Акцент штата Минас-Жерайс на бразильском португальском языке

Brazilian Portuguese accent of Minas Gerais

Mineiro (miˈnejɾu), Mineirês, or the Brazilian mountain accent (montanhês) is the Brazilian Portuguese term for the accent spoken in the Center, East and Southeast regions of the state of Minas Gerais.

The term is also the demonym of Minas Gerais.

It is notable for being spoken in its capital, Belo Horizonte, and its historical cities: Ouro Preto (capital from 1720 until 1897), Mariana (first major town), Santa Bárbara, Sabará, Diamantina, Tiradentes, São João del Rei, Congonhas, Serro, Caeté etc. Ten million people, about half of the state's population, speak it.

Minas Gerais was settled during the late 17th and early 18th centuries by a mix of recent Portuguese immigrants (reinóis or emboabas), mainly from Minho, and earlier colonists that came from São Paulo (paulistas). There was an intense rivalry between the two groups, fighting over the gold mines (from which the name of the province was taken, Minas Gerais means "General Mines"). These conflicts required the intervention of the Portuguese Crown after a serious uprisal developed into civil war (Guerra dos Emboabas) with the final defeat of the paulistas in 1708. In the 19th century, the state was being forgotten due to the decline of gold mining. Due to this isolation, the state was influenced by the dialect of Rio de Janeiro in the southeast, while the south and the Triangulo Mineiro region, began to speak the rustic dialect of São Paulo (caipira). The central region of Minas Gerais, however, developed their own dialect, which is known as Mineiro or mountain dialect. This dialect is also present in cities of the center and southeast of the state, which is surrounded by mountains and mines. Recently, the influence of mineiro has been increasing and spreading, due to local pride and rejection of other accents.

The first scientific study of the dialect was the Esboço de um Atlas Linguístico de Minas Gerais (EALMG), "Draft of a Linguistic Atlas for Minas Gerais". The work was done in 1977 by the Federal University of Juiz de Fora. Until today, it is the most important linguistic study about the state.

Reduction (and often loss) of final and initial unstressed vowels, especially with e, i and u: parte ("part") becomes partch (with soft affricate T). Common to most of Brazil. Assimilation of consecutive vowels: o urubu ("the vulture") becomes u rubu Debuccalization (and usual loss) of final /r/ and /s/: cantar ("to sing") becomes cantá and os livros ("the books") becomes us lívru Common to most of Brazil. Soft pronunciation of "r": rato ("mouse") is pronounced Very common in other parts of Brazil. Loss of the plural ending s in adjectives and nouns, retained only in articles and verbs: meus filhos ("my children") becomes (sometimes; most of the time in the capital, Belo Horizonte) meus filho , (most of the time) meus fii OR meus fiu (see below). Realization of most as : alho ("garlic") becomes homophonous with aio ("hired tutor"); see yeísmo in Spanish. Probably the most characteristic feature of the Mineiro accent, though it is less present in Belo Horizonte. Replacement of some diphthongs with long vowels: fio (thread) becomes fii , pouco (few) becomes poco Apocope of final syllables. lho becomes (filho → fii'), inho becomes im' (pinho → pim'). Diphthongization of stressed vowels: mas ("but") becomes mais and três ("three") becomes treis Common in other parts of Brazil, particularly Rio de Janeiro. Intense elision: abra as asas ("spread your wings") becomes abrazaza Para onde nós estamos indo? ("Where are we going?") becomes Pronoistamuíno? However, see : this is far from being the most common usage. Loss of initial "e" in words beginning with "es": esporte becomes Mineiro also lacks notable features of other accents, including the retroflex R (caipira), palatalization of S (carioca), strong dental R (gaucho), or "singsong" nordestino intonation. This dialect is often hard to understand for people outside the region where it is spoken due to heavy assimilation and elision.