Case study of Brazilian Portuguese laterals using a novel articulatory-acoustic methodology with 3D/4D ultrasound

Abstract

The focus of this case study is the articulation and the acoustics of laterals in Brazilian Portuguese. The study probes 1) the status of velarization in coronal laterals, 2) the articulation of palatal laterals in contrast with the palatal glide and coronal laterals with secondary palatalization, and 3) whether Brazilian Portuguese has 1, 2, or 3 lateral phonemes. As a case study, the findings cannot be generalized. Nevertheless, they generate predictions and demonstrate the capacity of the methods to test these predictions on a broader scale. It was found that for this speaker 1) coronal laterals are not velarized, but pharyngealized, 2) palatal laterals differ from the glide in that they maintain a coronal constriction, but they are minimally different from coronal laterals with secondary palatalization, and 3) the phonological system of this Brazilian Portuguese speaker is consistent with a 1, 2, or 3 lateral inventory.