Tipo, então e onde em dados de oralidade em podcasts do português brasileiro (pt-BR)

Abstract

Language is a constantly evolving phenomenon, shaped by the linguistic practices of the speakers who use it. They continuously adjust and adapt their language according to the context in which they find themselves and their specific communicative needs. This ongoing adaptation reflects the dynamic and flexible nature of language. The present research, which is both quantitative and qualitative in nature, is theoretically guided by the classical functional linguistics approach (CFL), a cutting-edge proposal emerging from the 1970s and 1980s, based on the propositions of Givón (1991), Hopper (1991), Hopper and Traugott (1997); and by contributions from national studies, Furtado da Cunha (2020), Neves (2007), Castilho (2010), and Martelotta and Kenedy (2015), among others. The aim of this work is to describe the behavior of linguistic items such as 'onde', 'então', and 'tipo' in the context of Brazilian Portuguese orality, and whether these items have undergone changes in their functions over time, or if they have maintained the characteristics already described in the literature. The corpus chosen for data collection consists of a sample of the 25 most listened-to podcasts by the Brazilian population on Spotify, within the time frame of November 28 to December 5, 2022. For analysis, we consider the morphosyntactic aspects of the behavior of the items in question, as revealed in the examination of the grammaticalization of complex items present in the corpus data. The analysis confirms our hypothesis that the items 'onde', 'então', and 'tipo' undergo a process of transformation, a change of category, when used in speech, especially because changes and variations are more common in this modality. In addition to these items being used with innovative functions by Brazilian Portuguese speakers, they are multifunctional, serving both discursive and textual functions. The conclusion suggests that the items 'onde', 'então', and 'tipo' are being used with innovative functions by Brazilian Portuguese speakers, being multifunctional as they serve both discursive and textual functions, and the frequency of use and acceptance of these items may vary depending on the context and target audience of the podcasts.