A expressão “ir de arrasta pra cima” em interações digitais: uma análise funcional-construcionista

Abstract

This article investigates the idiomatic constructional pattern [[IR de arrasta (para ADV_loc)]. that licences constructs such as foi de arrasta para cima, common in digital interactions (Simões Neto; Souza, 2023), with a focus on its syntactic, semantic and pragmatic-discursive description. The hypothesis of the study is that this constructional pattern has an idiomatic nature whose genesis is linked to digital interaction from a concrete meaning that expands to encompass more abstract meanings. The research is based on Usage-Based Functional Linguistics (Furtado da Cunha; Bispo; Silva, 2013; Bybee, 2016), which postulates that linguistic structures should be examined in terms of their form and function, emphasising that language serves communicative and cognitive functions. Methodologically, the study is qualitative-interpretive in nature and examines 100 pieces of empirical data from social networks (Instagram, TikTok, X and Facebook). The results of the research reveal that the expression has developed from a functional and literal use to more metaphorical contexts, becoming associated with meanings that evoke the idea of death and failure. This expansion of meanings signals the linguistic creativity underlying the speakers' use of language.