O advérbio <i>nunca</i> e as combinações <i>nunca antes</i> e <i>nunca mais</i>: interpretação semântica e questões pragmáticas

Abstract This paper analyses the temporal interpretation of the negative adverb nunca (‘never’), with a particular focus on the implicative combinations nunca antes (‘never before’), which is retrospective, and nunca mais (‘never again’), which is either prospective, or retrospective-prospective. A brief discussion of emphatic negative temporal constructions is also included. A first section deals with the definition of the location time in sentences with nunca , an interval which is often restricted, in particular by the action of tense, and of other temporal adjuncts within the same proposition (e.g., nunca nessa década ‘never in that decade’, nunca desde então ‘never since then’). A second section deals with the implicative combinations nunca antes and nunca mais , focusing on their semantic and pragmatic interpretation; this includes a discussion of the implicit information they normally convey, and an analysis of the intricate correspondence between tenses and semantic values involved. A final third section briefly scrutinizes emphatic or redundant constructions containing nunca , both with nunca followed by other negative adjuncts (e.g., nunca jamais ‘never ever’, literally ‘never never’, nunca em momento algum ‘never at any time’), and with nunca followed by the weak negative polarity item alguma vez ‘ever’, literally ‘some time’ ( nunca alguma vez ‘never ever’).