Florianopolitan dialect

A view of downtown Florianópolis, where Florianopolitan dialect can be eventually heard.

A view of Ribeirão da Ilha, an Azorean settlement in Florianópolis where Florianopolitan dialect is traditionally spoken.

Florianopolitan dialect, pejoratively called manezês or manezinho,^[1] is a variety of Brazilian Portuguese heavily influenced by (and often considered an extension of) the Azorean dialect.^[2][3][4] It is spoken by inhabitants of Florianópolis (the capital of Santa Catarina state) of full or predominant Azorean descent.^[5][6] and also in cities neighbouring the capital, albeit with slight variations.^[7] The dialect was originally brought by immigrants from Azores who founded several settlements in the Santa Catarina island in the 18th Century onwards. Due to the isolation of these settlements,^[8] the Florianopolitan dialect differs significantly from both standard European and South American Portuguese.^[9]

Once widely spoken in the Santa Catarina island, the Florianopolitan dialect is nowadays almost restricted to the traditional Azorean settlements, while the standard Brazilian Portuguese became the predominant variant among the island inhabitants, many of which come from other parts of Santa Catarina state, other Brazilian states or other countries.^[10]

Phonetic Characteristics of Florianopolitan

Florianopolitan is not a uniform dialect: there are many variations, depending on the community and generation the speaker comes from. However, one can point to several principal characteristics of the Florianopolitan dialect speech:

• The letter 's' is often pronounced [ʃ] before c, p, qu, and e. It is also pronounced [ʃ] at the end of a word, in which case it is spoken very softly. The phrase As festas (the parties) is pronounced [ɐʃˈfɛʃtɐʃ] or [ɐʃˈfɛʃtɐ].
• S, before d, m and n, is pronounced as though it were [ʒ], so the word mesma (same) is pronounced [mɛʒmɐ].
• The letters 'd' and 't' are pronounced [d] and [t] even before i, unlike in most of South-eastern Brazil, where these letters are pronounced [dʒ] and [tʃ] in front of i respectively.
• Guttural R at the start of a word or before a consonant is often pronounced like [h], although there are plenty of variations. Some speakers, especially those amongst the older generations, pronounce r as a as an alveolar trill ([r]), as in Spanish, Galician, old varieties and some rural developments of European Portuguese, and some other Southern Brazilian Portuguese dialects; others pronounce it as the Brazilian Portuguese [ʀ] (closely related to the European Portuguese '[ʁ]' but in the place of Northeastern and Minas Gerais' '[h]' or Rio de Janeiro's '[χ]' and '[x]'). At most of the end of words before others which do not start with vowels, r is not pronounced, as in Caipira dialects and most of Fluminense dialect speakers.

Forms of Address

The Florianopolitan dialect retains forms of address that are obsolete elsewhere in Brazil.

Tu is used, along with its corresponding verb forms, to address people of the same or lesser age, social or professional status, or to show intimacy, as between relatives or friends. "Você" is reserved for outsiders, or to people of lesser status, to stress lack of intimacy. This usage is obsolete in most of Brazil, but is by no means exclusive of Florianópolis.

O senhor/A senhora is used to address people of a greater age or status, or to preserve a respectful distance. In many families, children (especially adult children) address their parents this way (this is Standard Portuguese, and used in all of Brazil).

Indirect third-person address can be used for those of an intermediate status, especially if one wants to be affectionate or welcoming. A solicitous grandchild might ask, "A avó quer mais café?" A respectful student could say, "O professor pode repetir a pergunta?" A thirty-year-old man entering a shop for the first time will be greeted, "Que queria o moço?"

"Written Florianopolitan"

It is impossible to "write" Florianopolitan, as it is merely a particular way to pronounce Portuguese. Any text in written Portuguese will become "Florianopolitan" if read by a Florianopolitan speaker. Attempts to render it in written form (most notably a "manezinho dictionary"^{[citation needed]}) are therefore caricatures, not actual efforts to create a different orthographic system for a different language.

Some examples of characteristic local use of words

Florianopolitan dialect	Standard Portuguese	English	Usage	Examples	Notes
A três por dois	Com demasiada freqüencia	Too often		Ele vem à minha casa a três por dois – He comes to my home too often	Literally "at three for two". Widespread in Brazil, by no means typical of Florianópolis.
Acachapado	Muito triste, deprimido	Very sad, depressed	"Triste", "deprimido" are the usual words in Florianópolis.		Widespread at least in Southern Brazil, by no means typical of Florianópolis.
Antanho	Antigamente	Of old	"Antigamente" is the usual word in Florianópolis.		In most of Brazil, this is considered archaic or bookish.
Bispar	Espiar	To spy	"Espiar" is the usual word in Florianópolis.		In most of Brazil, it means to understand, to grasp.
Cabreiro	Desconfiado	Distrustful	"Desconfiado" is the usual word in Florianópolis.	Used only in colloquial register.	Widespread in Brazil, by no means typical of Florianópolis.
Na casa do chapéu	Muito longe	Very far (away)	Literally "in the house of the hat". Used – only in colloquial register – for (sometimes humorous) emphasys. "Muito longe" is the usual wording in Florianópolis.	Essa loja fica na casa do chapéu – This shop is really far away	Widespread in Brazil, by no means typical of Florianópolis.
Esculacho	Repreensão	Rebuke	Used only in a colloquial register.		Widespread at least in Southern Brazil, by no means typical of Florianópolis.
Gervão	Lagarta	Caterpillar
Mal de bitaca	Sem dinheiro	Broke (without money)	Actually a local slang.	Estou muito mal de bitaca – I am really pretty broken
Rapariga	Rapariga (Female form of "rapaz")	Teenage girl, young adult woman	This is in fact Standard Portuguese. In other parts of Brazil, it's archaic, or, especially in popular or colloquial registers, "Rapariga" may stand for "prostitute".

See also

• Brazilian Portuguese
• Portuguese dialects
• Portuguese phonology
• Florianopolitan dialect at the Portuguese Wikipedia

References

1. ^ Flutuação de sentido: um estudo na Ilha de Santa Catarina
2. ^ I Congresso Internacional de Gestão de Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação: Florianópolis [1]
3. ^ Reestruturação econômica e suas implicações no trabalho e na educação: relações de gênero em contexto [2]
4. ^ Sibilantes coronais – o processo de palatalização e a ditongação em sílabas travadas na fala de florianopolitanos nativos: uma análise baseada na fonologia da geometria de traços [3]
5. ^ A variação na vibrante Florianopolitana: um estudo sócio-geolingüístico [4]
6. ^ Variação linguística e ensino de Gramática
7. ^ A variação na vibrante Florianopolitana: um estudo sócio-geolingüístico [5]
8. ^ Comunidades Semi-Isoladas Fundadas por Açorianos na Ilha de Santa Catarina [6]
9. ^ Modern language notes: Brazil and the Azores
10. ^ O crescimento populacional de Florianópolis e suas repercussões no plano e na estrutura da cidade [7]

Coordinates: 12°59′N 1°21′W / 12.983°N 1.35°W / 12.983; -1.35