THE ACQUISITION OF ROOT AND EPISTEMIC MODALS IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE

This paper investigates the acquisition of modal verbs based on the analysis of longitudinal data from two children acquiring Brazilian Portuguese. The theoretical framework is Kratzer's theory of modality (1977, 1981, 1991, 2012). Concerning lexical acquisition, Brazilian Portuguese modal verbs are acquired in a systematic way and following an order which considers the concept of quantificational force: the possibility modal poder is acquired first and then the necessity modals (first the strong necessity modal ter que and then the weak necessity modal dever) are acquired. Regarding the acquisition of the interpretations of modals, there is also a regularity: root modality is acquired earlier (and it is associated by children with modals poder and ter que) whereas epistemic modality appears latter (and it is associated with modal dever). This finding mirrors exactly what happens in other languages, suggesting that there must be an acquisitional path in the acquisition of modality: root modality emerges before epistemic modality. Furthermore, the analysis permits us to claim that that, in children's grammars studied here, the system of necessity modals is composed of verbs which are specialized in relation to the modal base they combine with: ter que is a strong necessity modal which combines with a circumstantial modal base whereas dever is a weak necessity modal which combines with an epistemic modal base.