# Mozambican Portuguese (pt-MZ) — Phonology Reference

**Code**: `pt-MZ` | **Family**: Romance | **Script**: Latin (alphabet)
**Parent**: `pt-PT` | **Quality tier**: research
**Sources**: Nhatuve (2019, *Revista de Letras* 21(32):130–144); Gonçalves (2010, *A Génese do Português de Moçambique*) via Barbosa (2011, review, *ELUP* 6(1):201–204); Stroud & Gonçalves (1997)

Mozambican Portuguese (Português de Moçambique, **PM**) is the emerging
**non-native / L2 variety** described by Perpétua Gonçalves as arising from
the acquisition of Portuguese as a second language by children with Bantu
mother tongues (Barbosa 2011:202, reviewing Gonçalves 2010:7). It is **not
a creole**. Only ~6.5 % of Mozambicans have Portuguese as an L1; the
majority learn a Bantu language first (Barbosa 2011:202). The spec models
the prestige **Maputo** educated variety.

## What the spec models (and the source for each)

| Feature | EP (pt-PT) | pt-MZ | Source |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|
| Strong rhotic `r`/`rr` | uvular [ʁ] | **alveolar trill [r]~[R]** | Nhatuve 2019:136–137 |
| Coda `s` | [ʃ]/[ʒ] (chiado) | **[s]** (alveolar) | overrides `PT_CODA_S_HUSH` |
| Unstressed vowels | strong reduction ([ɨ], [ɐ], [u]) | weaker reduction; unstressed `e` tends to stay [e] | Gonçalves 2010 (framing) |

Nhatuve (2019:136) reports that in Maputo oral Portuguese the onset `<r>`
is realised as an alveolar multiple vibrant **[R]** regardless of the
surrounding vowel, and that the /R/–/ɾ/ opposition tends to disappear
(*"desaparece o fonema /r/"*) — a calque of the changana/ronga (Bantu)
system, which has only [R]. Word-final coda `<r>` frequently takes an
epenthetic vowel by **paragoge** ([falaɾ] → [falarɨ], Nhatuve 2019:136).
Gonçalves (2010, ch. 2 "propriedades fónicas"; Barbosa 2011:203)
characterises PM's educated phonic system as an emerging norm with weaker
unstressed-vowel reduction than EP.

## Limits and honesty notes (hard rule 9)

- **Vowel-reduction figures are modelled by analogy.** The direct
  instrumental vowel study read for this pass is Undolo (2014) for
  *Angolan* Portuguese; the PM unstressed-vowel values follow the shared
  Lusophone-African "weaker reduction" pattern that Gonçalves describes for
  PM in general terms, not a read PM instrumental study. Treat them as
  provisional.
- **`<lh>` /ʎ/ voiced aspiration** in Maputo speech (a Bantu calque,
  Nhatuve 2019:137) is documented but **not modelled** — a narrow
  allophonic detail below the grapheme layer.
- **Coda `/l/` → [w]** vocalisation and Bantu pitch effects are **not
  confirmed** by the primaries read here; they are tentative and should be
  re-sourced before any production promotion.

## Input contract

Input is standard Portuguese orthography (Acordo Ortográfico 1990); written
accents carry stress. No special pre-processing is expected.

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*Related: [pt-PT](pt-PT.md), [pt-AO](pt-AO.md), [romance](romance.md)*
