Palatalization of Alveolar Stops by Portuguese L2ers

Palatalization of /t d/ before a front high vowel ([i]) is a variable phenomenon in the Portuguese dialect spoken in the Italian Immigration Area (IIA) in Brazil. This study aimed to (a) verify which variables condition palatalization in the speech of L2ers who have learned Portuguese in the IIA, (b) compare L2ers’ production results to the factorial typology of palatalization for IIA natives (Battisti & Dornelles Filho, 2010), and (c) access the learners’ perception of differences between the local variety and other BP varieties. We observed that (a) some of the factors that condition the phenomenon in the IIA area also favor palatalization in L2ers’ speech (underlying /i/ and preceding vowel), (b) students fit into one of the two palatalization patterns found in the IIA, and (c) they seem to be aware of differences between the IIA and other Brazilian Portuguese dialects. Palatalization of /t d/ before a front high vowel ([i]) is a variable phenomenon in some Brazilian Portuguese (henceforth BP) dialects. The front high vowel that triggers palatalization may be an underlying /i/ or a (usually) final /e/ which has undergone vowel raising. In bilingual areas such as the Italian Immigration Area (IIA) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, palatalization occurs less frequently than in most metropolitan areas Palatalization of Alveolar Stops Portuguese by L2ers 217 in Brazil (Battisti & Guzzo, 2009). In the IIA, final vowel raising is also a variable phenomenon (Roveda, 1998). The following examples show the possible variants regarding palatalization and vowel raising in the IIA. In this area, palatalization is more frequent whenever the vowel is an underlying /i/ (Battisti et al., 2007; Mauri, 2008). [1] underlying /i/ underlying /e/ menˈtiɾa~menˈtʃiɾa (lie n) ˈʒente~ˈʒenti~ˈʒentʃi (people) ˈdia~ˈdʒia (day) siˈdade~siˈdadi~siˈdadʒi (city) The following map shows the rates of palatalization in some metropolitan areas of Brazil and in the IIA. Figure 1. Distribution of palatalization in metropolitan areas and in the IIA. The main objective of this pilot study is to verify whether L2ers of BP who have been learning the language in the IIA acquire the palatalization patterns which are predominant in the area (more palatalization with an underlying /i/, less palatalization with an underlying /e/). This study, thus, aims to (a) verify which variables condition palatalization in the speech of L2ers, (b) compare L2ers’ production results to the factorial typology of palatalization in the IIA (Battisti & Dornelles Filho, 2010), and (c) perform a content analysis based on learners’ answers to questions about their own learning process and their perception of differences between the local variety and other BP varieties, in order to assess how conscious they are of the local “way of speaking”. As palatalization is not a subtle phenomenon, it is expected that L2ers are conscious of both its low frequency in the IIA Natália Brambatti Guzzo 218 dialect and the fact that it is predominant with underlying /i/ but not with underlying /e/. Also, it is expected that learners who are aware of differences between dialects (IIA versus metropolitan dialects) may adjust their pronunciation to conform to one of them. This paper is organized as follows: section 2 describes the methodology adopted in this study, and section 3 presents and discusses the results. Finally, in section 4 we present the final remarks and some guidelines for future research.