Between prestige and prejudice: the use of / r / retroflex in Southern Pará

Abstract

The studies involving the retroflex variant [?] are linked to the “caipira” dialect (AMARAL, 1920) and to the track of the “bandeirantes paulistas”, in the central southern regions of Brazil. Despite this, studies indicate the occurrence of this variant in the north of Brazil (BRANDÃO, 2007; BAZZO, 2012), a phenomenon still little approached in sociolinguistic research. The discussion is based on the results of a quali-quantitative field research conducted in the town of Redenção - Pará, approaching the occurrence of this variant among citizens of Redenção. Based on Labovian Sociolinguistics, the study had the participation of 12 co-participants, whose reports were transcribed, becoming the empirical materiality of the study. We found that part of these co-participants evaluates negatively to [?], associating it to the rural context of the town. Another part associates it with the agricultural context of the region. Thus, [?] is associated with sociolinguistic prestige, related to the proposal of reconfiguration of the “caipira” (AGUILERA; SILVA, 2015), taking the farmer as an index of an American country culture present in the Brazilian context (ALEM, 2005; OLIVEIRA, 2003).