Intonational phrasing in Brazilian Portuguese

• Grant number: 11/50044-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2011
• End date: September 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Portuguese Language
• Principal Investigator: Flaviane Romani Fernandes Svartman
• Grantee: Flaviane Romani Fernandes Svartman
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The project "Intonational phrasing in Brazilian Portuguese", integrated into the international project "Intonational phrasing in Romance" (cf.http://www.fi.ul.pt/LaboratorioFonetica/intphraro.htm), aims: (i) the constitution of a database of spoken Brazilian Portuguese (henceforth BP) for the study of the intonational structure of this variety of Portuguese; (ii) the description and analysis of intonational phrasing of the data, specifically in regard to the study of the relationship between the assignment of tonal events and the prosodic domain formation, and (Hi) the comparison of intonational phrasing results of the BP data with the intonational phrasing results described for other Romance languages covered by the international project. The development of this project, based on the theoretical framework of Intonational Phonology (cf. Pierrehumbert, 1980; Pierrehumbert & Beckman, 1988; Ladd, 1996, 2008; Jun, 2005; among others) and Prosodic Phonology (cf. Selkirk 1984,1986, 2000; Nespor & Vogel, 1986; among others), will contribute to the expansion of knowledge about grammar and intonation of the PB and to a greater understanding of the functioning of intonation in natural languages, by conducting comparative analysis between the results obtained in this study and those obtained for other languages, especially the Romance language, group to which the BP belongs etymologically. Moreover, the BP results obtained in this project will contribute to the larger goal of the international project, in which it falls, which is the constitution of an atlas of the intonation of the various Romance languages. (AU)