Note 3:

Context and word boundaries

  1. In these cases context extends over words boundaries: In "a que Deus deu" ("which God gave") both occurrences of phonemes /d/ are realised as the [D] allophone, because of the e and the s in the preceding word.
    Likewise, in "asas inĂșteis" (useless wings), both phonemes /s/ in the word "asas" sound as [z], because of the following vowel, regardless of whether that vowel is in the same word or in the next. An isolated "asas" has [S] for the second s, because a pause or other non-vowel follows.

  2. In these cases context does not extend over words boundaries: A written s at the beginning of a word will always sound as /s/, never as /z/, regardless of whether or not the preceding word ends in a vowel.
    Likewise, an initial r remains /R\/ and doesn't ever become /r/ under the influence of a preceding word.

  3. In these cases context does not extend over word boundaries: in "sem amor" the m of "sem" nasalises the vowel, and the vowel in the next word does not turn it into a phoneme /m/.

    Likewise, a word final r does not behave like a word-initial pre-consonantal r just because the next word starts with a vowel: it remains what it is: a final r.