Gaúcho (, ), more rarely called , is the
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese (' ), also Portuguese of Brazil (', ) or South American Portuguese (') is the set of varieties of the Portuguese language native to Brazil and the most influential form of Portuguese worldwide. It is spoken by almost all of ...
term for the characteristic accent spoken in
Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state, including its capital,
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...
. It is heavily influenced by Spanish and somewhat influenced by
Guarani,
Hunsrückisch,
Venetian and other native languages.
Phonology
Its phonology is heavily similar to
Rioplatense Spanish
Rioplatense Spanish (), also known as Rioplatense Castilian, is a variety of Spanish spoken mainly in and around the Río de la Plata Basin of Argentina and Uruguay. It is also referred to as River Plate Spanish or Argentine Spanish. It is ...
, including its characteristics of the speaking syllabic rhythm, use of
''L''-vocalization in the
syllable coda, and little use of
nasal vowels, basically restricted to the monophthong and the diphthongs .
In the western and some central variations there is the absence of
vowel reduction
In phonetics, vowel reduction is any of various changes in the acoustic ''quality'' of vowels as a result of changes in stress, sonority, duration, loudness, articulation, or position in the word (e.g. for the Creek language), and which are per ...
with word-final and (for example, is instead of and is instead of ). In some other cities of the region, the nasal monophthong is heightened to .
Grammar
Grammatically, one of its most notable features is the use of , instead of , with the verb conjugating differently: e.g. and instead of and . However,
use of the standard ''você'' is also not rare. The same feature also occurs in other dialects of Brazilian Portuguese.
Vocabulary
Regional differences
The Gaúcho dialect ranges in features as the western variations have stronger influence from
Rioplatense Spanish
Rioplatense Spanish (), also known as Rioplatense Castilian, is a variety of Spanish spoken mainly in and around the Río de la Plata Basin of Argentina and Uruguay. It is also referred to as River Plate Spanish or Argentine Spanish. It is ...
and the eastern, especially the ones spoken in the
Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre, stronger influence of the
Paulistano dialect, resulting in differing features depending on the region the dialect is spoken.
See also
*
Gaucho
A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...
*
Portuguese dialects
Portuguese dialects are the mutually intelligible variations of the Portuguese language over Portuguese-speaking countries and other areas holding some degree of cultural bound with the language. Portuguese has two standard forms of writing and ...
*
Portuguese phonology
The phonology of Portuguese varies among dialects, in extreme cases leading to some difficulties in intelligibility. Portuguese is a pluricentric language and has some of the most diverse sound variations in any language. This article on phonolog ...
References
{{Portuguese dialects
Brazilian Portuguese