Structural challenges of diminutive light verb 'dar' constructions: Revisiting Scher (2004), Medeiros (2008, 2010) and Alves (2016, 2022)

Abstract

This paper analyzes light verb constructions (LVCs) with ‘dar’ (‘give’) in Brazilian Portuguese that display a diminutive effect (e.g., “dar uma olhada” ‘to have a look’). Within the framework of Distributed Morphology, this work critically reviews the proposals in Scher (2004), Medeiros (2008), and Alves (2016, 2022), arguing that the formalization of diminutivization and its structural limits still lack a full explanation. To address part of this issue, a new structure for the ‘–da’ nominalizations is proposed, arguing that they do not have participial nature, given that they reject its irregular allomorphy (e.g., “dar uma abrida/*aberta”). The analysis also demonstrates that the diminutive effect does not appear to be inherent to these nominalizations but rather seems to depend on the establishment of the LVC with ‘dar’. Additionally, the requirement of the indefinite article for the diminutive reading is contested, showing that the effect persists even with definite determiners. Finally, the study concludes from the literature review that the production of diminutivization must depend on the interaction between the light verb and its complement noun, indicating the need for approaches that integrate these elements to capture the scope and restrictions of these constructions with a diminutive interpretation.