“Pode pará” – Modal Verb on Brazillian Portuguese’s imperative phrases: a semantic-pragmatic analysis

Abstract

In this paper, we suggest a semantic-pragmatic interpretation for Imperative Sentences (Imp) in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) using the modal verb "poder" (can), differently from other interpretations verified in the specialized literature, which are: syntactic interpretations of Imp, or a functionalist-based semantics. Therefore, we will try to suggest interpretations of the Imps, taking as theoretical foundation the Pragmatic theories of Acts of Speech, and a simplified model of Formal Semantics. The reason and stimulus for such aim come from the readings of Jary & Kissine (2014), a work that precisely seeks semantic and pragmatic interpretations for Imps. Thus, from the various theoretical proposals presented by those authors, we assume as methodology the verifunctional Denotational Semantics and the Acts of Speech to show the possibility of Imp interpretations in BP.

Keywords

• Imperativos
• Modais
• Verbo “poder”
• Semântica
• Pragmática