The variable occurrence of flap in syllable onset where a trill is expected in Brazilian Portuguese in the speech community of Antônio Prado-RS

Abstract

Studies of speech communities of Brazilian Portuguese located in the former Italian Sattlement Area of Rio Grande do Sul (RCI-RS) (ROSSI, 2000; SPESSATTO, 2003; BOVO, 2004; BATTISTI and MARTINS, 2011; AZEREDO, 2012) reveal that the variable occurrence of flapin syllable onset where a trill is expected (churrasco~churasco ‘barbecue’, cachorro~cachoro ‘dog’), a characteristic derived from the contact of Portuguese with Italian dialects once spoken in the Area, is a predominantly male, rural practice, performed by speakers of older age groups. Using 32 sociolinguistic interviews of Antonio Prado, belonging to BDSer (Banco de Dados de Fala da Serra Gaúcha), University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), we intend to verify (a) the total proportion of rule application of flap instead of trill in intervocalic position (arroz, ‘rice’) and initial position (rua, ‘street’), based on the Variation Theory (Labov, 1972); and (b) the linguistic and social conditioning factors of the process. In order to elucidate the results of the Variable Rule Analysis (ARV), data from ethnographic interviews (Spradley, 1979) are taken into account, conceiving language variation and change as social practice (ECKERT, 2000). The study aims at clarifying whether there is a speech pattern peculiar to RCI-RS as a whole and whether the speech of Antônio Prado follows that pattern.