THE NOTION “LEXICAL BRAZILIANISM” AND ITS INTERPRETATION

European and Brazilian variants of Portuguese differ from one another on different levels, including lexis. Lexical divergences can be either of systemic or of variational nature. One can speak of systemic oppositions when the lexemes in question are not regularly used outside the national variant they belong to. Variational opposition presupposes that the lexemes opposed are used in both variants but their frequency differs considerably. Traditionally, the words that make up the Brazilian pole of systemic oppositions are called “brasileirismos” (“brazilianisms”), which is reflected in lexicographic sources by means of special sigla. However, a considerable number of lexemes that are obviously preferred by Brazilian Portuguese speakers (in contrast to the European Portuguese language community) are not accompanied by the corresponding sigla. This fact makes us believe, firstly, that the notion “brazilianism” in modern Brazilian lexicography is still vague, and, secondly, that lexical oppositions between European and Brazilian Portuguese are of continuous nature, that is, their preferential use in Brazil is rather a tendency than a necessity.