Palatal sonorants in Portuguese-based creoles

The adaptation results of sounds across languages is a valuable source of information for their theoretical representation. Such research can be especially enlightening when complex or rare sounds are concerned. This study analyses the adaptation of Portuguese palatal sonorants to 19 Creole languages. We assess the strategies used to replace /ʎ/ or /ɲ/, if the creole has no such consonants; and the constraints on their distribution, if the creole language has a palatal sonorant. The main purpose is to find potential clues to the structure of these consonants in Portuguese, concerning their substance and effects. The data is extracted from the APiCS (Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures) and other doculects. We found that creole speakers either use a phonological equivalent from their substrates [d͡ʒ ɟ] or dismantle the elements of the source consonants into separate features [l n j]. We conclude that the palatal sonorants should not be represented as phonological geminates, but rather as complex segments with a palatal autosegment. Furthermore, the differences in their adaptation suggest that these consonants may not share the same underlying structure.