The verbal periphrase estar a V(inf) in contemporary European Portuguese: a contribution to a transcategorial analysis

Abstract

It is our proposal to discuss the semantic values of the verbal periphrasis estara Vinf in contemporary European Portuguese (EP). This approach clarifies the interrelationship between the transcategorial grammatical categories Tense, Aspect and Modality. In this paper it is argued that these categoriesare involved in the construction of meaning. By identifying, analyzing and describing the different values that result from the deformability and interdependence of the linguistic forms that integrate this configuration, the aim is to explain, at the level of metalinguistic representation, the phenomena that result from the plasticity of linguistic forms and constructions.