Maria Helena de Moura Neves publishes real-life grammar lessons
In an unparalled piece of work, linguist exposes the fundaments and the grammatical norms of everyday texts
There is no “grammar world” or “real world,” with doctrine on one side and real life on the other. The “world of grammar” must be seen as the same world where we move when we speak, read, write, namely when we practice our language. From this background, this fundamental work by Maria Helena de Moura Neves is born, publised by Editora Unesp: Portuguese grammar revealed in texts [A gramática do português revelada em textos].
The spirit of this volume is well identified in the definition of the target audience: “to those who want to reflect upon the language, how it’s made and how it operates, from observation of its usage. The audience is made of scholars, who go directly to works on language either for consultation or reading, and (especially) learners who expect real life meanings when they deal with grammar as they sit in school benches.”
In more than 1,300 pages, this book does not only discuss descriptive grammar, it shows the words in daily texts, in everyday use. “The book is directed by the notion that studying Brazilian Portuguese language grammar can and should focus on reflections upon language in different situations, different discourse genres and different types (or sequences) of text”, Maria Helena notes.
The work is structured in three parts: in the first, general indications of conceptual grammar questions; in the second, the various classes / subclasses of words and their operation; in the third, a section for consultation, usually assembled in tables. “This book is clearly presented as “lesson book” and intends to guide the reflection upon the linguistic use that leads to the apprehension of the grammatical mechanisms of language, allowing the construction of senses, values and language effects”, the author summarizes.
To the renowned professor and linguist José Luiz Fiorin, the work of Maria Helena is remarkable because, among other reasons, it presents a contemporary view of the norm, indicating what is considered as standard of use, but pointing to non-standard uses that are considered normal. “It is an absolutely necessary work for advanced or beginners in Brazilian language studies”, he writes.
About the author – Maria Helena de Moura Neves is a linguist, with a Portuguese Ph.D by USP. Unesp volunteer retired professor, she is also author of Grammatical Use of Portuguese (Editora Unesp, 2000).
Title: Portuguese grammar revealed in texts [A gramática do português revelada em textos]
Author: Maria Helena de Moura Neves
Number of pages: 1394
Format: 18 x 25 cm
ISBN: 978-85-393-0396-0
Rights: worldwide free