Minority alternants in the plural of nouns ending in <ão> in Brazilian Portuguese: favoring contexts

Minority alternants in the plural of nouns ending in <ão> in Brazilian Portuguese: favoring contexts

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21165/gel.v21i2.3752

Keywords:

Irregular plurals. Nasal diphthong. Morphophonology. Logatomes.

Abstract

This work addresses the phenomenon of number inflection in names ending with the nasal diphthong <ão> in Brazilian Portuguese. In particular, linguistic contexts that resist the predominance of the plural alternant <ões> are discussed. The data supporting the analysis come from a linguistic experiment that evaluates the judgment of Brazilian Portuguese speakers about the best choice for pluralizing pseudowords among the plural alternants attested in the Portuguese lexicon, <ões>, <ãos>, <ães>. The mixed-effects model used for the analysis of the results indicates a preference for number inflection through the plural alternants <ãos> and <ães> in the context of pseudowords ending in <ão> which are monosyllabic, show penultimate stress and carry a demonym suffix. 

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References

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Published

2025-03-05

How to Cite

Gaggiola, P. E., & Schwindt , L. C. (2025). Minority alternants in the plural of nouns ending in <ão> in Brazilian Portuguese: favoring contexts: Minority alternants in the plural of nouns ending in <ão> in Brazilian Portuguese: favoring contexts. Revista Do GEL, 21(2), 79–101. https://doi.org/10.21165/gel.v21i2.3752