DO ESPAÇO-TEMPO AO CONTRASTE, À CONDIÇÃO E À FINALIDADE: UMA ANÁLISE FUNCIONAL DO CONECTOR HIPOTÁTICO ANTES DE

Abstract

In this paper, it is proposed to analyze the connector [antes de] before from the perspective of Usage-Based Functional Linguistics (LFCU). Traditionally, this grammatical element is defined as a prepositional phrase and there is little discussion about its semantic and inferential values. Based on these points, the main objective of this paper is to attest to the hypotactic connecting function of the [antes de] before and to analyze its nuances of meaning. For this, we intend to understand which contextual factors contribute to the inferential reading of the more abstract meanings that emerge from this particle in certain communicative situations. Based on the Corpus do Português, the analysis is synchronous (the cut starts in 2012 and ends in 2019) and the method used is mixed (LACERDA, 2016), which combines qualitative and quantitative information. The investigation also uses concepts from the Construction Grammar, as well as the notions of categorization, pragmatic inference and semantic enrichment. Observing morphosyntactic factors, it is concluded that [antes de] before can act in three different functions in the language, with prepositional value, hypotactic value and non-conjunctional value. At the functional level, this type acts as a temporal connector and, in certain situations, it allows contrastive, final and conditional inferences.