Zaměňování diftongů /ow/ a /oj/ ve vývoji evropské portugalštiny : Confusion of the Diphthongs /ow/ and /oj/ in the Evolution of European Portuguese

Abstract

This study deals with confusion of the diphthongs /ow/ and /oj/ in the evolution of European Portuguese. These two diphthongs have different etymologies, but in ancient Portuguese they begin to be confused. We analyzed selected words containing these diphthongs in the diachronic corpus www.corpusdoportugues.org. The results of this analysis showed that the final form of the word depends on its phonological structure: in words with the final back vowels /o/ and /u/, the diphthong /ow/ predominates, and in words ending in a central or central back vowel, /ɐ/ or /ɨ/, the clearly preferred diphthong is /oj/.

Keywords

• Portuguese language
• diachronic phonology
• diphthongs
• corpus linguistics
• language evolution
• portugalský jazyk
• diachronní fonologie
• diftongy
• korpusová lingvistika
• vývoj jazyka