Journal of Ibero-Romance Creoles (Dec 2009)
A configuração do SN Plural do Português Reestruturado da Comunidade de Almoxarife - São Tomé
Abstract
This article addresses variable gender and number agreement in plural noun phrases in the African variety of Portuguese spoken by the creole community of Almoxarife, on São Tomé island. Since the phrase configuration is relevant for marking, we aim to assess which constituents do (or do not) favour the application of agreement. We will also establish a comparison with variable gender and number agrement in noun phrases in the Vernacular Brazilian Portuguese of the rural community of Helvécia, Bahia, to determine the similarity of the agreement patterns in both dialects, since they were both shaped by contact and irregular linguistic transmission. The study is based on variationist tenets and, atomistically, with respect to different groups of factors of the sociolinguistic structure of Almoxarife Poruguese, examines both variable agreement in its NP and its diachronic development. By considering the interface between the variables plural and gender, we also aim to establish which of these is stronger and shows the highest integration of standard morphosyntactic material. This work contributes towards the study of partially restructured languages and aims to enrich the demonstration of the creolising nature of the dialect of Helvécia, Bahia, and Vernacular Brazilian Portuguese, as it will help to observe similarities between: (1) the patterns of variation in Helvécia-Ba and Almoxarife; (2 ) the processes of change in the nominal morphosyntax of Vernacular Brazilian Portuguese and the Portuguese-lexified Atlantic Creoles; (3) the pattern of variation and change in the inflectional morphology of gender and number in Almoxarife Portuguese, Vernacular Brazilian Portuguese and the Portuguese-lexified Atlantic Creoles.
