Estudo da referência indeterminada do pronome "você" na perspectiva funcionalista da linguagem

Abstract

This research focuses the undetermined-reference subject under the functionalist perspective of language. We thus agree with Linguistic Functionalism, based on view's Givón (2001). Among other issues, Givón (2001) addresses the origin of linguistic functionalism and the importance of not performing isolated analyses, that is to say, the linguist draws our attention to the relationship between the grammatical structures and the different communicative contexts where those structures are used. Along with that approach, we selected for assessment the analysis of the matter through Textual Linguistics on text notions propagated in that investigation field, specifically where the text is not considered a finished structure, but a part of more comprehensive communication activities, a conscious and interactional verbal activity (BENTES, 2004). Accordingly, we also adopted the view of Cavalcante and Custódio Filho (2010) and Dionísio (2008) stressing the necessity of an inquiry comprehending the multimodal character of the texts presently circulating in our society, as well as the necessity of surpassing linguistic materiality, considering other non-linguistic semiotic interpretations belonging to textual-discursive strategies from the production activity. We thus depart from the principle that the speaker disposes of several forms whenever they intend to un-determine the subject in their daily interactions. Therefore, we analyze the pronominal form você (you), along with the communicative context. We know that this pronoun is generally used in anaphoric and deitic interpretation contexts, but it has sometimes undetermined reference. Traditionally, however, Portuguese grammar allows two indetermination forms: verb in the third person of the plural without antecedents (Quebraram a vidraça da escola); indirect-transitive verb in the third person of the singular plus particle se (Precisa-se de secretária). For the constitution of our corpus, several current texts with the pronominal form você in the function of undetermined-reference subject were selected.