Reflections on the criterion of (in)dependence within clause integration

This article, based on theoretical and bibliographic assumptions, aims to discuss the concept of syntactic and semantic (in)dependence  with respect to the canonical processes of subordination and coordination. It is commonly stated that the coordinate clauses are independent and the subordinate ones are dependent. This correlation, however, has received criticism over time, especially in modern works. After all, it is not always clear whether the (in)dependence is of semantic or syntactic basis. In addition, there are borderline cases in which it is not possible to clearly define if a structure has all the features of a subordinate or coordinate construction. The proposal developed by Usage-Based Functional Linguistics resizes the criterion of (in)dependence, comparing it with the embedding in a scalar and gradient proposal. Based on the theory of prototypes, the Usage-Based Functional Linguistics presents a descriptive alternative to the question of (in)dependence, more faithful to the effective use of language, as it becomes evident in the researches carried out by Brazilian and foreign authors.

Relativity in legal writing

In this article, we discuss the linguistic variation in the coding of relativity in the Portuguese language. The theory of Variation and Change (Labov, 1972) provided the basis for this study. We analyzed 40 texts of legal writing, which contained between 5 and 15 pages, selected by the following criteria: type of activity, age and gender of the lawyers. We obtained 64 pieces of information, of which 34.4% refers to the occurrence of non-standard relative clauses and 65.6% to the forms prescribed by the normative grammar. As aspects of linguistic basis, we controlled the syntactic function of the relative clause, its position in the sentence as well as the presence or absence of intervening material in the sentence. We noted that although the forms considered standard still remain in monitored writing, it is now possible to notice a significant frequency of forms that go against grammatical textbooks, what can point to a linguistic change in progress.