QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF OVERESTIMATED SELF-ASSESSMENT CONSTRUCTIONS IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE

This work aims to describe the relationships between idiomatic constructions of overestimated self-assessment as seen in "Ela esta se sentindo nesse vestido" (She is PRO3rd pers sing fem to feel(gerund) in this dress/ `She thinks too highly of herself in this dress') and "Ela estava se querendo ontem na festa" (She was PRO3rd (pers sing fem) to want(gerund) yesterday at the party/ "She was all flirty at the party"). We argue that the construction with the verb querer (to want) in the gerund - [SUBJ(EXP) V-FIN PROCORREFSUBJ QUERENDO] - was coined in Brazilian Portuguese by an analogy with another construction with the verbs achar (to find) and sentir (to feel) in the gerund - [SUBJ(EXP) PROCORREFSUBJ ACHANDO/SENTINDO]. We seek to validate this hypothesis, based on the basic principles of Functional Linguistics and assuming a constructionist model of grammar. To carry out the intended description, we made a qualitative analysis based on Brazilian Portuguese data taken from Twitter social network.