A SEMANTIC-ENUNCIATIVE APPROACH TO NOMINAL FORMATIONS OF TWIN/SISTER CITIES
Semantics of Enunciation; Nominal formations; Enunciative articulations; Twin cities; Enunciative networks; Brazil border
This dissertation, linked to the research line Studies of Signification Processes of the Graduate Program in Linguistics at UNEMAT, investigates the enunciative functioning of nominal formations that name twin/sister cities in Brazil. It is grounded in the Semantics of Enunciation (Guimarães, 1995; 2002; 2005; 2018; Dias, 1996; 2013; 2015; 2018). It is understood that the meaning of twin cities and sister cities is not restricted to territorial reference, but is constituted through the historicity of the utterances that sustain them and is continuously updated by the political and social demands specific to border territories.
The database consists of institutional, media, and academic utterances in circulation on the topic. The analysis considered subnominal, intranominal, and internominal articulations, allowing for the observation of the role of historical referentiality and enunciative relevance in the constitution of meanings of these naming practices.
The results demonstrate that the nominal formations of twin/sister cities operate as symbolic constructs that legitimize practices of cross-border integration, building political and social identities that transcend official territorial boundaries. It is concluded that the naming of these territories not only represents but also produces meanings and modes of border existence.