Manezês

Manezês, also known as manezinho, sotaque manezinho and sotaque açoriano, is a variety of Brazilian Portuguese spoken by natives of Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina state in Brazil. Manezês is also spoken in cities neighbouring the capital, albeit with slight variations. Manezês came about because the Portuguese spoken by Azorean and Madeiran immigrants who came to Brazil in the 18th Century mixed with the semi-'indigenized' speech of people from San Vincente, Santos and São Paulo who were already living on Santa Catarina island, where Florianópolis is situated. Indigenous peoples, Africans, and even those who were there because of a shipwreck contributed to the dialect. As Florianópolis (previously called Nossa Senhora do Desterro) was a port city, expressions from other parts of the country have also been adopted over time.

Characteristics of Spoken Manezês

Manezês 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 Manezês speech:

* Manezês is characterised as being very quickly spoken, making it difficult for non-manezinhos or 'urbanized' natives to understand.
* The letter 's' is often pronounced [IPA|ʃ] before c, p, qu, and e. It is also pronounced [IPA|ʃ] at the end of a word, in which case it is spoken very softly. The phrase As festas (the parties) is pronounced [IPA|ɐʃ'fɛʃtɐʃ] or [IPA|ɐʃ'fɛʃtɐ] .
* S, before d, m and n, is pronounced as though it were [IPA|ʒ] , so the word mesma (same) is pronounced [IPA|mɛʒmɐ] . Final s is sometimes pronounced like an [IPA|f] , in that dois becomes [IPA|dɔf] .
* The letters 'd' and 't' are pronounced [IPA|d] and [IPA|t] even before i, unlike in most of South-eastern Brazil, where these letters are pronounced [IPA|dʒ] and [IPA|tʃ] in front of i respectively.
* [IPA|r] at the start of a word or before a consonant is often pronounced like [IPA|h] , although there are plenty of variations. Some speakers, especially those amongst the older generations, pronounce r as a as an alveolar trill ( [IPA|ɾ] ), as in the Portuguese of Portugal; others pronounce it as a guttural [IPA|ʀ] . At the end of a word, r, like l, is not pronounced.

Forms of Address

Manezês 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. "Você" is reserved for outsiders.

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.

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 Manezês

Manezês has become less stigmatized as a way of speaking, and there have been many attempts to memorialise and preserve the dialect. The most important of which, perhaps, was a manezinho dictionary which intended to create a standard way to spell Manezês words. However, there is a great amount of divulgence in the way that Manezês is written. It is also sometimes written using standard Brazilian orthography.

Some examples of dialectical words

ee also

* Brazilian Portuguese
* Portuguese dialects
* Portuguese phonology
* [http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manez%C3%AAs "Manezês" at the Portuguese Wikipedia]

External links

* [http://www.ufsc.br/~esilva/Manezes.html Standard Brazilian Portuguese - Manezês dictionary]