Brazilian Portuguese has a variable vowel height harmony rule. The mid vowels /e/ and /o/ can be raised to /i/ and /u/ in pretonic syllables. This occurs when the tonic syllable has the vowel /i/ or /u/. Vowel raising is optional.
The following words have pretonic vowels which can be raised in Brazilian Portuguese:
/o/ --> /u/
bonito (nice}
coruja (owl)
costume (custom)
formiga (ant)
melodia (melody)
/e/ --> /i/
menino (boy)
pedido (request)
pepino (cucumber)
preciso (precise)
seguro (safe)
Post-tonic vowels are raised by many speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. For them the rule is categorical. In the case of pretonic syllables, however, vowel raising is variable.
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