Aspecto verbal em português: Figura e fundo no texto narrativo

Abstract

This dissertation reports an interpretative qualitative research with the general aim of analyzing the syntactic-semantic nuances of verb aspect in the meaning construction in narrative texts as a way of contributing to the teaching of verbs in Portuguese. The study was motivated by the empirical observation that verb aspect, in general, has not been addressed in Portuguese classes and even in teacher education. As a starting point of the study, the analysis of national and state curricular normative documents for the Portuguese teaching in the elementary school and the analysis of the textbooks collection used in the state education system in Paraná were carried out. In both cases, the result of the analysis showed that verb aspect was not mentioned. The theoretical discussion, based on authors such as Castilho (1968), Costa (1990), Ilari (2001), Romualdo, Biondo and Barros (2012), Travaglia (2014), and Castro and Hermont (2020), focused on the possibilities of expression of both grammatical and lexical aspects, since the aspectual notion is expressed, in Portuguese, through lexical processes, based on the semantics of the lexical items, and grammatical processes, coded in verb morphology, through verbal inflections and other elements of predication, such as the complements and adjuncts of the verb, notwithstanding the major role of the verb in the expression of aspect. The perfective and imperfective aspects were taken as macrocategories, which unfold into the categories punctual, resultative, inceptive, cursive and terminative, and are articulated to the notions of figure and ground in narrative texts, according to the discursive emphasis given by the speaker or text producer. To illustrate how these elements are expressed in texts and to present a teaching proposition, two short narratives were selected: Conto de Mistério (1986), by Stanislaw Ponte Preta, and O homem e seu cachorro (1959), by João Clímaco Bezerra. The analysis of the narratives showed that the perfective aspect is responsible for the narrative progression and makes the plot more dynamic, acting as a figure plan, while the imperfective aspect is responsible for the ground plan, for the scenario that will support the narration, describing more lasting, permanent situations, which function as the frame for the actions in the foreground. These aspects were explored in the reading procedures suggested for the Portuguese teacher and, in this sense, the research can contribute to the teaching of the verb, by showing how the verbal aspect constitutes a resource that favors the development of both reading and writing competences