LÁ, ATENUADOR EM INTERAÇÕES INFORMAIS DO PORTUGUÊS EUROPEU
‘LÁ’, MITIGATION MARKER IN INFORMAL INTERACTIONS IN EUROPEAN PORTUGUESE

Summary/Abstract: ‘Lá’, mitigation marker in informal interactions in European Portuguese. Lá is a deictic locative adverb that refers to a space far from the speaker and the hearer, usually outside both field of vision. Based on an enunciative-pragmatic approach we analyse, in informal conversations (corpus: Perfil sociolinguístico da fala bracarense and C-ORAL-ROM), occurrences of a pragmatic usage of ‘lá’ as linguistic attenuation, leaving aside other values. In what concerns attenuation of the speaker, we analyse the effect of 'lá' in assertive acts: its contribution to either epistemic or evaluative modality. With respect to attenuation of speaker-listener relationship, we analyse the pragmatic value of ‘lá’ in directive and expressive acts.

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