Tackling the T-to-Tch and D-to-Dj Sound Change in Brazilian Portuguese

This question is worthy of a whole book, so Iet me begin by saying that the sound change from t to tch (as in English CHeese) in syllables ti/te and d to dj (as in English Jeep) in syllables di/de, in most of Brazil, is a phenomenon called palatalization, where a sound can be modified in a vowel-consonant "clash" (usually k or t plus semivowel y) as the sound is "drawn" in the mouth closer to the palate or roof of the mouth. There are several types of palatalization and stages where a sound can end up. The south and northeast of Brazil are notable exceptions, where palatalization doesn't happen and t and d stay as t and d no matter where in the word, just like in Portugal.

If you think this sound change is weird, it's actually more common than you think, as it affects or has affected many languages, and is sometimes reflected in spelling, or isn't! In English, it happens with some speakers when they say "gotcha" (got + ya), "Whachu doin'?" (what + you), and in words like Portuguese (realized as porTCHuguese) or international (realized as internaSHonal), etc. In Spanish, it happened in Latin words with the cluster -ct- where -ct- (kt) became -it- as in lactem>lectem>leite/leyte>letye to finally arrive at leche. Another example is octo>oito/oyto>otyo>ocho. Of course, this happened in the span of several hundred years. Spanish is usually good at reflecting these changes in its spelling, whereas English preserves the older spelling, but the change is sounded out in speech.

So when does palatalization happen in most of Brazil? RULE: Basically, ti and di are ALWAYS pronounced tchi (as in English CHEEse) and dji (as in English JEEp), respectively, no matter the position in the word - provided it's part of that dialect: tio is realized as TCHIu, dia as DJIa, curtir as curTCHIR, pedir as piDJIR etc. That's an easy one to get out of the way! 

For te and de, you have to think about word stress. Te and de are usually pronunced fully as /d/ and /t/, as in:  aTÉ, TElevisão, inTEresse, TÉcnico, DEntal, caDÊ, coDEpenDÊncia, etc. However, SOMETIMES, depending on the regional accent, the sound /e/ can be reduced to /i/. So here is the deal: When the /e/ is reduced to /i/ in the combinations te and de, that's when you would follow the above rule of always pronouncing ti and di as tchi and dji, since then you technically have ti/di. For example: bode (bodji), pedimos (pidjimos), dente (dentchi), bate (batchi), dezoito (djizoito), interessante (interessantchi), desculpa (djisculpa), internet (internetchi), etc. 

As additional information, this reduction also happens to many unstressed o's in the language, where o becomes u, depending on the accent. São Paulo state usually maintains o's as full vowels and doesn't reduce them - thanks to Italian influence. It is more common in Rio for this reduction to take place: cotovelo (cotuvelu, cutuvelu), amo (amu), instrumento (instrumentu), etc.

But going back to TE/DE, this is what I mean by "depending on the accent": there are some words like teatro and destino, where many Brazilians reduce the TE to ti, so they say tchiatro or the DE to di, so they say djistchino. On the other hand, SOME Brazilians do not reduce the TE to TI or the DE to DI in these particular cases, and say TEatro and DEStchino distinctly, without modifying the consonant sound. Both pronunciations are completely fine, and the difference is more regional or even personal, but these examples suffice for illustration purposes and can be considered exceptions to the above rule in the third paragraph. 

In conclusion, for TE/DE, first of all consider syllable reduction. Is the E being reduced to I or not in the word? If it is, more than likely you'll hear the T/D being palatalized (tch, dj). In other words, if TE/DE become TI/DI, then the sound change to tchi and dji occurs (palatalization). I hope this helps you to find more consistency with Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation! 

Please leave a comment if you would like to see any other topics featured in a blog.