A variação das preposições para e a na fala de Uberaba e Montes Claros

Abstract

In this study, I investigate, synchronically, the variation of the prepositions para and a, as introducers of adjuncts and verbal complements, in the manner of speech of the inhabitants of Uberaba (Triângulo Mineiro) and Montes Claros (North of Minas Gerais), under the perspective of the Labov Sociolinguistics (LABOV, 1972) and Parametrical Sociolinguistics (TARALLO; KATO, 1989). This research had its origin in the hypothesis that the use of preposition a is more frequent in the region of Montes Claros, while in the region of Uberaba the use of preposition para is more frequent. The corpus of this research is made up of 36 recorded interviews, of which 18 were obtained in Uberaba and 18 were obtained in Montes Claros. The sample selection was prepared, observing four linguistic factors and three social factors, as follows: (i) presence and absence of the prepositions para and a, (ii) syntactic function of the entity headed by the preposition, if it were an adjunct or a complement, (iii) type of clause, (iv) type of verb, (v) age, (vi) schooling and (vii) geographical region. After analyzing the data, I verified that the preposition para is predominant in practically all the groups of factors analyzed, which partially confirms the initial hypothesis.