A elevação da vogal média anterior átona em Flores da Cunha (RS)

Abstract

The variable raising of the unstressed mid front vowel /e/, in contexts such as cidade::cidadi (city), segunda::sigunda (second) and me chama::mi chama (call me), was studied in the speech of 32 informants from Flores da Cunha (RS, Brazil). The process was analyzed quantitatively, according to Labov’s (1994, 2008 [1972]) Theory of Language Variation, and qualitatively, according to Eckert’s (2000) Theory of Language Variation as Social Practice. 25708 contexts were obtained, and the variable rule – the raising of /e/ – was applied in 50,7% of them. All of the controlled variables – Syllable with coda, Syllable with onset, Type of vowel of the following syllable, Position of /e/ in the word, Preceding phonological context, Following phonological context, Gender, Age and Place of living – were considered to be significant by the statistic program GoldvarbX. The raising of /e/ is favorably conditioned by the factors syllable without onset, syllable with coda, high vowel in the following syllable, /e/ in clitics, preceding velar consonant or no preceding context, following vowel or no following context, informants who live in the city (not in the rural areas) and age between 18 and 30 years old. Since young people are introducing the raising of /e/ in the community, this phenomenon may be considered change in progress. In order to verify how the social practices of young people are related to the raising, a content analysis was performed (BARDIN, 2000; FREITAS; JANISSEK, 2000), based on the speech of eight people from Flores da Cunha whose ages ranged from 18 to 30 years old. The content analysis revealed that young people who adopt traditional social practices which are linked to the history of Italian immigration apply the variable rule less frequently than those who engage in innovative practices. Traditional practices are oriented to life inside the community, whereas innovative practices are oriented to life outside the community. Young people who wish to remain in the community do not raise /e/ as often as those who wish to leave the place; young people who want to leave the community tend to apply the rule more frequently in order to fit in with the pronunciation that is more usual in other Brazilian regions.