To what extent is open
and closed {e} and {o} in
Portuguese predictable?
Tyler Young
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
1
Latin Vowels
Latin had 10 vowels, 5 being short and 5 being long. Orthographically,
there were only 5 vowels and the differences between the short and
long vowels were indicated different ways during the evolution of
the language:



By doubling the vowel for long vowels.
By marking long vowels with an apex (similar to an acute accent
mark.)
By capitalizing long vowels.
Eventually all of these systems were abandoned and the vowel quality
was left ambiguous.
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
2
Portuguese Vowels
Portuguese has 7 phonemic vowels and 14 allophonic vowels.
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
3
The Big Problem – {e} and {o}
/e, ɛ, o, ɔ/
Graphemes (Unnatural Stress)
{ê}  [e]
{é}  [ɛ]
{ô}  [o]
{ó}  [ɔ]
Graphemes (Natural Stress)
{e}  [e] or [ɛ]
{o}  [o] or [ɔ]
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
4
This Isn’t The Problem
When a tonic open or closed {e} or {o} falls on the
unnatural stress of the word, the orthography
disambiguates the phoneme with accent marks:
Examples:
exército [e’zɛχcito]
óbvio [‘ɔbviu]
você [vo’se]
metrô [me’tɾo]
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
5
This Is The Problem
However, if it falls on the natural stress of the
word (usually the penultimate syllable), the
orthography doesn’t indicate the phoneme:
Examples: porta  Is it [‘pɔχtǝ] or *[‘poχtǝ]?
morto  Is it *[‘mɔχtu] or [‘moχtu]?
ferro  Is it [‘fɛhu] or *[‘fehu]?
preto  Is it *[‘pɾɛtu] or [‘pɾetu]?
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
6
My Goals
1.
2.
3.
4.
Create a corpora of all words with
ambiguous {e} and {o} vowels.
Separate the words by tonic vowel
[e, ɛ, o, ɔ], and then by
grammatical category, gender, etc.
Analyze the phonetic environments
around [e, ɛ, o, ɔ] and look for
patterns. Is the allophone
before/after it a vowel or a
consonant? If a vowel, is it front,
mid, back, high, low, etc.? If a
consanant is it voiced or voiceless?
Is it dental, palatal, alvelar, velar,
etc.?
Compose a flow chart to show
found rules.
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
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Two Easy Rules for Disambiguation
1. [ɛ]̃ and [ɔ]̃ don’t exist in Brazilian Portuguese.
2. [ɛ] and [ɔ] don’t appear in atonic syllables.
Examples:
também [tʌ̃’bẽĩ] *[tʌ̃’bɛĩ̃ ]
devemos [de’vẽmus]
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
8
Disambiguating Verbs
(Present Indicative) - 1
Example Conjugations:
pegar [pe’gaχ] :
pego [‘pɛgu]
pegas [‘pɛgǝs]
pega [‘pɛgǝ]
pegamos [pe’gʌ̃mus]
pegais [pe’gais]
pegam [‘pɛgʌ̃ũ]
dever [de’veχ] :
devo [‘devu]
deves [‘dɛvis]
deve [‘dɛvi]
devemos [de’vẽmus]
deveis [de’veis]
devem [‘dɛvẽĩ]
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
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Disambiguating Verbs
(Present Indicative) - 2
-AR Verbs
Eu  open
Tu  open
Você  open
Ele  open
Ela  open
Nós
Vós
Vocês
Eles
Elas
 no ambiguity
 no ambiguity
 open
 open
 open
-ER/-IR Verbs
Eu  closed
Tu  open
Você  open
Ele  open
Ela  open
Nós
Vós
Vocês
Eles
Elas
 no ambiguity
 no ambiguity
 open
 open
 open
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
10
Disambiguating Verbs
(Present Indicative) - 3
Present Indicative: Not all verbs follow the preceing rule. Here are the exceptions.
Irregularly closed:
-elhar
aconselhar
ajoelhar
-nar
apaixonar
esacionar
mencionar
relacionar
telefonar
condenar
-ei?ar
aproveitar
beijar
cheirar
deitar
deixar
enfeitar
queimar
queixar-se
respeitar
treinar
-o(i)ar
enjoar
magoar
perdoar
soar
voar
apoiar
-ear/iar
barbear
chatear
nomear
pentear
recear
odiar
-ejar
bocejar
desejar
festejar
-ouroubar
ouvir
mar/-mer
comer
engomar
somar
tremer
tomar
-er (monosillabic)
crer
ver
misc.
fechar
chegar
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
11
Disambiguating Verbs
(Present Subjunctive / Imperative)
If the conjugation ends in -e, -es, or –em
All others (-a, -amos, -ais, -as or –am)
Examples:
correr [ko’heχ]
corra [‘kohǝ]
corras [‘kohǝ]
corram [‘kohʌ̃ũ]
 open
 closed
levar [le’vaχ]
leve [‘lɛvi]
leves [‘lɛvis]
levem [‘lɛvẽĩ]
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
12
Disambiguating Verbs
(Preterite)
There is an ambiguity in the third person plural form of –ER verbs.
Irregular Verbs: open
Regular Verbs: closed
Examples:
Irregular (always open): -eram [ɛɾʌũ̃ ]
Regular (always closed): -eram [eɾʌũ̃ ]
couberam [kou’bɛɾʌ̃ũ]
deram [dɛɾʌ̃ũ]
disseram [dʒi’sɛɾʌ̃ũ]
estiveram [estʃi’vɛɾʌ̃ũ]
fizeram [fi’zɛɾʌ̃ũ]
houveram [ou’vɛɾʌ̃ũ]
puderam [pu’dɛɾʌ̃ũ]
puseram [pu’zɛɾʌ̃ũ]
quiseram [ki’zɛɾʌ̃ũ]
souberam [sou’bɛɾʌ̃ũ]
tiveram [tʃi’vɛɾʌ̃ũ]
trouxeram [tɾou’sɛɾʌ̃ũ]
agradeceram [agɾade’seɾʌ̃ũ]
aprenderam [apɾẽ’deɾʌ̃ũ]
beberam [be’beɾʌ̃ũ]
deveram [de’veɾʌ̃ũ]
emagreceram [emagɾe’seɾʌ̃ũ]
moveram [mo’veɾʌ̃ũ]
perceberam [peχse’beɾʌ̃ũ]
sofreram [so’fɾeɾʌ̃ũ]
torceram [toχ’seɾʌ̃ũ]
tremeram [tɾe’meɾʌ̃ũ]
venderam [vẽ’deɾʌ̃ũ]
veram [‘veɾʌ̃ũ]
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
13
Disambiguating Verbs
(Future Subjunctive)
There is an ambiguity for –ER verbs.
Irregular Verbs: open
Regular Verbs: closed
Examples:
Irregulars (always open):
Regulars (always closed):
tiver [tʃi’vɛχ]
tiveres [tʃi’vɛɾis]
tivermos [tʃi’vɛχmus]
tiverdes [tʃi’vɛχdʒis]
tiverem [tʃi’vɛɾẽĩ]
quiser [ki’zɛχ]
quiseres [ki’zɛɾis]
quisermos [ki’zɛχmus]
quiserdes [ki’zɛχdʒis]
quiserem [ki’zɛɾẽĩ]
dever [de’veχ]
deveres [de’veɾis]
devermos [de’veχmus]
deverdes [de’veχdʒis]
deverem [de’veɾẽĩ]
sofrer [so’fɾeχ]
sofreres [so’freɾis]
sofrermos [so’fɾeχmus]
sofrerdes [so’fɾeχdʒis]
sofrerem [so’fɾeɾẽĩ]
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
14
Disambiguating Verbs
(Past Subjunctive)
There is an ambiguity for –ER verbs, except first and second person plural forms.
Irregular Verbs: open
Regular Verbs: closed
Examples:
Irregulares (always open):
Regulares (always closed):
tivesse [tʃi’vɛsi]
tivesses [tʃi’vɛsis]
tivéssemos [tʃi’vɛsemus]
tivésseis [tʃi’vɛseis]
tivessem [tʃi’vɛsẽĩ]
quisesse [ki’zɛsi]
quisesses [ki’zɛsis]
quiséssemos [ki’zɛsemus]
quisésseis [ki’zɛseis]
quisessem [ki’zɛsẽĩ]
devesse [de’vesi]
devesses [de’vesis]
devêssemos [de’vesemus]
devêsseis [de’vesseis]
devessem [de’vesẽĩ]
sofresse [so’fɾesi]
sofresses [so’fresis]
sofrêssemos [so’fɾesemus]
sofrêsseis [so’fɾeseis]
sofressem [so’fɾesẽĩ]
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
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Disambiguating Adjectives
Certain types of adjectives follow an easy rule:
If it ends in –{oso}
 closed
[‘ozu]
If it ends in –{osa}, {osos}, or {osas}
 open
[‘ɔzǝ], [‘ɔzus], [‘ɔzǝs]
All other adjectives may follow a different more
complicated system.
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
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Disambiguating Nouns - 1
This is the tendency I noticed:
Generally, when a noun has a tonic {e} or {o}:
Feminine Nouns  open
Masculine Nouns  closed
Examples:
masculine:
feminine:
porto [‘poχtǝ]
globo [‘globu]
gelo [‘ʒelu]
berço [‘beχsu]
porta [‘pɔχtǝ]
bola [‘bɔlǝ]
meta [‘mɛtǝ]
febre ['fɛbɾi]
This is hardly a rule.
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
17
Disambiguating Nouns - 2
Some plural nouns go from closed to open in the plural:
Examples:
Singular (closed):
Plural (open):
olho [‘oƛu]
ovo [‘ovu]
osso [‘osu]
globo [‘globu]
fogo [‘fogu]
coro [‘coɾu]
corvo [‘coχvu]
olhos [‘ɔƛus]
ovos [‘ɔvus]
ossos [‘ɔsus]
globos [‘glɔbus]
fogos [‘fɔgus]
coros [‘cɔɾus]
corvos [‘cɔχvus]
 This phenomenon only occurs with ambiguous {o} and not {e}.
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
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To Do List
1. Study verb patterns using “501 Portuguese Verbs.”
2. Establish rules for verbs.
3. Use computer macro to gather large corpora.
4. Establish rules (if any) for nouns.
5. Establish rules (if any) for adjectives.
6. Establish rules (if any) for other categories.
7. Create flow chart for each category.
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
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Sources
To what extent is open and closed {e} and {o} in Portuguese predictable?
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