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
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 ...
, 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 List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...
. 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 the ...
, including its characteristics of the speaking syllabic rhythm, use of
''L''-vocalization in the
syllable coda
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of Phone (phonetics), speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered t ...
, and little use of
nasal vowel
A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the soft palate (or velum) so that the air flow escapes through the nose and the mouth simultaneously, as in the French vowel or Amoy []. By contrast, oral vowels are produced wit ...
s, basically restricted to the monophthong and the diphthongs .
In the western and some central variations there is the absence of vowel reduction 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,
Portuguese personal pronouns#Tu vs. você, 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 the ...
and the eastern, especially the ones spoken in the
Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre, stronger influence of the
Paulistano dialect
Paulistano () is the Brazilian Portuguese term for the characteristic accent spoken in São Paulo, Brazil's largest and richest city, and some neighboring areas in the São Paulo Macrometropolis. It is the most influential accent in the country, r ...
, 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 Portuguese dialects, among dialects, in extreme cases leading to some Mutual intelligibility, difficulties in intelligibility. Portuguese is a pluricentric language and has some of the most diverse sound variation ...
References
{{Portuguese dialects
Brazilian Portuguese