Um estudo sobre a variação da coda (r) com falantes periféricos da comunidade de fala do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the linguistic behavior of speakers living in favelas in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, in the FavRio sample, with respect to variation of (r) in internal coda and (r) in external coda in non-verbal items. The objective is to seek, through the results obtained for the two variables under analysis, the structural and social constraints, as well as evidence concerning the role of the lexical item in the propagation of sound change, examining whether different linguistic patterns are developing within the same speech community. To this end, theoretical assumptions from Variationist Sociolinguistics (WEINREICH; LABOV; HERZOG, 2006) and Usage-Based Models (BYBEE, 2016; PIERREHUMBERT, 2003; CRISTÓFARO SILVA; GOMES, 2017, 2020) are combined. The analysis of structural and social constraints on the realization of (r) in medial and final coda in non-verbs was conducted using production data collected from 24 speakers from the FavRio Sample. The data were submitted to a mixed effects logistic regression model using the Rbrul software and the results reveal that linguistic constraints operate on both variables with the overall distribution as follows: (a) for (r) in internal coda - 81.8% for the realization of the segment and 18.2% for its absence; and (b) for (r) in external coda in non-verbs - 41.8% for the realization of the segment and 58.2% for its absence. Furthermore, the examination of the random variables points to the possibility of a more advanced process of change toward the absence of external (r) coda in non-verbs.