On mid vowels in non-final posttonic position in the popular speech of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This study focuses on mid vowels in non-final posttonic position in the popular speech of Rio de Janeiro State. The analysis, which is performed in two stages, aims to determine the social and linguistic factors that guide the raising of these vowels. The first step is developed according to the assumptions of variationist sociolinguistics and based on a sample of spontaneous speech representative of the North and Northwest regions. The second relies on data selected from phonetic maps of two atlases that cover sixteen communities in different areas of the State. The analysis results show that, in spontaneous speech, the raising of the two mid vowels is almost categorical, while, in monitored speech, decreases the frequency of the back vowel raising and predominates the mid variant of the front vowel.