Internal competition in construction hierarchy: a study of the non-synonymy principle

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate linguistic variability in a constructional perspective, based on the principle of non-synonym, in Goldberg's terms (1995, 2006). Taking on the assumptions of the Usage-Based Functional Linguistics, and as found in Traugott and Trousdale (2013) and Hilpert (2014), among others, we postulate that this principle can be refined and relativized, taking into account the construction hierarchy proposed by Traugott (2008). Thus, we have chosen here as the research object a specific scheme of Portuguese, part of the paradigm of discourse markers formed by inductive restraining elements and affixoids of locative origin, in the terms of Rosa (2019); it is the construction of restraining-argumentative subfunction, coded as [Indut_R Afix_Loc]_RA, which results in ten constructs, which compete with each other in the linguistic use: alto lá, calma aí, calma lá, espera aí, espera lá, segura aí, segura lá, aguenta aí, aguenta lá and para aí. In the research of non-synonymy, we turn to the internal competition (OLIVEIRA, 2018) that takes place in the scheme, arguing that, at certain constructional hierarchical levels, it is possible to propose virtual synonymy and apparent synonymy, however, in the instance of effective use, in which extra and intralinguistic properties shape the interactions, within the construct, synonymy does not, in fact, occur since the meaning is contextually dependent.