Variação, mudança e ensino: o caso dos pronomes possessivos da gente e nosso(a)(s) em uma abordagem sociofuncionalista

In this work, we analyze the variation and change phenomenon involving the possessive pronouns da gente and nosso(a)(s) in the light of the theoretical referentials of the North-american linguistic functionalism and of the variationist sociolinguistics. At first we present the phenomenon itself, highlighting the fact that few studies have considered it as an object, gap which we will try to fill in with our contribution. In the following chapter, we emphasize concepts and principles of the functionalism and the sociolinguistics that are used as our background for the data analysis. In the third chapter, we present what the normative grammars inform about our object of study, besides synthesizing some works on variation and change involving the personal pronouns nós and a gente. In the following chapter, we analyze the data. We used data from the Discurso & Gramática a língua falada e escrita na cidade do Natal (FURTADO DA CUNHA, 1998) corpus. In this chapter we present the results for the groups of social and linguistic factors which we can control. Grounded on these results, we specify the preferential contexts for employing the pronouns da gente and nosso(a)(s) and we observe that the social motivations, the valorization credited to the forms and the identity marks underly the restrictions exercised in their use by social factor groups, besides obtaining signs of ongoing changes in apparent time (from the age factor groups) and possible use specializations of each form, what helped us verify the course of the grammaticalization process of the referred pronouns in the community of Natal. In the sixth chapter, we make some considerations on the teaching of grammar and propose activities which can be carried on in the classroom involving the possessive pronouns da gente and nosso(a)(s) considering the variation and change issue

Níveis de homocisteína e desempenho cognitivo em uma amostra populacional de idosos da cidade do Natal-RN

The imprecision of the frontier that separates those cognitive deficits inherent to the human physiological aging process from those which represent the early signs of nervous system degenerative pathologies ,very prevalent among the elderly, has brought attention to the need of studies aiming to establish clinical and/or laboratorial criteria to allow this differentiation. Elderly people living in poor and developing countries are frequently exposed to precarious socioeconomic conditions which facilitate the development of an array of pathologies which have metabolic and nutritional dysfunctions as the established or proposed etiological agents. The levels of certain micronutrients, such as the vitamins B12 and B9 (folic acid), and of some intermediary metabolites, such as homocysteine are being thought of as etiological factors and/or as biological markers of a group of alterations which affect the normal functioning of the nervous system with important reflexes upon cognitive performance. This study aims to investigate the influence of homocysteine, B12 vitamin and folic acid levels on the cognitive performance of the low income elderly population. This transversal study took place in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil, and involved 205 dwelling elderly people, users of the Programa de Saúde da Família, a public healthcare program, maintained by the city s health authorities. A multidimensional questionnaire was used to assess the socio-demographic aspects and the overall health and nutrition conditions. The cognitive performance was measured by the use of the Portuguese version of the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE). The serum levels of homocysteine, B12 vitamin and folic acid were determined by chemiluminescence. The association between the socio-demographic and serum levels of Hcy, B12 vitamin and folic acid was determined by multiple linear regression. Serum levels higher than 13.5 μmol/l, indicative of hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy), were found on 25.4% of the sample, being more prevalent in men (p<0.05). Deficitary levels of folic acid (<5ng/mol) and of B12 vitamin (<193 pg/ml) were found on 3.9% and 10.2% of the sample respectively. A negative correlation was found between cognitive performance with both age and HHcy and a positive correlation was found between cognitive performance and schooling. The isolated HHcy R2 values were an explanation to only 4% of the variance of the MMSE scores. However, when associated with schooling and age, this model explains about 25% of this association

Pré-fabricados lingüísticos: estrutura e funcionamento de sintagmas verbais idiomatizados - por uma abordagem cognitivo-funcional em sala de aula

This work aims at under the cognitive-functional perspective describing, inside the vast domain of the linguistic prefabs, the structure and the functioning of the Idiomatic Verb Phrases (SVIs), produced by speakers of the Portuguese from Brazil, located in Natal (RN). From the functionalist presupposition that the language is used essentially to assist to communicative demands, it is observed that its morphologic-syntactic structure is conditioned to the inherent pragmatic vicissitudes to the verbal interaction of subjects, socially heterogeneous and historically established. It is focalized, in the composition of SVIs, the relationships VT + OD (transitive verb + direct object), characterizing the syntactic-semantic nature of the verb and of the respective verbal complement. Those verb combinations + complement can be interpreted as lexical structures, reflexes of the idiomaticity inherent to conventional constructions already systematized in the users' of the language cultural repertoire. It is sought, still, to glimpse the cognitive and discursive motivations pertinent to that linguistic phenomenon. In the investigative process, are analyzed exclusive data of speech collected in Corpus Discurso & Gramática a lingua falada e escrita na cidade do Natal, organized by Furtado da Cunha (1998). The adopted methodological procedures configure as methods of empiric analysis and use of the intuition, being emphasized the qualitative approach (explanatory) of the data with quantitative support of statistical indicators. It shows, finally, a grating of didactic suggestions on SVIs, for Portuguese's classes, as subsidies to the educational practice in the Medium Teaching and in the course of Letters.

Características sociodemográficas, hábitos de sono, estado cognitivo e funcional após acidente vascular cerebral

ABSTRACT Introduction: The cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is an important cause of neurological impairment. Few data about the factors associated with morbidity of cerebrovascular accident are found in Brazil. Objectives: Evaluate sociodemographic characteristics, sleep habits, cognitive and functional status of patients with cerebrovascular accident. Methods: The patients evaluated through questionnaire Step 1 to survey the sociodemographic characteristics and Modified Rankin Scale for functional assessment. The neurological degree was evaluated by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), the sleep Habits questionnaire for sleep and cognitive status by the Mini-Examination of the Mental State (MEMS). The data were analyzed using the chi-square test to determine differences in proportions of variables and linear regression analysis. Results: 305 patients were evaluated and the larger number of subjects was between 50 and 69 years (40%), most patients had no formal education (40.3%) and had ischemic type of cerebrovascular accident (72.5%). In the analysis of the functionality it was found that most patients had moderate impairment (55.1%). The results of the sleep habits showed that 63,6% of patients had one more person in the bedroom,12,3% complained about too much noise in the 11 room and 35% of too much light. From these patients 5,8% were smokers, 7,8% and 70,1% drank coffee drinkers, 28,6% had difficulty in initiate to sleep and woke up 37,6% in the middle of the night. Were showed complaints about nightmares (11%), feeling of suffocation (37,7%) and 35% felt very sleepy during the day. In addition, 95% were unemployed, 80,5% did not perform physical activities and 95,4% did not perform mental activities. The cognitive screening conducted a determined association of cognitive status with age and education level and neurological status. Conclusion: The study showed a high frequency of cases of cerebrovascular accident with functional dependence in a moderate degree, identified that many patients do not follow hygienic measures of sleep and found that the assessment of cognitive deficits must take into consideration the age, educational level and degree of neurological patients. We suggest the need for programs of assistance to victims of cerebrovascular accident patients, with a multidimensional approach including the rehabilitation team, the role of sleep medicine and Neuropsychology, so that patients have access to a more appropriate functional rehabilitation, develop a lifestyle that ensures a good sleep quality and are evaluated and rehabilitated with regard to cognitive impairment

O slogan empresarial como construção discursiva: uma abordagem cognitivo-funcional

In this paper, we analyze corporate slogans, understanding them as a discursive construction that is, as a pairing of form and function able to unite the notions of textual type and discursive genre. In this way, we developed a qualitative and quantitative analysis, aimed specifically to analyze the formal properties (phonetic, morphological and syntactic) and functional (semantic, pragmatic and discursive) of slogans. Furthermore, we attempted at verifying and quantifying recurring aspects involved in their construction, in order to capture configurational patterns underlying their formation. The data come from slogans collected in products and / or service stores in the metropolitan area of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte. This research is based on the Cognitive-Functional Linguistics, that conjugates the North American functionalist tradition, represented by researchers as Talmy Givón, Paul Hopper, Joan Bybee, Elizabeth Closs-Traugott, with Cognitive Linguistics, in particular, the chain linked to Construction Grammar, as postulated by Adele Goldberg, William Croft e Jan-Olla Östman, among others. The results ratified the importance of the interface between the formal and functional aspects in the analysis of linguistic uses. These results point to the idea of the slogan as the pairing of form and function on textual / discursive level, in other words, as a discursive construction, constituting as cognitive storage of a scheme / model of textual formation with a specific discursive-pragmatic function.