David P, I'm not a native speaker, nor did I grow up hearing the language, but I did go through a few things learning about it.
The continental Portuguese (Lisbon, as you call it) is closer to the Azores Islands pronunciation than Brazilian Portuguese. But just as America is diverse, so are the Azores. In America, New Yorkers drink their "cwah-fee" and the south would like to know how "y'all doin'. " It is my understanding that Sao Miguel's regional accent is much different than all the other islands. Currrently, my biggest exposure to the Portuguese language is at the local Portuguese hall. They have many from Terceira. After hearing their regional accent for a year or two, I went to Sao Miguel. For about a day or a day and a half, I wondered if they were speaking Portuguese or not on S. Miguel. I got used to it and then I went back to the hall after 2 weeks on S. Miguel and wondered if those people were speaking Portuguese! I can't tell you what it is that is different. I only know it's a regional thing. Maybe one island is more nasal like the the other. I don't know. The leading "r" in a word is pronounced more like an "h." Ribeira Quente is more like "he-bay-rah." I know that the ending vowel used to be dropped a lot, but someone told me that there has been more of an effort in the schools to pronounce the ending vowel in an effort to sound more educated. A word beginning with a "c" is a hard "c" as in cat. A "c" in the middle is more softer if it's all like one word (casa). But if it begins a syllable, then it's hard (casaco sounds like kah-SAW-co to me). The "s" are more of of a "sh" sound. Como esta sounds like co-mow esh-tah to me. The "j" is more zwow sounding to me. I can't explain it. And don't ask me to explain the vowels. I really mess them up. Anyways, those are my experiences. Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada -- For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to azores@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
