Deletion of the /r/ Segment in Syllabic Coda in the Speech of Curralinho-PA

A Variationist Sociolinguistic Approach

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the deletion of the /r/ segment in syllable-final position, both in medial and word-final contexts, in the Portuguese spoken in the city of Curralinho, located on Marajó Island, in the state of Pará, Brazil. Based on the assumptions of Variationist Sociolinguistics, 4,279 occurrences of /r/ in syllable-final position were analyzed, obtained through interviews with 12 informants, distributed according to gender, age, and educational background. The data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed with the aid of the statistical software GoldVarb X. The results show that the phenomenon occurs in 54% of the cases, with higher frequency in infinitive verbs, in word-final position, and among female speakers. Furthermore, the variation proved to be stable, not stigmatized, and conditioned by phonological, morphosyntactic, and social factors. In particular, it was observed that the omission of /r/ in final coda, especially in infinitive verbs, stems from morphological redundancy and the articulatory weakness of this position. Thus, the analysis reveals the existence of a socially legitimized phonological pattern, which integrates into the local linguistic identity. In this sense, the study contributes to mapping the varieties of Portuguese spoken in the Amazon region and highlights the importance of documenting linguistic phenomena that are rarely explored in areas distant from metropolitan centers, thereby broadening the understanding of the sociolinguistic diversity of Brazilian Portuguese.