Variação em caso de acento marcado no português: análise de estruturas linguísticas

Abstract

This thesis investigated the use of words with marked primary stress in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), focusing on proparoxytone words and paroxytones ending in rising diphthongs. The study was conducted with six illiterate BP speakers from the municipalities of Mostardas and Tavares, located in southern Rio Grande do Sul. The main objective was to describe, analyze, and formalize the phonological processes applied to these word forms, based on the framework of Metrical Phonology. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed in the data analysis, which was based on three instruments: a production test of marked-stress words, a production test of derived words formed with the suffix -zinho, and a perception test of marked-stress words. The data revealed the recurrent, albeit variable, application of elision and structural modification processes as strategies to avoid marked stress. The elision of the second vowel (V2) in the final vocalic sequence of paroxytones ending in rising diphthongs—also a variable process—was identified as a regional feature of the studied area. The results obtained from the different tests, together with the analysis of the phonological processes applied to the marked-stress words, suggested that the phonological representation of these words may vary for the speakers. This was particularly evident in the production of forms with the -zinho suffix. Furthermore, the data supported the interpretation that the phonetic manifestations of marked stress analyzed here—proparoxytones and paroxytones ending in rising diphthongs—are surface mappings of the same underlying form: a proparoxytone. Based on Metrical Phonology and Bisol’s (1992) proposal for primary stress assignment in Portuguese nouns, the use of the trochaic foot was deemed appropriate to explain the phonological grammar phenomena observed in the speech of the participants. In this way, the study contributes to the description and understanding of Brazilian Portuguese phonology.