Palatalization in Brazilian Portuguese

Many Brazilian dialects palatalize the dental plosives /d/ and /t/ before the high front vowel /i/. This process does not occur in European Portuguese. However, in many dialects of the northeast and the south, palatalization does not occur.

The word dia (day) has two possible pronunciations in Brazilian Portuguese. One is with a voiced alveopalatal affricate and the other with a voiced dental plosive. The word tia (aunt) also has two possible pronunciations. They are the voicedless alveopalatal fricative and the voiceless dental plosive.

The words leite (milk) and cidade (city) also vary. In the dialects which palatalize, the word-final unstressed vowel raises to /i/. In those which do not palatalize, the vowel is not raised but pronounced as a mid front vowel. The result is three possible pronunciations.

leite [leitʃi] (vowel raising and palatalization) ]
leite [leiti] (vowel raising)
leite [leitɛ]

cidade [sidadʒi] (vowel raising and palatalization)
cidade [sidadi] (vowel raising)
cidade [sidadɛ]

Vowel raising and palatalization occur in most of Brazil. In the northeast vowel raising occurs without palatalization and in the far south, no vowel raising and no palatalization occur. This can be considered the most conservative pronunciation.

Palatalization of the dental plosives /d/ and /t/ is associated with Brazilian Portuguese. However, this process is not realized in all regions. In addition to palatalization, vowel raising also occurs.