THE PHONOLOGICAL STATUS OF NASAL CONSONANTS IN ARCHAIC PORTUGUESE

Abstract This paper aims to study phonological phenomena from the archaic period of Portuguese, specifically analysing nasal consonants in 250 medieval Galician-Portuguese cantigas. The methodology is based on the observation of the possibility (or not) of variation in the graphic representation of these elements in that historical period. This study also focuses on the position occupied by these consonants inside the syllable and the word, in order to verify: 1) the status of nasal consonants in syllabic onset and coda; 2) vowel/diphthongs nasalization. Phonological analysis is based on non-linear phonological models. The collected data show that the alternance between the graphic representation of nasals in coda as <m>, <n> or tilde do not correspond to a modification in word meaning. This means that, in phonological level, there is neutralization of the opposition verified in onset position between the sounds represented by <m>, <n> or tilde in coda.