (1960), and whether it is a case of change in progress or a case of age grading. The study was carried out according to the principles of linguistic change described by Weinreich, Labov and Herzog (1968). Samples of speech of people born in Brasília, or that moved to the city before five years old, from three age groups were analyzed: from 13 to 19 years old; from 20 to 29 years old; and older than 30 years old. The samples were obtained by recording natural speech. Classical sociolinguistic interviews were not used because the pronoun tu tends to appear mainly in informal conversations of people in intimate relationships. The analysis of the data demonstrates that the frequency in the use of tu diminishes with the age, that is, the older the speaker, the lower the frequency of this pronoun. Men use more tu than women. The choice between one or the other pronoun is conditioned by different factors within each generation. Among speakers less than 30 years old, tu appears in interlocutors of the same age group as a mark of intimacy, in relaxed moments when speakers use a playful tone and in ironic observations. Older speakers tend to use tu more when making jokes towards each other. The lifestyle of the speakers, between alternative and conservative, is also an important factor; alternative people use more tu than conservative ones. The results point not only to a change in progress: the uses of tu are expanding, but also to age grading: the frequency of tu gradually diminishes when speakers start their professional lives.
ASSUNTO(S)
língua portuguesa - morfologia língua portuguesa - variação sociolingüística - distrito federal (brasil) linguistica
