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| Uruguayan Portuguese | |
|---|---|
| português uruguaio | |
| Native to | North-easternUruguay, near Brazilian border |
| Ethnicity | Brazilian Uruguayans,Portuguese Uruguayans |
Native speakers | 30,000 (2016)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
| Linguasphere | 51-AAA-am[2] |
| IETF | pt-UY |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
| This article is part ofa series on the |
| Culture of Uruguay |
|---|
 |
Feasts and festivals |
 Uruguay Portal |
Uruguayan Portuguese (português uruguaio,[poɾtuˈɣesuɾuˈɣwajo]), also known asfronteiriço[2] ([fɾõteˈɾiso]) andriverense, and referred to by its speakers asportunhol[3] (locally[poɾtuˈɲɔl]) (distinct fromPortuñol), is a variety ofPortuguese inSouth America with heavy influence fromRioplatense Spanish. It is spoken in north-easternUruguay, near the Brazilian border, mainly in the region of the twin cities ofRivera (Uruguay) andSantana do Livramento (Brazil). This section of the frontier is called "Peace Border" (Portuguese:Fronteira da Paz;Spanish:Frontera de la Paz), because there is no legal obstacle to crossing theborder between the two countries.
The varieties of Uruguayan Portuguese share many similarities with the countryside dialects of the southern Brazilian state ofRio Grande do Sul, such as thedenasalization of final unstressednasal vowels, replacement oflateral palatal/ʎ/ withsemivowel/j/, no raising of final unstressed/e/,alveolar trill/r/ instead of theguttural R, andlateral realization of coda/l/ instead ofL-vocalization. The first two features are rare among accents of Portuguese, whereas L-vocalization is the norm in Brazil but not in other countries.[4]
Recent changes in Uruguayan Portuguese include the urbanization of this variety, acquiring characteristics from urbanBrazilian Portuguese, such as a distinction between/ʎ/ and/j/,affrication of/t/ and/d/ before/i/ and/ĩ/, and other features ofBrazilian broadcast media.[5] Uruguayan Portuguese now exists on a spectrum, ranging from working-class rural varieties to middle class urban ones. Middle class Uruguayan Portuguese has undergone heavy convergence to the monolingual Brazilian Portuguese standard, and is perceived by middle class Brazilians to be similar to their own speech.[6]
The origin of Portuguese in Uruguay can be traced back to the time of the dominion of the kingdoms ofSpain andPortugal, and theEmpire 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 theCisplatine War in 1828, Uruguay was one of the provinces of theEmpire of Brazil asCisplatina.[7]
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 intolusophone communities through educational policies and language planning, andbilingualism became widespread anddiglossic.[8]
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| Uruguayan Portuguese (IPA) | Pronunciation (IPA) | Uruguayan Portuguese | Brazilian Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | [ˈpapa] | papa | batata | potato |
| [kataˈɾata] | catarata | cachoeira/catarata/queda d'água | waterfall | |
| e | [ˈpeʃe] | peixe | peixe | fish |
| [deterˈχente] | detergente | detergente | detergent | |
| i | [ˈsisko] | cisco | lixo | garbage |
| [ˈniɲo] | ninho | ninho | nest | |
| j | [sja] | cear | jantar/cear | to have dinner |
| o | [onˈtonte] | anteontem | anteontem | day before yesterday |
| [ˈojo] | olho | olho | eye | |
| [ˈposo] | poço | poço | well | |
| u | [ʒuɾuˈɾu] | jururu | triste/melancólico/jururu | sad, melancholic |
| [nu] | no | no | in the (M) | |
| w | [aˈkwa] | acoar | latir/ladrar/acoar | to bark |
| ɛ | [tɛ] | té | chá | tea |
| [pɛl] | pele | pele | skin | |
| [ˈvɛja] | velha | velha | old (F) | |
| ɔ | [fɔˈfɔka] | fofoca | fofoca | gossip |
| [ˈpɔso] | posso | posso | (I) can | |
| ã | [maˈsã] | maçã | maçã | apple |
| [lã] | lã | lã | wool | |
| [sã] | sã (ADJ) | sã | healthy (F) | |
| [ˈkãʃa] | cancha | quadra esportiva | sports ground | |
| ẽ | [ˈpẽsaw̃] | pensam | pensam | (they) think |
| ĩ | [ĩˈtõse] | entonces | então | then |
| õ | [ɡarˈsõ] | garçom | garçom/empregado de mesa | waiter (bar, restaurant) |
| [tõ] | tom | tom | tone | |
| [ĩˈtõse] | entonces | então | then | |
| ũ | [ũ] | um | um | one (M) |
| [kũˈtiɣo] | contigo | contigo | with you | |
| [niˈɲũa] | nenhuma | nenhuma | no one (F) | |
| w̃ | [maw̃] | mão | mão | hand |
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Alveo-palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | k | ||
| Fricative | tense | f | s | ʃ | x |
| lax | b ~β | d ~ð | g ~ɣ | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ̟ | ||
| Lateral | l | ||||
| Trill | tense | r̃ | |||
| lax | r | ||||
The variant described above is known as "Tacuaremboense" and is spoken in the interior ofRivera.Stops andtensefricatives can bevoiced orvoiceless, while thelax fricatives are always voiced. Theimplosiveallophone of /s/ issibilant, notaspirated.[9]
