Bem-vindos ao Porto Alegre, BRASIL!
Porto Alegre Demographics:
73.6% White
13.4% Pardo (Multiracial)
12.6% Black
0.2% Amerindian (Indigenous Peoples)
0.2% Asian Heritage
GAUCHO!
If you’re from Rio Grande do Sud, you are “Gaucho.”
Historically, “Gaucho” translates to “skilled horseman,” and refers to cattle herders who once dominated this area of Brazil (and neighboring Argentina and Uruguay).
Why does this matter to us?
Today, Gaucho means that you are a SOUTHERNER! So both the accent we’re learning, and the people who speak with it, are Southern.
This is important for context, particularly because Brazil is a vast, culturally diverse country, and consequently is home to several distinctive accents. The sounds we’ll be learning below will place us in the heart of the south, enabling us to authentically represent Gauchos.
The national language of Brazil is PORTUGUESE.
This is due to the colonization of the indigenous territory by Portuguese explorers and conquistadors beginning in the late 1400s.
BRAZIL vs PORTUGAL?
Note that this is a different dialect of Portuguese than that spoken in Portugal, and the two are not mutually intelligible the way Scottish and Australian English are, for example. Thus, there are some similarities between Brazilians and Portuguese accents while speaking English, but overall they are very different accents.
The Girl From Ipanema!
You may have some familiarity with Bossa Nova music, but most famous Bossa Nova music was created by folks from Rio and São Paulo, which are very different accents from Porto Alegre.
What does all this mean?
It means: stay focused on the speakers and sounds below!
POSTURE
I call Brazilian Portuguese “the MEOW language.”
That means that there’s a bit of nasality to properly pronounce some Portuguese sounds that then often becomes a baseline of nasality when speaking English. For example, the little tilde (squiggle) over the “a” in São Paulo means you need a bit of nasality for that “a” vowel.
TRY IT!
TRY a few big meOWWs like you’re a hungry kitty who wants treats and pats, howling in the night.
Hold on to the NASALITY that creates as you go straight into saying “São Paulo.”
Now MEOW again and say “São Paulo is nice!” and hold on to the nasality til the end of the sentence!
MORE Posture!
-lots of contact between blade of tongue and upper teeth
(sometimes the tongue might even protrude from the teeth! on /n/ or /d/)
Other posture points:
-occasional tongue bracing against upper back molars (we’ll discuss this when we get to the letter R!)
-bit of lip corner pinning
-free jaw
PRONUNCIATION
Consonant Glory!
TH can be /d/ or /f/!
At the beginning of a word it’s likely to be /d/: The man talked to them = De man talked to dem.
At the end of a word it might be /f/: Talk with her = Talk wif her!
CLICK below to hear : “Here in the…North of our country…and then the yellow…Remember you went there Saturday, set everything up…’
PRACTICE: Now YOU try it! “Here in de Norf of our country.”
Something is better than nothing.
I think it’s farther away.
Both of them are funny.
The Letter R!
R Version 1:
What many speakers share is a bit of ‘hugging’ on the Rs.
HUG= Try saying “GRRRRR.” Can you feel the back sides of your tongue bracing your upper molars? That’s the R we want!
Listen!
“In RestauRants, if you go in a fancy RestauRant and you ask foRdat…they have Moqueca heRe!”
Practice hugging the R!
I Realized I veRy much want to go deRe.
The RestauRant buRned the bRead on ThuRsday.
I tRaveled to CalifoRnia foR the fiRst time in foReveR.
Loving the letter L:
L can be /w/!
*ONLY when it’s at the end of a word like “bill” or when it’s before a consonant, like in “building”
For example: Better Call Saul= Better Caw Saw!
LISTEN: “to make this a cheap meal…all yellow…so simple…Falls…my wall…trying to sell for months”
Practice:
People love heavy metal.
I told Paul to hold my calls.
I’m not available.
De bottle is still full.
Other L: sometimes can be bunched.
VOWEL GLORY
“IH” like in KIT, IF, WISH, LISTEN” - more “ee”
/i/
LISTEN: “busy like pink…”
Practice:
I think this is interesting. We missed the intro to the film.
I wish the fish was grilled. Where’s the drinks list?
“UH" like in “FOOT, GOOD, PUT” - more “oo”
/u/
LISTEN: “they should…and they took…”
Practice:
That’s a good look for you.
Could I have the book?
The woman knocked on wood!
You shouldn’t cook pudding for the butcher.
“EE” like in “EAT, EASY, FEET, FLEECE” gets shortened almost to “IH”
Listen “Where is the beach?!”…a deep sleep…”
Practice:
We need to be seen.
These are cheapseats!
The beach is in between two streets.
“A” like in “AT, CAT, HAVE, THAT, TRAP” - can be a bit flattened “eh”
//
That dance class is on Saturday.
Matthew is back from Alaska.
Actually, I have plans.
“AY like APE, ACHE, LATE, FACE” - drag out the 2nd part of the vowel “ee”: ay-eep, ay-eek, lay-set, fay-eess.
Practice:
This place is crazy.
My face aches today.
I hate being late.
“I” like in “I’M, AISLE, HIGH, TIME, PRICE”: drag out the 2nd part of the diphthong “ee”: pry-eess.
LISTEN: “We have two persons that he likes and recognizes.”
Right on time!
I’d like a caipirinha.
I can’t find my bike.
MISC.
Words like always, also can sound like “ah” at the start. “ahways” and “ahhlso”
Regarding T: Use the blade of the tongue. It will create more friction and a more textured sound.
*A great way to spot a Brazilian Portuguese speaker is to listen for the word “to/two/too” - it will often sound like a gentle “CHOO!”
Practice: I have to get two tickets for Tuesday.
= I have Choo get Choo tickets for Choosday.
*Illustration by Cocoretto
PROSODY
Brazilian Portuguese Prosody is characterized by:
-a great deal of pitch variation
-a scooping stretch of vowels, particularly dipthongs.
-the ‘scooping’ entails either a glide up in pitch on a syllable or a glide down
-Laban efforts are: pushed and indirect
-The ‘pushed’ effort can fall off at the end of the syllable
MAKING IT SOUND NATURAL
SCHWA fun!
A lot of syllables native English speakers ‘smush’ will get a lot more love. This will affect the rhythm!
Classic Example: condensed can become ‘condense-ed.’
Try it: “Now we add some condense-ed miwk.”
Fun Fact: Condensed milk is used all the time in Brazil, particularly for desserts.
THE SCRIPT!
Mauro: 50s, respected drummer, living in Orange County, CA. Husband of 30+ years to Renata.
Renata: 50s, graphic designer, living in Orange County, CA. Wife of 30+ years to Mauro.
The Scene: Mauro and Renata recall the day they met at university when they were 20 and 19, respectively.
n.b. they overlap and interrupt each other.
Renata: We were looking for the classroom, we couldn’t find it, the building-
Mauro: -and we met on the way trying to find the place-
Renata: So I found…I was walkin around and he was walkin around, and I fing the class got even canceled-
Mauro: Yeah because these people came over and said now we need to go to the bar.
Renata: Yeah, so we didn’t have class then.