Pivô Semântico, Tópico e Foco em Avá-Canoeiro do Tocantins (família Tupí-Guaraní)

Sumario: This study deals with three elements of the Tocantins River variety os the Avá-Canoeiro language syntax (hereinafter Av.C-T) (Tupí-Guaraní family), namely the semantic pivot (SmP), topic and focus categories. We argue that in most Tupí-Guaraní family languages, the concept of semantic pivot is fundamental to understand switch reference, which in these languages depends on the interface between syntax and semantics. The topic in AváCanoeiro is expressed by the marking S / A arguments in sentences in the Indicative I mode, by means of personal prefixes; while in the Indicative II mode it is a circumstantial element that function as topic. Unlike the Avá-Canoeiro variety of the Araguaia River, the Av.C-T developed a focus particle tõ, which marks both the S / A arguments, as well as adverbial and predicate expressions, always occurring in the first position of the sentence.