Mineiro Explained
Mineiro (pronounced as /pt/), Mineirês, or the Brazilian mountain accent (Portuguese: montanhês) is the Brazilian Portuguese term for the accent spoken in the Center, East and Southeast regions of the state of Minas Gerais.
Etymology
The term is also the demonym of Minas Gerais.
Demography
It is notable for being spoken in its capital, Belo Horizonte, and its historical cities: Ouro Preto (capital from 1720 until 1897), Mariana (first major town), Santa Bárbara, Sabará, Diamantina, Tiradentes, São João del-Rei, Congonhas, Serro, Caeté etc.
Ten million people, about half of the state's population, speak it.
Linguistic geography
The dialect is mainly spoken in four geographic regions of the state. The four regions have a great population density.
Most populous cities which speak Mineiro (population>50 000)
- Greater than 700 000: Belo Horizonte (2 530 701).
- Between 600 000 and 700 000: Contagem.
- Between 500 000 and 600 000: Juiz de Fora.
- Between 400 000 and 500 000: Betim.
- Between 300 000 and 400 000: Ribeirão das Neves.
- Between 250 000 and 300 000: Governador Valadares.
- Between 200 000 and 250 000: Sete Lagoas, Santa Luzia.
- Between 150 000 and 200 000: Pouso Alegre.
- Between 100 000 and 150 000: Barbacena, Sabará, Vespasiano, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Itabira, Ubá, Coronel Fabriciano, Muriaé.
- Between 75 000 and 100 000: Nova Lima, Caratinga, Manhuaçu, Timóteo, São João del-Rei, Curvelo, João Monlevade, Viçosa, Cataguases,
- Between 50 000 and 75 000: Ouro Preto, Esmeraldas, Lagoa Santa, Pedro Leopoldo, Mariana, Ponte Nova, Congonhas, Leopoldina, Itabirito.
History
Minas Gerais was settled during the late 17th and early 18th centuries by a mix of recent Portuguese immigrants (Portuguese: reinóis or Portuguese: emboabas), mainly from Minho, and earlier colonists that came from São Paulo (Portuguese: paulistas). There was an intense rivalry between the two groups, fighting over the gold mines (from which the name of the province was taken, Minas Gerais means "General Mines"). These conflicts required the intervention of the Portuguese Crown after a serious uprisal developed into civil war (Guerra dos Emboabas) with the final defeat of the paulistas in 1708.
In the 19th century, the state was being forgotten due to the decline of gold mining. Due to this isolation, the state was influenced by the dialect of Rio de Janeiro in the southeast, while the south and the Triangulo Mineiro region, began to speak the rustic dialect of São Paulo (caipira). The central region of Minas Gerais, however, developed their own dialect, which is known as Mineiro or mountain dialect.[1] This dialect is also present in cities of the center and southeast of the state, which is surrounded by mountains and mines.[2]
Recently, the influence of mineiro has been increasing and spreading, due to local pride and rejection of other accents.
History of linguistic study
The first scientific study of the dialect was the Esboço de um Atlas Linguístico de Minas Gerais (EALMG), "Draft of a Linguistic Atlas for Minas Gerais". The work was done in 1977 by the Federal University of Juiz de Fora.[3] [4] Until today, it is the most important linguistic study about the state.
Accent characteristics
- Reduction (and often loss) of final and initial unstressed vowels, especially with Portuguese: e, Portuguese: i and Portuguese: u: Portuguese: parte (pronounced as /[ˈpaɾt<sup>(ʃ)</sup>i]/) ("part") becomes Portuguese: *partch pronounced as /[ˈpahtᶴ]/ (with soft affricate T). Common to most of Brazil.[5]
- Assimilation of consecutive vowels: Portuguese: o urubu pronounced as /[u uˈɾubu]/ ("the vulture") becomes Portuguese: *u rubu pronounced as /[u‿ˈɾubu]/.
- Debuccalization (and usual loss) of final /r/ and /s/: Portuguese: cantar pronounced as /[kɐ̃ˈtah]/ ("to sing") becomes Portuguese: *cantá pronounced as /[kɐ̃ˈta]/ and Portuguese: os livros ("the books") pronounced as /[uz ˈlivɾus]/ becomes Portuguese: *us lívru pronounced as /[uz‿ˈlivɾu]/. Common to most of Brazil.
- Soft pronunciation of "r": Portuguese: rato pronounced as /[ˈʁatu]/ ("mouse") is pronounced pronounced as /[ˈhatu]/. Very common in other parts of Brazil.
- Loss of the plural ending Portuguese: -s in adjectives and nouns, retained only in articles and verbs: Portuguese: meus filhos pronounced as /[mews ˈfiʎus]/ ("my children") becomes (sometimes; most of the time in the capital, Belo Horizonte) Portuguese: *meus filho pronounced as /[mewsˈfiʎu]/, (most of the time) Portuguese: *meus fii pronounced as /[mews‿ˈfi]/ OR Portuguese: *meus fiu pronounced as /[mews‿ˈfiu]/ (see below).
- Realization of most pronounced as //ʎ// as pronounced as /link/: Portuguese: alho pronounced as /[ˈaʎu]/ ("garlic") becomes homophonous with Portuguese: aio pronounced as /[ˈaju]/ ("hired tutor"); see yeísmo in Spanish. Probably the most characteristic feature of the Mineiro accent, though it is less present in Belo Horizonte.
- Replacement of some diphthongs with long vowels: Portuguese: fio pronounced as /[fiw]/ (thread) becomes Portuguese: fii pronounced as /[fi]/, Portuguese: pouco pronounced as /[ˈpowku]/ (few) becomes Portuguese: poco pronounced as /[ˈpoku]/.
- Apocope of final syllables. Portuguese: -lho pronounced as /[-ʎu]/ becomes pronounced as /[-ij]/ (Portuguese: filho → Portuguese: *fii'), Portuguese: -inho becomes Portuguese: *-im' pronounced as /[-ĩ]/ (Portuguese: pinho → Portuguese: *pim').
- Diphthongization of stressed vowels: Portuguese: mas pronounced as /[mas]/ ("but") becomes Portuguese: *mais pronounced as /[majs]/ and Portuguese: três pronounced as /[tɾes]/ ("three") becomes Portuguese: *treis pronounced as /[tɾejs]/ Common in other parts of Brazil, particularly Rio de Janeiro.
- Intense elision: Portuguese: abra as asas pronounced as /[ˈabɾɐ as ˈazɐs]/ ("spread your wings") becomes Portuguese: *abrazaza pronounced as /[abɾɐˈzazɐ]/. Portuguese: Para onde nós estamos indo? pronounced as /[ˈpaɾɐ ˈõdʒi nos esˈtɐmus ˈĩdu]/ ("Where are we going?") becomes Portuguese: Pronoistamuíno? pronounced as /[pɾõnɔstɐmuˈinu]/. However, see https://web.archive.org/web/20110721023227/http://aune.lpl.univ-aix.fr/~sprosig/sp2008/papers/id070.pdf: this is far from being the most common usage.
- Loss of initial "e" in words beginning with "es": Portuguese: esporte becomes pronounced as /[ˈspɔhtᶴ]/.
- Portuguese: Mineiro also lacks notable features of other accents, including the retroflex R (caipira), palatalization of S (carioca), strong dental R (gaucho), or "singsong" nordestino intonation.
This dialect is often hard to understand for people outside the region where it is spoken due to heavy assimilation and elision.
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Mendes . Gláucia . 2018-10-23 . Diversidade da fala mineira é tema de pesquisa na UFLA . Federal University of Lavras . Portuguese.
- Web site: Pseudolinguista: Mapa dos sotaques em Minas Gerais . 2022-06-13 . Pseudolinguista.
- Cardoso . Suzana Alice . Mota . Jacyra Andrade . 2012-12-18 . Projeto Atlas Linguístico do Brasil: antecedentes e estágio atual . ALFA: Revista de Linguística . pt . 56 . 3 . 855–870 . 10.1590/S1981-57942012000300006 . 1981-5794 . free.
- Paes . Maria Helena Soares . 2014-11-11 . A variável (R) em coda silábica medial no Bairro Várzea, em Lagoa Santa/MG .
- Rodrigues Meireles . Alexsandro . 2011 . Tipologia rítmica de dialetos do português brasileiro . Anais do Congresso Brasileiro de Prosódia . Portuguese . Federal University of Minas Gerais.
