Linguistic Contact in Perspective: Lateral Coda in Principense Portuguese

Abstract This paper discusses the lateral /l/ in coda in Principense Portuguese (PP). Based on an elicited corpus recorded in situ, composed of 852 occurrences of 78 lexical items, we found that the lateral /l/ in coda can be vocalized or deleted. For instance, bolso ‘pocket’ can be pronounced as [ˈbow.sʊ] or [ˈbo.sʊ], as reported in some Brazilian Portuguese varieties. In PP, vocalization and deletion are phenomena that arise from a confluence of factors. It gathers characteristic features of the formative grammatical structure of Portuguese. At the same time, it reflects the linguistic contact scenario in which PP is inserted, since the lenition of consonants in semivowels, as well as strategies to avoid codas, are also reported in Lung’Ie (LI), a language in synchronic contact and present in the constitution of the PP (Agostinho, Ana Lívia. 2015. Fonologia e método pedagógico do lung’Ie [Phonology and pedagogical method of Lung’Ie]. São Paulo: University of São Paulo dissertation). Both Portuguese and Lung’Ie support vocalization and deletion in their grammars, fostering a relevant overlap of features to the alternation [ɫ] ∼ [w] ∼ ∅ in PP. We conclude that, in addition to specific features of Portuguese grammatical structure, PP’s linguistic contact situation must be considered as a relevant factor for the deletion and vocalization of laterals in coda in PP.