The Mineiro dialect is spoken in the central part of Minas Gerais, a state in Brazil. It is one of the dialects which is the easiest to distinguish for Brazilians. The dialect is spoken by approximately half of the population of the state of Minas Gerais.
The Mineiro dialect is known for its rhythm. Stressed syllables are much longer than unstressed ones. It is stress-timed.
Word-final short vowels are deleted, a process known as apocope. For example, the word parte (part) is pronounced with one syllable. However, in most of Brazil, word-final vowels are pronounced.
Consecutive identical vowels are often realized as one vowel. For example, o urubu (the vulture) is pronounced [urubu]. The definite article o (the) is pronounced [u].
In words which begin with es, the word-initial vowel is often deleted. For example, the word esporte (sport) is often pronounced with a word-initial consonant. The result is that the word has only one syllable because the word-final vowel is also deleted. In the rest of Brazil, it is usually pronounced with three syllables.
Many words with successive vowels are pronounced with one long vowel. The word fio (thread) is pronounced [fi:]. The word-final vowel is deleted and the initial vowel is lengthened. The process is called compensatory lengthening.
Word-final [u] is often dropped. For example, the word pinho (pine) is often pronounced without the word-final vowel. In addition, the palatal nasal is also deleted and the vowel becomes nasalized. The result is a word with only one syllable instead of two and two segments instead of four.
One of the most distinctive Brazilian Portuguese dialects is the Mineiro dialect. The stress-timed rhythm with long stressed vowels and short unstressed vowels is typical of the dialect. Other phonological characteristics of the dialect include apocope and vowel deletion in words with consecutive identical vowels.
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