Produção do /s/ pós-vocálico em São José do Mipibu-RN

Abstract

This paper is in the area of ??Phonetics and Phonology, more specifically in the discussion about the  post-vowel /S/ palatalization. The research is dedicated to the study of the speech in the São José do Mipibu community, from which four subgrouped collaborators were selected according to sex (two men and women), age (two younger and two older) ) and the level of education (two with higher education and two with basic education). Methodology has involved data collection from controlled narrative and phonetic-phonological questionnaire. Voice recording was performed by hearing phonetic transcription and acoustic data processing. Analysis is supported by Feature Geometry theories (CLEMENTS; HUME, 1995) and Sociolinguistics (LABOV, 1977).  Results obtained were: 1. linguistically, the /S/ palatalization in that community is the result of a dissimilatory process motivated by the Obligatory Contour Principle; 2. palatalization is categorical in relation to the consonants /t/ and /d/, regardless of sociocultural variables; in front of /n/ and /l/, there is variation between unpalated and palatized productions.

Keywords: Palatalization; Phonetics and Phonology; Feature Geometry; Sociolinguistics.