O contato linguístico entre o vêneto e o português em São Bento de Urânia, Alfredo Chaves, ES : uma análise sócio-histórica

Abstract

The history of Brazil, has always been permeated by linguistic contacts. Espírito Santo is characterized by the Portuguese contact with languages of indigenous, African and European immigrants who settled the state in the nineteenth century. In this context, assumes a prominent position the language of the ancient Italian immigrants, especially the Venetian, the number of speakers and occupied areas. The objective of this study is to investigate the process of maintaining / replacing the Venetian in São Bento of Urania district, rural area of the municipality of Alfredo Chaves, Espírito Santo. To achieve this goal, interviews were conducted in this district, which were about the historical traditions of the community, the family, religion and school. The analysis was based on the assumptions of Sociolinguistics in part of the Contact Language, based on theoretical as Weinreich (1953), Fishman (1968; 1972), Appel and Muysken (1996), Coulmas (2005) and others, discussing topics relevant to the research in question: the language contact and the maintenance / replacement of minority languages. Besides this bibliographical apparatus, this study makes use of a qualitative approach, which allows a more revealing analysis of interviews with descendants of Italian immigrants. The results, shown in tables, charts and interpretative analysis of interview excerpts, show that the community maintains the Italian culture when it comes to food, music and some games and entertainment. However, with respect to the Venetian, this virtually disappeared as it is spoken by a minority of residents, mostly elderly. Interviewees demonstrate not only positive feelings toward their ancestors, but also the desire of having learned the ancestor language. Given these results, we show that the present moment requires attention and care for the Venetian, since evidence was found of an imminent replacement process.