The Falando Atlas of Brazilian Portuguese
menino, guri, piá or curumim — menino (nationwide); guri (Rio Grande do Sul, the South); piá (the South, Rio Grande do Sul); curumim (the North).
Approximate. Usage varies by age, social group and context; a word can be heard outside the highlighted area.
Menino is the neutral word every Brazilian uses and understands.
The regional words are markers of where someone is from: guri in Rio Grande do Sul and the South, piá in Paraná and the South, and curumim in the North — the last from Tupi, and still the everyday word in much of Amazonia. They are affectionate rather than formal, and they say as much about the speaker as about the child.
boy
The neutral, nationwide word for a boy or young child. Regional words for the same idea are very common in speech and often say more about where the speaker is from than about the child.
O menino brinca no parque.The boy plays in the park.
Understood everywhere in Brazil.
boy, kid
The everyday Southern word for a boy or kid, with the feminine 'guria'. From Tupi; affectionate rather than slangy, and used freely by adults about children and by gaúchos about young men.
No Sul, chamam o menino de guri com muita naturalidade.In the South, they naturally call a boy guri.
kid, boy
The Southern word for a boy, from Tupi and strongest in Paraná — Aulete lists PR, RS and SC. It originally meant an indigenous or mixed-race child, so in older texts it can carry that loading; today it is simply affectionate for 'kid'.
Esse piá é rápido!That kid is fast!
boy, kid
Everyday Amazonian word for a boy or small kid, from Tupi kuru'mi; neutral and affectionate, and heard far beyond indigenous contexts in the North. Variants include curumi and gurumim.
Esse curumim corre muito.That kid runs really fast.
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