Encontros Consonantais em Final de Palavra no Português Brasileiro

Abstract

This study had the objective of assessing the emergence of consonant clusters in word-final position in Brazilian Portuguese, with emphasis in its variety spoken in Belo Horizonte, as in clubes [ˈklubɪs] 🡪 [klubs]. The theoretical framework of this study was that of Complex Adaptive Systems (BECKNER et ali, 2009; ELLIS; LARSEN-FREEMAN, 2009; MASSIP-BONET, 2013). Two types of analyses were carried out in this study, a categorical one and a gradient one. For the categorical analysis, linguistic and non-linguistic aspects were considered in order to observe how each one favours or not the emergence of word-final consonant clusters. This study aimed at assessing the relevance of i) the difference of occurrence in innovative forms among words in singular and plural forms; ii) the class of the consonant which occupies the position C in the pattern Cs; iii) each consonant which may occupy such position; iv) the type frequency of the target words; v) the token frequency of such words; vi) the lexical item individually; vii) the sex of the subject and viii) the production of each subject. For the gradient analysis that was carried out, the relation among some acoustic aspects was analysed, especially involving segmental duration. The following acoustic aspects were assessed: i) the relation between the duration of the posttonic vowel and the token frequency of the target words; ii) the duration of the stressed vowel in the segmental sequence [ks] and in cases of alternation in the pair [kɪs] ~ [ks] and iii) the duration of the stressed vowel in words which end in sibilant consonants and in cases in which the word-end high back vowel may not be produced, making it possible that a sibiliant consonant closes the stressed syllable of the word. Results indicate that the emergence of (consonant + sibilant) consonant clusters word-finally is favoured.