Sémantické rysy členu v současné portugalštině

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to analyze semantic features of the definite, indefinite and zero articles in European and Brazilian Portuguese and to attempt to clarify the criteria governing their use. Their application is determined by the semantic nature and syntactic function of the noun, but also by types of context in which the article can acquire deictic or anticipatory meaning. However, the article is also an operator of the semantic processes of determination and has several functions; it narrows the semantic breadth of the noun, restricting it to a specific meaning or, for example, to the function of countability, but, conversely, also extending it, raising its semantic meaning to a higher degree of abstraction and generality. Thus, in accordance with these functions, the article can assume referential, attributive, specific, non-specific, countable, uncountable or material meaning, and, last but not least, a generic one. The paper aims to illustrate situations where this is occurring and to outline possibilities for substitution. In respect of the latter, it aims to demonstrate that both dichotomous and synonymous relationships may exist between individual articles.