INTRODUCTION

The Relevance of the Theme

Accentuation and Tonicity:

• Key to understanding: Learning about accentuation and tonicity, we unravel the secret of correct pronunciation, essential for speaking well and writing without errors.
• Friendly Orthography: Correctly accentuating helps to write words the right way, avoiding confusion and making communication clear.
• Magic of Reading: With accentuation, reading becomes more expressive and interesting, as if the words come to life with the right rhythm.

Contextualization

Fit in the World of Words:

• Treasure of Portuguese: Accentuation is part of the treasure of the Portuguese language, guardian of the rules that keep the language organized.
• Map of the Sentence: The stressed syllables are like points on the map of a sentence that guide us to the correct pronunciation, helping to understand the meaning of what is said or read.
• Pieces of a Puzzle: Each accentuation rule fits the words in their right place, just like the right pieces of a puzzle complete the image.

Throughout writing and speaking, knowledge about accentuation and tonicity is a powerful tool that transforms students into great explorers of the language, capable of navigating through words with confidence and precision.# THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT

Components

Stressed Syllable

• Heart of the Word: The stressed syllable is the strongest and most prominent part in pronunciation. It is like the heart in a body, giving life and rhythm to the word.
• Unique Beat: In each word, only one syllable is stressed - the one we speak louder or with more force.

Unstressed Syllables

• Silent Companions: The unstressed syllables are the least emphasized, forming the musical background for the stressed syllable to shine.
• Rule of Variety: They can be before or after the stressed syllable, never drawing more attention than it.

Oxytone, Paroxytone, and Proparoxytone Words

• Rhythmic Division: Words can be separated into groups, according to the position of their stressed syllable.
  • Oxytones: the last syllable is the strongest (example: cajá).
  • Paroxytones: the penultimate syllable is the strongest (example: lápis).
  • Proparoxytones: the antepenultimate syllable is the strongest (example: lâmpada).

Key Terms

Graphic Accent

• Highlight Sign: Used to indicate where the stressed syllable is or to differentiate words with similar spellings (example: é (verb) / e (conjunction)).
• Types of Accents: Acute (´), Circumflex (^), Tilde (~), Grave (`), and Diaeresis (¨) - the latter is no longer used in Portuguese, except in foreign proper names.

Tonicity

• Identity of the Word: Tonicity defines the sound identity of the word - it's how we recognize and differentiate words by hearing.

Examples and Cases

Example of Oxytones

• Action is Fundamental: Words like "café", "dominó", in speech, the emphasis falls on the last syllable. In the case of "café", the acute accent helps us remember its tonicity.

Example of Paroxytones

• Balance in the Middle: Words like "árvore" and "fácil" have their tonicity in the penultimate syllable. The presence of the acute accent on "árvore" and the circumflex accent on "fácil" signals this characteristic.

Example of Proparoxytones

• Accent Always Present: Every proparoxytone is accented. Examples: "médico", "gráfico". The emphasized pronunciation on the antepenultimate syllable is marked by the graphic accent.

Case of Differentiating Accent

• The Case of Minimal Pairs: "pára" (verb) and "para" (preposition) had differentiated accentuation to show their function and distinct pronunciation. Currently, the accent has been abolished for "para" (verb), but the example is useful to show how the accent influences meaning and pronunciation.

DETAILED SUMMARY

Relevant Points

• Discovering the Stressed Syllable: Learning to find the stressed syllable is like discovering the pulsating heart of a word; it's the key to pronouncing well.

• Graphic Accents as Guides: The graphic accents are not there to confuse, but to guide! They show where the stressed syllable is and help to differentiate words with similar writing, but different meanings.

• The Music of Words: Words have rhythm, and by identifying whether they are oxytone, paroxytone, or proparoxytone, we can "hear" their music.

• Accentuation Rules: Not all words follow the same rules. Oxytones have their own rules, as do paroxytones and proparoxytones. Learning these rules is like learning to dance to the music.

• Expressive Reading: Knowing how to accentuate, reading gains expressiveness. The voice rises and falls, highlighting the stressed syllables and making the reading more alive.

• Accentuation and Meaning: Some words change meaning with the accent, which shows the power of accentuation in communicating thought.

Conclusions

• Importance of Accentuation: We understand that correctly accentuating is essential for clarity in writing and speaking. Accentuation is like the punctuation of speech.

• Tonicity Has Power: We recognize that tonicity not only defines pronunciation but can also alter the meaning of words.

• Practice Leads to Perfection: We conclude that, like any skill, constant practice is necessary to automatically and accurately accentuate words.

Exercises

1. Find the Tonic: Given a list of words, identify the stressed syllable and classify each word as oxytone, paroxytone, or proparoxytone.

2. Right Accent: Write sentences using words that need a graphic accent and correctly mark the accents.

3. The Great Challenge of Proparoxytones: Create a small poem or a story where all words with more than three syllables are proparoxytones and correctly accented.