Ulisses De Oliveira1, Marcelo Saparas2
1Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
2Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD), Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
Correspondence to: Ulisses De Oliveira, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
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Abstract
The nominal group (NG), in both English and Portuguese, has substantial differences in relation to the order of its constituents. So the comparison of such constituents can shed some light on the issue. We have examined the constituents of the NG in English and their translations into Portuguese in terms of: (a) function, as well as (b) their occurrence order in both languages. As an example, one can realize the Portuguese translation of the following NG: (1) generalizable (2) model (3) of clause and (4) sentence (5) structure, into current Portuguese as “(2) modelo (1) generalizável (5) da estrutura (3) de oração e (4) da sentença” shows that the order of its constituents in both languages differs considerably. The consideration of the semantic/discursive structure involved in it – and not just its morphosyntactic structure – can help us to cope with difficulties such translations can cause.
Keywords: Portuguese, English, Nominal group, Constituents of the NG, Word order, Translation
Cite this paper: Ulisses De Oliveira, Marcelo Saparas, Syntax: A Comparison between the Nominal Group in English and Portuguese, American Journal of Linguistics, Vol. 6 No. 2, 2018, pp. 27-36. doi: 10.5923/j.linguistics.20180602.02.