Uruguayan Portuguese

Uruguayan Portuguese (português uruguaio, locally [poɾtuˈɣes uɾuˈɣwajo]), also known as fronteiriço[2] (locally [fɾõteˈɾiso]) and referred to by its speakers as portunhol[3] (locally [poɾtuˈɲɔɫ]), is a variety of Portuguese with heavy influence from Rioplatense Spanish. It is spoken in north-eastern Uruguay, near the Brazilian border, mainly in the region of the twin cities of Rivera (Uruguay) and Santana do Livramento (Brazil). This section of the frontier is called Frontera de la Paz (Border of Peace), because there is no legal obstacle to crossing the border between the two countries.

Uruguayan Portuguese
português uruguaio
Native toNorth-eastern Uruguay, near Brazilian border
Native speakers
24,000 (2013)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
Linguasphere51-AAA-am[2]
Border of Peace between Rivera and Livramento.

The varieties of Uruguayan Portuguese share many similarities with the countryside dialects of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, such as the denasalization of final unstressed nasal vowels, replacement of lateral palatal /ʎ/ with semivowel /j/, no raising of final unstressed /e/, alveolar trill /r/ instead of the guttural R, and lateral realization of coda /l/ instead of L-vocalization.[4]

Recent changes in Uruguayan Portuguese include the urbanization of this variety, acquiring characteristics from urban Brazilian Portuguese such as distinction between /ʎ/ and /j/, affrication of /t/ and /d/ before /i/ and /ĩ/, and other features of Brazilian broadcast media.[5]

History

The origin of Portuguese in Uruguay can be traced back to the time of the dominion of the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, and the Empire of Brazil. In those times, the ownership of those lands was not very well defined, passing back and forth from the hands of one crown to the other. Before its independence after the Cisplatine War in 1828, Uruguay was one of the provinces of the Empire of Brazil.

Portuguese was the only language spoken throughout northern Uruguay until the end of the 19th century. To assure the homogeneity of the newly formed country, the government made an effort to impose the Spanish language into lusophone communities through educational policies and language planning, and the bilingualism became widespread and diglossic.[6]

The varieties of Uruguayan Portuguese vary in dialect continuum which range from Rioplatense Spanish to Brazilian Portuguese. Nevertheless, it has one variant which is the most used, and could be taken as a case study: this variant is geographically located on the area having the cities of Rivera and Santana do Livramento as its center, and expanding over a strip of several kilometers parallel to the border, including territory of both nations.

Phonology and orthography

The Riverense language does not possess a formally defined orthography, but in this article an orthography of Portuñol will be presented in order to enable its phonemes to be represented in the most accurate and consistent possible way, highlighting the phonologic features of this language variety. Not all Portuñol-speaking persons use the same pronunciation for the same words (as is the case with most languages). Nevertheless, the script that is chosen is very representative of the most frequent and distinctive features.

The chosen representation is the closest to the one that would be used if we tried to transcribe the phonemes to the Spanish language (because this is the language taught to Uruguayans, which is the nationality of the majority of speakers of this dialect), except for the phonemes that can't be represented through the Spanish alphabet, like, for example the nasal vowels.

Spanish vowels

The Spanish vowels are the ones which are pronounced like the five vowels of the Spanish language (they also exist in Portuguese):

letterIPAPortuñolPronunciation (IPA)Spanish (Rioplatense dialect)PortugueseEnglish
aapapa[ˈpapa]papabatatapotato
catarata[kataˈɾata]cataratacatarata / queda d'águawaterfall
eepeshe[ˈpeʃe]pezpeixefish
detergente[deterˈχente]detergentedetergentedetergent
ii, jcisco[ˈsisko]basuralixogarbage
niño[ˈniɲo]nidoninhonest
ciá[sja]cenarjantar/cearto have dinner
ooontonte[onˈtonte]anteayeranteontemday before yesterday
oio[ˈojo]ojoolhoeye
poso[ˈposo]pozopoçowell
uu, wyururú[ʒuɾuˈɾu]triste, melancólicotriste, melancólico/jururusad, melancholic
nu[nu]en elno / emin the (m.)
acuá[aˈkwa]ladrarlatir/ladrarto bark

Portuguese vowels

These vowels are found in Portuguese, but not in Spanish.

Semiopen vowels

They are like the vowels e and o, but pronounced in a more open way, closer to an a.

letterIPAPortuñolPronunciation (IPA)SpanishPortugueseEnglish
éɛté[tɛ]téchátea
pél[pɛl]pielpeleskin
véia[ˈvɛja]viejavelhaold (f.)
óɔfófóca[fɔˈfɔka]chismefofocagossip
póso[ˈpɔso]puedoposso(I) can

Distinguishing the open-mid vowels (é, ó) is very important because they can completely change the meaning of a word, like in the following examples:

avó [aˈvɔ] (grandmother) and avô [aˈvo] (grandfather)
véio [ˈvɛjo] (old (m.)) and veio [ˈvejo] (he came - from the verb ví [to come])
véia [ˈvɛja] (old (f.)) and veia [ˈveja] (vein)
póso [ˈpɔso] ((I) can) and poso [ˈposo] (well)

Nasal vowels

The nasal vowels are the vowels which are produced by expiring the air partly through the nose and partly through the mouth. They do not exist in Spanish and therefore are generally derived from Portuguese words.

IPAlettersPortuñolPronunciation (IPA)SpanishPortugueseEnglish
ããmasã[maˈsã]manzanamaçãapple
lã[lã]lanalãwool
sã[sã]sana (adj.)sãhealthy (f.)
an (*)cansha[ˈkãʃa]canchacampo desportivosports ground
ẽen (*)pênsaũ[ˈpẽsaw̃]piensanpensam(they) think
ĩin (**)intonce[ĩˈtõse]entoncesentãothen
õõgarsõ[ɡarˈsõ]mozo (de bar o restaurante)garçom/empregado de mesawaiter (bar, restaurant)
tõ[tõ]tonotomtone
on (*)intonce[ĩˈtõse]entoncesentãothen
ũ, w̃ũũ[ũ]unoumone (m.)
cũtigo[kũˈtiɣo]contigocontigowith you
niñũa[niˈɲũa]ningunanenhumano one (f.)
maũ[maw̃]manomãohand

(*) before s, sh, y, z, ce, ci.

(**) before s, sh, y, z, ce, ci, or when it is the first syllable and is not followed by ga, gue, gui, go, gu, ca, que, qui, co, cu or k.

Distinguishing nasal vowels is very important, because they can completely change the meaning of the word, like in the following examples:

paũ [ˈpaw̃] (bread) and pau [ˈpaw] (stick)
nũ [nũ] (in a (m.)) and nu [nu] (in the (m.))
nũa [ˈnũ.a] (in a (f.)) and núa [ˈnu.a] (naked (f.))
ũ [ũ] (one, a (m.)) and u [u] (the (m.))
cũ [kũ] (with) and cu [ˈku] (anus - vulgar term)
ũs [ũs] (some (m.)) and us [us] (the (m.pl.))

Consonants

In the next table, when there is a reference to Spanish, it refers to the Rioplatense Spanish dialect, and where there is a reference to Portuguese, it refers to Brazilian Portuguese and more specifically the Gaúcho dialect (from the Brazilian Southern state of Rio Grande do Sul).

letterIPAnamedescriptionexamples and counter-examples (eng=English, esp=Spanish, port=Portuguese)
bb, βbeIt represents the same phoneme as in Spanish and Portuguese. It is always a bilabial.brabo [ˈbɾaβo] (eng. angry, esp. enojado/bravo, port. zangado/bravo).
ck, sceIt is used the same as in Spanish and Portuguese when before a vowel or a consonant different from h,. That is, it represents the phoneme [k] when it is followed by the vowels a, o, u, ã, õ, ũ, ó, another consonant than h; and it represents the phoneme [s] when it is located before the vowels e, i, é.cacimba [kaˈsimba] (eng. hole with drinkable water, esp. cachimba, port. cacimba).
chtʃce hache, cheIt is always used as in Spanish and is equivalent to tch in Portuguese.che [tʃe] (esp. che, port. tchê), bombacha [bomˈbatʃa] (underpants), bombasha [bomˈbaʃa] (gaucho's trousers).
dd, ðdeUsed the same as in Spanish. It never represents, as in some regions of Brazil, the affricate [dʒ].diploide [diˈplojðe] (eng. diploid, esp. diploide, port. diplóide [dʒiˈplɔjdʒi]).
ffefeThe same phoneme as in Spanish, Portuguese, and English.
gɡ, ɣ, χgeIt represents the same sound as in Spanish and Portuguese when located before a consonant or the vowels a, o, u, ã, õ, ũ, ó. It represents the same sound as the Spanish j (similar to English h) when located before the vowels e, i, é.gagueyá [ɡaɣeˈʒa] (eng. to stammer, esp. tartamudear, port. gaguejar), geología [χeoloˈχia] (eng, geology, esp. geología, port. geologia).
hhacheSilent, except when it follows a c or an s. In Portuñol, it is preferred not to use h when it is not present in the original word in Spanish or Portuguese.hoye [ˈoʒe] (eng. today, esp. hoy, port. hoje), oso [ˈoso] (eng. bone, esp. hueso, port. osso)
jχjotaIt represents the same phoneme as in Spanish (similar to English h).jirafa [χiˈɾafa] sounds like Spanish and yirafa [ʒiˈɾafa] sounds like Portuguese (eng. giraffe, esp. jirafa, port. girafa)
kkkaRepresents the same phoneme as in Spanish and Portuguese (and English).
lleleRepresents the same phoneme as in Spanish or European Portuguese. In Brazilian Portuguese, an l at the end of a word sounds like an [u] or [w]; in Fronterizo this never happens.Brazil [bɾaˈzil] (eng. Brazil, esp. and port. Brasil)
mmemeIt represents the same phoneme as in Spanish (voiced bilabial nasal). In Portuguese, an m denotes many different sounds, depending on the preceding vowels.
nn, ŋeneIt represents the same phoneme as in Spanish, except the cases exposed in the nasal vowels section.amên [aˈmen] (eng. amen, esp. amén), amêñ [aˈmeɲ] (eng. amen, port. amém), inté [ĩˈtɛ] (eng. see you later, esp. hasta luego, port. até mais), sanga [ˈsaŋɡa] (eng. ditch, esp. zanja, port. valeta)
ñɲeñeIs the same phoneme as in Spanish (in Portuguese a similar sound is represented by the digraph nh).niño [ˈniɲo] (eng. nest, esp. nido, port. ninho), carpiñ [kaɾˈpiɲ] (eng. sock, esp. calcetín, port. meia), muñto [ˈmuɲto] (eng. a lot of, esp. mucho, port. muito), ruñ [ruɲ] (eng. wicked, bad or rotten, esp. malo, port. ruim)
pppeRepresents the same phoneme as in Spanish and Portuguese (and English).
qkcuRepresents the same phoneme as in Spanish and Portuguese (and English). It is always followed by a u.
rr, ɾerre, ereIt represents the same pair of phonemes as in Spanish.
ss, zeseIt represents the same phoneme as in Spanish; except when at the end of a word and the following word begins with a vowel, or when located before a voiced consonant. In these cases it is phonetically equivalent to the Portuguese z [z].asesino [aseˈsino] (eng. murderer, esp. asesino, port. assassino), read like in Portuguese it would be azezino [azeˈzino], a non-existent word in Portuñol; más flaco [masˈflako] (eng. skinnier, esp. más flaco, port. mais magro), más gordo [mazˈɣordo] (eng. fatter, esp. más gordo, port. mais gordo)
shʃese hache, sheIt represents the same phoneme that is represented by the digraph ch in Portuguese (that is, the English sh)shuva [ˈʃuva] (eng. rain, esp. lluvia, port. chuva); aflósha [aˈflɔʃa] (eng. don't disturb, esp. no molestes, port. não perturbe)
ttteIt represents the same phoneme as in Spanish and is never affricate.tímidamente [ˈtimiðaˈmente] (eng. shyly, esp, tímidamente, port. timidamente [ˌtʃimidɐˈmẽtʃi]).
vvveIt represents the same phoneme as in Portuguese and English, that is, a voiced labiodental fricative or more rarely a voiced bilabial fricative.vaso [ˈvaso] (eng. glass, esp. vaso, port. copo). When used as in Spanish, it becomes baso [ˈbaso] (eng. spleen, esp. bazo)
wwdoblevêIt is used in the words derived from English, but it is convenient to follow the orthographic rules of Portuñol, for the words that are already part of this language.whisky or uísqui [ˈwiski], show or shou [ʃow]
xksequis, shisIt represents the consonant cluster [ks].exelente [ekseˈlente] (eng. excellent, esp. and port. excelente)
yʒ, jye, í griegaAs in Rioplatense Spanish, it is postalveolar (as the s in measure); except when at the end of a word ending in a diphthong or a triphthong, in which case the sound is the same of Spanish or Portuguese i.yurá [ʒuˈɾa] (eng. to swear, esp. jurar; port. jurar); Uruguay [uɾuˈɣwaj] (port. Uruguai); yacaré [ʒakaˈɾɛ] (eng. South American alligator, esp. yacaré, port. jacaré)
zzcetaIt represents the same phoneme as in Portuguese and English.caza [ˈkaza] (eng. house, esp. casa, port. casa); casa [ˈkasa] (eng. hunting, esp. caza, port. caça)
zyz, zʒ, ʒceta yeIt is used in some words that have a phoneme which varies continuously between z and y (depending on the speaker).cuazye [ˈkwazʒe] (eng. almost, esp. casi, port. quase); ezyemplo [ezˈʒemplo] (eng. example, esp. ejemplo, port. exemplo).

See also

References
  1. "Uruguay". Ethnologue.
  2. "Fronteiriço - hortensj-garden.org". www.hortensj-garden.org.
  3. Lipski (2006:7)
  4. Carvalho (2004:131)
  5. Carvalho (2004:144)
  6. Carvalho (2004:130)

Bibliography
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