The paradox of Portuguese /Vr/-rhymes: Disentangling weight from length via structure-based sonority

Abstract

The assumption that Portuguese stress is weight-sensitive is supported by strong arguments. However, oxytones ending with open syllables remain a major problem for this claim, unless vowels can be independently proved to be heavy without being long. It will be seen how the behaviour of /Vr/-rhymes in European Portuguese, which is not satisfactorily accounted for by standard models, shows that weight and length are distinct aspects, and solves the problem of oxytones. The price to be paid is a theory of phonological representations in which sonority is based on structure, not on features.

Keywords

• Syllable structure
• syllable weight
• vowel length
• sonorant codas
• rhotics
• European Portuguese phonology