Brazilian Portuguese lá in the CP-domain: a Cartographic analysis

Resumo

This paper  aims  at investigating  Brazilian   Portuguese ‘lá’  (‘there’) in structures with rhetorical question, imperative, directive, emphatic assertion, and predicative. We argue that, in these constructions,  ‘lá’  is  merged in the  specifier of   FocusP  and  ForceP  in the  CP- cartography. This  proposal is based both in the F-Spec Theory (CINQUE, 1999) and in the cartographic project (RIZZI, 1997; CINQUE & RIZZI, 2008).  The former claims that AdvPs are merged in the specifier of  functional  categories. The  latter identifies a domain to the left of  the IP  which is made up by a range of  functional  categories facing both discourse and syntax.