Chapter 9. On the origins of Portuguese para form variation
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Michael Gradoville
Abstract
This study explores the origins of Brazilian Portuguese para ‘to, for’ form variation using sociophonetic analytic techniques to test various properties of the unreduced para variant. While the pra variant was suggested to have originated from an intertonic syncope process, the finding in this study that unreduced para is produced with lexical stress calls such an origin into question. Since unreduced para o tends to be produced lacking the second /a/, para + Article’s low reduction rate to pra in previous studies may be a consequence of its participation in a word-boundary reduction process. Reduction of para to pra therefore appears to be a case of special reduction that emerged for para to reduce a syllable in other contexts.
Abstract
This study explores the origins of Brazilian Portuguese para ‘to, for’ form variation using sociophonetic analytic techniques to test various properties of the unreduced para variant. While the pra variant was suggested to have originated from an intertonic syncope process, the finding in this study that unreduced para is produced with lexical stress calls such an origin into question. Since unreduced para o tends to be produced lacking the second /a/, para + Article’s low reduction rate to pra in previous studies may be a consequence of its participation in a word-boundary reduction process. Reduction of para to pra therefore appears to be a case of special reduction that emerged for para to reduce a syllable in other contexts.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Geographic variation of voseo on Spanish Twitter 7
- Chapter 2. Organic models for measuring Spanish learners’ linguistic complexity 39
- Chapter 3. Role of social interaction abroad in the L2 acquisition of sociolinguistic variation 63
- Chapter 4. The effect of grammatical person on subject pronoun expression in the oral narratives of Spanish second language learners 85
- Chapter 5. Pied-piping in degree wh-clauses in Spanish 109
- Chapter 6. Degree, time and focus 133
- Chapter 7. Neural evidence for the processing of referential ambiguity and referential failure in Spanish 153
- Chapter 8. The overt pronoun penalty for plural anaphors in Spanish 175
- Chapter 9. On the origins of Portuguese para form variation 189
- Chapter 10. Developing epistemic meaning 215
- Chapter 11. The acquisition of personal a among Chinese-speaking L2 learners of Spanish 233
- Chapter 12. Proposing a tripartite intensifier system 253
- Chapter 13. Public signage in a multilingual Caribbean enclave 273
- Chapter 14. No es tan simple como parece 295
- Chapter 15. The acquisition of obligatory and variable mood selection in epistemic predicates by L2 learners and heritage speakers of Spanish 319
- Index 343
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Geographic variation of voseo on Spanish Twitter 7
- Chapter 2. Organic models for measuring Spanish learners’ linguistic complexity 39
- Chapter 3. Role of social interaction abroad in the L2 acquisition of sociolinguistic variation 63
- Chapter 4. The effect of grammatical person on subject pronoun expression in the oral narratives of Spanish second language learners 85
- Chapter 5. Pied-piping in degree wh-clauses in Spanish 109
- Chapter 6. Degree, time and focus 133
- Chapter 7. Neural evidence for the processing of referential ambiguity and referential failure in Spanish 153
- Chapter 8. The overt pronoun penalty for plural anaphors in Spanish 175
- Chapter 9. On the origins of Portuguese para form variation 189
- Chapter 10. Developing epistemic meaning 215
- Chapter 11. The acquisition of personal a among Chinese-speaking L2 learners of Spanish 233
- Chapter 12. Proposing a tripartite intensifier system 253
- Chapter 13. Public signage in a multilingual Caribbean enclave 273
- Chapter 14. No es tan simple como parece 295
- Chapter 15. The acquisition of obligatory and variable mood selection in epistemic predicates by L2 learners and heritage speakers of Spanish 319
- Index 343
