Abstract
This paper aims to present the initial results on the possible influence of the Portuguese periphrasis estar+gerúndio on the realization of progressivity in Hunsrückisch. Although the processes of linguistic change and variation are not limited to those caused by language contact situations, this study focuses on processes motivated, at least in part, by language contact, in particular, the process of realizing progressivity. At the same time, we intend to provide an overview of the constructions most frequently used by speakers of Hunsrückisch currently spoken in Brazil for the realization of progressivity in this linguistic variety: the tun- and the am-progressive. We argue in favor of the hypothesis that the more frequent use of these constructions is motivated, among other things, by linguistic contact with local Portuguese, as well as by the bilingual situation resulting from this contact and the possible influence of the periphrasis estar+gerúndio - which would have its functions replicated by speakers of Hunsrückisch. We then proceed to explain the replication of syntactic functions through the process of functional replication, based on the theoretical reflections on replication-constructions (Replika-Konstruktionen) proposed by Heine & Kuteva (2005) and the process of pattern replication, proposed by Matras (2020). To verify this hypothesis, we analyze the current use of tun- and am-progressive by speakers of Hunsrückisch as well as the use of these constructions in personal letters written by German immigrants and their descendants in the 19th and 20th centuries, based on oral and written data from the ALMA-H project and the ALMA-Historical subproject. This article thus represents a contribution to the studies of plurilingualism and language contact within the framework of the ALMA-H project.
Keywords:
German-Portuguese language contact; periphrasis estar+gerúndio; am-progressive; tun-progressive; functional replication