The Portuguese of Rio de Janeiro uses more open vowels than the Portuguese of Sao Paulo. In fact, the use of open vowels in Rio de Janeiro is a feature that it shares with European Portuguese. Let us compare the varieties of Portuguese spoken in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
In Rio de Janeiro, the word café (coffee) has an open vowel in the final syllable. However, in Sao Paulo, it has a closed vowel. Likewise, the words atleta (athlete) and belo (beautiful) have an open vowel in the Portuguese of Rio de Janeiro, but they have a closed vowel in the Portuguese of Sao Paulo. Other words that have an open vowel in Rio de Janeiro and a closed one in Sao Paulo are agradável (pleasant) and incrível (incredible).
Other words with open vowels in Rio de Janeiro are corpo (body), glória (glory), história (history), hoje (today) and tênis (tennis). The same words have closed vowels in Sao Paulo. One reason that the Portuguese of Rio de Janeiro is often considered a bit closer to European Portuguese than other varieties of Brazilian Portuguese is the use of open vowels.
The Portuguese of Rio de Janeiro is distinct from other varieties of Portuguese. In contrast to the Portuguese of Sao Paulo, it uses more open vowels. The open vowels are always the mid front unrounded vowel and the mid back rounded vowel. In this regard, it is similar to European Portuguese.
No comments:
Post a Comment