The variable palatalization of dental stops in Brazilian Portuguese in the speech community of Flores da Cunha is moderate and contributes to the characterization of the local speech. The variable rule analysis (LABOV, 1972, 1994, 2001, 2010) of data collected from 48 sociolinguistic interviews of the corpus BDSer reveals that the total rate of rule application is 29%. The palatalization is conditioned by both linguistic and social variables and the process progresses in the community: underived high front vowel, voiceless target consonant, young people, inhabitants of the urban area condition palatalization. In the analysis of variation as social practice (ECKERT, 2000), the informants network analysis shows that its high density and the centrality of old subjects refrain palatalization. The ethnographic study reveals that people in Flores da Cunha, especially the young ones, engage in both innovative and traditional social practices and introduce palatalization in the speech community. The palatalization is valued as a non-local practice and a relatively prestigious one.
Language variation; Palatalization; Dental stops; Social practices
