Abstracts Language, Literature, and Linguistic

O significado social da regra variável de concordância verbal de terceira pessoa do plural e a construção de identidade em uma comunidade de Monte Azul Paulista - SP: The social meaning of the variable rule of third-person plural verbal agreement and the construction of identity in a community in Monte Azul Paulista - SP.

by Rafaela Regina. [UNESP] Ghessi-Arroyo

This doctoral thesis focuses on third-person plural verbal agreement (CV-3PP) as an indexer of socially constructed meanings, linking the dimensions of linguistic production description and analysis to an ethnographic approach to linguistic belief, perception, and evaluation. The primary objective of this thesis is to investigate the production, beliefs, evaluations, and linguistic perceptions of students from a public school in the city of Monte Azul Paulista (SP), in the context of the variable phenomenon of CV-3PP. Before entering the research environment, data collection instruments were defined based on: (i) quantitative sociolinguistics (Labov, 2008 [1972]; Rubio, 2006, 2012); (ii) qualitative ethnographic approaches (Erickson, 1986); (iii) the study of linguistic variation as social practice (Eckert, 2000); (iv) studies on the perception and evaluation of linguistic variants in identity construction (Oushiro, 2015; Mendes, 2018; Sene 2022); and (v) studies on the social meaning of variation (Irvine, 2001; Oushiro, 2015; Gal, 2016; Mendes, 2018). The data collection instruments thus systematize: (a) participant observations; (b) research diaries; (c) interviews; (d) questionnaires on belief inventories; (e) recordings of linguistic production; and (f) linguistic evaluation and perception tests. The research is based on the following hypotheses: (i) the school fails to “silence” the linguistic and social identity of its students, as they reinforce the identity of the group to which they belong, serving as legitimate constructors of social meaning in variation; (ii) students' perceptions will not necessarily align with one another, but will not be random, given that despite not belonging to a homogeneous community, they share similar social practices, linguistic usages, and evaluations. The results show that students are aware of the stigma attached to the neighborhood where they live, located in a peripheral area and characterized by a low social class. However, they continue to value their practices, experiences, and especially their language, demonstrating resistance and pride in their cultural origins and identities. The linguistic production, belief, evaluation, and perception tests highlight a sense of belonging and identity, revealing that for them, non-standard CV-3PP linguistic variants are an important part of who they are. This suggests resistance to stigma and a valuing of cultural diversity, emphasizing how language is a fundamental element in the construction of social identity.