Ultrasonographic characterization of alveolar liquids in Brazilian Portuguese speaking children: target and substituted productions

Abstract

Although liquid consonants have been described as complex segments because they involve the simultaneous production of double articulatory gestures, tip and dorse, and are commonly involved in phonological simplification processes, there are contrary arguments in this regard, and there is no consensus in the literature. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the correct productions of alveolar liquids and the simplification processes (semivocalization and substitution) of /ɾ/ of Brazilian Portuguese in 30 children aged 4 to 9 years from an ultrasound analysis of the tongue. The correct productions were described as having double gestures (tip and dorse) for both phonemes, with higher tip and more anterior dorse for [ɾ] compared to [l]. In productions with substitution (/ɾ/