Itapiranga is the westernmost municipality in the
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 ...
ian
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Santa Catarina.
Minority language
Itapiranga was initially settled around 1920 by German speakers from what was known in German as the ''Altkolonie'', or the eastern region of
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a state in the southern region of Brazil. It is the fifth-most-populous state and the ninth largest by area. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is border ...
where immigrants from the
Hunsrück
The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced mountain range, upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle (river), Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued ...
and other regions of
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 betwee ...
had started to establish themselves starting in 1824. Therefore, the primary language in this area was
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. ...
for many years; however, since the 1960s the
Portuguese language
Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, ...
, Brazil's national language, has gained preference amongst most inhabitants. Itapiranga shares a similar history with many towns in the northwest of Rio Grande do Sul, where the same migratory patterns occurred. In the recent years there is an increasing effort to preserve the local minority Brazil's minority languages.
The Brazilian linguist Cléo Vilson Altenhofen was born and grew up in Harmonia, Rio Grande do Sul; he is a native speaker of Riograndenser Hunsrückisch. As such, he co-wrote together with linguist Jaqueline Frey, also a native speaker of this dialect and a native to Itapirange, Santa Catarina, and he personally delivered a historic speech before congress in
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
, revindicating better minority language public policies for the country. Here is a section of that original text: ''In mein Gemeind in Itapiranga, Santa Catarina, hott’s eenfach net die Chance gebb, in de Schul Deitsch se lenne - ich menne hiemit Hochdeitsch ...'' (Translation: In my community in Itapiranga, Santa Catarina, there was no opportunity to learn German - by that I mean High German).
''Das bresilionische Deitsch unn die deitsche Bresilioner: en Hunsrickisch Red fo die Sprochrechte'', Cléo V. Altenhofen/Jaqueline Frey; Revista Contingentia, Vol. 1, November 2006. 39-50 (ISSN 1980-7589)
/ref>
Notable people
* Marciel Rodger Back, footballer
References
{{Authority control
Municipalities in Santa Catarina (state)
Populated places established in 1953