Comportamento do nasal palatal /ɲ/: análise variacionista

Abstract

The syllabic attack position, in general, is filled by a few consonants that are subject to variation processes. Of these consonants, the dental stops / t, d / and the palatal sounds / ɲ, ʎ / stand out. This text deals with the palatal nasal. The main objective is to discuss the behavior of this segment in João Pessoa, considering social and structural constraints. The specific objectives are outlined: (a) to identify which structural and social conditions may affect the variation of the palatal nasal / ɲ /; (b) identify the speaker’s preference in relation to the deletion or maintenance of the variable; (c) identify the stage at which the variation process involving this segment is, whether stable variation or evidence of linguistic change in progress. The data worked on were taken from the Linguistic Variation Project in the State of Paraíba - VALPB (1993), from which 34 speakers were selected, stratified according to sex, age group and years of schooling. Along with social constraints, structural constraints were controlled. The statistical treatment was carried out by the Goldvarb X Program, which selected structural constraints (preceding phonological context, following phonological context, number of syllables, tonicity, grammatical category) and social constraints (sex, age group and years of schooling).