Measuring and parameterizing lexical convergence and divergence between European and Brazilian Portuguese

Following the model provided by the sociolectometrical and sociolexicological study that Geeraerts, Grondelaers, and Speelman (1999) performed for Netherlandic and Belgian Dutch, the present study investigates the relationship between the vocabulary of European Portuguese and that of Brazilian Portuguese. Focusing on the lexical field of clothing terms and that of football terms, two main issues: are addressed by means of the quantitative methodology developed by Geeraerts et al.: whether the two national varieties of Portuguese have gone through a process of lexical convergence or divergence in the last 60 years; and which internal linguistic parameters influence this process.