Tools for dialect syntax: the case of CORDIAL-SIN (an annotated corpus of Portuguese dialects)

Laburpena

This paper addresses methodological issues of concern to the study of morphosyntactic variation. While the empirical basis of dialect syntax is still a matter of elaboration, the focus will be here on the role of dialect corpora as tools for the study of linguistic variation in this particular domain. The case of CORDIAL-SIN, an annotated corpus of Portuguese dialects, will be presented along with some initial advances in Portuguese dialect syntax. Two levels of tools for the study of linguistic variation will thus be addressed here: (i) corpora as general tools for dialect syntax; and (ii) tagging and syntactic annotation within a dialect corpus as tools that ease the way how variation in morphosyntax can be studied. Section 1 introduces methodological remarks concerning the empirical ground for dialect syntax; the CORDIAL-SIN is presented in section 2; section 3 briefly illustrates how this tool has enhanced the development of Portuguese dialect syntax.