Brazilian Portuguese Research Articles

Digital Health Literacy Instrument: Brazilian Version-Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Content Validity for Individuals With Heart Failure.

Background and purpose: Assessment of digital health literacy should be a major concern for healthcare providers. We aimed to translate and adapt the Digital Health Literacy (DHL) Instrument into Brazilian Portuguese and examine the content validity for individuals with heart failure (HF). Methods: The instrument was translated, back translated, and evaluated by a panel of six experts regarding linguistic equivalences. An agreement analysis was performed, with values ≥80% considered acceptable. The experts then evaluated clarity, theoretical relevance, and practical pertinence. The content validity index (CVI) was calculated for each item. A CVI ≥.83 was considered acceptable. The expert's opinions were also evaluated through the modified kappa coefficient for content validity studies. Values >.74 were considered excellent. The content validity ratio (CVR) was also calculated. A critical value of CVR of 1.00 was determined. Cognitive testing (understanding the meaning of each item and their respective answers) was performed with 33 individuals with HF. Results: The adapted version obtained an agreement of ≥83.3% for each item on linguistic equivalences. Total CVI was ≥0.83, kappa values for each item were >.74, and the CVR values were 1.00 for all items. After two rounds of evaluation, all patients were able to understand the items and response scale. Conclusions: The Brazilian version has satisfactory evidence of linguistic and content validity to measure DHL in patients with HF. Additional psychometric properties will be tested in the country.

A unitary account of indicative/subjunctive mood choice

Abstract In some finite clauses only one of the subjunctive and indicative moods might occur, while in others there is option between these two moods. This is the basic distinction between intensional and polarity subjunctive. This paper questions the sustainability of such division in Portuguese, providing a critical analysis of the major arguments sustaining that those two types of subjunctive need to be considered. Instead, it is shown that a semantic analysis of the indicative and subjunctive moods accounts for the distribution of these moods in European Portuguese (EP), no different explanations being needed for the cases of lexical selection and those of mood choice. In both cases Indicative signals that only p-worlds are taken in account, while Subjunctive signals the consideration of non-p worlds. This allows a comprehensive account of the EP data: Subjunctive or Indicative occurs depending on whether the meaning of the sentence leads to the consideration of non-p worlds or not. However, in other varieties of Portuguese, Indicative occurs in some sentences whose meaning involves the consideration of non-p worlds. Such is the case of Brazilian Portuguese (BP), where, in colloquial speech, the use of Indicative is common in complement clauses of querer (‘to want’), a paradigmatic domain of Subjunctive. The conjecture is made that in this variety resorting to one or another mood is used as a pragmatic, discursive, strategy, even if the meaning of the sentence leads to the other mood.

Is there hyper-raising in European Portuguese?

Abstract Several languages allow for hyper-raising, a structure in which a DP that is interpreted as the subject of a finite complement clause is spelled-out as the subject of the matrix clause. Hyper-raising challenges certain core concepts of syntactic theory related to movement and locality. Various proposals have been made for analysing these structures, the main difference being whether the final position of the DP results from movement or not. It has often been assumed that European Portuguese, in contrast to Brazilian Portuguese, does not allow hyper-raising, or only allows it in very limited contexts. In this paper, we present empirical data extracted from written corpora and experimental results attesting to the production and acceptance of hyper-raising structures by a number of native speakers of European Portuguese. We contribute to identifying the contexts that favour hyper-raising in this variety and outline a preliminary analysis to explain what leads these speakers to produce and accept hyper-raising, while many others systematically reject it. In our proposal, this difference results from the properties of the embedded functional heads T and C, and the way in which their formal features are checked. Specifically, we propose that those speakers dissociate Case features from person-number features.

(PM-24) TRANSLATION AND CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF THE KAROLINSKA INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE SCALE INTO BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE: A METHODOLOGICAL STUDY

Abstract Introduction Interpersonal violence is a global concern with significant implications for mental health and mortality. The Karolinska Institute in Sweden developed the Karolinska Interpersonal Violence Scale (KIVS), a semi-structured interview assessing interpersonal violence experiences as victims or aggressors across childhood and adulthood. Objective Our aim was to translate and culturally adapt the KIVS for use in the Brazilian population. Methods: The translation process involved ten stages based on The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) guidelines. Back-translation was performed by a clinical psychologist unfamiliar with the original scale. The English versions were cross compared by the original instrument author. The consensus version underwent comprehension evaluation by eight participants, comprising four healthcare professionals and four patients from the AISEP - Excessive Sexual Drive and Prevention of Negative Outcomes Related with Sexual Behavior at Instituto de Psiquiatria of Hospital das Clínicas of São Paulo. A 5-point Likert scale assessed participant comprehension, with 80% agreement indicating successful equivalence. Sentences were revised until this consensus was achieved. The finalized translation, incorporating contextual revisions, underwent syntactic and spelling review. Results After application to eight participants (4 women and 4 men), 7 rated with the highest comprehension score (5.0), and 1 with 4.9. A final report documented the entire KIVS translation and validation process. Conclusion The translation and cultural adaptation of the KIVS into Brazilian Portuguese were successful. Minor adjustments were made to enhance comprehension without compromising meaning. This adaptation provides a valuable tool for assessing interpersonal violence in the Brazilian context, with implications for research and clinical practice. Financing FAPESP.

The Portuguese pluperfect: diversity of forms, polysemy and interaction with adjuncts

Abstract This paper discusses the contemporary use of the Portuguese simple and two compound pluperfect forms (with the auxiliary verbs ter, and haver) of the indicative mood in written texts. Four topics are addressed. First, the claim that the simple pluperfect is currently a defective paradigm lacking the third person plural; this claim is confirmed and substantiated by looking at specific distinguishing contexts in corpora. Secondly, the competition between the three pluperfect forms, in written contemporary European and Brazilian Portuguese; it is shown that – contrary to some frequent comments in the literature – all three forms still have widespread usage, and occur in a relatively balanced way, in the type of registers considered (newspaper writing, modern literary texts, modern literary translations), in both varieties of the language. Thirdly, as regards semantic polyvalence, the possible existence of a deictic rather than anaphoric (temporal) pluperfect; it is argued that this type of pluperfect does indeed exist, and deserves separate grammatical recognition. Fourthly, the well-known cases of ambiguity in structures with pluperfect and temporal locating adjuncts, where the latter can act either as markers of the past perspective point required by the pluperfect, or as markers of the location time of the described eventualities; facts in English and Portuguese are compared, with some differences highlighted.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Food Life Questionnaire-Short Form among Brazilian Adult Women.

Measures of beliefs and attitudes toward food have generally been limited to the measurement of more pathological eating attitudes (e.g., disordered eating). The Food Life Questionnaire (FLQ) and its short form (FLQ-SF) were developed to examine attitudes toward a broader range of foods; however, the factor structure of the FLQ-SF was not confirmed in any study with young women. In the present study, we performed a psychometric evaluation of the Brazilian Portuguese translation of the FLQ-SF in a sample of 604 women. We evaluated the factor structure using a two-step, split-sample exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic approach. Results supported a four-factor structure (i.e., weight concern, diet-health orientation, belief in a diet-health linkage, and food and pleasure) with 18 items (χ2/df = 2.09; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.05 (90% CI = 0.04; 0.06; p > 0.05); and SRMR = 0.08). Additionally, we found good internal consistency for all FLQ-SF subscales (McDonald's ω = 0.79-0.89) and convergent validity with measures of feelings, beliefs, and behaviors involved in food attitudes. Collectively, these results support the use of the FLQ-SF in Brazilian women and provide a foundation to expand the literature on beliefs and attitudes toward food in this population.

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese and measurement properties of the WaLIDD score.

Dysmenorrhea is the pain related to menstruation; to screen for the symptoms, a working ability, location, intensity of days of pain, and dysmenorrhea (WaLIDD) score was created. The purpose of this work was to culturally adapt and assess the measurement properties of the WaLIDD score for dysmenorrhea in Brazilian women. In this cross-sectional online study, we evaluated women with and without dysmenorrhea. Criterion validity and construct validity were assessed, respectively, by the Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curve and correlations with the bodily pain and social functioning domains of medical outcomes study 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36), self-report of absenteeism and Stanford Presenteeism Scale for presenteeism. Test-retest reliability and measurement errors were assessed, respectively, by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland and Altman Graph. 430 women completed the test, 238 (55.4%) women had dysmenorrhea, and 199 (46.3%) answered the questionnaire twice for the retest. The cutoff points ≥4, ≥5, and ≥5 could discriminate between women with and without dysmenorrhea, absenteeism, and presenteeism related to dysmenorrhea, respectively. Correlations between SF-36 - pain and social functioning domains and WaLIDD score were weak to strong and negative. For WaLIDD total Score, ICC was 0.95 and the limits of agreement were -1.54 and 1.62. WaLIDD score is a short, valid and reliable instrument to screen and predict dysmenorrhea and could predict absenteeism and presenteeism related to dysmenorrhea in Brazilian women.

When a New Pronoun Crosses the Border: The Spread of A Gente on the Brazilian-Uruguayan Frontier

This study shows that the incorporation of the first-person plural pronoun a gente has not only reached the southernmost tip of the Brazilian territory, but has crossed the border and entered Uruguayan Portuguese, or varieties of Portuguese spoken in northern Uruguay by Portuguese–Spanish bilinguals. This finding is based on the quantification of the a gente/nós variable in sociolinguistic interviews carried out in two border communities: Aceguá, Brazil, and Aceguá, Uruguay. The analysis of interviews recorded on each side of the border yielded a total of 1000 tokens that were submitted to a multivariate analysis. Following the premises of comparative sociolinguistics, we compared the distribution of the variable on both sides of the border and found that although Uruguayans used a gente less often than Brazilians, this innovation, preferred by young speakers, is incorporated in both dialects, following similar linguistic paths. These results show that Uruguayan Portuguese has incorporated the pronominal a gente in its grammar in a clear sign of convergence towards Brazilian Portuguese and divergence from Spanish, despite the coexistence with Spanish that categorically uses nosotros as the first-person plural pronoun and reserves the cognate la gente for its purely lexical meaning ‘the people’.

Processing dissociations between raising and control in Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract Generative approaches to syntactic control have traditionally viewed it as a distinct component of the grammar, one that governs the interpretation and distribution of the empty category (EC) PRO. However, the Movement Theory of Control (MTC) proposes that control should instead be conceived of as a form of raising, with both sentence types involving the EC DP/NP Trace. In addition to theoretical arguments, some behavioral research on antecedent reactivation has demonstrated that different ECs reactivate their antecedents to different degrees and at different points in the time course of comprehension. In this study, we used a cross-modal repetition priming paradigm to examine antecedent reactivation in Brazilian Portuguese. We found significantly greater activation at the gap position in raising sentences and in those with overt pronouns as compared to (exhaustive) control sentences, consistent with the standard account of raising and the traditional view of control as involving a distinct EC. Additionally, we found some evidence for a differentiation between exhaustive and partial control structures. Overall, our results suggest that 1) similar linguistic mechanisms are employed in the processing of sentences that involve overt pronouns and DP/NP traces, and 2) different mechanisms are employed in the processing of raising and control structures, a finding we view as inconsistent with the MTC.

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, reliability and validity of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the ‘Fit to Dance?’ survey

BackgroundThe ‘Fit to Dance?’ survey has been used in a number of studies to understand the health and wellbeing of dancers. These data have not been collected in Brazil as there is no validated questionnaire available in Brazilian Portuguese, culturally validated in Brazil with a scope as broad and comprehensive as that of ‘Fit to Dance?‘. ObjectiveTranslate into Brazilian Portuguese and culturally validate the questionnaire ‘Fit to Dance?’ in Brazil. MethodsThis was a validity and reliability study of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the ‘Fit to Dance?’ Survey. The stages of the research were: translation into the target language (Brazilian Portuguese), translation synthesis, translation validation and cross-cultural adaptation by a committee of experts in Dance Medicine and Science (DMS), reverse translation into English, pilot study (test/retest), and final version of the questionnaire. ResultsThe questionnaire was applied to 21 dancers of different dance genres, with an age average of 25 ± 7.0 years. Cronbach's alpha (0.705), ICC (0.984) and Kappa (0.794) results reached adequate values. ConclusionThe Brazilian Portuguese version of the questionnaire ‘Fit to Dance?’ is effective, has adequate levels of validity and reliability, and can be used to report injuries and aspects of health and well-being of Brazilian dancers.

Proposal of a screening instrument for autism spectrum disorder in children (Mini-TEA Scale).

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) requires trained professionals for its adequate diagnosis. There is a shortage of such professionals in Brazil. Screening tools could identify priority cases. The only instrument for that in Brazilian Portuguese is employed for toddlers up to 2.5 years old. The Mini-TEA scale was conceived and tested as a screening for children from 2.5 to 12 years old. After local ethics committee's approval, this study was conducted from December 2022 to April 2023 in the Associação de Pais e Amigos dos Excepcionais, Passo Fundo/RS, of invitations to children's parents/relatives who were under evaluation for ASD and by local advertisement. Inclusion criteria were age from 2.5 to 12 years old; consent from the child's legal guardians. 75 children's parents/relatives were interviewed using the 15-item Mini-TEA scale. After that, children were evaluated for the diagnosis of ASD by a pediatric neurologist. Sensibility and specificity for ASD diagnosis along the Mini-TEA scores were measured. Experts and target population evaluated the validity/reliability of the Mini-TEA scale. The reproducibility of the scores was assessed about 40 days later. From the 75 participants, 28 received a diagnosis of ASD. Scores ≥ 10 on the Mini-TEA scale require further evaluation of the children (sensitivity 100%; specificity 68%). Content validity coefficient (CVC) rendered values > 0.80 (acceptable). Test-retest analyzes with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) indicated excellent reliability (> 0.90). The time spent for applying the screening was about 10 minutes. The Mini-TEA scale presents as an easy tool for screening ASD among children.

Portuguese rhotic variation in the Brazilian cities of Salvador and São Paulo

Brazilian Portuguese has two rhotic phonemes: the alveolar flap /ɾ/ and the historically long version which previous publications call velar, uvular, or glottal fricatives, or alveolar trills and approximants. This variation occurs both within and across dialects. Deletion is also common, most notably in word-final position. For the current project, thirty-five participants from Salvador and ten participants from São Paulo were recorded reading predetermined stimuli of isolated words and sentences, creating 6,383 instances of the rhotic phoneme. Productions were classified as exhibiting deletion or for having voicing, frication, flapping, and place characteristics. The results indicate a range of surface forms of the phoneme more variable than previously cited, with palatal fricatives common in Salvador and several flap + fricative variants common in São Paulo, along with other less frequent forms. In Salvador, glottal fricatives predominate across the board with much higher rates of deletion. In São Paulo, glottal fricatives predominate in onset positions, but alveolar trills and approximants and flap + fricative variants predominate in coda position. While deletion is most common word-finally, it occurs in all environments where the phoneme is found.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Measurement Properties Analysis of the Brazilian Portuguese Version of the ICIQ-VS.

The high prevalence of pelvic floor disorders in women requires assessments using validated instruments. We aimed to translate, cross-culturally adapt to Brazilian Portuguese, and analyze the measurement properties of the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Vaginal Symptoms Module (ICIQ-VS-Br). Participants were Brazilian women older than 18years presenting vulvovaginal symptoms according to the Vulvovaginal Symptoms Questionnaire (VSQ-Br). The development of the ICIQ-VS-Br included the steps of translation, synthesis, back-translation, expert meeting, and pre-test. We analyzed construct validity by correlating the ICIQ-VS-Br and VSQ-Br. The participants answered the ICIQ-VS-Br the second time 7 to 10days after the first response. We measured test-retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha, and construct validity using Pearson's correlation coefficient. The study included 313 women. Reproducibility was analyzed for the three subscales of the ICIQ-VS-Br, resulting in an ICC of 0.92 (95% CI 0.89 to 0.94) for "vaginal symptoms," 0.85 (95% CI 0.78 to 0.89) for "sexual matters," and 0.87 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.91) for "quality of life." Construct validity showed a moderate correlation between ICIQ-VS-Br and VSQ-Br, confirming our hypotheses. The ICIQ-VS-Br demonstrated validity and reproducibility, indicating that the instrument can be used in scientific research and clinical practice.

The best internal structure of the Diabetes Quality of Life Measure (DQOL) in Brazilian patients

BackgroundDiabetes Mellitus (DM) is considered a chronic disease with numerous secondary complications that negatively affect the quality of life of patients. However, the specific, known and validated instruments for Brazilian Portuguese are too extensive, which often makes their use infeasible.ObjectiveTo validate the internal structure of the Brazilian version of the Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) measure.MethodologyPatients with DM type 1 or 2, between the ages of 18 and 76, were evaluated between April 2022 and May 2022. The survey was conducted online using the Google Forms platform. The original DQOL contains 46 multiple-choice questions organized into four domains. For structural validity, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed using RStudio software (Boston, MA, USA) with the packages lavaan and semPlot.ResultsA total of 354 subjects were evaluated. The 3-domain, 24-item version of the DQOL was the most adequate, with acceptable values for all fit indices (chi-square/GL < 3, TLI and CFI > 0.90, and RMSEA and SRMR < 0.08).ConclusionThe structure with three domains and 24 items is the most appropriate based on factor analysis. The Brazilian version of the DQOL with a structure of 3 domains and 24 items has adequate measurement properties that support its use in the clinical and scientific context in patients with DM.

The language that unites us is the one that also separates us

This paper analyses whether the Portuguese language spoken by young people from the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries in Portugal involves dimensions of social inclusion or exclusion. It employs an interdisciplinary approach (with concepts from sociology and linguistics), and a qualitative methodology in the shape of thirty-three interviews with young people from Brazil and Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa living in the Portuguese municipality of Sintra. While ‘speaking Portuguese’ facilitates the integration of these young people, their inclusion is also hindered by the coexistence of this language with other native languages in the case of Africans, and by the use of standard Brazilian Portuguese in the case of Brazilians.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the ICIQ-BD for Brazilian Women With Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms.

The International Continence Society recommends the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Bladder Diary (ICIQ-BD) for the assessment, management, and monitoring of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation will establish a valid and reliable tool for Brazilian women with LUTS. A cross-sectional study involving 101 women was carried out at the Urogynecology Outpatient Clinic in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, between August 2020 and April 2022. The process of cross-cultural adaptation and validation was executed following the ICIQ Group's protocol. Reviewed by an expert committee, the first pre-test was followed by subsequent adaptations, resulting in a second adapted version that underwent expert revisions. A second pretest was conducted, followed by cross-cultural adaptation and construct validation. Finally, the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Bladder Diary-Brazilian Portuguese Version (ICIQ-BD-Br) underwent a validation process. Construct validity (IVC >0.78) and internal consistency were satisfactory (α-Cronbach coefficient 0.87-0.94). The following adjustments were made: a specific field was created to document sleep and wake times, and a printed score ranging from 0 to 4 was included in the bladder sensation column. Test-retest reliability ranged from fair to excellent for all analyzed items (Spearman correlation: 0.64-0.95). Criterion validity analysis indicated slight agreement for one of the four symptoms analyzed (nocturia k=0.32). The final version was approved by the ICIQ Group. The ICIQ-BD-Br has been adapted for use in Brazilian Portuguese and has exhibited robust construct validity and reliability for Brazilian women with LUTS.

Development of the Digital Speech Assessment Instrument.

This study aimed to develop a Digital Speech Assessment Instrument to evaluate the phonological and motor speech skills of Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children and adolescents through six tasks: (a) word naming, (b) word imitation, (c) pseudoword imitation, (d) word repetition, (e) pseudoword repetition, and (f) diadochokinesis. The assessment instrument was developed and validated in a seven-step process, beginning with stimulus selection and ending with Pilot Study 1 (involving children and adolescents with typical speech development) and Pilot Study 2 (involving children and adolescents with speech sound disorders [SSDs]). Participants of the study included expert and nonexpert judges, children, and adolescents. The Digital Speech Assessment Instrument contains 91 real words (61 in the naming task, 51 in the imitation task, and five in the repetition task), 26 pseudowords (26 in the imitation task and four in the repetition task), and six stimuli for diadochokinesis. The test contains stimuli in the form of images as well as audio and video recordings and allows for the analysis and storage of participant data in a virtual database. This study described the development of the Digital Speech Assessment Instrument, available in Brazilian Portuguese for the evaluation of several aspects of speech production (including word and pseudoword naming, imitation, and repetition and diadochokinesis). The test was developed for children aged 2;0 (years;months) to 17;11 and is administered fully online. In the future, the instrument can be used to provide a timely and accurate diagnosis of SSDs.

Reliability and validity of cross‑culturally adapted oral health‑related quality‑of‑Life instruments for Brazilian children and adolescents: a systematic review

Objective This systematic review aimed to review the reliability and validity of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) questionnaires for Brazilian children and adolescents. Also, the cross-cultural adaptation was evaluated.Methods This systematic review is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022300018) and was performed based on the COSMIN guideline. Electronic searches were performed in the PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Lilacs, BVS (BIREME), Scielo, and Embase databases until March 2023 by two independent reviewers. There was no restriction on time or language. The following studies were included: validation studies and cross-cultural adaptation of OHRQoL instruments into Brazilian Portuguese; studies that evaluated the measurement properties of OHRQoL questionnaires in children and adolescents and that reported at least one of the measurement properties: reliability, internal consistency, error measurement, content validity, construct validity, criterion validity, discriminant validity, and/or convergent validity. The following were excluded: studies of systematic reviews of OHRQoL measures; studies reporting OHRQoL assessment through instruments; construction (development) and validation of a new instrument; questionnaires that had a single item; and validation for Portuguese from Portugal. The cross-cultural adaptation process and psychometrics of the included studies were verified.Results 6556 articles were identified, and 19 manuscripts were included. All studies were conducted in Brazil, and the age of the participants ranged from 2 to 15.42 years old. Sixteen articles presented the cross-cultural validation steps. Cronbach's alpha of the revised instruments ranged from 0.59 to 0.86.ConclusionsIt can be concluded that most studies provided information and evidence regarding validity, reliability, translation, and cultural adaptation.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Daily living self-efficacy scale into brazilian portuguese

To carry out the cross-cultural adaptation of the Daily Living Self-Efficacy Scale into Brazilian Portuguese. This is a methodological cross-cultural adaptation study. The following stages were followed: translation; synthesis of translations; back-translation; review by a committee of judges; and pre-test. The Concordance Index was used to analyze equivalence and the Content Validity Coefficient was calculated for clarity of language, practical pertinence and relevance; and Fleiss' Kappa for the theoretical dimension. The stages of translation, back-translation and review by the committee of judges showed brief modifications, aimed at grammatical changes, inversion of words, replacement of terms with synonyms, exclusion of words and inclusion of articles and prepositions. The analysis of equivalences between the judges resulted in a concordance rate of over 80%. The practical relevance and theoretical relevance obtained a Content Validity Coefficient of 0.99 and clarity of language of 0.88, while the theoretical dimensions had a Fleiss Kappa of over 0.80. A pre-test was carried out with 30 participants. The cross-cultural adaptation of the Daily Living Self-Efficacy Scale into Brazilian Portuguese allowed the instrument to be adapted to the Brazilian context, showing properties for measuring self-efficacy in the daily life of stroke survivors.

Patterns of progression of sound changes in a variety of Portuguese in contact with Italian immigration languages in Southern Brazil

The study deals with variable phonetic traits of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) in contact with Italian immigration languages. It focuses on the realization of an alveolar tap (weak-r) in onset position where one would expect an alveolar trill (strong-r) or its fricative variants (glottal/velar fricative): [ɾ]&amp;aacute;pido instead of [r]&amp;aacute;pido or [h]&amp;aacute;pido &amp;lsquo;fast&amp;rsquo;, ca[ɾ]o instead of ca[r]o or ca[h]o &amp;lsquo;car&amp;rsquo;. The realization is relatively stigmatized and declining in younger generations (Azeredo, 2012; Frosi, Faggion &amp;amp; Dal Corno, 2017). The study uses methods from variationist sociolinguistics (Labov, 1972; Labov, 1994; Labov, 2001; Labov, 2010) to examine speech data of a southern Brazilian town, Flores da Cunha, founded by Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. The objective of the study is to identify the linguistic and social factors correlated to the realization of a weak-r and thus to elucidate the pattern of variation and change. Logistic regression performed with R (Venables, Smith &amp;amp; the R Core Team, 2022) in a real-time trend study with data from 1990 (VARSUL sample) and 2008&amp;ndash;2009 (BDSer sample) shows that the process is relatively stable in the speech community and conforms to a pattern of generational change (Labov, 1994). Despite the tendency towards leveling of Flores da Cunha BP with supralocal patterns of Portuguese, the slow decline in the realization of weak-r suggests that the socioindexical value of the alveolar tap has changed in recent years, along with socioeconomic and cultural changes.