Continuing with our “getting to know Brazilian accents & regional sayings,” series, I realized I hadn’t written about Paulistanês, the “language” spoken in São Paulo city, where I’m currently living and hear everyday!
The funny thing about people who live in the city of São Paulo is that they think everyone else has an accent except for them. And travelling to other parts of Brazil, I’ve learned most other people around the country realize they have a regional accent, except paulistanos who think their accent is the norm for Brazilian Portuguese. Paulistanos also swear everyone on TV speaks like them when it’s clearly not true either. They’re really so self centered they go around saying meu, in every other sentence!
Before we go on to some fun sayings from São Paulo, a little on pronunciations.
In general, Paulistanos pronounce their “e’s” with a more nasal sound and closer to an “a,” than most other parts of Brazil. When pronouncing the word apartamento, they’ll say ”aparta-may-ntu” instead of “aparta-meh-ntu” and when saying something has dust on it, they’ll pronounce poeira, “po-ay-rah” instead of “pu-era.”
Their “r’s” are rolled out almost like a Spanish “r.” Outside of São Paulo City, in São Paulo state, “r’s” are pronounced like American “r’s.” So if you’re thinking of coming to Brazil and want to learn an accent that’s easy for you if you’re American, small town São Paulo it is!
Ready to speak with a paulistano accent? Well, here’s the vocabulary to match!
As usual, the order goes paulistanês, português, English!
Meu, no definition, it can be used for anything, but really it means Mine
Mano, amigo, can also mean anything, Friend
Ué!, Igual o Uai de Mineiro, No real meaning, usually said when questioning something that just happened.
Mina, namorada/menina, girlfriend, girl
Chops, chopp, draft beer
Farol, semaforo, stop light
Lombada, quebra-mola, speed bump
Ladeira, morro, hill
Pode Crer, É mesmo, True!
Firmeza?, Oi, tudo bem?, Hey, what’s up?
Tipo, Como, ou uma vírgula, Like, or in the place of a comma…
Mo’ Cara, Muito tempo, A long time
Então, No translation, Used at the beginning of every sentence.
Imagina!, Que isso! Sem Problemas, No problem! You’re Welcome!
Trampo, Trabalho, Work
Can you guys think of any other words in paulistanês or particular pronunciations that are different from other parts of Brazil?
