Gerúndio e arquifonema nasal no pb: variação de /ndu/ para [nʊ] sob a ótica da geometria de traços

Abstract

In this article, we present a proposal for analyzing the gerund variation from /Ndu/ to [nʊ]. To this end, we draw on studies in the literature – such as Amaral (1920), Mollica and Mattos (1992), Mota (2002), Ferreira, Tenani, and Gonçalves (2012), and Ferreira and Vieira (2023) – to discuss some interpretative instabilities regarding the description of the phonological process(es) involved in the variation observed in pairs such as [ãˈmãdʊ] ~ [ãˈmãnʊ], [faˈzẽdʊ] ~ [faˈzẽnʊ], and [kaˈĩdʊ] ~ [kaˈĩnʊ]. We rely on the theoretical framework of Feature Geometry (Clements and Hume, 1995) and bring into the discussion D’Angelis (1998, 2002), who reanalyzes consonant clusters in Brazilian Portuguese following Mattoso Câmara Jr. (1953, 1970). Drawing on his perspective on nasals, we guide our interpretation of gerund variation. In order to clarify the transition from /Ndu/ to [nʊ], we propose a new sonority scale configuration, particularly to accommodate nasal and oral obstruents within a natural class, without disregarding the presence of nasal sonorants in the language. According to our analysis, the variant [nʊ] results from the nasalization of the alveolar /d/ due to progressive spreading of the [nasal] feature from the archiphoneme /N/, rather than the deletion of /d/. This process involves segments that are part of the natural class of obstruents. Furthermore, we establish that /N/ spreads its [nasal] feature both to the thematic vowel of the verbal stem and to the alveolar /d/, characterizing a truly bidirectional spreading process (Miranda and Picanço, 2020).