Valores lexical e gramatical do verbo chegar

Abstract

The object of this research is the analysis of sentences from the Brazilian Portuguese (BP) that contains the verb of movement chegar. It´s found – in the writing and speaking – constructions with the lexical verb chegar, that can work as a complete verb, or it can work, in process of grammaticalization, as a quase-auxiliar verb. When the verb is analyzed as lexical, it can be monovalent or bivalent. There is always a subject and, as a complement, select, most of times, a locative. It can still select the indirect complement, i.e., when the argument indicates that a specific point was reached. This argument indicates, normally, a price, a position/collocation and a percentage. In process of grammaticalization, the verb CHEGAR has been approved in the test of auxiliary verbs, however, as it´s not emptied of sense in the verbal periphrasis CHEGAR A + INFINITIVE, we consider a quase/semi-auxiliar, according to a proposal for Travaglia (2003).