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Hunsrückisch is a German dialect spoken in the Hunsrück region of Germany (Rheinland-Pfalz). This mountainous region of Germany has long been an 'exporter' of immigrants to Canada, the United States, Brazil (especially to southern Brazil), Australia and other parts of the world.
There are many theories about the exact origin of the term Hunsrück but no definitive proof has been established or satisfied the majority of the scholars specializing on the subject.
Due to its proximity to France, the Hunsrückisch dialect spoken in the Hunsrück region has experienced unique influences from the neighboring French language through the centuries. During Napoleonic times the Hunsrück region was incorporated into the country of France for a short period.
There is a variation of this dialect in southern Brazil named Riograndenser Hunsrückisch by Dr. Cléo Vilson Altenhofen in 1996, as to differentiate it from the original European form of this dialect. The term "Riograndenser" refers to someone or something (in this case the dialect) that is from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil.
There is such a thing as a Deutschbrasilianer or German-Brazilian identity in southern Brazil - the existence of the language is proof of that. However, especially since World War II, there has been great political, social and even police pressure to make this cultural regionalism disappear into the mainstream of society. These efforts have been quite successful, though not completely so. Today a new thinking regarding this matter has been taking place. For example, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul schools are encouraged to teach local, regional languages (like German, Polish, Italian or Talian, as it is best known in southern Brazil; and schools located on bordering regions, that is near Uruguay and Argentina, are encouraged to teach Spanish. It should be noted that English as a second language remains very popular with students not only in the south of Brazil but throughout the country.
Throughout its almost two hundred year history in Southern Brazil, Hunsrückish or Riograndenser Hunsrückisch has been greatly influenced by other Germanic dialects such as Pomeranian, Swabian and Bavarian and also by other immigrant languages; and also, naturally, by Portuguese, the national language of Brazil). As a matter of fact, via Brazilian Portuguese, Riograndenser Hunsrückisch also incorporated Amerindian and Afro-brazilian terminology.
Riograndenser Hunsrückisch is not only spoken in the state of Rio Grande do Sul but also in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina and in other parts of southern Brazil (and in a much smaller scale in other countries of the region, like Paraguay and Argentina).de:Hunsrückisch pt:Hunsrückisch