A PREPOSIÇÃO EM FUNCIONAMENTO: O USO DE “COM” EM REDAÇÕES PREPARATÓRIAS PARA O ENEM

Abstract

The preposition “com” is present in many enunciative constructions in Brazilian Portuguese, given that the use of the preposition is an indispensable element in the syntactic, semantic and discursive aspect for the construction of a text. In this sense, this work aims to investigate the functioning of this morphosyntactic category in preparatory essays for the ENEM, a textual genre that is structured in the essay-argumentative typology, based on the concept of iconicity, in particular the principle of iconicity and the subprinciple of linear ordering, present in Functional Linguistics. Methodologically, this research is qualitative and the material analyzed was produced by students who were candidates for the National Secondary Education Examination (ENEM) of the PET project Conexões de Saberes: Access and Permanence of Young People of Popular Origin at the University: University-Community Dialogues, in the years 2020 and 2021. This project is linked to the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB). To compare the formal and functional perspective, we consulted two traditional grammars (LIMA, 2011; CEGALLA, 2008), and, for the theoretical foundation, authors of functionalist strands (CUNHA, 2015; KOCH, 2017; BASÍLIO, 2006; among others). As a result, we obtained, from the analysis of ten productions in which the preposition “com” appears, characteristics beyond the morphosyntactic level, through the concept of iconicity, and the effects caused by the order, that is, by the position in which this preposition occupies in the text, based on the subprinciple of linear ordering. We can conclude, therefore, that traditional grammars do not contemplate the marked phenomena of the preposition under analysis, as well as the functionalist concepts are essential to conceive the use of the preposition “com” as a significant part of the sociointeractional process.