Portuguese (Portugus)
Portuguese is a Romance language spoken by about 240 million people mainly in Brazil (Brasil) and Portugal, and also in Angola, Mozambique (Moambique), Cape Verde (Cabo Verde), Guinea-Bissau (Guin-Bissau), So Tom e Principe, East Timor (Timor-Leste) and Macau. There are also communities of Portuguese speakers in the USA, Canada and a number of other countries. Portuguese is a descendent of Latin, which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by Roman soldiers, settlers and merchants from 218 BC. The earliest records of a distinctly Portuguese language appear in administrative documents dating from the 9th century AD. In 1290 King Denis decreed that Portuguese, then simply called the "Vulgar language" should be known as the Portuguese language and should be officially used. A reformed Portuguese orthography (nova ortografia), in which words were spelled more in accordance with their pronunciation, was adopted is Portugal in 1916. A slightly modified form was adopted in Brazil in 1943 and revised in 1970. A new orthography which aims to unify the written Portuguese of all the lusophone countries was adopted in Brazil in 2009. Dates have yet to be set for its adoption in the other Portuguese-speaking countries
Portuguese alphabet (alfabeto portugus)
Aa
b
Bb
Cc
c d
Dd
Ee
Ff
efe g
Gg
Hh
ag i
Ii
Jj
jota
Kk
c/capa
Ll
ele
Mm
eme ene
Nn
Oo
p
Pp
Qq
qu
Rr
erre
Ss
esse t
Tt
u
Uu
v
Vv
Ww
dbliu, dblio, duplo-v
Xx
xis
Yy
psilon, ipsilo, i grego
Zz
z
The letters K, W and Y are used only in foreign loanwords. Listen to the Portuguese alphabet read by Heitor de Moraes from Brazil
Pronunciation of the Portuguese of Portugal
Pronunciation of the Portuguese of Brazil
Listen to the consonants of Brazilian Portuguese read by Heitor de Moraes from Brazil
Notes
e = [e] when unstressed and non-final, [e] or [] when stressed, [i] when final o = [o] when unstressed and non-final, [] or [o] when stressed, [u] when final oa [ oa o a] when stressed, oa ua [ a] when unstressed
the diphthongs ea, eo, ia, ie, io, oa, ua, ue and uo appear at the ends of words and are always unstressed. ua and uo can also appear after g and q, and in other positions.
c = [s] before i or e, [k] elsewhere d [] before i or a final unstressed e, [d] elsewhere. However in parts of Santa Catarina
and Paran and the north and north east of Brazil, d in the final -de ispronounced [d]. In those same regions (except Paran) di is pronounced [di] or [dji].
g gu
[] before i or e, [g] elsewhere [g] before i or e, [g ] elsewhere
Triphthongs are made up of combinations of gu, g, qu, q + a diphthong, e.g. saguo, agei, sequia.
[ ] after vowels final e before consonants
m is nasalized when at the end of a syllable and preceded by a vowel, e.g. cantam [kt ], homem [ om i ], sim [s i ]
n is nasalized when at the end of a syllable, preceded by a vowel and followed by a consonant, e g cansar [k sa], alento [a l tu]
nh
[~ii, ], i e nasalizes preceeding vowels, e g banha [ biia] In some north eastern [ a] and -inho [ u] In some parts of Brazil, nh []
parts of Brazil, inha
qu r r
[k] before i or e, [k ] before a or o [x~] or [r~] in some areas at the beginning of words and after n [~x~~r~] at the ends of words and before consonants If the following word
begins with a vowel, r = [r~] r = [r] after consonants (except n) rr r [x~] or [r~] in some areas [] before consonants and at the end of words in So Paulo, south of Brasil, Minas
Gerais and Gois
s = [s] at the beginning of words, [z] between vowels and between voiced consonants. However in parts of Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro and the north east and north of Brazil, s [] before d, g, l, m, n, r and v, [] before c, f, p, qu and t, and when in finalposition .
sc (before e and i) and s (before a and o) = [s]. In Rio de Janeiro, sc/s = [is], e.g. nascimento [naisi m tu]
[] before i or a final unstressed e, [t] elsewhere However in parts of Santa Catarina
and Paran and the north and north east of Brazil, the final t in the final -te is pronounced [t]. In those same regions (apart from Paran) ti = [ti] or [tji] The [] sound is also written tch (e.g. tchau), or tx in indigenous names (e.g. txukahame).
[] at the beginning of a word and, in parts of Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro and
northeast and north of Brazil, before c, p and t ex + vowel = [z], e.g. exame [e zmi], or [], e g vexame [ve ami] x [], [ks] or [s] elsewhere, e g relaxar [xela a], fixo ['fiksu], auxiliar [a si li a x r ] x = [ks] when in final position x is silent in exce , exci , exs , e g exceto [e stu], excitar [esi ta], exsudar [esu'da]
z = [s] in final position and before unvoiced consonants. In parts of Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro and the north east and north of Brazil, z [] before voiced consonants, [] before unvoiced consonants and when in final position.
In the north east of Brazil some of the letters have different names: F (f), J (ji), L (l), M (m), N (n), R (r), S (si) and Y (ipsilone).
Sample text in Portuguese
Todos os seres humanos nascem livres e iguais em dignidade e em direitos. Dotados de razo e de conscincia, devem agir uns para com os outros em esprito de fraternidade. A recording of this text
Sample text in Brazilian Portuguese
Todos os seres humanos nascem livres e iguais em dignidade e direitos. So dotados de razo e conscincia e devem agir em relao uns aos outros com esprito de fraternidade. A recording of this text
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) Information about Portuguese | European Portuguese phrases | Brazilian Portuguese phrases| Kinship terms | Numbers | Tower of Babel | Links | My Portguese learning experiences |Learning materials Contributors to this page: Marcelo Manschein, Mrio Andr Coelho da Silva and Heitor de Moraes from Brazil, and Renato Serdio from Portugal
![
m is nasalized when at the end of a syllable and preceded by a vowel, e.g. cantam
[´kãtã ], homem [ om i ], sim [s i ]](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscreenshots.scribd.com%2FScribd%2F252_100_85%2F356%2F190087546%2F4.jpeg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scribd.com%2Fdocument%2F190087546%2FPortuguese-Alphabet&__type=image)
