Notas sobre a semântica do sufixo -vel: a expressão da modalidade no PB

Abstract

The paper investigates the semantics of the suffix ‘-vel’ in
Brazilian Portuguese. The suffix is ambiguous. It may express
the inherent property of an object, a moral obligation, or a
possibility. The description of these three classes backgrounds
a detailed analysis of the expression of possibility. Kratzer’s
proposal (1981, 1991), presented in section 4, is applied to the
expression of possibility. It shows that the suffix does not have its modal force lexically encoded, but that it is derived from its
combination with the verb semantic type: verbs of propositional
attitude engenders a “must” reading, whereas its combination
with transitive verbs conveys possibility. The analysis of
possibility shows that the suffix only combines with a
circumstantial modal basis, and the ordering source is either
normality or deontic. Thus, it is less dependent on context
than plain modal verbs.