The German Element in Brazil | Page 8

_f._... troc _m._... change (of money).
3) Masculine to neuter, e.g.,
Brazilian Brazilian _Portuguese._ _German._ _English._
doce _m._.... doss _n._... candy, confectionery. fosforo _m._. fosforo _n._ match. tatú _m._.... tatú _n._... armadillo. xarque _m._.. xarque _n._. jerked beef.
4) Feminine to neuter, e.g.,
Brazilian Brazilian _Portuguese._ _German._ _English._
canoa _f._... kanoe _n._.. monoxylon, dugout. farinha _f._. farin _n._.. flour.
From the above examples it will be observed that the gender of the Brazilian German noun is, where there has been a change from that of the original Brazilian Portuguese, as a rule, the same as that of the High German word replaced, e.g.,
_Brazilian German._ _High German._
barranke _f._........ B?schung_f._ cachass _m._......... Schnaps _m._ camarote _f._........ Theaterloge _f._ charute _f._......... Zigarre _f._ doss _n._............ Konfekt _n._ farelle _f._......... Kleie _f._ farin _n._........... Mehl _n._ fosforon _n._........ Streichholz_n._ kaschimbe _f._....... Tabakspfeife _f._ portreere _f._....... Weide _m._ troc _m._............ Wechsel _m._
D. Nouns of mixed origin are quite frequent, e.g.,
_Brazilian German._ _English._
aboboramus........... stewed (and mashed) pumpkin. korbgarraf?o......... demijohn. miljekolben.......... cob (of corn). mesclahosen.......... trousers (striped). ochsencarrete........ ox-cart palhazigarrette...... cigarette (with cornhusk wrapper). polizeidelegado...... inspector of police. puschochse........... draught-ox. rocewirtschaft....... agriculture, farming. sellofiskal.......... revenue agent. vendaschuld.......... drinking-score, debt for drink.
II. Verbs.
Brazilian German verbs are commonly formed by adding a weak ending, _'-en'_ or _'-ieren'_ to the Portuguese stem, e.g.,
_Portuguese._ _Brazilian German._ _English._
amolar......... amolieren.......... to grind, sharpen. capinar........ capinen............ to weed. cobrar......... cobrieren.......... to cash, take in (money), la?ar ......... lassen............. to throw the lasso. puxar.......... puschen, pussen.... to pull. repousar....... posen.............. to rest. requerer....... rekerieren......... to request. ro?ar.......... rossieren.......... to clear of weeds. sellar......... sellieren.......... to stamp. tocar.......... tocken............. to beat, strike. trocar......... trocken............ to change (money etc.).
In pronunciation the Brazilian German differs still more from the Portuguese than the printed forms would indicate. The main additional differences in this case are the following:
1) The noun ending '_-?o'_ has the value of _'-ong'_ instead of the Portuguese sound represented by _'-?o.'_ Thus, by phonetic spelling we would have, e.g.,
_Brazilian German._ _Portuguese._
algodong for algod?o. capong " cap?o, garrafong " garraf?o, patakong " patac?o. questong " quest?o, sertong " sert?o, violong " viol?o.
2) The _'j'_ instead of remaining sonant as in Portuguese, becomes surd.[46] Thus
_Brazilian German._ _Portuguese._
feschong for feij?o, schakaré " jacaré. Schwong " Jo?o.
3) In the case of infinitives the final _'-n'_ is not sounded, particularly in sections influenced by the Hunsrück dialect. These forms are therefore pronounced, e.g.,
_Brazilian German._ _Portuguese._
amoliere for amolieren. kapine " kapinen. pusche " puschen. tocke " tocken.
SURNAMES.
As a general rule German family names are retained in their original form in all sections where the German language held its own among the colonists. This is especially true where such names offer no difficulty in their pronunciation to people having Portuguese as their mother tongue. On the other hand, where such names could not be readily pronounced by Luso-Brazilians,[47] they underwent changes to greater or less extent even in communities where the German element is most strongly represented. Where the German language disappeared the German family name as a rule disappeared with it, or was retained in such a form as to be hardly recognizable.
By way of example a number of modifications in surnames are noted below; first, from a section where the German language has almost entirely given way to Portuguese[48], and second, from one of the strongest German-speaking sections of Brazil.[49]
1)
Emmich became _M'_. The Portuguese could not pronounce the "-ich" and consequently it dropped off, resulting in the formation of what is probably one of the shortest family names in existence.[50]
Felippoffsky became _Felippe, Franz,_ or _Fran?o_. In this instance one branch of the family adopted the first part of the original family name and other branches made surnames out of the Christian name of the first immigrant, i.e., Franz Felippoffsky.
Glaser became Frittenmaku. The first immigrant was Fritz Glaser. One of his characteristics was lameness. The new family name is equivalent in meaning to "der lahme Fritz."
Gottfried became _Gottesfried, Gottesfrid_ or Gottesfritz.
Helfenstein became Helfestein.
Hessel became Essel.
Klein became Cleene. In this instance a German dialect variant of the original became the new family name.
Reinberg became Remberg.
Rochenbach became Rocumbak or Rocumbaque.
Roschel became Rocha.
Toll became Doll or Doro.
Weisshaupt became Sapateiro. In this instance the first Weisshaupt was a shoemaker. The trade name translated into Portuguese became the family name.
Züllich became Sills.
2)
W?chter became Walter.
Werner became Vierne.
From the above examples it will be noticed that the new family names show, as a general rule, an adaptation of the original to Portuguese pronunciation.
BAPTISMAL NAMES.
So far as baptismal names are concerned, the case is quite different from that applying to surnames. While the latter have been modified to a great extent only where the German language gave way to the Portuguese almost entirely, as stated, the former have been replaced by their Portuguese counterparts, as a rule, in all parts of Brazil.[51] Probably the chief reason for this is sentiment, or, to use what is in this