Eckhard Bick - VISL

modifiers can be placed left of a possessive, which explains the apparent free order cooccurrence
with possessives (class C):
o/este mesmo/outro (meu) livro (the/this same/other book of mine)
meu mesmo/outro livro (the same/other one of my books)
o próprio (meu) pai (my father himself)
Meu próprio pai (my own father)
Note that ‘próprio’, and to a lesser degree, ‘mesmo’ and ‘outro’ (?) undergo a slight
change in meaning, depending on whether they follow a demonstrative or a possessive.
The traditional class of definite articles can be defined as the demonstratives ‘o’, ‘a’,
‘os’ and ‘as’, when appearing as class B prenominals (@>N):
Dos () bolos sobram só os/estes () que fizemos ontem.
The third traditional pronoun class that permits “adjectival” (i.e. @>N) usage, is that of
the so-called indefinites. The class contains different types of quantifiers, and is most
easily defined via negationis, as all but demonstratives and possessives. Thus, in my
field scheme, indefinites can appear in all places but B and C, including the “joint field”
AB. There are three types:
A todos (‘all’), ambos
AB um, nenhum, todo=o (‘all of’, ‘the whole’), todo (every), quantas, quais, tantas,
vários ...
D muito, muitos, quatro
The AB field includes ‘um’, ‘uma’ which in the singular traditionally are called
indefinite articles. Like for definite articles, the DET word class can be retained, and a
distributional definition crafted: Indefinite articles are ‘um’ and ‘uma’ when used in the
singular and prenominally (@>N). As a numeral (NUM), of course, ‘um’ belongs in
field D. The difference can be tested with a possessive (C) or with ‘cujo’, that “covers”
the AB-field, and thus only allows a numeral ‘um’ to its right:
Comeu uma DET sua maçã (não uma pera). *Cuja uma maçã comeu?
Comeu sua uma NUM maçã (não dois). Cuja uma maçã comeu?
The six traditional pronoun classes (demonstratives, possessives, indefinites, personal,
interrogative and relative pronouns), or seven, if reflexives are regarded as separate
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