An analysis of verbs derived from anglicisms through the lens of distributed morphology

Abstract

Assuming that, under the command of syntax, words go through formation processes as complex as syntactic structures (Marantz, 1998), this study analyzed the compositional derivation process of verbs resulting from anglicisms when they are incorporated as borrowings into Brazilian Portuguese. Grounded in Distributed Morphology (Halle; Marantz, 1993, 1994), as well as Basílio’s (2004) and Almeida’s (2020) concepts, this article describes and analyzes a corpus composed of 40 hybridisms (Monteiro, 2002). The findings suggest that there are two word formation patterns established to compose verbal anglicisms in Brazilian Portuguese, a productive pattern and an underspecified pattern. Besides that, the study discussed hypotheses about a discrete group of exceptions. By addressing morphotactic adjustments in English vocabulary incorporation into Brazilian Portuguese, this article contributes to a broader systematic description about how English verbs are adapted to Brazilian Portuguese, offering insight to discussion and future research, both quantitative and comparative.