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Blending com nomes de animais em português brasileiro: aspectos morfofonológicos e de frequência lexical

Introduction

Blending com nomes de animais em português brasileiro: aspectos morfofonológicos e de frequência lexical. Estudo descritivo-quantitativo do blending em português brasileiro com nomes de animais. Analisa aspectos morfofonológicos e de frequência lexical, revelando padrões de tonicidade e apagamentos segmentais.

Abstract

Este artigo trata do processo de formação de palavras denominado blending em dados escritos do português brasileiro em perspectiva descritivo-quantitativa. O objetivo do trabalho é discorrer sobre aspectos morfofonológicos e lexicais implicados na emergência desse fenômeno. A amostra é constituída por blends formados por nomes de animais, organizada a partir de diferentes fontes. As principais variáveis exploradas são número de sílabas, tonicidade do blend e de suas bases e frequência lexical das bases. Os resultados apontaram para predomínio de blends paroxítonos polissilábicos formados por bases paroxítonas dissilábicas ou trissilábicas. Ainda, a tonicidade do blend mostrou-se categoricamente equivalente à tonicidade da segunda base que o forma. Quanto à frequência, tomando-se como referência o Corpus Brasileiro, as bases identificadas como mais frequentes apresentaram menos apagamentos segmentais se comparadas às bases menos frequentes.

Review

This article presents a valuable descriptive-quantitative analysis of blending processes in Brazilian Portuguese, specifically focusing on blends formed from animal names. The study aims to elucidate the morphophonological and lexical factors involved in the emergence and structure of these unique word formations. Utilizing a carefully curated sample of blends drawn from various written sources, the authors investigate a novel and underexplored area within Portuguese word formation, contributing to our understanding of creative lexical innovation and the linguistic mechanisms underlying these formations. The methodology is robust in its exploration of key variables, including syllable count, tonicity of both the blend and its constituent bases, and the lexical frequency of these bases. The findings provide insightful empirical evidence, demonstrating a clear prevalence of polysyllabic paroxytone blends, typically derived from dissyllabic or trisyllabic paroxytone bases. A particularly compelling result is the categorical equivalence between the blend's tonicity and that of its second base, suggesting a strong phonological anchor. Furthermore, the analysis reveals an interesting correlation between lexical frequency (as measured by the Corpus Brasileiro) and segmental deletion, where more frequent bases exhibit fewer segmental deletions. These quantitative insights offer significant contributions to the field of morphophonology and lexical semantics in Brazilian Portuguese. While the study offers substantial contributions, a more detailed discussion of the theoretical implications of these findings, particularly in relation to broader theories of word formation and blending across languages, would further enhance its impact. For instance, exploring how the observed patterns align with or diverge from universal tendencies or other Romance languages could provide a richer comparative perspective. Additionally, specifying the "different sources" more concretely could help assess the ecological validity and potential stylistic variations within the data. Despite these minor points, this paper is a well-executed and highly informative piece of research that significantly advances our understanding of blending in Brazilian Portuguese, laying a solid foundation for future investigations into this dynamic linguistic phenomenon.

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