JoLIE 15:3/2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2022.3.4 INTENSIFYING ELATIVE PERIPHRASES IN EUROPEAN LANGUAGES: CRITERION OF PLURICENTRISM? Maria Célia Lima-Hernandes University of São Paulo, Brazil Maria João Marçalo University of Évora, Évora; CEL-UÉ, Portugal Abstract When he stated that autonomous words in the sentence could, if submitted to the grammaticalization process, assume functions of a grammatical element, Meillet (1948: 131) did not imagine that this process could be at the service of other linguistic changes, nor that it could mobilise other types of linguistic items such as locutionary expressions or constructions. In the second half of the 20 th century, we participated in the movement to revisit the footprints left by Meillet (1948) and, after more than twenty years of research on grammatical change in Portuguese, with a theoretical apparatus based on the functionalist assumptions of grammaticalization as a process, we became aware that objects of greater complexity 1 should be also taken as object of study and verification. In this study, we will focus on the elative constructions drawing on some examples of European languages so that we can reflect upon measures based on the habituation of sociocultural uses in pluricentric languages. The samples reveal that, starting from the cultural component of languages, we can identify culturally diverse solutions for similar intentions. If we are correct, we present some evidence in favour of a new approach to pluricentrism. Keywords: Elative constructions; Grammaticalisation process; Sociocultural habituation measures; Pluricentric languages. Resumo Quando afirmou que palavras autônomas na sentença poderiam, se submetidas ao processo de gramaticalização, assumir funções de um elemento gramatical, Meillet (1948:131) não imaginava que esse processo poderia estar a serviço de outras mudanças linguísticas, tampouco que poderia mobilizar outros tipos de itens linguísticos, como expressões locucionais ou construções. Na segunda metade do século XX, participamos do movimento de revisitação às pegadas deixadas por Meillet e, depois de mais de vinte anos de pesquisas sobre mudança gramatical no português, com aparato teórico fundado nos pressupostos funcionalistas da gramaticalização enquanto processo, demo-nos conta de que objetos de 1 The processes of combining clauses are excluded from this list, on which one of us has already had studies completed in the late 90’s, under the technical guidance of Prof. Maria Luiza Braga: Lima-Hernandes (1998).