Have you ever heard of linguistic variations? A common expression among Portuguese language scholars, the concept of linguistic diversity has finally gained more and more projection among language speakers. Discussing the different speeches has as its main function to demystify the linguistic prejudice, which disregards the individual's cultural and social background, as well as their idiosyncrasies.
Contributing to this important debate, scholars from all over Brazil, in a joint effort, mapped the diverse speeches and accents of our people. From this study was born the ALIB, acronym for Linguistic Atlas of Brazil. In the Atlas, we can find several registers of orality, prosodic marks of the speeches of each Brazilian state and also phonetic aspects related to the different accents. Only a country as culturally rich as Brazil could provide subsidies for research linguistic that brought together and analyzed various linguistic elements present in orality and writing of your people.
Although we are all Portuguese speakers, in Brazil we cannot speak of cultural unity, given the huge historical, social and cultural differences found in our territory. These differences directly influence speech, which can present significant variations from state to state. The variations relate, above all, to the
idiomatic expressions, whose etymology is kept among the speakers of a certain region or community, and the accents, which allow a real incursion into the phonetics and phonology of Portuguese.
We must not dissociate the language from its speakers, as idiosyncrasies must be considered and respected
As examples of language variations, we can mention the use of the personal pronoun of the straight case “tu”. While in some states it is preferred by speakers, in others it falls into disuse, being replaced by the other corresponding personal pronoun, the “you”. The differences go beyond vocabulary: phonemes, which are the sounds of letters, can also vary greatly. This is what happens with the “R” consonant: researchers traveled around Brazil and found that there are at least four “erres” pronounced in different ways: the “R" retroflex, found in the Center-West region, south of Bahia and in some cities of São Paulo and Paraná; O "R" tap, one that presents a certain vibrancy, which is found in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, in the capital of São Paulo and in other cities in that state; O “R” carioca, very peculiar to those born in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and the "R" guttural, which presents a softer sound, found in Belo Horizonte and in the capitals of the North and Northeast.
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Other phonemes also showed variations. This is the case of the “S”, which can be wheezing - an occurrence found in Rio de Janeiro, Belém and Florianópolis - or not. The “S” without hissing is the most common occurrence among Portuguese speakers. In addition to these curiosities, the Atlas Linguístico do Brasil has an invaluable social function: it overturns old prejudices about accents and, above all, it helps to demystify the mistaken idea that there can be “correct speaking” and “speaking wrong". Dissociating the language from its speaker is one of the errors that favor the perpetuation of linguistic prejudice, which disregards the fact that the language user being a historical and social subject, imbued with numerous particularities that influence the way they speak.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PEREZ, Luana Castro Alves. "Linguistic Atlas of Brazil"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/atlas-linguistico-brasil.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.