This article deals with unconventional spellings of the syllable with nasal coda that occur in texts written by young people and adults. For a description of these data, two types of complexities are considered: (i) the phonetic-phonological analysis of syllable, specially the nasal coda element, and (ii) the orthographic representation of nasality in Portuguese. Under the phonetic aspect, the coda position corresponds to low energy, which can make the segments that fill this syllable position less audible. Under the phonological aspect, the coda can be seen as a non-immediate constituent of a syllable which filling is restricted. Under the aspect of spelling, there are three possibilities for registration of nasality: <m, n, ~>, as respectively, "campo" (field), "canto" (corner), "maçã" (apple). It is argued that unconventional spellings could be motivated by phonetic-phonological features of spoken utterances (particularly with syllable nasal coda) and also by spelling conventions of written utterances (specifically, the conventions for nasal coda representation). It is argued that these spellings are not errors arising from the interface of speech into writing, but as clues to the constitutive relation of the spoken and written utterances.
Phonetics; Syllable; Spelling; Orality; Literacy; Youth and adults education
