Locative inversion and agreement syntax in Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract

Adopting the Minimalist Program framework (CHOMSKY 2000, 2001), this paper suggests that, in Brazilian Portuguese, sentences with a locative prepositional phrase in preverbal position can be characterized as instances of locative inversion in which prepositional constituents occupy the grammatical subject position. It will be proposed that particularities involving the patterns of locative inversion in Brazilian Portuguese derive from properties of the subject-verb agreement in this language.

Keywords

• locativos preposicionados
• concordância posição de sujeito
• Caso
• Programa Minimalista.