Influence of inferential perception on epenthetic vowel formation in foreign languages

Abstract

The purpose of this text is to show that the phenotype of epenthesis in words of foreign origin is a result of perception. In this sense, the Portuguese speaker will shape words that are not phonetically habitual in order to adapt them to his syllabic system. It is hypothesized that the speaker's perception of the syllabic structure in his / her language is a key element in the formation of interpretive inferences regarding the pronunciation of foreignisms, since in this process the speaker unites the acquired (phonological) information In contact with his mother tongue to those of the foreign language, creating an illusory vowel so that the syllabic mold he knows is filled. It is for this reason that status, for example, can be pronounced with the insertion of the epenthetic vowel as in [is'tatus].