Brazilian Portuguese (BP) – as shown in linguistic literature – exhibits alternating negative structures: [NEG VP]; [NEG VP NEG] and [VP NEG]. This alternation is quite rare in natural language; much more frequent is a paradigm of only two structures, one generating a neutral and one an emphatic reading. In this study, I will discuss especially the origin of the two less standard patterns, namely [VP NEG] and [NEG VP NEG], as well as analyses their specific interpretation in BP. The main hypothesis of this work regards the differentiation of the [NEG VP] and [NEG VP NEG] observed in my data as a result of functional competition between the two structures.
