Portuguese from 15th and 16th centuries and current Spanish: Similarities involving mid vowels of the stressed syllab

Abstract

This article analyzes rhymes (mapped by Fonte 2014) from Garcia de Resende's Cancioneiro Geral and from Camões' Os Lusíadas, which provide clues about the pronunciation of the stressed mid vowels in Portugal of the 15th and 16th centuries and suggest similarities between the old Portuguese vowel system and the current Spanish vowel system. In interpreting the rhymes of the mentioned centuries between (stressed) mid vowels that in current Portuguese present different timbres, this article offers the hypothesis of there is no, in old Portuguese, as there is no incurrent Spanish, phonological distinction between open and closed mid vowels. According to the interpretation provided by this article, variations in the pronunciation of the stressed mid vowels were usual in Portuguese of the 15th and 16th centuries. Over the centuries, some of these variations resulted in change, giving rise to some of the (non-etymological) pronunciations of current Portuguese.