Estremenho dialect explained

Estremenho is a dialect of European Portuguese spoken in the former provinces of Estremadura and Beira Litoral and is part of the central-southern dialects.^[1]

The variety of Lisbon, which is used to form the basis for the pattern of European Portuguese, is within this dialect.^[2] The Lisbon dialect that serves as the basis of standard European Portuguese is the one used for official and written purposes in Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Characteristics

The Estremenhan dialects present the following characteristics:

• A generalized monophthongization of the diphthong [ow]. For example, "touro" (bull) and "roupa" (clothes) passes to "tôro" and "rôpa".
• In certain subregions, such as saloia (the outskirts of Lisbon), a monophthongization of the diphthong [ej] occurs. For example, "manêra" instead of "maneira" (manner), although this has evolved into [ɐj] in the Lisbon dialect ("manâira").
• The predorsodental sibilants, that is, /s/ and /z/, are pronounced as in the European pattern and are well distinguished from the lower x and the j, contrary to what happens with the northern dialects.

External links

• Sound recordings of the dialect
  • New proposal for the classification of Galician-Portuguese dialects by Luís Lindley Cintra Portuguese dialects

Notes and References

1. Web site: O dialecto estremenho. 22 November 2010. Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa. pt.
2. VIANNA, Aniceto dos Reis Gonçalves (1892): Exposição da pronuncia normal portuguesa para uso de nacionais e estrangeiros, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional (Memória apresentada na 10ª Sessão do Congresso Internacional dos Orientalistas), reimpresso in Estudos de fonética portuguesa, Lisboa : Imprensa Nacional /Casa da Moeda, 1973, pp. 153 - 257; disponível online na Biblioteca Nacional Digital.