Transitivity: a functional analysis of the discursive manifestations of the verb "fazer"

Abstract

The following study aims to analyze the transitivity of the verb fazer in certain real texts (oral and written), as well as compare the gap that exists between the purely theoretical concept, as subscribed to by traditional grammar, and the concept which reflects a discursive/communicative act of the speaker. Based on the theoretical framework of contemporary functional linguistics, we understand transitivity as a group of syntacticalsemantic traits which prototypically present a subject/agent and an object/patient, taking into consideration the discursive manifestation of the verb in the clause. We use analytical categories transitivit, and prototypicality, in addition to the application of the processes of metonymy and metaphor. The data analyzed were taken from Corpus Discurso & Gramática – the spoken and written language in the city of Natal (FURTADO DA CUNHA, 1998), composed of texts produced by high school students of the following type: first person narrative, third person narrative and telling of a process. As a result of this study, we see that there are diverse possibilities of analyzing transitivity taking into consideration the discursive manifestation of the verb. Clauses with fazer present syntactical-semantic-pragmatic variation which brings us to the conclusion that transitivity is much more a question of degree than steadfast rules or rigid formulas.