Index / Language / Records / Portuguese / Regional dialects
Nordestino Portuguese
The northeast keeps sounds the south has changed: t and d stay hard, vowels open up, and oxe answers almost anything.
Recife and the northeast of Brazil
5sound rules15words and phrases9everyday lines
Neutral fine anywhere Casual friends, street Vulgar swearing Insult aimed at a person
How it sounds
Left: the sound, in pine. Middle: standard spelling. Right: meaning.
S1T and d before i stay hard
The clearest difference from Rio and São Paulo. Dia sounds like dia, not jia.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| dia | dia | day (not jia) |
| tia | tia | aunt (not chia) |
| noiti | noite | night |
| verdadi | verdade | truth |
S2Vowels before the stress open up
Where the south closes unstressed vowels, the northeast opens them. Recife starts with an open e.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| Hécife | Recife | Recife (open e) |
| cólega | colega | colleague |
| pégar | pegar | to take |
S3The s before t and d becomes sh
In Recife the s turns to sh before t and d, though not everywhere else.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| goshtu | gosto | I like it |
| eshtá | está | is |
| mesmo | mesmo | same (s stays before m) |
S4Tu with the você verb
Tu is the default for friends and family, with the verb form of você.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| tu vai? | você vai? | are you going? |
| tu quer? | você quer? | do you want some? |
| tu é de onde? | você é de onde? | where are you from? |
S5Short tags at the end
Recife closes sentences with visse, and the whole region answers surprise with oxe and vixe.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| Tá bom, visse? | Está bom, viu? | it's fine, alright? |
| Oxe, e é? | Ué, é mesmo? | huh, really? |
| Vixe, deu ruim | Nossa, deu errado | yikes, it went wrong |
Words and phrases
15 entries, each tagged by register.
W1Reactions
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| oxe / oxente | oxe | what? huh? (surprise or protest)casual |
| vixe | vixe | wow, yikescasual |
| visse? | viu? | alright? you hear? (Recife)casual |
| arretado | arretado | great, also furious, depending on tonecasual |
| massa | massa | cool (Recife)casual |
| aperreado | aperreado | stressed, in a rushcasual |
W2People
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| painho / mainha | papai / mamãe | dad / mumcasual |
| cabra | cabra | guy, blokecasual |
| abestado | abestado | idiotinsult |
| mangar | zombar | to teasecasual |
W3Food
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| a macaxeira | a mandioca | cassavaneutral |
| o jerimum | a abóbora | pumpkinneutral |
| o cuscuz | o cuscuz | steamed corn couscous, breakfastneutral |
| a tapioca | a tapioca | cassava pancakeneutral |
| o bolo de rolo | o bolo de rolo | thin rolled guava cake from Recifeneutral |
Everyday lines
Scenes and the lines that go with them.
L1Breakfast
Corn and cassava, not bread.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| Um cuscuz com ovo, por favor | Um cuscuz com ovo, por favor | couscous with egg, please |
| Uma tapioca de queijo coalho | Uma tapioca de queijo coalho | a tapioca with grilling cheese |
| Me dá um café, visse? | Me dá um café, viu? | a coffee, alright? |
L2At the beach
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| Bora pra Boa Viagem | Vamos para Boa Viagem | let's go to Boa Viagem beach |
| Uma água de coco gelada | Uma água de coco gelada | a cold coconut water |
| Cuidado com o tubarão | Cuidado com o tubarão | watch out for sharks (posted on Recife's beaches) |
L3Carnival
Recife and Olinda dance to frevo and maracatu.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| Bora pro frevo! | Vamos para o frevo! | let's go dance frevo! |
| o bloco | o bloco | a carnival street band |
| o Galo da Madrugada | o Galo da Madrugada | Recife's giant opening parade |