A prosódia da iode epentética para quebrar hiatos em variedades do Português

Within the Interactive Atlas of the Prosody of Portuguese project, the present research aims to establish a phonological profile of the [j]-insertion between central vowels across words. In previous studies of Portuguese variaties (e.g. Lopo 1895, Vasconcellos 1901, i.a.), references to the phonological status of [j]-insertion and its prosodic contexts are inexistent.The aim of this research is to contribute to the phonological description of the [j]-insertion to break a hiatus, considering both the linguistic (prosodic structure) and extralinguistic factors (age and modalities, and urban and rural regions).Different tasks were conducted to obtain speech data: a Reading task, a Map task and an Interview in twenty one regions. On the basis of the recorded speech data and within the theoretical framework of Prosodic Phonology (Selkirk 1984; Nespor & Vogel 1986), the [j]-insertion across words was analysed. The results bring important notes about the phenomenon. Our data show that [j]-insertion occurs not only across words, but may apply within words (e.g., Fa[j]átu). Overall, the data shows that [j]-insertion occurs across words, as previously described, but is an opcional process that spans in within the IP domain (IP boundary blocks the emergence of phenomenon). In the regions analyzed, the process is active: in some regions [j]-insertion tends to be blocked by the PhP boundary (Fiscal, Ermesinde, Aveiro, Viseu, Figueiró da Serra, Castelo Branco e Ponta Garça), while in other regions (Arcos de Valdevez, Castro Laboreiro, Vila Real, Santo André, Bragança, Larinho, Gião, Granjal, Porto de Vacas e Unhais da Serra) the phenomenon seems to occur in the boundaries of prosodic constituents below the IP. We also observed that prosodic constituents and prominence are not relevant in Braga and Coimbra. In these regions, the phonological status of the unit where V1 is located, in particular CL, plays a relevant role, since glide insertion emerges only if V1 is part of a CL, but not part of a PW. The impact of extralinguistic factors, such as the modality type, age group, and urban/rural distinction, was also considered. In (semi-)spontaneous tasks, rural areas, and in older speakers, [j]-insertion is more frequent. Contrary to what happens in urban areas, rural areas (geographically more isolated), which are usually less susceptible to linguistic change, revealed higher frequency of insertion; in older speakers, we also observed greater insertion rate.These results seem to meet Labov’s (1998) concept about mixing variants. Within this approach, speakers integrate alternative forms which have features of the standard variety into their variety.For the regions analysed, [j]-insertion emerges to establish a maximum contrast between vowels, therefore preserving the vowel sequence.Our study thus contributes to the knowledge of the phenomenon of [j]-insertion, as well as to the knowledge of prosodic variation in Portuguese. Our results have clarified the factors involved in the resolution of hiatus and its variation in EP, within a cross-linguistic and variationist perspective. Overall, our findings shed light on the mechanisms involved in phonological change and language variation.