Geolinguistics: pluridimensional methodology challenges

Abstract

This paper presents some methodological considerations applied in a doctorate degree research, which viewed the linguistics variety description of Portuguese language spoken in the border region between Brazil and Paraguay, more specifically, in Paraná State and the Department of del Alto Paraná, and the consequent production of contactual character and topodynamic linguistic maps from the investigated area. In methodological terms, following the Pluridimensional Dialectology, we considered the eight dimensions proposed by Thun (1998): diatopic, diastratic, diasexual, diagerational, diatopic-kinetic, dialingual, diaphasic and diareferencial. These dimensions usage interfere directly in the choice of the location, in the informant profile, the kind of questionnaire, and even in the informant data sheet. It was only possible to consider the eight dimensions due to the kind of proposed research, the region which provides a range of linguistic contacts and, above all, the migrations in the west of Paraná and the migrations to Paraguay. The study sought to understand the linguistic behavior, in its different varieties, in the face of dimensions of linguistic, space, and social order.