The intergenerational transmission of dialect features of Bahian Portuguese in a contact situation with São Paulo Portuguese

• Grant number: 25/12308-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2025
• End date: February 29, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics - Sociolinguistics and Dialectology
• Principal Investigator: Livia Oushiro
• Grantee: Leonardo Ferraz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Based on the theory and methods of Variationist Sociolinguistics (Weinreich, Labov and Herzog, 1968; Labov,1972) and on the studies of dialects in contact (Trudgill, 1986; Oushiro et al., 2023; Fernández-Mallat and Nycz, 2025), this study aims to investigate the process of transmission of dialectal features of Bahian Portuguese among first- and second-generation migrants in Palmares Paulista-SP. The main goal is to describe patterns of coda (r) (e.g., porta 'door', mulher 'woman') and pretonic mid vowels (e, o) (e.g., colega 'colleague', relógio 'clock') usage by Bahian migrants and their offspring, in order to analyze, more specifically, the intergenerational transmission of phonetic-acoustic aspects and variable rules (Guy, 1991) and the relative influence of parents compared to peers in this process. Thus, the analysis draws on 53 sociolinguistic interviews (Labov, 1972) with Bahian migrants and their offspring, alongside control groups of 10 native Paulista speakers (Gonçalves, 2007) and 10 non-migrant Bahian speakers (Almeida and Carneiro, 2008). Data will undergo categorical and acoustic analyses, with statistical treatment via mixed-effects logistic and linear regression models using the Language R. In this way, beyond contributing to a broader framework of studies on the speech of Northeasterners migrants in the state of São Paulo, this work will advance a more comprehensive understanding of linguistic change processes by examining the behavior of the dialect of a migrant community in a contact situation as language is transmitted from generation to generation. This research will also contribute to strengthen and promote Sociophonetics in Brazil.