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| Author(s): |
Natalia Zaninetti Macedo
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Araraquara. 2019-07-19. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Ciências e Letras. Araraquara |
| Defense date: | 2019-06-28 |
| Advisor: | Gladis Massini Cagliari |
| Abstract | |
The study of proper names in terms of the investigation of the phonological identity of a language was suggested by Massini-Cagliari (2004, 2010). According to the author, when a speaker decides to adapt (or not) a name of foreign origin to their own language system, they reveal to know their linguistic identity in rhythmic terms and to be able to operate with and on it, adopting a clear position as a language user subject. In this work, we study the process of anthroponyms attribution in Brazil and Portugal, which present very specific and distinct rules for the nomination of their citizens, as well as the proper names taken from the Medieval Galician-Portuguese Cantigas (songs) for the study of a time of which there are no more native speakers. The main goal was to investigate the behavior of speakers of Archaic Portuguese (AP), Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and European Portuguese (EP) in situations that they need to make choices regarding the pronunciation of proper names borrowed from or created by other linguistic systems. We analyze, in accordance with non-linear phonological theories, issues related to the syllable and the stress of names derived from Medieval Portuguese and Contemporary Portuguese (both Brazilian and European). Regarding the processes of phonological adaptation in the AP, we collected 673 proper names from the Cantigas de Santa Maria and the profane cantigas and categorized them according to the phonological system of the AP, as proposed by Massini-Cagliari (1999, 2015). Their analysis revealed that 15% of the toponyms and anthroponyms listed presented syllabic and/or stress patterns that do not fit into the phonological rules of the language of that period. We used the corpus gathered by Macedo (2015) for the analysis of the BP, that contains a total of 14,716 proper names collected in schools of the city of São Carlos, SP, for some of which the phonological transcription and the syllabic and stress pattern description were available. We observed processes of phonological adaptation that occurred in the pronunciation of English-derived names and identified cases of non-default prosodic features, contrarily to the expectations of the Portuguese language, such as unusual syllabic patterns, or the maintenance of an exceptional stress pattern. Among these, there are names with stylized spellings and a large number of anthroponymic creations, which reveal the freedom granted by Brazilian legislation regarding the choice of proper names. For the study of the EP, the corpus we collected gathered 3,948 baptismal anthroponyms from 82 parishes in the diocese of Lisbon. Among those, there are 50 anthroponyms apparently not belonging to foreign citizens and that are not included in the List of proper names admitted in Portugal, which brings the landscape of proper names given to Portuguese citizens in the last triennium (2014-2016). Some of these cases were identified as new anthroponymic creations. The analyzes of the pronunciation transcription for some names performed by a native speaker from Portugal showed that, regarding the phonological parameters, the main irregularities to the language system observed refer to the adaptation of segments and the displacement of the stress. In names not recognized by the research informant as belonging to Portuguese, there was a predominance of marginal accentuation patterns. Finally, we found out that the AP was characterized by a greater degree of adaptation of foreign names to its phonology than in contemporary Portuguese (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 15/08197-3 - From the onomastic clues: a comparative study of Archaic and Brazilian Portuguese phonology |
| Grantee: | Natália Zaninetti Macedo |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |