The Multifunctionality of the verb to need
A contribution to a semantic and pragmatic analysis in oral contexts in the Portuguese language
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55847/217p3a80Keywords:
To need, Speech context, Discursive valueAbstract
This study, conducted within the field of Portuguese Syntax and Semantics, aims to describe the uses of the verb “to need” in oral interactions in Portuguese. Based on the assumption that the meaning of lexical units is relational, that is, it can only be delimited within a context, the work discusses the various occurrences of the verb “to need” considering its distribution within the sentence, its government patterns, and its pragmatic uses and discourse values. During the research, the data collected through a prompted oral production and from documental review and subsequently analysed according to the content analysis method. After examining the data, it was observed that several meanings are inherent to the verb “to need” including necessity, order or recommendation, and request or solicitation. Additionally, we concluded that the interpretation of its semantic properties in this way depends not only on the structure of the sentence, but also on the social relations between the interlocutors involved in the communicative act.
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