The
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
-based varieties spoken by
German Brazilians
German Brazilians (German language, German: ''Deutschbrasilianer'', Hunsrik: ''Deitschbrasiliooner'', pt, teuto-brasileiros) refers to Brazilians of full or partial Germans, German ancestry. German Brazilians live mostly in the country's South ...
together form a significant
minority language
A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) and ...
in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. "Brazilian German" is strongly influenced by
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and to a lesser extent by
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
dialects as well as
indigenous languages
An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not neces ...
. German dialects and Germanic languages are particularly strong in Brazil's
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
Regions. According to
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''EthnoloÉ ue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
, ca. 3 million people in Brazil speak the
Hunsrik Language
Hunsrik (natively and Portuguese ''Hunsrik'' or ''Hunsrückisch''), also called ''Riograndenser Hunsrückisch'' or ''Katharinensisch'', is a Moselle Franconian language derived primarily from the Hunsrückisch dialect of West Central German. T ...
, 1.5 million speak
Standard German
Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...
.
German speakers from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
make up the largest group of immigrants after
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
speakers. They tended to preserve their language longer than the speakers of Italian, which is closer to Portuguese. Consequently, German was the second most common family language in Brazil at the 1940 census. However, even in areas that are still dominated by German speakers, most are bilingual. Today, German is increasingly cultivated as a cultural heritage, and several municipalities have recently given co-official status with
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
to one Brazilian variant or another of it.
The language
Hunsrik
Hunsrik (natively and Portuguese ''Hunsrik'' or ''Hunsrückisch''), also called ''Riograndenser Hunsrückisch'' or ''Katharinensisch'', is a Moselle Franconian language derived primarily from the Hunsrückisch dialect of West Central German. T ...
or ''
Riograndenser Hunsrückisch
Hunsrik (natively and Portuguese ''Hunsrik'' or ''Hunsrückisch''), also called ''Riograndenser Hunsrückisch'' or ''Katharinensisch'', is a Moselle Franconian language derived primarily from the Hunsrückisch dialect of West Central German. T ...
'' is the most significant variant. It is particularly well represented in the two southernmost states,
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...
and
Santa Catarina. But especially in
EspÃrito Santo
EspÃrito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...
there are significant pockets whose dialect is based on
East Low German
East Low German (german: ostniederdeutsche Dialekte, ostniederdeutsche Mundarten, Ostniederdeutsch; nds, Oostplattdütsch) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in north-eastern Germany as well as by minorities in northern Poland. Together ...
(East Pomeranian),
and some other dialects can be found locally due to 20th century immigration.
Hunsrik
Hunsrik
Hunsrik (natively and Portuguese ''Hunsrik'' or ''Hunsrückisch''), also called ''Riograndenser Hunsrückisch'' or ''Katharinensisch'', is a Moselle Franconian language derived primarily from the Hunsrückisch dialect of West Central German. T ...
, a language derived from the
''Hunsrückisch'' dialect, is also referred to as ''Riograndenser Hunsrückisch'' (or Brazilian ''Hunsrückisch'') after the country's southernmost state,
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...
. It is also strongly represented in
Santa Catarina, where the local variant is referred to as ''Katharinensisch'', and in
Paraná. Together, these three states form Brazil's
South Region. The area attracted significant immigration from German-speaking countries.
German immigration to Rio Grande do Sul started in 1824. The German workers and settlers came from many different regions, but especially from the poor regions
Hunsrück
The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...
and nearby
Palatinate. The German dialects began to mix with each other, adopting elements of the languages spoken by other immigrants, to form varieties that differed from municipality to municipality, often from family to family, and which had no relation to the dialect lines in Germany. However, in most places the Hunsrück dialect proved dominant.
Initially, the immigrants had to organize their own school system, but this was to change.
Due to lack of exposure – from 1938 till 1961, German was not even taught at higher schools. – Standard German became restricted to formal contexts such as church, whereas all daily interactions happened either in dialect or in Portuguese, from which the required words for innovations were also taken.
Speakers of Hunsrik are typically bilingual with Portuguese, but are not necessarily familiar with Standard German. The elementary school of
Santa Maria do Herval
Santa Maria do Herval ( Hunsrick: Teewald) is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
See also
*List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul
This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), located i ...
, a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul with a population of roughly 6,000, teaches Hunsrik and uses a new orthography for this which is closer to Portuguese than to Standard German conventions, this follows a research by
SIL International
SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is an evangelical Christian non-profit organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to ex ...
and led by professor Ursula Wiesemann to standardize the language according to its actual use in the local communities and social networks.''
'' This method is also used for teaching on other local municipalities with native Hunsrik speakers. A concurrent standardization approach led by the professor Cléo Altenhofen criticizes this detachment, demanding a closer orthographic tie between
Hunsrik
Hunsrik (natively and Portuguese ''Hunsrik'' or ''Hunsrückisch''), also called ''Riograndenser Hunsrückisch'' or ''Katharinensisch'', is a Moselle Franconian language derived primarily from the Hunsrückisch dialect of West Central German. T ...
and
Standard German
Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...
, and arguing that the efforts should try to revert the Portuguese influence over the language by keeping a very conservative orthography, in a way that it would be only a variation of the original
''Hunsrückisch'' dialect.
In July 2018, the mayor of
Blumenau
Blumenau is a city in Vale do ItajaÃ, state of Santa Catarina (Brazil), Santa Catarina, in the South Region, Brazil, South Region of Brazil. It is away from the state capital of Florianópolis.
The city was founded by the German chemist an ...
, Mario Hildebrandt, signed Decree no. 11,850/2018, which created the Bilingual Erich Klabunde Municipal School, offering teaching in Portuguese and German.
;Co-official status
*
Santa Catarina
**
Antônio Carlos
**
Ipumirim
**
Treze TÃlias
Treze TÃlias (German: ''Dreizehnlinden'', literally "Thirteen Lindens") is a municipality located in the state of Santa Catarina, South Region, Brazil. It covers about 185.205 km² and sits about 470 km from the state capital, Flori ...
*
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...
**
Santa Maria do Herval
Santa Maria do Herval ( Hunsrick: Teewald) is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
See also
*List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul
This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), located i ...
**
Barão
Barão is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It includes the districts Arroio Canoas, Francesa Alta, General Neto and Francesa Baixa. Barão is 80 km from Porto Alegre.
The municipality is bordered by Carlos Barbosa (n ...
East Pomeranian
East Pomeranian, a dialect of
Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = West Germanic
, fam4 = North Sea Germanic
, ancestor = Old Saxon
, ancestor2 = Middle L ...
, is spoken in many places in southeastern and southern Brazil:
* Projeto de Educação Escolar Pomerana, founded 2004 by teachers and five municipalities in
EspÃrito Santo
EspÃrito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...
(
Santa Maria de Jetibá
Santa Maria de Jetibá is the name of a municipality and of its capital in central EspÃrito Santo, Southeastern Brazil. It was founded in 1857 by Pomeranian immigrants who arrived through the state capital Vitória by going up the river Santa Ma ...
,
Laranja da Terra
Laranja da Terra is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of EspÃrito Santo. Its population was 10,933 (2020) and its area is 458 km². East Pomeranian, a dialect of Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor ...
,
Vila Pavão
Vila Pavão is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of EspÃrito Santo. Its population was 9,244 (2020) and its area is 433 km².IBGE - East Pomeranian, a dialect of Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor ...
,
Domingos Martins
Domingos Martins is the name of a municipality in the Brazilian state of EspÃrito Santo. According to the IBGE, the municipality had 33,986 inhabitants. It has a population density of 25.9 inhabitants/km2.
Geography
Domingos Martins is approxim ...
,
Pancas
Pancas is a Brazilian municipality in the state of EspÃrito Santo. Its population was 23,306 (2020) and its area is 838 km². East Pomeranian, a dialect of Low German, has co-official status in Pancas.
It is situated on a tributary of t ...
). Education in (Brazilian?) East Pomeranian.
[Bost, Bodo: Pommersche Sprache erlebt Renaissance in Brasilien. VDA Globus 1/2010.]
* Spoken in
Rondônia
Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...
since 1970.
* In
Santa Leopoldina, first European settlement in EspÃrito Santo, the descendants of immigrants from Switzerland and Luxembourg now speak East Pomeranian.
*
Santa Maria de Jetibá
Santa Maria de Jetibá is the name of a municipality and of its capital in central EspÃrito Santo, Southeastern Brazil. It was founded in 1857 by Pomeranian immigrants who arrived through the state capital Vitória by going up the river Santa Ma ...
(previously part of Santa Leopoldina) is Brazil's center of Pommeranian culture with 90% (ethnic?) Pommeranians.
![Pomeranoespiritosanto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Pomeranoespiritosanto.svg)
;Co-official status
[
*EspÃrito Santo
** Afonso Cláudio (in the district of Mata Fria)
**]Domingos Martins
Domingos Martins is the name of a municipality in the Brazilian state of EspÃrito Santo. According to the IBGE, the municipality had 33,986 inhabitants. It has a population density of 25.9 inhabitants/km2.
Geography
Domingos Martins is approxim ...
**Itarana
Itarana is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of EspÃrito Santo. Its population was 10,494 (2020) and its area is 296 km².IBGE
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e EstatÃsti ...
**Laranja da Terra
Laranja da Terra is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of EspÃrito Santo. Its population was 10,933 (2020) and its area is 458 km². East Pomeranian, a dialect of Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor ...
**Pancas
Pancas is a Brazilian municipality in the state of EspÃrito Santo. Its population was 23,306 (2020) and its area is 838 km². East Pomeranian, a dialect of Low German, has co-official status in Pancas.
It is situated on a tributary of t ...
**Santa Maria de Jetibá
Santa Maria de Jetibá is the name of a municipality and of its capital in central EspÃrito Santo, Southeastern Brazil. It was founded in 1857 by Pomeranian immigrants who arrived through the state capital Vitória by going up the river Santa Ma ...
**Vila Pavão
Vila Pavão is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of EspÃrito Santo. Its population was 9,244 (2020) and its area is 433 km².IBGE - East Pomeranian, a dialect of Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor ...
*Santa Catarina
**Pomerode
Pomerode () is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Santa Catarina, in Southern Brazil. It is located in the valley of the ItajaÃ-Açu river, not very far from the city of Blumenau, one of the largest cities in the state.
Pomerode is known ...
*Rio Grande do Sul
**Canguçu
Canguçu (population: 56,211) is a city in Rio Grande do Sul, south Brazil. East Pomeranian, a dialect of Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 ...
*Rondônia
Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...
**Espigão d'Oeste
Espigão do Oeste is a city of Brazil, located in state of Rondônia. Its population was 32,695 (2020) and its area is 4,518 km2.IBGE â€/ref> The city is the 13th most populous in Rondônia and 119th most populous of northern Brazil, but nev ...
*Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
**Itueta
Itueta is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast region of Brazil.
The city houses families of Pomeranian refugees from World War II.
See also
*List of municipalities in Minas Gerais
This is a list of the municipalities in ...
(only in the district of Vila Nietzel Vila Neitzel is a geographical district in the Brazilian municipality of Itueta, founded by Pomeranians.
The district was founded by German refugees during World War II.
In the district is currently headquartered ''LÃngua Mutter'' project, which ...
)
Other German dialects in Brazil
* Plautdietsch, spoken by Mennonites
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
from the former Soviet Union (since the 1930s).
* Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
Austro-Bavarian
Bavarian (german: Bairisch , Bavarian: ''Boarisch'') or alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a West Germanic language, part of the Upper German family, together with Alemannic and East Franconian.
Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million peop ...
dialect and Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...
Alemannic Alemannic (''Alamannic'') or Alamanni may refer to:
* Alemannic German, a dialect family in the Upper German branch of the German languages and its speakers
* Alemanni, a confederation of Suebian Germanic tribes in the Roman period
* Alamanni (surna ...
in Treze TÃlias
Treze TÃlias (German: ''Dreizehnlinden'', literally "Thirteen Lindens") is a municipality located in the state of Santa Catarina, South Region, Brazil. It covers about 185.205 km² and sits about 470 km from the state capital, Flori ...
(since 1933).
* Danube Swabian
The Danube Swabians (german: Donauschwaben ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in various countries of central-eastern Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in grea ...
in Guarapuava
Guarapuava (population: 182,644) is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. It is the largest municipality in that state by area.
Guarapuava is located at 25°23'36" south and 51°27'19" west. The region is known as the centre of the s ...
(since 1951).
* Paraná-Wolga-Deutsch
* Vestfaliano
Plattdüütsch or ''Vestfaliano''
Plattdüütsch, or Vestfaliano is a variation of the Westphalian language
Westphalian or Westfalish ( Standard High German: ', Standard Dutch: ') is one of the major dialect groups of West Low German. Its most salient feature is its diphthongization (rising diphthongs). For example, speakers say () instead of or for ...
or Westfalisch, one of the major dialect groups of West Low German
Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of th ...
. This spoken dialect has legal and co-official status in the municipality of Westfália
Westfália is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over ...
, according to the ''lei N° 1302'' of 2016
This dialect variety was brought by immigrants coming from Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
establishing communities and language island in Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...
and Santa Catarina.
See also
*
* Geographical distribution of German speakers
This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German language, German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprac ...
* Languages of Brazil
Portuguese is the official and national language of Brazil being widely spoken by most of the population. Brazil is the most populous Portuguese-speaking country in the world, being the only country colonized by the Portuguese in the Americas. ...
* German Brazilians
German Brazilians (German language, German: ''Deutschbrasilianer'', Hunsrik: ''Deitschbrasiliooner'', pt, teuto-brasileiros) refers to Brazilians of full or partial Germans, German ancestry. German Brazilians live mostly in the country's South ...
References
{{Languages of Brazil
Austrian Brazilian
Languages of Brazil
German-Brazilian culture
German dialects
Swiss Brazilian