The XIX century and its identity crisis: BP or EP? A question of grammars in competition

Based on Generative Theory of Principles and Parameters (CHOMSKY, 1981), we will observe whether the constructions with SE are evidence, as well as pronoun placement (PAGOTTO, 1993; CARNEIRO, 2005), to point out that the nineteenth century is a period of grammar competition. Our assumption regards the analysis of Raposo and Uriagereka (1996) for constructions with SE, according to which there is no passive SE, but only indefinite SE and generic SE, which function as the subject of the sentence. The sample consists of letters from readers and editors, as well as newspaper advertisements from Rio de Janeiro during the nineteenth century.