Gaucho Dialect of Brazil

The Gaucho dialect is spoken in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. Younger speakers tend to speak a variety of Portuguese which largest resembles the Portuguese of Sao Paulo. However, the pronunciation of the Gaucho dialect differs from other Brazilian dialects in many ways.

The /d/ and /t/ are not palatalized in the Gaucho dialect. Words such as dia (day) and tia (aunt) are pronounced with plosives rather than affricates. However, many speakers of the Gaucho dialects sometimes palatalize.

Unstressed /e/ and /o/ are not raised. They preserve the same value in stressed and unstressed syllables. This is different from other varieties of Brazilian Portuguese.

The /r/ is trilled both word-initially and word-finally. In intervocalic position, i.e. caro (expensive/, the /r/ is flapped. In other dialects of Brazil, the trill is less common.

The lateral does not vocalize in word-final position. It is pronounced as a velarized lateral. This is the same sound as in Portugal.

The Gaucho dialect has a distinct phonology. The lateral does not vocalize word-finally, unstressed /e/ and /o/ do not raise, and the /d/ and /t/ do not palatalize before the high front vowel /i/. The Gaucho dialect of Brazil has a number of features which make it easy to identify.