NEOLOGISM FORMATION WITH THE SUFFIX –AÇO IN CONTEMPORARY BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE: A FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT

In the light of a theoretical framework based on systemic-functional linguistics (SFL), the present article aims at investigating the process of formation of contemporary neologisms in Brazilian Portuguese by the addition of the suffix – aço to nominal bases, whether or not they are Portuguese. The corpus analized is comprised of digital news articles, obtained from Brazilian online publications, such as, newspapers and, published between 2016 and 2018. With this proposal in mind, a brief review of literature is presented in an attempt to illustrate the rationale underlying the use and semantic values ascribed to the suffix in question in grammar books and textbooks on linguistics. This description was carried out in order to verify whether the current uses of this affix are in accordance with those found in specialised compendia. The analysis allowed not only for the verification of the polysemic functioning of the affix, but also, in certain circumstances, for its metaphorisation due to the tension established in different linguistic strata, be it in the interpersonal metafunction, or in the ideational metafunction stances.

Systemic-Functional Linguistics; Suffixation; Neologism

RESUMO

À luz do aporte teórico da Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional (LSF), esta investigação visa, tomando como corpus de análise notícias de jornais e revistas digitais brasileiros publicados entre 2016 e 2018, refletir acerca do processo de formação de construções neológicas contemporâneas a partir do acréscimo do sufixo -aço a bases nominais, de origem portuguesa ou não. Tendo em vista esse propósito, fazemos primeiramente uma breve revisão bibliográfica com vistas a depreender o funcionamento e os valores semânticos atribuídos ao sufixo -aço em nossas gramáticas e em manuais linguísticos para, em seguida, verificar se os usos contemporâneos desse afixo são condizentes com os previstos nos compêndios especializados. A análise nos possibilitou depreender o funcionamento polissêmico desse afixo, bem como, em algumas situações, a sua metaforização decorrente da tensão estabelecida em diferentes estratos linguísticos, seja no plano da metafunção interpessoal, seja no da metafunção ideacional. Já no tocante ao plano da metafunção textual, propomos uma descrição do funcionamento na oração dos neologismos criados a partir do acréscimo de -aço a bases adjetivas e substantivas

Linguística sistêmico-funcional; Sufixação; Neologismos

Introduction

First of all, it is important to highlight the innovative nature of this research in the field of systemic-functional linguistics in Brazil. In general terms, most studies focus on the analysis of clauses, of clause complexes and the articulation between them. In the present investigation, although the analysis centres on the clause as the central element, as do Halliday and Mathiessen (2014), we are interested, more specifically, in the level below the clause, namely: the structuring of the groups that operate in the strata of lexico-grammar, the formation of these groups through words and the formation of words by morphemes. From the perspective of the ideational metafunction, notably with regard to its experiential function, it is understood that these groups, articulated in the clause through the transitivity system, play a central role in the construal of a model that represents the world. Thus, we consider the choice of words that constitutes the clauses, and the morphemes that constitute the words as also significant and, therefore, also generating effects on this representational model. With this reflection, we then seek to better understand how the suffix – aço functions in current neologisms that have become part of the lexicon of Portuguese in Brazil.

Lexicon, productivity and creativity

A lexicon is a group of words in use in a given linguistic system, regardless of whether or not it is indexed in dictionaries. The lexical repertoire of all languages faces a constant process of renewal. Whilst some words fall into disuse, becoming obsolete, other new ones are or can be created by speakers as a consequence of everyday communicative needs. The possibility of the emergence of new lexical items inherent to all and any language is called productivity.

Productivity, according to Rocha (2008), is mostly guided by regularity, generating transparent forms as far as morphology and semantics are concerned, that is, not only are morphic elements that constitute those forms easily identified, but also the meanings derived from their combination are easily predicted by speakers. Aligned, to a certain extent, with this perspective, Sandmann (1991) explains that every linguistic system is governed by rules that guide both the analysis of the structure of the units that are already part of the lexicon, and the formation of new units, justifying, thus, the transparency pointed out by Rocha (2008). Sandmann adds, however, that although productive, a rule may be subject to restrictions that are inherent to its own nature. This is the case, for instance, of the prefix of negation in-, which does not combine with verbal or nominal bases of nouns that indicate actions, unlike des-, which has no restrictions and can be added to bases of the first type – desapertar (loosen) – as well as those of the second type – descontração (relaxation). A rule can also have, according to the linguist, limited productivity due to blocking, a phenomenon that prevents the creation of a new lexical unit from occurring due to the existence of a correlate form in the linguistic system. As a result, the author states: “De vacinar se formou vacinador, de puxar, puxador e de estrangular, estrangulador, mas de roubar não se formou e provavelmente não se formará *roubador, pois o lugar já está ocupado por ladrão”¹ (SANDMANN, 1991, p. 15, author’s highlights) . Sandmann, however, highlights that blocking is not a general rule and that it may stop occurring in a language for a number of reasons, as in the pairs internação [hospitalisation] and internamento [internment] and encanação [pipe installation] and encanamento [plumbing], formed in both cases by synomymous words derived from the same root and indexed in the Houaiss dictionary and in the VOLP².

Irregularities, on the other hand, result, according to Rocha (2008), from the permanence of a certain form in the lexicon, generating opacity of its constituents. The restrictions suggested by Sandmann, nevertheless, concerning the application of a rule related to the formation of lexical units, demonstrate that the relationship between productivity and regularity as opposed to irregularity is not as evident as Rocha (2008) assumes. In fact, it seems more adequate to consider, in this case, the existence of a continuum that ranges from sheer productivity in some cases of derivation to very restricted productivity (SANDMANN, 1991). This consideration should account for the formal aspect (the existence of gaps in lexical paradigms, as in roubar [burglarise], from which *roubador [*burglariser] does not derive) and for the semantic aspect (internação [hospitalisation] is the act of hospitalise, but encanação is more frequently used to refer to a group of pipes than to the act of installing pipes in Portuguese). In relation to the latter aspect, Sandmann also emphasises that semantic shift is a natural process and, therefore, it is intrinsic to the lexicalisation or idiomatisation of a word. Thus, Sandmann argues that once a word is created and incorporated into the lexicon of a language by the actual use of speakers, a phenomenon he calls demotivation occurs, as a consequence, the whole is no longer the simple sum of the parts. According to the linguist, “the more the set of elements that forms a complex word is distanced and becomes isolated semantically, phonologically and morphologically, the more perfect the integration will be and the more clearly the new lexical unit will be characterised” (SANDMANN, 1991, p. 30, our translation)³. This may result, as far as productivity is concerned, in the neutralisation of the restrictions to the rules or in the isolation of blockings imposed on these rules and, consequently, the motivation towards the production of new lexical units (SANDMANN, 1991).Thus, the author affirms that it was the semantic change, for instance, of picareta [pickaxe], shifting from the name of a type of tool to “a person who tries to obtain some advantage in a dubious way” – a change that entails the adjectivation of the noun – which neutralised the restriction that hindered the formation of the noun picaretagem [charlatanism] similar to what occurs with boba> bobagem, sacana> sacanagem, vadia> vadiagem [silly> silliness, naughty> naughtiness, vagrant>vagrancy, respectively]. This restriction, nonetheless, according to the scholar, remains active in relation to other names of tools in the sense that certain forms, such as *machadagem [derivation of axe], *exchadagem [derivation of hoe], *foiçagem [derivation of sickle], are unacceptable.

This also seems to be Azeredo’s (2008) point of view when he considers that irregularities result from the creativity of speakers. According to this grammarian (AZEREDO, 2008, p. 399, our translation), “productivity is always systematic and collective, whereas creativity is idiosyncratic and particular”⁴, which does not prevent, however, an act of creativity from generating a productive model, as in the word sambódromo⁵ “creatively formed by the termination –(ó)dromo (=corrida [race]), which appears in hipódromo [racecourse], autódromo [racetrack], cartódromo [go-kart racetrack], forms that designate cultural items of the upper bourgeoisie”. As a consequence, the writer draws attention to the emergence of other popular forms such as rangódromo⁶, beijódromo⁷ e camelódromo⁸ since the creation of sambódromo, in which a new meaning for the Greek root –(ó)dromo may be observed. It comes to simply mean ‘place’, confirming, thus, the possibility of creative and initially irregular acts becoming productive and consequently, regular acts. This perspective corresponds to that proposed by Câmara Jr. (1975, p. 218, our translation) according to whom the productivity of a suffix, which confers individuality to it in the Portuguese language, stems from the possibility that various words may serve as “a model for the arrangement of new words, providing in the final element a permanent place in the language for new derivations”⁹.

Neologisms

Regardless of being the fruit of a model which was previously understood as productive or the fruit of a creative act that generated a productive model, it is common ground in our grammar books or linguistics textbooks that neology is a set of processes that materialise the creative property of a language from which new lexical units are created, whereas the forms that result from it are designated neologisms. According to Azeredo (2008, p. 400-402, our translation), “the introduction, assimilation and circulation of a neologism is mainly subject to historical and sociocultural factors”¹⁰, so that its effective lifespan is determined by the need for it to be employed “to designate an idea, an object, a concept”¹¹ in circulation in a community that uses it. This criterion of usage justifies, continuing along the author’s line, the fact that “several neologisms last only for some time, while others take root in a language”¹². The naturalisation of a neologism in a language, on the other hand, is what usually makes identifying it a difficult task. The writer argues that “once in circulation [...], a neologic form can be noticed as such by several users and not by others and, inasmuch as its use is repeated and expanded, it is possible that the awareness of neology gradually becomes less obvious.¹³” ¹⁴

Corpus and the procedure of analysis

In this article, as mentioned previously, the proposal focuses on the analysis of contemporary neologic construals formed by the addition of the suffix –aço to nominal bases, whether Portuguese in origin or not. In other words, the study endeavours to describe rules that confirm the current productivity of the suffix under investigation in morphosyntactic neologisms, i.e., those with which morphic elements predicted in the Portuguese linguistic system are combined, or elements of this language and elements borrowed from other languages, and in neologisms formed by borrowings arisen from the contact among different linguistic communities¹⁵.

Therefore, the analysis centres on the use of these constructions in news articles in online newspapers and magazines published in Brazil between 2016 and 2018. The choice of the corpus is justified, as in Alves (1994), while language constitutes the heritage of an entire linguistic community and lexical creativity is a right granted to every member of this community, it is through the official vehicles of communication and literary works that the diffusion of neologisms occurs, which, due to the recurrence and productivity of their use, may or may not be indexed into dictionaries at a future date, becoming, thus, officially incorporated into the Brazilian Portuguese lexicon. Our choice of mediatic texts as the corpus of the present study attests to our interest in examining language-in-use, by speakers of contemporary Brazilian Portuguese, particularly recurrent lexical units, which have resulted from speakers’ creativity, and the productivity of the suffix –aço in the language, and that have yet to be registered in the dictionary. In accordance with Alves (1994) and Rocha (2008), we also surmise that, although lexicography is a respectable field, traditionally the process of indexation of words into dictionaries in Portuguese presents arbitrariness which implies its disregard as a valid scientific instrument for linguistic analysis. For example, the existence of dead words, i.e., those no longer used by speakers, the delay in including new words institutionalised by use, the distribution of words in alphabetical order, which, despite being practical, lacks a scientific criterion, and the inclusion of words that, although institutionalised in a given community at a certain time, have a fleeting existence¹⁶.

Finally, we need to clarify what we consider as ‘recurrent lexical items’ are those that appear in at least three different texts during the period of investigation. Moreover, in order to verify the pertinence of the words considering the scope of this analysis, two digital publications were consulted, namely VOLP and The Great Dictionary Houaiss¹⁷, taking into account that an occurrence of a word in one of these sources would suffice to disregard its use as a recent neologism.

Consequently, aiming to achieve this goal, the present article is organised in three sections. In the first section we present a brief review of the literature in order to understand the functioning and the semantic values ascribed to the suffix -aço in grammar books and textbooks on linguistics. Secondly, an analysis of the corpus is carried out not only to verify whether the contemporary uses of this affix confirm those described in specialised compendia, but also to suggest reflexions on these uses in light of the theoretical framework of Systemic- Functional Linguistics. Finally, in the third section, the conclusions of the study are described based on the results obtained in the analysis.

Literature Review

For this review, we consulted grammarians and linguists affiliated with different theoretical perspectives, namely: Câmara Jr. (1975), Sandmann (1987, 1988, 1991), Cunha & Cintra (2001), Monteiro (2002), Bechara (2009), Azeredo (2008), Basílio (2011), Rocha (2008) and the chapter on Suffixal Derivation Volume VI from the collective work entitled The Grammar of Standard Spoken Brazilian Portuguese¹⁸ (MARONEZE; CARDOSO; PISSOLATO, 2015). All these authors, without exception, semantically classify the suffix -aço as an augmentative form. Some, on the other hand, indicate other meanings to the suffix in question. This is the case of Bechara (2009, p, p. 357, our translation) who claims that

Suffixes rarely appear with only one application; according to the rule, suffixes may have multiple meanings and to employ them accurately, adjusting them to various situations, demands and reveals a comprehensive knowledge of the language. Alongside semantic values, illocutionary values intimately linked to semantic values of the bases to which they are attached get associated with the suffixes, from which they do not disassociate¹⁹.

This is also the perspective advocated by Monteiro (2002), according to whom, the possibility of the same suffix having more than one meaning configures a case of polysemy, and not that of homonymy, as certain linguists argue, which would occur if there were different suffixes that would be realised in the same way and with different meanings²⁰.

As far as the suffix –aço/-aça is concerned, Bechara elucidates that it is employed for “the formation of names of actions or results of action, state, quality, similarity, combination, instrument and place”²¹ (BECHARA, 2009, p, 358, our translation), as in the noun vidraça [windowpane], and “to mean abundance, agglomeration, collection”, as in the word chumaço [a small compact portion]. Even when classifying –aço/ -aça among the suffixes that indicate degree, Bechara consides it not only an augmentative suffix, as in ricaço [very rich], barcaça [a big boat, a barge] and copaço [big glass], but also a diminutive suffix alongside –iço, -iça, as in: fumaça [smoke], caniço [fishing rod] and nabiça [a small turnip] (BECHARA, 2009), highlighting that in this case the names formed may be employed pejoratively or affectively. Bechara points out that “the notion of augmentation usually runs parallel to that of a grotesque thing and is applicable to pejorative ideas.²²” (BECHARA, 2009, p. 357, our translation), as in mulheraça [an awkward and tall woman] and that, in certain situations, “some suffixes assume special values (for instance, florão does not apply, in general terms, to a big flower, but to a sort of architectural ornate), whereas others lose its primitive meaning, as in carreta [truck], camisola [nightgown]”²³ (BECHARA, 2009, p. 357, our translation).

The concept of derogatory value is also quoted by Câmara Jr. (1975), Cunha and Cintra (2001) and Monteiro (2002). The latter author adds that the suffix –aço “is realised as [aço], [iço] or [uço]” and may present several meanings, among which may be highlighted: “intensity (ricaço), largeness (mulheraça), smallness (caniço), tendency, possibility (quebradiço [brittle]), depreciation (dentuça [buck teeth])”²⁴ (MONTEIRO, 2002, p. 167, our translation). Câmara Jr. (1975, p. 227, our translation), in turn, argues that augmentative formation is sporadic and “always emphasises a strongly pejorative intention, i.e, it is exclusively a resource for the affective language (insulting)”²⁵. However, the examples presented for the suffix –aço, namely barcaça, and mestraço, do not seem to confirm the linguist’s claim.

Azeredo (2008, p. 463-464), on the other hand, advocates that this suffix expresses variation of degree and/or of aspect of the meaning of the base, which allows for the addition of a reference to its physical dimension or to a value judgement, as in filmaço [an excellent film]. A positive value judgement that expresses the idea of excellence is also referred to by Basílio (2011) as the most employed use of the suffix –aço, as in golaço [an amazing goal].

For Sandmann (1987, 1988, 1991), besides augmentative meanings (barcaça), appreciative or commendatory meanings (mulheraça²⁶), and intensity (ricaço), this suffix also expresses the meaning of result of an energetic action, strike, blow, which overlaps the meaning of intensity, as observed in pataço [a big kick], munhecaço [a big punch] and joelhaço [a big strike by the knee], to emphasise the meaning of a strong hit or blow. With this meaning, the Dictionary Houaiss also presents the following entries: chifraço (a horn strike), chicotaço (a strong whip), and canivetaço (a penknife strike), among others. The writer also points out the meaning of touch or noisy demonstration, as in buzinaço²⁷, panelaço²⁸ and apitaço²⁹, which will be discussed in a later section. According to him, in these cases the idea of intensity persists (SANDMANN, 1987,1991).

In accordance with Câmara Jr.’s viewpoint (1975), Rocha (2008, p. 218, our translation) claims that “every complex gradual formation essentially expresses affectivity and, in some cases, increase or decrease of size”³⁰. As a result, he proposes that the so-called suffixes of augmentation and diminutives should be known as evaluative suffixes, and organised in three groups according to their nature:

1. Subjective suffixes- are those that express the subjectivity of the speaker (affection, love, education), and not only affection in relation to a specific referent, as in “Podem me dar um licencinha?” [Can you excuse me, please?], “Filhão, dá um abraço no paizão!” [Kiddo, come and hug (big) daddyio!].

2. Evaluating suffixes- are those that express value judgement in relation to referent, as in “Ele comprou um apartamentaço!” [He bought a huge/killer flat].

3. Dimensional suffixes- are those that express the idea of size: augmentative, as in “Você viu o narigão daquele homem?” [Did you see that man’s big nose?], or diminutive, as in “Ele mora naquela casinha da esquina.” [He lives in that tiny house on the corner].

It may be noted that the construction with the suffix –aço occurs only in group 2, evaluating suffixes, which brings Rocha’s viewpoint closer to that advocated by Azeredo (2008) and Basílio (2011).

Additionally, it must be clarified that, unlike all the other authors previously mentioned, Rocha’s proposal of inversion, which places affectivity before increase or decrease of size of a noun, is what justifies his consideration regarding the evaluative degree as a case of inflection and not of derivation.

Despite our disagreement with Rocha’s latter claim, given that we hold the suffixes he described have the creative potential of new words, characterized as derivation and not inflection, two specific points of his reflections are of great interest. These are: the distinction between a subjective and affective value, understood as emotive, and the finding that the several meanings presented by the suffixes traditionally classified as augmentative or diminutive inherently carry affective-emotive meaning, which, in our point of view, is related to illocutionary values to which Bechara (2009) refers. These values are attributed to the suffixes in the different communicative situations in which they are employed.

It may also be noted that, in the chapter dedicated to suffixal derivation in the Grammar of Spoken Standard Portuguese, although the suffix –aço is listed among the main augmentative suffixes, no examples are provided, which suggests that there were no relevant occurrences in the analysed corpora. The corpora in question were comprised of interviews carried out within the scope of the NURC project (Urban Standard Norm) in five Brazilian capitals – Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Recife –, between the decades of 1970 and 1990, with college educated informants born in these cities, in three specific communicative situations: formal elocutions (lectures), dialogue between informant and documenter, and dialogue between two informants. The absence of occurrences of the suffix –aço, in our point of view, is very significant, given that it seems to corroborate the hypothesis regarding the intrinsic relationship between the affective-emotive meaning inherent to the suffixes outlined by Rocha (2008) as evaluative and the situation in which it is used.

As for the bases to which the suffix –aço is attached, Azeredo (2008) points out that it derives nouns from other nouns. Cunha and Cintra (2001), in contrast, add that, more rarely, the suffix may also attach to the roots of adjectives.

Based upon the survey carried out, the following table was developed to summarise the aspects presented hitherto, as far as the suffix –aço is concerned:

Table 1 allows for five comments regarding the approach to the suffix –aço in the analysed compendia. First of all, we highlight the possibility of this suffix having different meanings attached to the same base. This is the case, for instance, of –mulheraça, described by Bechara (2009) as an example of depreciative value, by Monteiro (2002) as an example of augmentative value (physical dimension and largeness) and by Sandmann (1987) as depreciative, appreciative and augmentative value. It is, therefore, the communicative situation that will permit comprehension of the meaning attributed to the base of the affix.

Table 1
– Summary of the literature review

Morphological Criterion	A - Realisation
	[aço] [aça] [iço] [iça] [uço] [uça]
	B – resulting form and base to which it attaches
	- nouns formed from nouns (copo > copaço) - adjectives formed from adjectives (rico > ricaço) - adjectives formed from nouns (dente > dentuço) - nouns formed from verbs (cansar > cansaço)
Semantic Criterion	Semantic value	Example
	1) augmentative degree (physical dimension)	copaço, mulheraça
	2) diminutive degree (physical dimension)	fumaça, caniço, nabiça
	3) abundance, agglomeration, collection, set	Chumaço
	4) action/ result of an action	assanhaço, cansaço, inchaço31
	5) result of an energetic action, strike, blow	pataço, munhecaço, joelhaço
	7) quality	barbaça, melgaço32
	8) similarity	rosaça, brancaço, pardaço33
	9) combination	Vidraça
	10) instrument	---
	11) place	---
	12) pejorative or commendatory value judgement	mulheraça, dentuço
	13) positive, appreciative, excellence value judgement	mestraço, filmaço, golaço, apartamentaço
	14) intensity	Ricaço
	15) state, tendency, possibility	quebradiço34
	16) subjective	---
	17) touch, noisy demonstration	buzinaço, apitaço, panelaço

^33343536

Secondly, it is also necessary to consider that, in certain circumstances, in accordance with Bechara’s (2009) proposal, there may be overlapping meanings, as in dentuço(a), adjective whose idea of largeness of physical dimensions of the teeth is associated with pejorative, grotesque value. Such overlapping, as proposed by Rocha (2008), is an evidence of the anteriority of affective-emotive meaning in relation to the notion of size. However, according to Table 1, this does not occur in relation to all the meanings described, as may be observed in vidraça, chumaço fumaça, caniço (literal meaning), nabiça etc.

Thirdly, it should be observed that, although it is not explicitly said, the intensity value occurs on its own only when the base word is an adjective (ricaço= very rich), all the other semantic values occur when the suffix is attached to a verbal base or to a nominal base to form another noun or to form, more rarely, an adjective (dentuço).

Fourthly, as for the categories of the base word, with which the suffix –aço may be associated, it should be pointed out, according to Santos (2010), that apart from nominal and adjectival bases, the suffix may also attach to verbal bases to form nouns, as in: cansar> cansaço, inchar> inchaço.

Finally, a fifth and last comment: all the lexical items set as examples in the compendia, expect apitaço, filmaço and apartamentaço, are indexed in dictionaries. This is an extremely relevant fact to understand the type of morphological study carried out not only by traditional grammarians, but also by a vast majority of linguists affiliated with different theoretical perspectives: studies that predominantly focus on the classification and comprehension of the morphemes that constitute words already known in the language rather than on the creative potential of these morphemes, and on productive aspects of the rules underlying their use, that is, the focus on language in use, as proposed in the present investigation.

Analysis of the corpus

In the analysed corpus, neologisms of adjectival and nominal origins formed by the addition of the suffix –aço were found. These occurrences appear either between quotation marks or incorporated in the text with no marks whatsoever. As pointed out by Azeredo (2008), not only can neologic constructions be more easily identified by some speakers and not by others, but also their naturalisation in the lexicon makes their identification harder. Neologic awareness in relation to a certain lexical item is addressed by Alves (1994, p. 83, our translation) as a sense of neology. The author explains that this sensation “is graphically translated by visual processes such as quotation marks, capital letters, italics, which aims at highlighting the result of lexical creativity”³⁵. An alternative to this creativity is, according to the author, the use of metalinguistic expressions such as “chamado, dito” [so-called]. In other words, the use of these linguistic marks expresses the intention of the speaker to signpost that a certain word does not officially belong to the lexicon of the Portuguese language, in the case of phonological and morphological neologisms, or that the meaning of the lexical unit used in that context underwent some transformation, i.e., that a unit is not being used in its literal meaning, in the case of semantic neologisms. In contrast, the absence of quotation marks seems to suggest a higher degree of naturalisation and acceptance of the use of the neologic form, possibly due to its use and to the fact that it exits for a longer time in the language.

With regard to the meanings associated by the suffix with the bases to which it attaches, certain diversity was observed, in accordance with Bechara (2009) and Monteiro (2002), depending on the communicative situation in which the derived names were employed, as follows.

Adjectives [Adj → Adj +aço] in relational clauses

The suffix –aço forms adjectives when associated with an adjectival base, integrating noun groups that function, in clauses that express intensive relational processes, as qualificative attributes of the carrier. In the analysed corpus, three occurrences were found, as shown below:

Table 2 – Neologisms formed from adjectival bases 38 39 40

1) Leão-marinho volta ao mar após quatro dias ‘perdidaço’ em cidade36 (R7, 5/9/2018)

2) — Fui fazer teste para ser um dos integrantes da boy band, mas, diferentemente dos outros atores que estavam lá, eu fui logo dispensado pelo diretor. Fiquei boladaço, achando que tinha mandado malzão. Não deu duas horas e me ligaram para voltar no dia seguinte. Quando abri o texto, entendi tudo. Era Felipe, um DJ vingativo que não sabe lidar com perdas e frustrações. Não sei de onde vem essa minha cara de mau. Na vida, sou do tipo que perde a piada, mas não o amigo — diz o artista, que só fez um mocinho na telinha, em “Amor e revolução’’37 (2011). (Extra, 16/8/2018)

3) O cansaço de Marcos Martins, piloto do avião que caiu em Santos (SP), em 13 de agosto de 2014, matando o então candidato presidência do PSB e ex-governador de Pernambuco, Eduardo Campos, e outras seis pessoas, foi um dos fatores que contribuiu para a tragédia, que teve uma sequência de falhas humanas; o cansaço do piloto foi identificado pelo seu tom de voz; poucos dias antes do acidente, o próprio Martins já havia dito, em redes sociais, que estava “cansadaço”38. (Brasil 247, 19/1/2016)

Source: Author’s elaboration.

The first occurrence was the headline of a piece of news published in the R7 news channel; the second was the transcription of a young artist’s speech in an interview published in Extra newspaper, both in 2018; the third occurrence appeared in the body of a 2016 article as a partial transcription of the post on social media of the pilot responsible for the aircraft in which the then candidate for presidency Eduardo Campus was travelling.

In the first case, the verb ficar in “após ficar quarto dias perdidaço na cidade” implies that the underlined adjective is an attribute of the elliptical subject “sea lion”. The information which is of our interest may be summarised in the following clause:

Leão-marinho	ficou	perdidaço	em cidade	por quatro dias
Carrier	Intensive relational process	Qualificative attribute	Circumstance of place	Circumstance of time

In the second case, the adjective boladaço functions as an attribute of the desinential subject ‘I’, which has the young artist interviewed as the referent.

[Eu]	Fiquei	Boladaço
Carrier	Intensive relational process	Qualificative attribute

In the third case, on the other hand, the adjective cançadaço occurs in the transcription of the indirect speech made by the journalist based on the aeroplane pilot’s post, integrating, thus, a projected clause that plays the role of verbiage in a report of a verbal clause and has the same subject of this clause, as may be observed in:

O próprio Martins	Já	havia dito,	em redes sociais,	que estava “cansadaço”
Sayer	Circumstance of time	Verbal process	Circumstance of place	Report

However, as the scope of this study focuses on the clause in which the neologism occurs, the report was transformed into direct speech:

Eu [Martins]	estou	cansadaço
Carrier	Intensive relational process	Qualificative attribute

From a morphological perspective, in perdidaço, the suffix –aço was attached to the root of the adjective perdido; in boladaço to the root of the adjective bolado that, despite restricted to colloquial language, is found in the Dicionário Houaiss with the meanings of “surprised and confused with a certain attitude or reaction of others” and “annoyed, upset, angry”, among others that do not refer to the context in question; and in cansadaço added to the root of the adjective cansado.

It is interesting to observe that, in the first case, the quotation marks signpost the presence of a sort of foreign body in the headline of the news item, in which standard register of the written language is expected, whereas in the transcription of the young artist’s speech, the absence of the quotation marks signals a higher recurrence and acceptance of this word in the informal oral language. In the third, in contrast, the use of these marks is a result of the need to indicate that signifier as part of the pilot’s speech, although some overlapping of the uses may also be considered: a simultaneous demarcation of a strange word or of a lexical unit restricted to colloquial use, i.e., not officially belonging to the Brazilian Portuguese repertoire.

As for the meaning added by the suffix, the intensification of the basic meaning is noted in all three cases, as claimed by Monteiro (2002). Therefore, estar perdidaço means to be very lost; estar boladaço to be very upset; and estar cansadaço to be very tired.

In short, the analysis of the transitivity undertaken in the clauses in which adjectives ended in –aço formed from adjectival base demonstrated that, in these three occurrences, these adjectives assumed the semantic function of a qualificative attribute in relational clauses, which are commonly used to represent beings in the world in terms of their characteristics and identities.

Another aspect worth mentioning is the fact that these adjectives always figure as autonomous phrases and never as internal phrase in another semantic function, which would allow for somewhat ungrammatical constructions, as in evidence in the example: *O perdidaço aluno era muito gentil com os colegas”³⁹. It is believed that this is due to two different semantic aspects. The first is related to the fact that the base adjectives that gave rise to formations with –aço indicate eventual rather than persistent states or qualities of the terms to which they refer. The second is directly associated with the intensification value expressed by the suffix, which only occurs when the adjectives figure autonomously as phrases.

Nouns [N → N +aço]

Positive, appreciative/ excellence value judgement in material clauses

The suffix –aço is attached to a nominal base to form nouns, expressing, as mentioned earlier in this article, different semantic values, among which the evaluative aspect pointed out by Azeredo (2008), Rocha (2008) and Basílio (2011), that is employed to highlight the quality of something.

In the analysed corpus, neologic forms such as festaço, discaço and filamaço were found. These words are formed from the nouns, festa [party], disco [record] and filme [film] and function as the nuclear term of nominal or prepositional groups that integrate material clauses to express positive, appreciative or excellence value judgment, as shown below:

Table 3 – Neologisms formed from nominal bases (excellence) 424344

1) Marcinho completa a lista dos artistas que sobem ao palco no Réveillon Colosso 2017. O cearense promete muita diversão e animação durante seu show. Mas o “festaço” não acaba por aí, pois a data merece uma emocionante queima de fogos para coroar a chegada do novo ano.40 (O Povo, 28/12/2016)

2) Sem os mesmos exageros de singles anteriores, Christina não entrega um discaço, mas dá para dizer que é uma retomada na carreira.41 (O Globo, 15/6/2018)

3) ‘A chegada’ transforma alfabetização de ETs em filmaço tenso e atordoante42 (G1, 24/11/2016)

Source: Author’s elaboration.

In 1), the neologic form is the head of the nominal group that functions as the affected term of a transformative material process expressed by the ergative verb acabar.

O festaço	não acaba	por aí
Affected	Transformative material Process	Circumstance of place

In 2), the neologism discaço is the nucleus of the nominal group that functions as the goal of material process expressed by the verb entregar, in which transformative and creative values amalgamate, once, in this context, a beneficiary (recipient) could be added in the sense that something could be delivered to someone (the public, for instance). At the same time, the creative processes that involve recording an album (compose, record, edit, etc.) are implied in the sense that Christina is not only the person who delivers the album, but she is also responsible for its creation.

Christina	não entrega	um discaço
Actor	Transformative and creative material Process	Goal

In 3), the neologism filmaço é the head of the prepositional group that functions as a resultative attribute of the transformative material process.

‘A chegada’	transforma	alfabetização de ETs	em filmaço tenso e atordoante
Actor	Transformative material Process	Goal	Resultative attribute

Taking into consideration the cases analysed above, it is possible to observe that even if the neologisms that indicate excellence may appear in clauses of positive polarity, as in example (2), as well as in of negative polarity, in evidence in extract (3), in which the excellence of the album delivered to the public and to the critics in general by the singer Christina Aguilera is denied. It is also important to note that the nouns ended in –aço occupy a nuclear position in the nominal groups. It is believed that this is due to the semantic force that the suffix undertakes regarding both intensification and the expression of value judgement. In other words, it is the semantic force of the suffix –aço that determines the position that the terms formed with it will occupy in the clause.

aço as a grammatical element that denotes modality

Halliday and Mathiessen (2014) postulate that, under the perspective of the interpersonal metafunction, the clause is viewed as an exchange. Conceiving the clause as exchange presupposes considering language as a possibility of interaction with and between people in different communicative situations. In the process of interaction, individuals play different social roles, which are determined by specific conditions (social, economical, hierarchical etc.), negotiate ways of engaging with the other, expressing opinions and attitudes in order to give or demand information or goods and services. In the first situation- give or receive information-, the product of exchange is the language itself; whereas, in the second- give or receive goods and services-, the language is used to influence someone’s behaviour. In both cases, in order to achieve an interactive goal, individuals mobilise lexico-grammatical resources available in the linguistic system which denote, among others, polarity and modality.

Polarity, according to the authors, is expressed by the opposition affirmative/ negative and may be found in all languages, normally constituting the former as the unmarked form, whilst the latter is perceived by some additional element, as the adverb não [not] in Portuguese. Halliday and Mathiessen (2014) highlight, nevertheless, that this opposition is not realised in a transparent way in the linguistic system, when the comprehension of what is symbolically suggested depends on the communicative situation.

In the previous section, it was claimed that neologisms with –aço formed from nouns to express value judgement may appear in clauses of positive and negative polarity. The same could be argued about neologic constructions formed from adjective to express intensity, as in Eu não fiquei boladaço. It seems that in both cases, the negative polarity represents a breach of paradigm, that is, these constructions are not usually used by Brazilian Portuguese speakers and occur in exceptional situations. In the example found in the present corpus (Christina não entrega um discaço), negation apparently indicates a breach of expectation, possibly projected, given the quality of the other albums recorded by the singer, that is, she was expected to deliver a great album, but it did not happen.

Although exhaustive collection of data was not our intent, in the analysed examples, it may be observed that the clauses in which these neologic forms appear have predominantly positive polarity. Such fact may be justified due to the communicative goal that this type of neologic construction with –aço mobilises: evaluate an idea positively when associated with a nominal base, or intensify a characteristic expressed by the lexeme when associated with adjectival base. In these cases, a negative value may appear, but this is usually associated with the lexeme to which the suffix is attached so that the clause assumes positive form, as in Ele é feiaço [he is not handsome] or O goleiro engoliu um frangaço [the goalkeeper didn’t catch an easy ball], and not associated with the clause.

In the light of Halliday and Mathiessen (2014), polarity should be considered as a continuum in which speech acts are situated (statements, reactions, opinions) and that has two opposite ends, namely positive and negative poles, and modality as intermediate ground of meaning. Modality, defined, by some writers, “as an area of uncertainties between yes and no”⁴³ (HALLIDAY; MATHIESSEN, 2014, p. 176, our translation), is related to the form assumed by the text in a certain communicative situation to achieve a specific goal. When different possible forms to indicate the same idea are analysed, it may be surmised that a number of resources used by speakers to take a stand on a being, object or situation, expressing their opinion. This means that the choice of the lexico-grammatical resources that will constitute our utterances is determined by contextual factors such as the relations established between participants of the situation, their self-image, the image of others and that of the object of saying and the social distance between them. It was possibly the perception of this characteristic, present in certain situations of use, that motivated Rocha (2008) to postulate the anteriority of meaning of affectivity in relation to other values presented by the suffixes traditionally classified as augmentative. However, the configuration of the suffix –aço as a grammatical resource that indicates modality is restricted to the cases analysed previously, that is, to the situations in which it is attached to an adjectival base to express intensity and to a nominal base to express value judgment, apart from that meaning which expresses physical largeness, revealing, therefore, the speaker’s judgement or point of view about the object of saying. Lastly, it may be stated that such use, as will be discussed in 3.2.4, configures what is the SFL classifies as interpersonal grammatical metaphor.

Collective action and demonstration in material, relational and existential clauses

Another value that may be presented by nouns formed from the addition of –aço to a nominal base is that of collective action. It should be noted that, in this case, the idea of augmentative degree is metonymically represented by the quantity of the element presented in the root. They are actions of great proportions that, to be constituted, depend on the participation of many people who, in turn, should make some specific action simultaneously. Casamentaço (example 1), for instance, is the designation attributed to a community and collective wedding ceremony carried out by an NGO so that 1,200 people with no financial conditions could officialise, before the law and the church, their relationships. The grandiosity of the event, therefore, is associated in this case with the quantity of weddings performed simultaneously.

These names occur, in the analysed corpus, mostly in material clauses, but also in relational and existential clauses, as may be observed below:

1) Material clauses

1.1 Actor

3. Atividades de ‘mamaço’ fecham ações do Agosto Dourado no Centro-Oeste Paulista.

14.2 ‘Cadeiraço’ pede respeito aos diretos das pessoas com deficiência física.

1.2 Goal

2. (...) uma equipe da Diocese da capital realiza adesivaço e venda de artigos religiosos em frente à Catedral de São José, no Centro.

5. Internautas fazem ‘vomitaço’ contra Temer e PMDB nas redes sociais.

6.2 O PT fará um “tuitaço” com a hashtag #HaddadÉLula.

8.1 (...) o Meu Rio lançou o Compartilhaço.

8.2 #DemocraciaSim suspende compartilhaço após ataque de hackers.

9. Universitários fazem ‘beijaço’ contra suposto ato de homofobia na frente de bar em Boa Vista.

12. Em Londres, brasileiros fazem ‘sambaço’ e ‘estouro de carro’ a favor de Bolsonaro.

14.1 Estudantes da Unesp em Marília fazem ‘cadeiraço’ na universidade.

1.3 Affected

4. ‘Toplessaço’ recebe apoio de banhistas na praia de Ipanema.

2) Relational clauses

2.1. Possessive relational clauses

2.1.1 Possessor

6.1 Decreto é alvo de ‘twitaço’ [entenda-se: O twitaço tem um alvo – o decreto].

2.2.2 Possessed

7. Metrô Botafogo, no Rio de Janeiro, recebe mais um “lulaço” (o verbo receber poderia ser substituído por tem).

10. Festa de réveillon de Copacabana terá ‘abraçaço’ para 2018.

13. O evento teve bandeiraço, distribuição de adesivos e carro de som.

2.2.3 Circumstance

1. (...) outras centenas de apaixonados terão a oportunidade de trocar alianças, sem qualquer custo, na edição deste ano do “casamentaço”.

3) Existential clauses

3.1 Existent

6.3 No Twitter, há um “twittaço” marcado para as 18h com a hashtag #ConceicaoEvaristoNaABL.

11. [Ocorreu] O panelaço, o buzinaço e o foguetaço de Bolsonaro⁶⁵.

In material clauses, the neologic items may function or may be part of nominal groups that function as actor, beneficiary or goal, the latter being predominantly. In the relational clauses, the neologisms are of the possessive type and function as possessor, possessed and circumstances. In contrast, in existential clauses, they function as existent. Moreover, neologic forms may also integrate, though more rarely, a prepositional group that characterises the nucleus, as in 1, 3 and 6.1.

It could also be noted that, even when these occurrences in prepositional groups integrate the grammatical subjects of material clauses and function as actor, these items do not refer to the agents of the clauses themselves: in 3), because mamaço integrates the prepositional group which characterises the head atividades, which, in turn, are carried out by the group of women and male supporters who enlarge the movement, and in 14.2, because cadeiraço refers to the quantity of wheelchairs present in the demonstration, designating metonymically the participation of handicap people (or supporters of the cause). Those people are the ones who ask for respect so the event itself is a result of their collective action.

In our view, the dilution of this trace indicating the actor’s control over the action is a consequence of the prototypical characteristics of this participant, which is usually identified as an animated entity that triggers an action. In the analysed examples, the neologic forms do not directly refer to people, but to the action undertaken simultaneously and anonymously by them. What is under focus is the collective movement, which implies, thus, that no one should be individually taken responsible. The reduction of semantic force of this trace that indicates control of the neologic forms may also be noticed, as far as the textual metafunction is concerned, in their tendency towards non-topicalisation. As it may be observed in Table 4, the neologisms in –aço predominantly appear in the rheme, being present in the theme in only three of the nineteen analysed occurrences.

Table 4
– Neologisms formed from nominal bases (collective action/ demonstration)

1) Em novembro de 2015, Nathalia Moura Aragão, de 20 anos, e Iago da Costa Aragão, de 24, realizaram o sonho de selar a união amorosa em um casamento comunitário em Santa Cruz. Assim como eles, que disseram “sim” em um grupo de 1.200 pessoas, outras centenas de apaixonados terão a oportunidade de trocar alianças, sem qualquer custo, na edição deste ano do “casamentaço” organizado pela Usina Comunitária CSA44. (Extra, 8/10/2016)

2) Fiéis contribuem com Círio comprando artigos religiosos e adesivando veículos, no AP Visando angariar fundos para o festejo, uma equipe da Diocese da capital realiza adesivaço e venda de artigos religiosos em frente à Catedral de São José, no Centro.45 (G1, 8/9/2018)

3) Atividades de ‘mamaço’ fecham ações do Agosto Dourado no Centro-Oeste Paulista46 (G1, 31/1/2018).

4) ‘Toplessaço’ recebe apoio de banhistas na praia de Ipanema47 (O Globo, 4/11/2017)

5) Internautas fazem ‘vomitaço’ contra Temer e PMDB nas redes sociais48 (Folha de São Paulo, 11/5/2016)

6.1) Decreto que acaba com rotulagem de transgênicos é alvo de ‘twitaço’49 (O Globo, 30/8/2017)

6.2) O PT já anunciou que fará um “tuitaço” com a hashtag #HaddadÉLula às 15h13 desta terça50 (Gazeta do povo, 11/9/2018)

6.3) No Twitter, há um “twittaço” marcado para as 18h com a hashtag #ConceicaoEvaristoNaABL.51 (O Globo, 29/8/2018)

7) Metrô Botafogo, no Rio de Janeiro, recebe mais um “lulaço” 52 (Revista Fórum, 5/9/2018)

8.1) Eu emprestaria minha página do FB para postagem automatizadas massivas, em uma ação ativista! E já fiz isso em 2015, quando o Meu Rio lançou o Compartilhaço, um aplicativo desenvolvido por eles e que sincronizava milhares de páginas para vocalizar causas públicas e importantes.53 (Revista Fórum, 30/3/2018)

8.2) A partir do dia 25 de maio, um “Compartilhaço” vai chamar a atenção de quem passa pela Avenida Brasil, com frases adaptadas da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos – DUDH, que estarão expostas em faixas de três passarelas da Avenida.54 (Brasil 247, 16/9/2018)

8.3) #DemocraciaSim suspende compartilhaço após ataque de hackers55 (Catraca livre, 25/9/2018)

9) Universitários fazem ‘beijaço’ contra suposto ato de homofobia na frente de bar em Boa Vista56 (O Globo, 24/10/2017)

10) Festa de réveillon de Copacabana terá ‘abraçaço’ para 201857 (Extra, 25/12/2017)

11) O panelaço, o buzinaço e o foguetaço de Bolsonaro58 (O Globo, 17/9/2018)

12) Em Londres, brasileiros fazem ‘sambaço’ e ‘estouro de carro’ a favor de Bolsonaro e atraem curiosos59 (Portal do Holanda, 30/9/2018).

13) Manifestantes sorocabanos se reuniram na manhã deste domingo (30) no Paço Municipal em um ato a favor do candidato à Presidência Jair Bolsonaro (PSL). Segundo os organizadores, participaram jovens, adultos, crianças e idosos. O evento teve bandeiraço, distribuição de adesivos e carro de som. Conforme o evento no Facebook, a organização pedia também aos participantes a doação de um quilo de alimento não perecível.60 (Jornal Cruzeiro, 30/9/2018).

14.1) Estudantes da Unesp em Marília fazem ‘cadeiraço’ na universidade61 (G1, 10/5/2016)

14.2) ‘Cadeiraço’ pede respeito aos diretos das pessoas com deficiência física62 (G1, 24/9/2016))

Source: Author’s elaboration.

On the other hand, in 4) the verb receber is ergative and, therefore, attributes passivity to the grammatical subject Toplessaço. Thus, we may observe a medial construction in which receber functions as a semantic correlate (PERINI, 2008) of the helping verb dar in the active voice. As a result, the clause could be paraphrased in the middle voice: Banhistas dão apoio a toplessaço, as shown below:

Active voice	Banhistas dão apoio a toplessaço. 64	Dar = transitive helping verb
Middle voice	Toplessaçorecebeapoio de banhistas65.	Receber = ergative verb

In the active voice, Banhistas functions as the actor of a material process expressed by the transitive helping verb dar, and in the middle voice, as source that triggers the process that leads another participant to get support. Apoio, in turn, functions, in the first construction, as scope-process, i.e., as a complement that forms with the helping verb a global meaning that may be translated by apoiar and, in the second, as the goal of the action receber. In contrast, Toplessaço functions as beneficiary-recipient in the clause with dar and as affected in the clause with receber. It should be highlighted, however, that, also in this case, the neologic construction refers to the movement organised by a collectivity, and not to the collectivity itself, which is constituted by people who participate in the demonstrations and that, therefore, received the support of sunbathers.

From a semantic point of view, it is possible to observe some distinctions in relation to neologisms found in the corpus. In casamentaço (example 1), as mentioned, only the meaning of collective action is noted. From example 2 to 12, nonetheless, this action gains specification. This claim stems from the fact that the created nouns name collective demonstrations performed in favour of a social cause and/or to demand something. It should be emphasised that, despite the fact that this value was cited only by Sandmann (1987, 1991), there are two legitimate words in the Brazilian Portuguese, one of which appears in example 10. They are: buzinaço, which is indexed by VOLP and Dicionário Houaiss, meaning “demonstration in favour or against something done with the blaring of horns⁶⁶”, and panelaço, which is indexed by this dictionary, meaning “popular and collective demonstration that consists of making great noise banging [...] pots and pans at a certain time”⁶⁷.

The noun buzinaço has a controversial origin and, according to Santos (2010), was indexed by a Brazilian dictionary for the first time in 1985. For Sandmann (1987), in this lexical item the meaning of strike or hit was substituted by that of touch, blow, and its emergence is related to television broadcasts of Chacrinha’s TV show. The author adds that, following the footsteps of buzinaço, other two neologisms were created at that time: “apitaço” [...], ‘noisy demonstration with whistles’, and ‘panelaço’ “noisy demonstrations with pans”, which were probably borrowings of Spanish words”⁶⁸ (SANDMANN, 1987, p. 59, our translation). In his 1995 publication, Sandmann considers this transference of meaning as a process of semantic shift, although none of the publications explains how touch and blow started to designate a type of demonstration. It is known, however, that the Brazilian media have registered this meaning since 2010, being used to refer to the demonstrations organised by taxi drivers, truck drivers during the 2018 strike, and also by bus drivers and, more recently, Uber drivers to demand rights and benefits. From 2015 to 2018, due to political polarisation that besets the country, this term has also been used in political demonstrations, especially but not exclusively, in those organised by right-wing parties against the Labour Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores –PT), in favour of president Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, which took place in 2016, and in the presidential elections pro the far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro.

In contrast, panelaço, according to Alves (2006), arisen from the Spanish word cacerolazo, was used for the first time in 1971 in Chile in a march of middle and upper classes protestors against the socialist government of Salvador Allende. The word, also used in Argentina in 2001 in the demonstrations against president De LA Rua (AVRITZER, 2018)⁶⁹ and later in Uruguay and in Venezuela (SANTOS, 2010), is formed by the attachment of the suffix –azo to the noun cacerola (Spanish word for pan). This occurrence, among other meanings, expresses a hit, a strike with something in Spanish, which is equivalent to the suffix –ada in Portuguese, present in the word cabeçada [head strike], for example. Consequently, according to Alves, the word cacelorazo was created to name the Chilean protest because demonstrators “would bang pans to make high noises” (ALVES, 2006, p. 136). On the other hand, in Brazilian Portuguese, in conformity with this latter writer, the word was literally adapted from Spanish to Portuguese - caçarolaço (caçarola + aço). In fact, the word was soon substituted by panela (pan), due to the fact that it is more frequently used than caçarola, to denote the meaning of “repetitive and noisy action” (ALVES, 2006, p. 137).

In 2013, the term panelaço started to circulate in demonstrations which took place in several Brazilian cities against the increase of R$0,20 in bus fares and, in 2014, in demonstrations against the realisation of the World Cup in Brazil, escalating in 2015 and 2016 in demonstrations in favour of the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff. In 2016 and 2017, this sort of protest was also performed against Temer, Dilma’s ex-vice president, being used again in 2018 during presidential electoral campaign, in demonstrations in favour of the ex-president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva’s arrest and, subsequently, against his freedom to avoid his candidacy for presidential election, as well as in protests in favour of the far right candidate.

As far as the nature of the suffix –aço as action/ demonstration is concerned, some comments must be presented. According to Santos (2010), the meaning of strike- and not of demonstration- is not common in Portuguese. For the author, this meaning would be a result of the analogy made in relation to Spanish words that were adapted into Portuguese. In accordance with Santos, “the high productivity of one of these words may have contributed to the formations with the value of golpe in Portuguese”⁷⁰ (SANTOS, 2010, p.153, our translation) and, unlike Alves’s (2006) and Sandmann’s (1987, 1991) claims, consequently, as well as to the formation of words with the meaning of action/ demonstration, as panelaço and buzinaço. Santos (2010) emphasises that, in this case, productivity should not be attributed to the suffix, but to the recurrence of an adapted word.

Writers, such as Souza (2015), relate the meaning of demonstration not to the action, but to the group. Sandman (1987, p. 59, our translation), however, without denying the relation with the Spanish language, considers that, whichever the meaning, “the idea of ‘intensity’ or ‘size’ is always present: barcaça ‘big boat’, mulheraço ‘tall woman’ or ‘attractive woman’, pataço ‘big kick’, apitaço ‘noisy demonstration with whistles’”⁷¹. In order to justify this point of view, he observes, based on Gauger, that in Portuguese as well as in Spanish, there are two suffixes –aço, although in the former language this distinction is less productive due to the influence of one meaning over the other. The author affirms:

Gauger (1968, p. 93) sees in the Spanish martillazo two homonyms: martillazo I ‘big hammer’ and martillazo II ‘hammer strike’. Homonyms, as said, are in themselves –azo I ‘big’ and –azo II ‘strike’. Parallel to this, in Portuguese, we may talk about –aço I (caçarolaço ‘caçarola grande’) and –aço II (joelhaço ‘knee strike’). However, in Portuguese, the formations in –aço II also assume the meaning of –aço I: pataço is not, as in patada, a simple ‘kick’, but ‘a violent kick’. In other words, -aço I influenced –aço II, transferring its meaning to the latter⁷². (SANDMANN, 1988, p. 34, bold by the writer, our translation).

However, as mentioned earlier, although we do not deny the existence of a diachronic relationship between the meaning of strike and of action/ demonstration, what stands out synchronically- and that, in fact, entails the ideas of group, intensity and size- is the metonymic relationship between the grandiosity of the event and the quantity of entities identified by the root of the base word. This relationship is present in Sandmann’s definition of apitaço from the use of apitos [whistles] in its plural form and justifies, therefore, in a synchronic point of view, the consideration of the suffix –aço as a case of polysemy and not of homonym as proposed by Monteiro (2002). Thus, it may be claimed that in order to perform an apitaço, it is imperative that there be many people blowing whistles at the same time- and there should be many whistles-; to perform a buzinaço, it is necessary that there be many people blaring the horns at the same time and, therefore, many horns; and, to perform a panelaço, it is crucial that there be many people banging pans and pots at the same time and, therefore, many pans and pots. Furthermore, as initially pointed out, it is important to highlight that, in spite of there being a very close semantic relationship between the meaning of action and demonstration, the latter differs in terms of the purpose of the actions performed.

Lastly, as argued by Azevedo (2008), an act of irregular creativity- namely, the borrowing of a word from Spanish to Brazilian Portuguese with a meaning not yet expected in the receptive language, whichever meaning it may be, may generate a regular and productive model that, as advocated by Câmara Jr. (1975), will guide the structure of new words. Thus, in this article, it is claimed that after the naturalisation of the meaning(s) of the word(s) formed from –aço originally borrowed from Spanish, a deletion of the analogic process occurred in the sense that, unlike Santos’s (2010) claim, the meanings started to be attributed not to the borrowed word, but to the suffix, allowing for the creation of new words without being necessary to rely on the model of the words originally obtained from Spanish.

Let us focus on contemporary neologisms created with the suffix – aço illustrated in Table 4. From example 2 on, as mentioned earlier, the neologic forms start designating demonstrations. Among them, the oldest occurrences to which we had access in digital communication vehicle were cadeiraço (examples 14.1 and 14.2) and toplessaço (example 4). Formed from the attachment of the suffix –aço to the root of cadeira, cadeiraço was used, as of 2015, to refer to a demonstration performed by wheelchair users to demand respect towards people with physical disabilities (example 14.2). As of 2016, however, this word started to designate the protest performed by UNESP students against education budget cut, in which chairs were placed to block the entrance of classrooms (example 14.1). In both cases, the grandiosity of the event is associated with the number of chairs (or wheel chairs). In contrast, toplessaço is a morphologic neologism formed by the addition of the suffix –aço to the expression from the English topless and incorporated into the Portuguese lexicon with its original spelling and with the following meaning, according to Dicionário Houaiss: “female garment that does not cover the body from waist upwards”⁷³. The first registers of this word date back 2013, being recurrently used in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 to refer to demonstrations performed in order to promote debate on the non-criminalisation of female nudity and on the end of police repression of women’s bodies.

As of 2017, the words beijaço and abraçaço, also used in favour of social causes and found in the analysed data, are formed from the addition of –aço to the nouns beijo (example 9) and abraço (example 10), respectively. The first neologism was predominantly used in favour of LGBT cases; whereas the second was used in different contexts such as in demonstrations pro- women’s rights and disabled people, for peace, for the revitalisation of cultural centres and against violence in the Maré community (Rio de Janeiro) after the death of a 13-year-old student killed by policemen in 2018. In relation to the first neologism - beijaço-, it may be claimed that, depending on the context, it may also have different meanings, as noted in the following headline: “O tempo não para: Samuca dá um beijaço e quase transa com Marocas”⁷⁴ (Uol, TV news, 20/8/2018). In this case, the suffix –aço implies modality, adding to the root to which it attaches some value judgement- a kiss between two characters in the soap opera “O tempo não para” (Rede Globo in 2018) is considered an intense, passionate, long … kiss.

In adesivaço (example 2), the action of buying Nazaré’s candle decals and of putting it on the automobiles aims at raising funds for the traditional catholic festivity. Thus, the more decals there are on cars, the bigger the movement. In mamaço, the action performed by mothers while simultaneously breastfeeding their babies intends to encourage breastfeeding. The grandiosity of the movement depends, therefore, upon a significant number of mothers breastfeeding their infants at the same time and place.

The advent of social media and their popularisation in Brazil have also contributed to the emergence of virtual demonstrations. This is the case of vomitaço (example 5), tuitaço (example 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3) and compartilhaço (example 8.3). The oldest publications of the two first neologisms date back 2016. Vomitaço was a collective demonstration performed by opponents of president Dilma’s impeachment and the takeover by her vice-president Michel Temer by means of a vomiting emoji on PMDM – Temer’s political party- social media pages.

Tuitaço, in turn, was used with different spellings with the meaning of collective sharing of clauses with hashtags supporting a certain cause in Twitter- a social networking named after an English word whose literal meaning describes a series of short and high sounds made by birds. By naming a social medium, the lexical unit, originally derived from the onomatopoeic verb tweet is nominalised, serving as base for the formation of the neologism with the suffix –aço, which appears in media vehicles spelled in the following forms: 1) keeping the original spelling of the root (twittaço, example 6.3), 2) partially adapting the original spelling of the root with the elimination of a ‘t’ (twitaço, example 6.2) and 3) with a completely adapted spelling (tuitaço, example 6.2). The causes in favour of which the tuitaços are performed are diverse, such as expression of discontent and demand of actions in relation to the disaster in Mariana in 2015, demand of LGBT rights, opposition to the decree which overturns the obligation of labelling genetically modified food, to outsourcing laws and to the political coup taking place since 2015, defence of Conceição Evaristo’s candidacy for a seat at the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL), and, 2018, supporting candidates for political offices in different spheres.

In contrast, compartilhamentaço, besides meaning collective sharing of something in social networkings, also presents two other meanings: 1) it is the name of an app that promotes synchronisation of millions of pages to disseminate public and important causes (example 8.1), 2) it refers to one of the campaign actions “Favela 3D- Disposição, Diversidade and Direitos”⁷⁵, elaborated by students of Escola Popular de Comunicação Crítica (ESPOCC) [Popular school of Critical Communication], from the project Observatório da Favela [Shantytown Observatory], which consists of the exhibition of several sentences adapted from the Declaration of Human Rights in pedestrian overpasses in Brazilian Avenue in order to break stereotypes and to show that the slum is a place of potential and diversity. In this sense, it is the quantity of sentences displayed in the pedestrian overpasses that promotes the grandiosity of the action.

The political context engendered by the 2018 elections allowed the emergence of other neologisms, such as:

1. Lulaço (example 7): demonstration in favour of Lula’s freedom and of the acceptance of his presidential candidacy;

2. Foguetaço (example 11): demonstration in favour of a candidate in which fireworks are used;

3. Sambaço (example 12): demonstration in favour of a candidate in which participants sing, play and dance samba music; and

4. Bandeiraço (example 13): demonstration in favour of a candidate in which participants carry political parties flags on a march.

This last occurrence also appears in the analysed corpus expressing modality with the meaning of big flag, as shown below:

O impressionantebandeiraçodo Corinthians. Na prévia da semifinal da Copa do Brasil contra o Flamengo, o Timão realizou um treinamento aberto. Cerca de 38 mil presentes no Allianz Park [Parque] para incentivar os jogadores”, contou o jornal, em sua manchete.⁷⁶

Moreover, it may be noted that in 1) and 3), unlike what happened in the other neologisms that name demonstrations, the metonymic relation, discussed previously, was not observed. This fact corroborates the naturalisation of the meaning of demonstrations associated with the suffix –aço and with its productivity. In 1), the root refers to those in favour of whom protests- ex-president Lula; and in 3), the root refers to the rhythm played along the demonstration- samba.

This breach of paradigm had already been observed by Sandmann (1991, p. 55, our translation) when analysing the lexical units academaço and quartelaço. According to the writer, the first was created in 1987 in reference to a noisy demonstration against ex-president Sarney’s delegation in the Brazilian Academy of Letters surroundings and the second, in the same year, in reference to a military demonstration that took place in Argentina during the Holy Week. In both cases, Sandmann claims that “the element ‘place’ was added as part of the meaning of the new formation”⁷⁷. As a result, as pointed out in 1) and 3), a neutralisation of the restrictions to the rule in question in the formation of units with –aço that happens by the substitution of the metonymic relation, in this case, by the idea of place: academaço is a demonstration that takes place in the Academy and quartelaço the demonstration which happens in headquarters; and in 1) and 3), as mentioned, by the name in favour of those who protest and by the rhythm played along the demonstration.

Linguistic borrowing and semantic neologismo

Table 5 – Neologisms formed from nominal bases (defeat metaphor)

1) Brasil é derrotado pelo Uruguai no ‘Maracanazo’ em 1950 (Estadão, 11/5/2018)

2) Ilusão do título, Maracanaço colorado e Lomba paredão: os memes da vitória do Inter sobre o Fluminense (Zero hora, 13/8/2018)

3) Veja os melhores momentos dos ‘Maracanaço’ do Independiente sobre o Flamengo (Fox Sports, 13/12/2017)

Source: Author’s elaboration.

Similar to panelaço, the neologic form maracanazo stems from Spanish and emerged in the 1950 decade to designate Brazil’s 2x1 defeat to Uruguay in the World Cup final in Maracanã Stadium, as may be verified in example 1- a historic report in Estadão newspaper in which the word appears with its original spelling between quotation marks. It must be noted that, in Spanish, the suffix –aço denotes, among other meanings, that of strike or blow. Thus, it is argued that, deriving from this meaning, the term in Spanish started to designate, metaphorically, a strike or blow dealt by the Uruguayan national team to the Brazilian national team at Maracanã Stadium in the World Cup Final and was used in Brazil with its original spelling at that time. Therefore, this is possibly the first word of Spanish origin with the suffix –azo meaning strike/ blow, even if metaphorically, to be lent to Brazilian Portuguese. However, as examples 2 and 3 evidence, nowadays in Brazil, not only has the word had its spelling adapted into Portuguese, due to its process of lexicalisation and, consequently, of another semantic shift, but it has also faced an expansion of meaning, no longer designating only a historic Brazilian defeat to Uruguay, but also any defeat faced by a Brazilian team in final matches at Maracanã stadium.

As pointed out by Sandmann (1991) as far as academaço and quartelaço, there is an association of the suffix –aço with the metaphorical meaning of strike/ blow with a base that designates place, and not the instrument/ part of the body with which someone strikes (hard/ violently), as in chifraço, canivetaço, pataço and joelhaço, in Portuguese, and palazzo, martillazo and cabezazo, in Spanish.

aço as grammatical metaphor

In SFL, the term grammatical metaphor is employed in reference “to the use of a grammatical resource to express the function that does not belong to it intrinsically”⁷⁸ (SARDINHA, 2007, p. 45, our translation). From this perspective, in the linguistic system there is a congruent structure, that is, primary or unmarked, of direct realisation that, when metaphorised, becomes indirect so that other grammatical resources start being used to express the same meaning.

There are two types of grammatical metaphor: interpersonal and ideational. The former occurs when congruent resources are not used to express mood or modality. This was observed in 3.2.1.1, when the functioning of the suffix –aço to express intensity and value judgement, when attached to adjectival and nominal bases, respectively, was analysed and therefore, will not be our focus here. The latter occurs when a linguistic element acquires a new meaning, be it in the phonologic/graphologic, lexico-grammatical or discursive semantics stratum. It may be claimed that the direct realisation is ruled by harmony, with a specific meaning for each linguistic element. The attribution of a new meaning to an element implies, therefore, a disharmony of the system, generation tension between different strata from which the grammatical metaphor has arisen.

The analysis of neologic units formed by –aço, produced from morphic elements of Brazilian Portuguese or from borrowing from Spanish, confirms the productivity of this suffix, which may be observed in formal or semantic aspects. As far as nouns indicating collective actions and demonstrations are concerned, two effects of the process of lexicalisation in the Brazilian Portuguese were verified: 1) the semantic shift from strike/ blow to touch and, subsequently, to action/ demonstration; 2) the possibility of substitution of the metonymic relationship expressed by the first element of the lexical unit and by other relations of meaning. The first aspect, as mentioned previously, also refers to a grammatical metaphor established in the discursive semantics stratum, once it originated a tension in the system from which a productive model that came to serve as base for the formation of new words was created. However, as this question has been properly addressed in earlier sections, the focus will rely on the description of the functioning of the metaphor that implicates the second aspect.

In conformity with Sandmann (1988), the suffixes not only are not meaningless, as some grammarians and linguists would claim, but they can also semantically correspond to lexemes. In this sense, argues the author in accordance with Gauger, the suffix –azo II means strike/ blow, whereas in the nouns in Portuguese the suffix –aço expresses collective action, demonstration and, included after our present analysis, defeat (metaphorical strike/blow)⁷⁹. In this case, the suffix is not accessory to the root, as in festaço, in which –aço is configured as an attribute to festa [party] when expressing appreciative value judgement or, in perdidaço, in which the idea expressed by the adjective is intensified. In formations such as casamentaço, beijaço and maracanaço, what is in question is not the meaning expressed by the first morphic element, but that of collective action, demonstration and defeat respectively.

There is, however, resulting from the lexicalisation of this morpheme in Portuguese, an inversion in relation to the order in which the element of the most relevant meaning in the lexical unit occurs so that casamento, beijo e maracanã start to function as accessory elements of –aço, whose meaning is prior to them, once it expresses the most important information of the whole, which may be paraphrased by groups of complex clauses, as in: collective action in which several weddings take place at the same time, demonstration in favour of a certain cause in which several people kiss at the same time, defeat that happened in Maracanã.

Therefore, it is considered that the inversion of the role played by morphemes that constitute the neologic formations with –aço designating action, demonstration or defeat is configured as a result of a metaphorisation process that, in turn, established a tension in the lexico-grammatical stratum of the linguistic system. Thus, in our study, the suffix –aço is seen as lexeme- and, consequently, as part of the greatest semantic relevance of the lexical item. This allows for the neutralisation of the restriction, mentioned previously, that was placed on the meaning of the first element of neologic forms, enabling its substitution by elements that evoke other relations of meaning, as in academaço, quartelaço and sambaço.

Conclusion

In this article, after carrying out a survey of linguistic-grammatical literature regarding forms derived from the addition of the suffix –aço to nominal bases, the goal was to describe the functioning of recent neologisms in circulation in digital media under the perspective of SFL. In this sense, it was observed, with Azeredo (2008), that the emergence of a neologism is associated with a criterion of utility and necessity of use. The lexical items ending in –aço produced contemporarily and in circulation in the Brazilian media were created, as mentioned previously, in an attempt to intensify characteristics attributed to situational and/ or textual participants in order to express value judgement on the part of a certain participant or to nominate a collective action, demonstration or defeat.

With regard to the first two interactional purposes, the addition of –aço with these meanings respectively to adjectival and nominal bases is configured as an interpersonal grammatical metaphor from which this morpheme has come to function as a grammatical resource that manifests modality, expressing a participant’s opinion, point of view or judgement. In contrast, in respect to the third purpose, the occurrence of two ideational grammatical metaphors was pinpointed- the first established in the discursive-semantics stratum stemming from the process of semantic shift (from strike/ blow to action/ demonstration); and the second, in the lexico-grammatical stratum, stemming from the meaning of –aço as lexeme.

It is worth highlighting that all these processes of metaphorisation of –aço established in the linguistic system are symptoms of its perfect integration to the Brazilian Portuguese lexicon, as Sandmann (1991) suggests. It is, therefore, the lexicalisation of this morpheme that permits the process of demotivation - disassociation in relation to primary meanings - followed by semantic shift - attribution of new meanings- so that an initially creative and irregular act becomes a productive model that starts to serve as base for the formation of other words (AZEREDO, 2008; CÂMARA JR., 1975). This shift, nevertheless, although unnoticed by common speakers giving the impression of being totally unmotivated, is initially submitted to analogic processes. Thus, in the case of –aço, a relative demotivation occurs- panelaço starts to nominate a demonstration in which pans are banged (strike); attenuation of the meaning from strike to touch allows for the creation of buzinaço, meaning horn blaring, which shifts later to demonstration in which horns blare; and the perception of a defeat as a blow emotionally felt by supporters of the Brazilian national team allows for the creation of macaranaço.

Once the creation of a neologism is associated with a criterion of utility, the determination of semantic shift by historical and contextual factors should be taken into consideration. The popularisation of the occurrence of demonstration in Brazil- historical facts- influences the frequency of use of words such as buzinaço e panelaço, initially taking them as model for the creation of new designations. Such frequency is also responsible for the naturalisation of this affix in Brazilian Portuguese meaning demonstration that, as pointed out, probably stems from Spanish. However, as in the Brazilian Portuguese linguistic system the suffix –aço already existed with other meanings, there is a convergence of several meanings in only one form, which starts, therefore, to have a polysemic use in this linguistic system.

Finally, two aspects related to the functioning of the names of action/ demonstration in the analysed headlines should be highlighted: 1) the dilution of the aspect that indicates control on the part of the participant according to his/her prototypical characteristics, which tends to present not only the non-topicalisation of these names, but also its occurrence as patient in ergative constructions; and 2) the preservation of the notion of dimension based on the establishment of a metonymic relationship between the grandiosity of the event and the quantity of entities identified by the first element of the lexical item, which has been neutralised, because of the lexicalisation of the suffix –aço, in the formation of some neologisms such as lulaço and sambaço.

REFERÊNCIAS

• ALVES, I. A observação sistemática da neologia lexical: subsídios para o estudo do léxico. Alfa, São Paulo, v.50, n.2, p.131-144, 2006.
• ALVES, I. Neologismo: criação lexical. São Paulo: Ática, 1994.
• ARTESE, M.; BRAGA, L. Notas para a caracterização do protesto e do conflito social na história recente da argentina. Revista Despierta, Curitiba, ano 2, n.2, 2015.
• AVRITZER, L. O panelaço e as formas do protesto social. 2015. Disponível em: https://www.cartamaior.com.br/?/Editoria/Politica/O-panelaco-e-as-formas-do-protesto-social/4/33657 Acesso em: 5 mar. 2021.
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• AZEREDO, J. C. Gramática Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa. São Paulo: Publifolha Houaiss, 2008.
• BASÍLIO, M. Formação e classes de palavras no português do Brasil. São Paulo: Contexto, 2011.
• BECHARA, E. Moderna Gramática Portuguesa. 37. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Lucerna, 2009.
• CÂMARA JR., J. M. História e estrutura da língua portuguesa. Rio de Janeiro: Prolivro, 1975.
• CUNHA, C.; CINTRA, L. Nova gramática do português contemporâneo. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 2001.
• HALLIDAY, M. A. K.; MATTHIESSEN, C. M. I. Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar. 4th. ed. London: New York: Routledge, 2014.
• MARONEZE, B.; CARDOSO, E. de A.; PISSOLATO, L. Derivação sufixal. In: RODRIGUES, A.; ALVES, I. M. A construção morfológica da palavra. São Paulo: Contexto, 2015. p. 57-110.
• MONTEIRO, J. L. Morfologia Portuguesa. 3 ed. Campinas, SP: Pontes, 2002.
• PERINI, M. Estudos de gramática descritiva: as valências verbais. São Paulo: Parábola Editorial, 2008.
• ROCHA, L. C de A. Estruturas morfológicas do Português. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2008.
• SANDMANN, A. J. Competência lexical: produtividade, restrições e bloqueio. Curitiba: Ed. da UFPR, 1991.
• SANDMANN, A. J. Formação de palavras no português brasileiro contemporâneo. Curitiba: Scientia et labor: Ícone, 1988.
• SANDMANN, A. J. Novidades do “front” da formação de palavras. Letras, Curitiba, v.30, p.54-68, 1987.
• SANTOS, A. P. Polissemia dos sufixos aumentativos -ão, -arro, -orro, -aço e -uço e seus traços avaliativos sob a perspectiva diacrônica. 339f. 2010. Dissertação (Mestrado em Letras) - Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2010.
• SARDINHA, T. B. Metáfora. São Paulo: Parábola, 2007.
• SOUZA, L. M. de. O processo de derivação de sufixos aumentativos no português brasileiro: uma análise de -ão, -ona, -aço, -aça, -uço e uça. 119f. 2015. Dissertação (Mestrado em Teoria e Análise Linguística) – Instituto de Letras, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 2015.

• 1
  From vaccinate is formed vaccinator, from heave, heaver and from strangle, strangler, but from burglarize one cannot form and will probably not form *burglarizer because this place has already been occupied by burglar.
• 2
  Original: VOLP - Vocabulário Ortográfico da Língua Portuguesa. Available at: https://www.academia.org.br/nossa-lingua/busca-no-vocabulario. Access on: 12 Mar. 2021.
• 3
  “[…] quanto mais o conjunto dos elementos que formam uma palavra complexa se afastar ou isolar, semântica, fonológica e morfologicamente, mais perfeita será a integração e mais claramente se caracterizará a nova unidade lexical” (SANDMANN, 1991, p. 30).
• 4
  “[…] a produtividade é sempre sistemática e coletiva, ao passo que a criatividade é idiossincrática e particular” (AZEREDO, 2008, p. 399).
• 5
  Sambódromo is a place where samba school parades take place during Carnival in Brazil.
• 6
  Rango means food; rangódromo means a place where people eat.
• 7
  Beijo means kiss; beijódromo means a place where people kiss.
• 8
  Camelô means a street vendor; camelódromo means a place where several street vendors work.
• 9
  “modelo para a estruturação de novas palavras, fornecendo no seu elemento final um meio permanente na língua para novas derivações” (CÂMARA Jr., 1975, p. 218).
• 10
  “a introdução, assimilação e circulação de um neologismo estão sujeitas, principalmente, a fatores históricos e socioculturais”
• 11
  “designar uma ideia, um objeto, um conceito”
• 12
  “muitos neologismos durarem apenas uma temporada, enquanto outros se enraízam na língua”
• 13
  “uma vez posta em circulação (...), a forma neológica pode ser notada como tal por muitos usuários e não o ser por outros, e à medida que o seu emprego se repete e se expande, é possível que a consciência de neologia se torne cada vez menos clara”
• 14
  The aim of this article is not to discuss the process of neology or the types of neologisms in details. However, a deeper study may be found in Alves (1994).
• 15
  According to Alves (1994), neology by borrowing consists of different levels. At first, the foreign element employed in a linguistic system, which is not its original, is perceived by the speakers as a word external to the lexicon of the receptive language. In this case, the spelling of the linguistic system from which comes the borrowing is maintained and followed by its literal translation, especially when the speakers feel that their interlocutors will have difficulties in understanding the meaning of the word. The writer highlights that, while taken as a loanword, the element does not become part of the lexicon of the receptive language and its process of incorporation may occur by spelling, morphologic or semantic adaptation, even if some frequent modification in spelling from the original occurrence to the adapted form takes place, as in, for instance, shampoo and xampu. In other cases, however, the recurrent use of the borrowed word may allow for the indexation of the original form into its lexical repertoire, as occurred in the Portuguese language with the words lingerie, jeans and show, for example.
• 16
  It must be remembered, however, that alphabetical order is not the only possible way to organise entries in a dictionary. There are other possibilities such as those found in dictionaries of onomasiological character.
• 17
  Original: Grande Dicionário Houaiss. Available at: https://houaiss.uol.com.br/pub/apps/www/v3-3/html/index.php#0. Access on: 12 Mar. 2021.
• 18
  Original: Gramática do Português Culto Falado no Brasil.
• 19
  “Os sufixos dificilmente aparecem com uma só aplicação; em regra, revestem-se de múltiplas acepções e mprega-los com exatidão, adequando-os às situações variadas, requer e revela completo conhecimento do idioma. Ao lado dos valores sistêmicos, associam-se aos sufixos valores ilocutórios intimamente ligados aos valores semânticos das bases a que se agregam, dos quais não se dissociam.” (BECHARA, 2009, p, 357).
• 20
  Santos (2010), based on Malkiel and Pharies’s studies related to the suffix –azo in Spanish, presents an interesting discussion about this question from a diachronic perspective. As the aim of this research is to carry out a synchronic analysis of the function of the suffix –aço in Portuguese, we chose to adopt Monteiro’s (2002) perspective, for it is more consistent with this goal. This discussion, however, will be resumed in a later section.
• 21
  “formação de nomes de ação ou resultado de ação, estado, qualidade, semelhança, composição, instrumento, lugar” (BECHARA, 2009, p, 358).
• 22
  “noção de aumento corre muitas vezes paralela à de coisa grotesca e se aplica às ideias pejorativas” (BECHARA, 2009, p. 357).
• 23
  “alguns sufixos assumem valores especiais (por exemplo florão não se aplica em geral a flor grande, mas a uma espécie de ornato de arquitetura), enquanto outros perdem o seu primitivo significado, como carreta, camisola” (BECHARA, 2009, p.357).
• 24
  “intensidade (ricaço), grandeza (mulheraça), pequenez (caniço), tendência, possibilidade (quebradiço), depreciação (dentuça)” (MONTEIRO, 2002, p. 167).
• 25
  “frisa sempre uma intenção fortemente pejorativa, podendo-se dizer que é exclusivamente um recurso para a linguagem afetiva (insultuosa)” (CÂMARA Jr., 1975, p. 227).
• 26
  About the noun mulheraça, Sandmann says that “In mulheraço/ mulheraça semantics may be that of appreciation (‘very attractive woman’) or the conjugation of the augmentation with the connotation of appreciation (‘tall and beautiful woman’) or of contempt (‘an awkward and tall woman’)” (SANDMANN, 1987, p.58).
• 27
  A demonstration in which drivers blare their car horns to protest.
• 28
  A demonstration in which people bang pots and pans to protest.
• 29
  A demonstration in which protestors blow whistles.
• 30
  “toda formação gradual complexa expressa necessariamente afetividade e, em alguns casos, aumento ou diminuição de tamanho” (ROCHA, 2008, p. 218).
• 31
  Although the compendia analysed for the semantic value in question do not present examples, Santos (2010), analysing the entries with – aço found in the Dictionay Houaiss, highlights assanhaço [excitement] and cansaço [fatigue], claiming that the former derives from nominal base and the latter from verbal base. Despite the fact that assanhaço may be interpreted as an action or result of assanhar, as well as cansaço is interpreted as action or result of se cansar and inchaço[swelling] as action of result of inchar, the Dictionary Houaiss confirms Santos’s viewpoint presented in assanhaço as a word derived from assanho, which, in turn, would derive from sanha [fury]. The author includes in this meaning the nouns panelaço and buzinaço, with which we disagree. This will be discussed in a later section.
• 32
  No occurrence with this value was found in the analysed compendia. Barbaça –long and hairy beard, according to Dicionário Houaiss – was extracted from Câmara Jr., although the writer does not classify it as such. Melgaço, on the other hand, was taken straight from the Dicionário Houaiss, which presents it as a synonym for blonde (a characteristic of those “who have toasted-yellow colour or between golden and light brown hair”) and for ginger (a characteristic of those who “have reddish shade of hair”).
• 33
  The examples are from Santos (2010). No examples were found in the analysed compendia.
• 34
  Although we may synchronically analyse quebradiço as formed from the attachment of the suffix –iço to the root of the adjective quebrado [broken], the Dicionário Houaiss presents it as a Spanishism (quebradizo) that became part of the Portuguese lexicon in the XIII century.
• 35
  “traduz-se graficamente por processos visuais como aspas, maiúsculas e itálico, que visam realçar o resultado da criatividade lexical” (ALVES, 1994, p. 83).
• 36
  Sea lion goes back to sea after being completely lost for four days in the city.
• 37
  I went to the audition to be part of a boy band, but, unlike other actors that were there, I was dismissed by the director right away. I got really angry, thinking that I had done badly on the audition. Two hours later, they called me telling me to go back on the following day. When I opened the text, I understood everything. It was Felipe, a revengeful DJ that doesn’t know how to deal with losses and frustrations. I don’t know where my shameless attitude comes from. In real life, I’m that kind of person that loses a joke, but not the friend- says the artist who has played the good guy only once on TV in “Love and revolution”.
• 38
  Marcos Martins’s tiredness, an airplane pilot that fell down in Santos SP, on August 13th, 2014, killing the then presidency candidate of PSB and ex-governor of Pernambuco, Eduardo Campos and other six people, was one of the factors that contributed to the tragedy that had a series of human failures; the tiredness of the pilot was identified by his tone of voice; few days before the accident, Martins himself had already said, in social media, that he was extremely tired”.
• 39
  *the very lost student was very nice with his classmates.
• 40
  Marcinho rounds off the list of artists that take the stage on Colosso New Year’s Eve 2017. The singer from Ceará promises a lot of fun and excitement during his show. But the big party doesn’t end there, because the date deserves some thrilling fireworks to celebrate the arrival of the new year.
• 41
  Without the excesses of previous singles, Christina doesn’t deliver a great album, but we can say that it is a fresh start in her career.
• 42
  ‘Arrival’ makes the literacy process of ETs a tense and stunning film.
• 43
  “uma região de incertezas entre o sim e o não” (HALLIDAY; MATHIESSEN, 2014, p. 176).
• 44
  In November 2015, Nathalia Moura Aragão, 20 years old, and Iago da Costa Aragão, 24, made their dream of getting married come true in a community wedding in Santa Cruz. Like this couple, who said “yes” in a group of 1,200 people, other hundreds of lovers will have the opportunity to exchange rings, with no cost, in this year edition of the “casamentaço” [a huge wedding ceremony] organised by Community Plant CSA.
• 45
  Worshippers contribute to the Nazaré’s Candle buying religious articles and making decals for car windows, in Amapá, in order to raise funds for the religious festival, a group from the capital Diocese makes “adesivaço” [application of decals in many cars]and sells religious articles in front of the São José Cathedral, downtown.
• 46
  Activities of ‘mamaço’ [collective breast-feeding] close the actions of Golden August in central west São Paulo.
• 47
  ‘Toplessaço’ [collective topless demonstration] is supported by sunbathers in Ipanema beach.
• 48
  Internet users make ‘vomitaço’ [collective posting of vomiting emoji] against Temer and PMDB in social media.
• 49
  Decree that ends with genetically modified labelling is target of ‘tuitaço’.
• 50
  PT has announced that will make a ‘tuitaço’ [collective posting of a hashtag] with the hashtag #HaddadÉLula at 15.13 this Tuesday.
• 51
  In Tweeter, there is a ‘tuitaço’ scheduled for 18h with the hashtag #ConceicaoEvaristoNaABL.
• 52
  Botafogo metro station, in Rio de Janeiro, welcomes another ‘Lulaço’ [demonstration in favour of Lula].
• 53
  I would lend my Facebook page to massive automatic posting in an activist action! And I have already done that in 2015, when Meu Rio launched the ‘compartilhaço ’[collective sharing], an app devised by them that synchronised millions of pages to give voice to public and important causes.
• 54
  From May 25th on, a ‘compartilhaço’ will call the attention of those who pass by the Brazilian Avenue, with sentences adapted from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), with banners in three pedestrians overpasses of the avenue.
• 55
  #DemocraciaSim cancels compartilhaço after a hackers’ attack.
• 56
  University students make ‘beijaço’ [collective kissing] against a supposed act of homophobia in front of a bar in Boa Vista.
• 57
  New Year’s Eve party in Copacabana will have an ‘abraçaço’ for 2018.
• 58
  Panelaço, buzinaço and foguetaço supporting Bolsonaro.
• 59
  In London, Brazilians make ‘sambaço’ [collective samba dancing] and ‘a car blast’ in favour of Bolsonaro and attract curious people.
• 60
  Demonstrators from Sorocaba get together on this Sunday morning (30) in the Municipal Palace in an act in favour of the presidency candidate Jair Bolsonaro (PSL). According to the organisers, youngsters, adults, children and the elderly took part. The event had ‘bandeiraço’ [collective use of flags], distribution of stickers and a sound truck. According to the event published in Facebook, the organisation asked participants to donate a kilo of non-perishable food.
• 61
  Students from UNESP in Marília make ‘cadeiraço’ [a lot of chairs] at university.
• 62
  ‘Cadeiraço’ [a lot of wheelchairs] asks for respect to handicap.
• 63
  Because it is a noun phrase, we understand that this piece of news aims at informing the occurrence of the event.
• 64
  Sunbathers support toplessaço.
• 65
  Toplessaço gets support from sunbathers.
• 66
  “buzinaço”. Available at: https://houaiss.uol.com.br/pub/apps/www/v3-3/html/index.php#2. Accessed on: 5/10/2018.
• 67
  “panelaço”. Available at: https://houaiss.uol.com.br/pub/apps/www/v3-3/html/index.php#3. Accessed on: 5/10/2018.
• 68
  “apitaço [...], ‘manifestação ruidosa com apitos’, e panelaço. ‘manifestação ruidosa com panelas’, provavelmente um empréstimo do espanhol” (SANDMANN, 1987, p. 59)
• 69
  Artese and Braga (2015) claim that the end of the 1960 decade and the beginning of 1970 decade is the moment of the emergence of denominations with the suffix –azo in Argentina (Cordobazos in 1969-1971, Rosariazo in 1969, Tucumanazoz in 1970-1972, Mendozazo in 1972 etc.
• 70
  “a alta produtividade de uma dessas palavras pode ter contribuído para as formações com valor de golpe em português” (SANTOS, 2010, p.153).
• 71
  “a ideia de ‘intensidade’ ou ‘tamanho’ está sempre presente: barcaça ‘barca grande’, mulheraço ‘mulher grande’ ou ‘mulher muito atraente’, pataço ‘golpe forte com a pata’, apitaço ‘manifestação ruidosa com apitos’”. (SANDMAN, 1987, p. 59).
• 72
  “Gauger (1968, p. 93s) vê no espanhol martillazo dois homônimos: martillazo I ‘martelo grande’ e martillazo II ‘golpe com o martelo. Homônimos, como diz, são em si -azo I ´grande´ e -azo II ‘golpe’. Paralelamente a isso pode-se falar em português em -aço I (caçarolaço ‘caçarola grande’) e -aço II (joelhaço ‘golpe forte com o joelho’). Acontece, porém, que no português as formações em -aço II assumem também a significação de -aço I: pataço não é, como patada, simplesmente ‘golpe com a pata’, porém ‘golpe violento com a pata’. Em outras palavras, -aço I influenciou -aço II, transmitindo-lhe seu significado”. (SANDMANN, 1988, p. 34, bold by the writer).
• 73
  “topless”. available at: https://houaiss.uol.com.br/pub/apps/www/v3-3/html/index.php#7. Accessed on 5/10/2018.
• 74
  “Time doesn’t stop: Samuca gives Marocas a big kiss and they almost get laid”
• 75
  Shantytown 3D Willingness, Diversity and Rights. 3D refers to the three words that start with the letter D in Portuguese.
• 76
  “An astounding Corinthians bandeiraço . At the prior semifinals of the Brazilian Cup against Flamengo, Timão [Corinthians nickname] had an open training session. About 38 thousand supporters were present at the Allianz Park to encourage the players”, said the newspaper in its headline. Available at: https://www.espn.com.br/futebol/artigo/_/id/4801778/corinthians-treino-aberto-vai-parar-em-jornal-argentino. Access on: 12 Mar. 2021.
• 77
  “o elemento ‘lugar’ foi acrescentado como ingrediente do significado da formação nova” (SANDMANN, 1991, p. 55).
• 78
  “ao uso de um recurso gramatical para exprimir uma função que não lhe é intrínseca” (SARDINHA, 2007, p. 45).
• 79
  As it does not establish tension in the system generating a productive model- let us take into consideration that this is the only word with –aço meaning defeat we know in Brazilian Portuguese- the metaphor to which we refer is not configured (yet) as a grammatical metaphor. In other words, it is a creative act which has not, and perhaps will not, become regular in the system. Therefore, metaphor is employed at this moment in its more traditional sense, i.e., as figure of speech that establishes a sort of implicit comparison – uma derrota é um golpe [a defeat is a blow]; thus, maracanaço is a defeat suffered in Maracanã. However, it is interesting to observe that this metaphor is established not by the word itself, but by the meaning of the suffix –aço as strike/blow in its relation with the communicative situation in which the lexical item was produced. The meaning of defeat is configured, therefore, as illocutionary value (BECHARA, 2009) attributed to the suffix due to the determinations imposed by contextual factors.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  04 June 2021
• Date of issue
  2021

History

• Received
  25 Feb 2019
• Accepted
  12 Oct 2019