João Costa – författare

This is a collection of previously unpublished articles focusing on the following aspects of Portuguese syntax: clause structure, clitic placement, word order variation, pronominal system, verb movement, quantification, and distribution of particles. The articles are written within the principles and parameters framework and contrast Portuguese with other Romance languages.

This is a collection of previously unpublished articles focusing on the following aspects of Portuguese syntax: clause structure, clitic placement, word order variation, pronominal system, verb movement, quantification, and distribution of particles. The articles are written within the principles and parameters framework and contrast Portuguese with other Romance languages.

The Handbook of Portuguese Linguistics presents a comprehensive overview of research within the Brazilian and European variants of the Portuguese language. It includes chapters  focusing on the  key areas of linguistic study, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, linguistic change, language variation and contact, and acquisition. Essential reference work for scholars of Portuguese linguistics and Romance languagesChapters  written by an international  team of research specialists  highlight both the consensus and the controversies within the various subfields of Portuguese linguisticsExamines Portuguese linguistics in relation to  syntax, phonology, morphology, semantics/pragmatics, acquisition, and sociolinguisticsWritten in an accessible overview style and designed for advanced students and current scholars in the field alikeEssential reference work for scholars of Portuguese linguistics and Romance languages

The Handbook of Portuguese Linguistics presents a comprehensive overview of research within the Brazilian and European variants of the Portuguese language. It includes chapters  focusing on the  key areas of linguistic study, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, linguistic change, language variation and contact, and acquisition. Essential reference work for scholars of Portuguese linguistics and Romance languagesChapters  written by an international  team of research specialists  highlight both the consensus and the controversies within the various subfields of Portuguese linguisticsExamines Portuguese linguistics in relation to  syntax, phonology, morphology, semantics/pragmatics, acquisition, and sociolinguisticsWritten in an accessible overview style and designed for advanced students and current scholars in the field alikeEssential reference work for scholars of Portuguese linguistics and Romance languages

European Portuguese, like other Romance languages, display a great amount of word order variation. Out of the six logically possible permutations between Subject, Verb and Complement in a transitive sentence, five are possible: SVO, VSO, VOS, OVS and OSV.The primary goal of this book is to provide an analysis of the several positions where the subject may surface in European Portuguese. Departing from an architecture of the clause as sketched in early minimalist work, containing two subject-related functional categories above VP (AgrP and TP), it is shown that the subject may surface in all potential landing sites: Spec,AgrP, Spec,TP and Spec,VP. Moreover, just like any other argument of the clause, it is claimed that subjects also have the possibility of surfacing in a left-dislocated position, arguably adjoining to the clause's left periphery.It is shown that there is no free variation. Each of these positions may be occupied by the subject, only if two requirements are met:i) The position is made available by syntax;ii) The position does not violate any interface condition.In other words, the following model is argued for: syntax generates legitimate outputs. At the interface levels, each output may be selected or filtred out, according to requirements of the interface. The picture emerging from the proposal made in this book is the following: syntax proper does not need to refer to conditions best placed at the interface. All that is needed from syntax is that it generates an array of well-formed outputs. Such outputs may be evaluated a posteriori by each of the interfaces. If they meet requirements of the interface, they are selected as legitimate. If, on the contrary, some interface condition is violated, they are ruled out. Under this approach, three in-dependent results are derived: i) an explanation is found for the patterns of word order variation; ii) syntax proper may be reduced to its own tools, not having to manipulate semantic, discourse or prosodic variables; iii) the intuition that European Portuguese is an SVO language is derived: this word order corresponds to the one in which the subject occupies the only specifier position in which the other interfaces play no role.

While it has become fashionable in the arena of international health to think about health systems, the theoretical underpinning of Niklas Luhmann's vast and productive theory has been given too little consideration in the field. It is rich in concepts that can facilitate a fuller understanding of what health systems are. João Costa applies these concepts and shows the analytical possibilities they open up. He argues concisely how Luhmann's Social Systems Theory offers an integrated theoretical body as well as a consistent articulation of concepts that can lay the groundwork for a vastly improved health systems thinking.

Despite governmental and international funding as well as numerous publications on health systems, questions remain. João Costa offers new insight into health systems thinking by emphasizing the social nature of health systems. He traces health systems back to their origins in Ancient Greece and investigates their development throughout history, focusing on the notion of systems' self-reference, a constitutive feature of social systems. The study is built on Luhmann's Social Systems Theory and his outline of health as social system. Valuable for health professionals, it discusses communication as lifeblood for making health systems self-referential.