[DAR UMA N-ADA PP]: A CONSTRUCTIONAL ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT Based on the assumptions of the Usage-Based Models, in particular, the Cognitive Construction Grammar, in this paper we examine the constructional pattern [dar uma N-ada PP] and discuss its relationship with the ditransitive construction. From the analysis of diachronic and synchronic data, collected from the database of Corpus do Português (DAVIES; FERREIRA, 2006), we sought evidence for the constructionalization process of the nominal pattern and its expansion into modern/contemporary Portuguese. We assume that the denominal construction [dar uma N-ada PP] licenses two different subschemas according to the characteristics of its nominal base, and that this construction is sanctioned by a more abstract schema, namely [dar uma X-(a)da (PP)], which also sanctions the verbal base construction V-da. The diachronic evidence as well as the analysis of the morphosyntactic, semantic and discursive properties of instances collected on websites and blogs provided arguments in favor of the postulation of two subschemas linked to a more general pattern [dar uma N-ada PP]: one subschema with nominalizations resulting from names of instruments and another subschema resulting from names of body parts. In addition, we found a partial inheritance relationship between the denominal construction and the transfer ditransitive construction, mainly those formed by nominalizations that are based on names of instruments.