
Mineiro

Mineiro (), or the Brazilian mountain dialect (), is the Brazilian Portuguese term the characteristic accent spoken in the heart of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, and also in its capital, Belo Horizonte.
This dialect is often hard to understand for people outside the region where it is spoken due to heavy assimilation and elision.
The term also refers to the inhabitants of Minas Gerais.
History.
Minas Gerais was settled during the late 17th and early 18th centuries by a mix of recent Portuguese immigrants ( or ) and earlier colonists that came from São Paulo (). There was an intense rivalry between the two groups, fighting over the gold mines (from which the name of the province was taken, "Minas Gerais" means "General Mines"). These conflicts required the intervention of the Portuguese Crown after a serious uprisal developed into civil war (Guerra dos Emboabas) with the final defeat of the "paulistas" in 1708.
In the 19th century, the state was being forgotten due to the decline of gold mining. Due to this isolation, the state was influenced by the dialect of Rio de Janeiro in the southeast, while the south and the "Triangulo Mineiro" region, began to speak the rustic dialect of São Paulo (caipira). The central region of Minas Gerais, however, developed their own dialect, which is known as Mineiro or mountain dialect. This dialect is also present in cities of the center and southest of the state, which is surrounded by mountains and mines.
Recently, the influence of "mineiro" has been increasing and spreading, due to local pride and rejection of other accents.