We just returned from taking our 12 year old CA grandson to MA and NH. He quickly realized that they do not pronounce words exactly as he is used to hearing them.... especially from his 13 year old girl cousin who he bonded with immediately so it made absolutely no difference to him.
I told him wait until we take him to Alabama to meet cousins we met on the net next year. "E" On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 5:53 PM, David Perry <[email protected]>wrote: > Cheri, your "cwah-fee" takes me back to 1947 when my family first moved to > CA from MA. My dad was looking for a parking space and saw a guy sitting > in his car in a parked space. My dad asked the guy if he was leaving and > the guy said, "No, I'm par-r-r-r-r-king my car-r-r-r-r-r". My mom and dad > thought that was funniest thing they every heard since they always > "pa-a-a-a-ck thei-ah ca-a-a-ah" in Massachusetts. > > Back to the point, I've heard from various sources that the Sao Miguel > pronunciations are the most distant from "textbook" pronunciations. I > guess I'll have to find some local Sao Miguel folks (there are plenty > around here (SF East Bay) to practice with. > Thanks, > David > > On Friday, July 12, 2013 4:48:20 PM UTC-7, Cheri Mello wrote: > >> 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 [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores. > > > -- 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 [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
