Social variables and number agreement in predicatives and passive structures in the rural community of the 3rd District of Nova Friburgo-RJ

Abstract

The work present the social variables of the variation of number agreement in predicates and in passive structures in the rural linguistic community of the 3rd District of Nova Friburgo. The hypothesis is that the process of irregular linguistic transmission of a light type, which was present in a large part of the country, was also experienced in the city, especially if one takes into account that the linguistic contact, despite being intense, did not leave any traces of the substrates. The community would then present valuable samples of the consequences of a former multilingualism and also of the current processes that have been favoring the change in the linguistic patterns of rural popular Portuguese. The research corpus was built with 35 interviews conducted with 16 men and 19 women, from two generations - 14 male and female workers, from 35 to 55 years old; and 21 young people, from 14 to 19 years old, sons and daughters of these farmers. The following social factors were considered for the agreement process: generation; gender; participation in a farmers' association; occupation of leadership in communities of practice. It was observed that the general frequency of use of agreement in predicatives and passives was 28.3%. The generation between 14 and 19 years old, also with more schooling, used the standard rules in 41% of the constructions, while the parents in 14.2%. The social role of women in the community led to an increase in the norms, since they present full pluralizations in 38.1% of the cases and men in 19.5%. The girls, more linked to exogenous activities, used the rules in 59% of the cases. The disconnection of the speaker from the most identity groups moved them away from local norms, given the frequency of pluralizations of 35.6% among non-participants and 25.6% among its members. However, the exercise of leadership in the communities of practice benefited a little (30.6%), the speaker's bond with forms of prestige.