A socio-semiotic approach to the personal pronominal system in Brazilian Portuguese

Monica Rector | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Marcelo da Silva Amorim | Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte

In this chapter, we analyse how the personal pronouns in the Portuguese language system have evolved from a basic prescriptive use recommended by the grammar handbooks to a more complex and fluent performance by its more than 250 million Lusophone speakers, adapting to their particular differences and needs. The main focus is on the Brazilian Portuguese and how the non-traditional implementation of a differentiated personal pronoun system in Brazil abides by linguistic, social, and cultural laws, establishing new forms and usages toward fulfilling meaningful demands in Brazilian society.

Keywords: personal pronouns, Brazilian Portuguese system, linguistic innovation

Published online: 23 July 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.304.03rec

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