AN ANALYSIS FOR PORTUGUESE VEL-ADJECTIVES IN THE LIGHT OF DISTRIBUTED MORPHOLOGY

ABSTRACT This paper presents an analysis of Portuguese vel-adjectives based on Distributed Morphology (HALLE and MARANTZ 1993). This proposal, developed on Oltra-Massuet’s (2014) paper, argues that the modal (possibility, probability and obligation) and the non-modal (trigger) readings associated to vel-adjectives result from the presence of different functional heads composing their structure (vP, Asp and Mod). Considering of that point of view, this paper claims that /vel/ corresponds to a single Vocabulary item spelling out the adjectival head (ao) in the environment of both ModP morpheme and [cause] feature. This explains the different readings, which Brazilian Portuguese speakers relate to these adjectives. Adjectives licensing a modal interpretation have a ModP morpheme in their structure, whereas the ones with a nonmodal reading do not project it. This study proposes an important structural distinction among vel-adjectives licensing a modal reading, namely, only the ones presenting a possibility-reading project VoiceP, the other ones project only vP, which inserts the event-reading, but does not license the extern-argument projection (see KRATZER 1996; ALEXIADOU 2001). Finally, the present analysis suggests the occurrence of a [cause] feature at adjectival head, which assigns the trigger reading to vel-adjectives with a non-modal reading.