Portuguese

Português – /poʁtuˈges/

The Portuguese language is part of the Romance branch of the Indo-European language family. It ranks as a top language in the world in terms of number of native speakers as well as total speakers. On whole, nearly 90% of all Portuguese speakers are native speakers. Portuguese is officially recognized in 9 countries across four continents. Even though Portuguese originated from its namesake country of Portugal, the large majority of speakers are in Brazil.

Quick Facts

*This group of Portuguese-speaking countries is referred to collectively as the Lusophone community. The name Lusophone is derived from the Roman province of Lusitania that covered roughly the same area of modern-day Portugal.

Portuguese is considered a “pluricentric language” due to its multiple codified standard forms. While there are more than two varieties, Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese are the two most commonly studied. Both have undergone divergent changes in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Thus, we will focus on these two Portuguese varieties (and their differences).

Writing System

The Portuguese Alphabet is based on the Latin script and is made up of 26 letters. These are the same letters used in the English alphabet. Fortuitously, the alphabet used in Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese is the same. The main differences between the two are the pronunciation of the names as well as the sounds made by many of the letters. This simply reflects some of the pronunciation differences between the two varieties.

The table below shows each letter of the alphabet, the letter’s name, the sounds it makes, and the related letters that are not part of the official alphabet but are used in writing. The table is listed in alphabetic order and shows the uppercase and lowercase versions of each letter as well. Note that the columns with (Br) in the headings apply to Brazilian Portuguese whereas the columns with (Eu) in the headings apply to European Portuguese.

1. The letters {g} and {k} have two official names ({g} = gê or guê and {k} = cá or capa). In Brazil, gê and cá are most common and in Portugual, guê and capa are most common.
2. The official names of the letters {e, o} are pronounced /ε, ɔ/ respectively. However, many Brazilians from mid to southern Brazil, pronounce them as /e, o/.
3. Some letters are commonly called different names in European Portuguese. Alternative names include {w} = duplo vê and {y} = i grego.
4. The letters {k, x, y} were included in the official alphabet as part of 2009 reforms. These letters are used mainly in foreign words found in Portuguese.

Digraphs

The following digraphs are not official letters of the Portuguese alphabet. However, they make a unique sound when used together in a word. These are all listed in the “Related” column in the alphabet table above.

• {ch} = /ʃ/
• {gu} = /g, gw/
• {lh} = /ʎ/
• {nh} = /ɲ/
• {qu} = /k, kw/
• {rr} = /h/ (Brazilian), /ʁ/ (European)
• {ss} = /s/

Diacritics

Portuguese uses five different diacritic marks for various purposes. The list below explains each diacritic. The letters shown as an example of each diacritic mark are listed in the “Related” column in the alphabet table above.

1) The acute mark is used to indicate word stress on all five vowels {á, é, í, ó, ú}. It also indicates that letters {á, é, ó} map to the /a, ɛ, ɔ/ sounds (aka “open sounds”).

• {á} = /a/ (ensures “open” {a} sound)
• {é} = /ɛ/ (ensures “open” {e} sound)
• {í} = /i/ (same as letter {i} sound)
• {ó} = /ɔ/ (ensures “open” {o} sound)
• {ú} = /u/ (same as letter {u} sound)

2) The circumflex mark is used to indicate that letters {â, ê, ô} map to the /ɐ, e, o/ sounds (aka “closed sounds”). If this accent mark is used, it also indicates stress of that word.

• {â} = /ɐ/ (ensures “closed” {a} sound)
• {ê} = /e/ (ensures “closed” {e} sound)
• {ô} = /o/ (ensures “closed” {o} sound)

3) The tilde is used with letters {ã, õ} to indicate vowel nasalization as well as word stress. In the rare case that a tilde and another accent mark exist in the same word, the other mark will specify the stress.

• {ã} = /ã/ (ensures “nasal” {a} sound)
• {õ} = /õ/ (ensures “nasal” {o} sound)

4) The grave mark is only used with letter {à} to indicate a contraction. It contracts the preposition {a} (meaning “to”) with the feminine forms of the definite article {a} (meaning: “the”). Thus, you will only see this mark with the letters {à, às} (meaning “to the”).

• {à} = /a/ (same as {á} sound)

5) The cedilla is only used with letter {ç}. The “c-cedilla” is placed before {a, o, u} to produce the /s/ sound.

• {ç} = /s/ (same as {ss} digraph sound)

Nasalization

When the letters {m} and {n} follow a vowel AND are followed by a consonant, they are considered “syllable final”. Syllable final {m, n} become silent and nasalize the preceding vowel. When the letters {am} and {em} are at the end of a word (“word final”), it not only makes the {m, n} silent, but also turns the preceding vowel into a diphthong. See the list below.

• am, an = /ɐ̃/ (syllable final)
• am = /ɐ̃w̃/ (word final)
• em, en = /ẽ/ (syllable final)
• em = /ẽj̃/ (word final)
• im, in = /ĩ/ (syllable/word final)
• om, on = /õ/ (syllable/word final)
• um, un = /ũ/ (syllable/word final)

These letter combinations are NOT shown in the “Related” column in the alphabet table above, but Nasal vowels and nasal diphthongs are illustrated further under the “Sound System” section that follows.

Nasalization is a distinct feature of Portuguese that will be difficult for native English speakers to hear and produce. It will be important to master to better comprehend and speak Portuguese.

Sound System

Portuguese consists of 42 fundamental sounds (14 vowel sounds and 28 consonant sounds). The standard varieties of Brazilian Portuguese (São Paulo, Brazil) and of European Portuguese (Lisbon, Portugal) sound quite a bit different. Those sound differences are evident in the table below. Any information under the (Br) Example column refers to Brazilian Portuguese while any information under the (Eu) Example column refers to European Portuguese.

1. The /ɨ, ð, ɫ, β, ɣ/ sounds are unique to European Portuguese. The /ɨ/ sound is very short and can even sound like it is eliminated altogether.
2. The /tʃ, dʒ, h/ sounds are unique to Brazilian Portuguese.
3. In Brazil, words ending in {te} and {de} most commonly make the /tʃi/ and /dʒi/ sounds. However, in some regions of Brazil, these spellings are realized as [ti] and [di] sounds.
4. In Brazil, the letters {s, z} at the end of a word makes an /s/ sound and the letter {s} at the end of a syllable makes the an /s/ or /z/ sound. However, in some regions of Brazil (notably Rio De Janeiro), the /s/ and /z/ sounds are realized as [ʃ] and [ʒ] respectively.
5. In Brazil, depending on the region, the /ʁ/ sound can be realized as the [ɾ~ɹ~x~ʁ] sounds when the letter {r} is at the end of a syllable or at the end of a word. In Portugal, the /ʁ/ sound is only realized as [ʁ].
6. The following sounds are allophones of other phonemes. European Portuguese: /ð/ = allophone of /d/, /ɫ/ = allophone of /l/, /β/ = allophone of /b/, and /ɣ/ = allophone of /g/. Brazilian Portuguese: /w/ is a phoneme on its own but is also an allophone of /l/.

Sound Summary

Brazilian Portuguese

In Brazilian Portuguese, there are 37 total sounds (13 vowels and 24 consonants). Of the 37 sounds, 18 are the same as English and 12 are similar to English. This leaves seven sounds that are truly foreign.

European Portuguese

There are 39 total sounds (14 vowels and 25 consonants) in European Portuguese. Of the 39 sounds, 17 are the same as English and 12 are similar to English. This leaves 10 sounds that are truly foreign.

Diphthongs

When two vowel sounds are combined into one sound, they create a “diphthong”. All Portuguese diphthongs are created by appending the /j/ and /w/ sounds to other vowels. A Portuguese diphthong starts with the main vowel sound (which is longer) and ends with the /j/ or /w/ sound (which is shorter). This pattern of longer to shorter sounds is referred to as a “falling” diphthong.

Portuguese diphthongs can be divided into two types – oral and nasal. Oral diphthongs simply combine an oral (i.e. “regular”) vowel with /j/ or /w/. Nasal diphthongs combine a nasal vowel with /j/ or /w/. When this happens, /j, w/ also become nasalized. See the example of these diphthongs below…

• Oral = /ej, aj, oj, aw, ow, uw, ɔj, uj, iw, ew, ɛw, ɔw/
• Nasal = /ɐ̃j̃, ɐ̃w̃, ẽj̃, õj̃/

Oral diphthongs are always written using {i} for the /j/ sound and {u} for the /w/ sound. In Brazilian Portuguese only, adding a syllable-final {l} will also act as a /w/ sound. Nasal diphthongs are written in very specific combinations: {ãe, ãi} = /ɐ̃j̃/; {ão}, word-final {am} = /ɐ̃w̃/; word-final {em} = /ẽj̃/; and {õe} = /õj̃/.

Stress

In Portuguese, each word has a specific syllable that is stressed. Thus, it is considered to have “word-based” stress. The rules for stress are very predictable and are built into the writing system. See the following rules as a guide.

• Rule 1 – words ending in the letters {i, u, l, r, z} will be stressed on the second-to-last syllable. Think of “luzir” (as in “loser“) as a pneumonic device. This rule accounts for about 70% of all Portuguese words.
• Rule 2 – words that don’t end in the letters {i, u, l, r, z} will be stressed on the last syllable.
• Rule 3 – words that do not follow Rule 1 or Rule 2 will be marked with an accent mark (acute mark, circumflex mark, or tilde) and that syllable with the accent mark is stressed.

Note: In rare cases, the acute or circumflex accent marks exist with a tilde in the same word. In these cases, the acute or circumflex is where the stress will be. A common example of this is the Portuguese word {órgão} (meaning “organ”). The stress is on the {ó} because it has an acute accent mark.

Rhythm

Even though Brazilian and European Portuguese share the same word stress patterns, they differ in how the non-stressed syllables are articulated. Brazilian Portuguese is typically called a “syllable-timed” language. This means that, in multi-syllable words, the non-stressed syllables are fully articulated (not reduced). In reality, some word-final vowels get reduced in Brazilian Portuguese. On the other hand, European Portuguese is often classified as a “stress-timed” language. This means that one or more of the non-stressed syllables may be reduced (or even eliminated completely). Stress timing is similar to how English rhythm works.

Portuguese Sample

Below is a sampling of Portuguese audio along with a transcription from a freely available FSI course. This should give you a feel for spoken and written Portuguese. A machine-generated English translation is provided as well.

European Portuguese

Audio

Brazilian Portuguese

Audio