THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE BRAZILIAN ALVEOLAR TAP BY FRENCH LEARNERS

Resumo

The learner of a foreign language usually pronounces its phonemes in a way conforming to how they are pronounced in his/her first language, especially those that are not common to both languages. After reviewing the acoustic and articulatory characterization of the alveolar tap, this paper focuses on some strategies used by French learners of Brazilian Portuguese in the pronunciation of that consonant, which is not included in the French phonemic chart. The strategies are the use of a vocalic element, and the replacement of the tap either by a uvular fricative, or by a glottal fricative.