Do you already know what ALIB is? No? So stay on top of the news that will explain to Brazilians a very interesting phenomenon, known as linguistic variation!
ALIB is the acronym for Linguistic Atlas of Brazil. This atlas was developed by several Brazilian linguists and aims to reveal the different speeches and accents of our people, covering the entire national territory. You may have already noticed that, depending on the region of the country, the accent changes, doesn't it? But it's not just the accent, known as the speech melody, that changes. Some expressions can also denounce the origin of the speaker, as there are significant differences in communication from state to state.
We are all speakers of Portuguese language, but when it comes to Brazil, a country so big and with so many differences in its colonization, it would be impossible to think of a standardized speech, in which all Brazilians follow the same prosody and the same vocabulary. While in some places people refer to an interlocutor with a resounding “you”, in others, the “you” is as a rule. But the difference is not seen only with words: phonemes, which are the sounds of letters, can also vary a lot. That's what happens to the “R” consonant: researchers traveled around Brazil and found that there are at least four “errs” sounding different out there: there is the “R" retroflex, found in the Center-West region, south of Bahia, in some cities of São Paulo and Paraná; O "R" tap, one that presents a certain vibrancy, found in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, the capital of São Paulo and 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.
Differences in pronunciations of other phonemes were also found, such as the case of the “S” consonant. Did you know that the “S” chiado was found in three Brazilian capitals? According to the mapping of the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil, the greatest number of people speaking the “S” chiado is in Rio de Janeiro. In Belém, capital of Pará, this characteristic “S” was also found, placing Pará's people in second place in the list of those who squeak the letter the most. In third place was Florianópolis, capital of Santa Catarina, where the “little guys from the island” also love to pull the sound of the “S”.
More than mapping the accents and phonetic differences present in the various speeches, the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil is very important because it has a social and cultural function: demystifying the idea that a certain accent or way of expressing oneself is superior to other. We are many and, at the same time, unique, as many factors, including historical ones, contributed to the formation of our cultural and linguistic identity. It would be unfair to say that São Luís do Maranhão is the place where the Portuguese language is best spoken, because we cannot say that there is an error in speech. Errors are concentrated, above all, in writing, as in speech it is impossible to define what is correct, since we are historical beings, imbued with many particularities.
At linguistic variations must be respected and understood. Only then will we end the myth that in some states Portuguese is better spoken than in others. We are multiple, and our differences, including linguistic ones, are part of the elements that make us such an interesting people!
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
