THE OPERATIVE STUDY OF REFLEXIVITY

Abstract

Our objective in this work is to redirect the study of the reflexivity of the pronoun SE in the Portuguese language to a perceptive angle that differs from the theoretical project of normative grammar. We base the development of the reflection on the proposal of Antoine Culioli, proponent of the Theory of Enunciative Predicative Operations (CULIOLI, 1990, 1999a, 1999b). In this direction, we aim to observe how the (reflexive) value of the unit is determined by the ways in which it is placed in relation to other units. In this case, we seek to visualize the process by which a given thought content takes shape and is transformed into representation in the intersubjective relationship. Our methodology was based on the reformulation activity, also called glossing or paraphrasing (FRANCKEL, 2011). Through the reformulation procedures, we were able to outline a system of metalinguistic representation for the functioning of SE in which we seek to emphasize the hypothesis that reflexivity in language is not exclusive to SE, even though it may sometimes seem so. We observed that, in the statement studied, the reflexivity of SE linked to the marker cut is dependent on the assertion marks of the embedded context that allows us to move from a possible reflexivity (projection of predicate) to a reflexivity in fact (occurrence of predicate).