La complejidad conceptual de la preposición DA en italiano L2: un análisis contrastivo entre el italiano y el portugués

The scope of this study lies in the analysis of errors verified in the use of the Italian simple preposition da, aiming to demonstrate that deviations committed by Brazilian learners of Italian L2 constitute systematic evidence of a clash between universal image schemas (with emphasis on the SOURCE schema) and language-specific conceptual frames (construals). This is a descriptive mixed-methods investigation that examines, from the perspective of Cognitive-Functional Linguistics, a corpus of 236 written texts produced by 16 adult learners at the B1 proficiency level preparing for the CILS B1 Cittadinanza proficiency exam. The results of the analysis indicate that the preposition da holds the highest proportional rate of inadequacy (36.7%), evidenced mostly by undue substitutions (80% of errors). The data suggest that the inherent polysemy of the preposition da imposes a conceptualization obstacle (construal), inducing the student to transfer mental schemas from their native language (such as the uses of “há” or “por”) to the target language structure. It is concluded that mastering this symbolic unit requires the fixation of usage and frequency patterns distinct from the conceptual mapping of Portuguese.