Que estandardização para o português: pluricêntrica ou panlusófona?

Abstract

Portuguese is a pluricentric language with two well-established national varieties – European Portuguese (EP) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP) – and varieties in development, such as Mozambican Portuguese (MP) and Angolan Portuguese (AP). In the present study, we aim to address the normative and political question of whether the most appropriate path of standardization for Portuguese in the 21st century is a pluricentric model of several norms combined, each with its own dynamics, or a pan-Lusophone model consisting of one supranational standard norm, a sort of global Portuguese, or even a combination of the two models. We will start by analyzing past and current processes of both formal and informal standardization in Portuguese, focusing on the endo(exo)normative standardization of BP and the role of Globo TV in the strengthening of informal endonormativity, the lectometrically confirmed divergent BP-PE bicentrism and its (a)symmetries – including the more advanced endonormativity of EP and the greater global influence of BP – and the processes of nativization of African varieties, characterized by contacts with Bantu languages and EP exonormativity, with particular emphasis on the more advanced stage of nativization of MP as well as the strong population increase projected for Angola and Mozambique. We will then discuss the two models of a pluricentric or pan-Lusophone path of standardization for Portuguese, along with their opportunities and threats, and point out guidelines for their operationalization. By adopting the Cognitive Sociolinguistics’ view on pluricentricity and based on previous socio-cognitive and lectometric studies on the pluricentricity of Portuguese, we will argue for the adequacy and necessity of a socio-cognitively oriented, fully pluricentric standardization of Portuguese, which could potentially serve as a basis for the development of a pan-Lusophone norm, especially useful for the internationalization of Portuguese.