Contributo para a descrição da estrutura silábica do guineense

This work intends to contribute to a better understanding of syllabic structure of Guiné-Bissau creole, namely with regard to: (i) the distribution of segments within the syllabic constituents, (ii) the establishment of syllabic boundaries in consonantal sequences that, at the phonetic level, do not respect the conditions of good syllabic formation and (iii) the description of phonological processes occurring in the syllable domain. The analysis of a corpus of oral productions allows to confirm that CV is the optimal syllabic pattern of Guiné-Bissau creole, but the patterns V, VG, VC, CVC, CVG, CVGC, CCV, øC, Cø and CCVC also occur. The definition of these structures as syllabic possibilities in the language results from the application of universal principles of good syllabic formation, as well as the activation of several phonological processes of assimilation. As to syllabic constituents, we observed that the onset (that can only be filled by [-vocalic] segments) can dominate one or two positions in the skeleton; rhyme may be branched or unbranched; the nucleus only admits [-consonantal] segments and can dominate one or two positions in the skeleton; the coda (the less frequent syllabic constituent) only dominates one position in the skeleton and only admits segments [+consonant], the number of segments allowed being restricted.