Paulistano () is the Brazilian Portuguese term for the characteristic accent spoken in São Paulo, Brazil's largest and richest city, and some neighboring areas in the São Paulo Macrometropolis. The Paulistano and Carioca accents are dominant in Brazilian mass media and the most influential ones in modern Brazil.
History The Paulistano dialect was influenced by immigrants who arrived in the city from the late 19th century onwards, chiefly the Italians. In the early 20th century, Italian and its dialects were widely spoken in São Paulo and they eventually merged into locally spoken Portuguese.
Phonological features Raising of the near-open central vowel /ɐ/, as in pug [ˈpɘ.gɪ], as well as fronting of its nasalized variants, as in Amanda [aˈmɘ̃.dɐ], phenomena that are seemingly more frequent in the upper-middle class. Diphtongization of the nasal vowel /eN/ in words such as entendendo [ẽj̃.tẽj̃ˈdẽj̃.dʊ] and tempo [ˈtẽj̃.pʊ], predominantly observed among female speakers and in higher social classes. Palatalization of the stops /t/ and /d/ before the close front vowel [i] among younger generations, as in most Portuguese dialects spoken in the Southeast: tio [ˈtʃiu] and dia [ˈdʒi.ɐ]. The fricatives and are not palatalized. Examples: , , . /R/ in mid-word coda position is pronounced either as or , with the former being more prestigious. Example: / . Word-final /R/ in infinitives is often not pronounced at all depending on speaker and register as most portuguese dialects spoken in Brazil. Example: .
See also Brazilian Portuguese Portuguese dialects Portuguese phonology São Paulo
References