Consolidação de uma gramática nacional: a implementação do genitivo “dele” nas Minas setecentistas

Abstract

Brazilian Portuguese brings together several studies (SILVA, 1982, 1984, 1991; and CUNHA, 2007) analyzing the use of the possessive forms “seu” and “dele” under a variationist perspective. It has been attributed to this phenomenon a change in the pronominal system, which has been destabilized with the addition form “você” instead of “tu” (KATO, 1985; PERINI, 1985; CERQUEIRA, 1996a, 1996b), generating ambiguity of interpretation in some contexts. The genitive form “dele” appears, then, as a preferred variant, due to disambiguator function. In this context, this study compared the uses of the standard possessive form with the innovative one, in order to verify that the destabilization of pronominal setting had already being felt in the 18th century Minas Gerais. Adopting a quantitative and qualitative researchs methodology, theorically based on Labovian sociolinguistics assumptions, it was concluded that in the 18th century in Minas Gerais the third-person possessive was already opaque, which suggests the competition between “tu” e “você” in this region on 18th century.