I. SOUNDS AND ACCENTS

ALPHABET

1. The Portuguese alphabet is the same as the English except that it contains no w.

Following are the Portuguese names of the letters together with their approximate pronunciations.

LETTERS PORTUGUESE NAMES PRONUNCIATIONS WITH ENGLISH VALUES

a a ah

b be bay (short)⁠[5]

c ce say (short)[5]

d de day (short)[5]

e é ay (as ea in health)

f effe or fê éffe or fay

g ge or ji hjay (hj = French j)[5]

h agá agáh

i i ee

j jóta hjóta (hj = French j) or zh

k ka kah

l elle or lê élle⁠[6] or lay

m emme or mê émme[6] or may

n enne or nê énne[6] or nay

o ó o (as in nor)

p pe pay (short)[5]

q que kay (short)[5]

r erre or rê érre[6] or ray

s esse or si ésse[6] or see

t te tay (short)[5]

u u oo (as in poor)

v ve vay (short)[5]

x xiz or xê shiz or shay

y ypsilon ypsilon

z ze zay (short)[5]

Note.—The letter w is only used in the foreign words in which it occurs. It is called dobleú, very much as in English.

PRONUNCIATION

2. Vowels.—For the most part the vowels are pronounced separately, so that each one forms a syllable. The only exceptions to this rule are the nasal diphthongs.

The sounds of the vowels are characterized as long, short, open, close, and nasal.

Sounds of the Vowels

PHONETIC VALUES APPROXIMATING THE ENGLISH EXAMPLES

along a in farther sofá

short u in but boca, festa

nasal manso

The a-sounds differ in quantity rather than quality.

PHONETIC VALUES APPROXIMATING THE ENGLISH EXAMPLES

eopen ea in health café (so accented)

close a in table sello (sometimes accented, as mercê)

short (or mute)⁠[7] e in winter caracter

nasal ai in paint pente⁠[8]

i long ee in bee frío

short i in it quási

nasal i in pin injusto

o open o in not pó (so accented)

close o in note boa, avô (so accented)

short (or mute)⁠[9] o in block locação, cravo

nasal o in long pómpa

u long ue in blue perú

short oo in boot (only shorter) tríbu

nasal oo in room túmba

u is silent when preceded by q and followed by e or i: aqui (pr. akee).

y is pronounced ee as if it were i long; it is nasal when followed by m, as tympano. Y is much used in Brazil in words of Tupy origin, as Ivahy, Apody.

3. Diphthongs.—It is customary to regard as pure diphthongs such vowel combinations as ae in pae, ai in vai, au in pau, ei in lei, eo in deo, eu in breu, oe in heroe, iu in viu, oi in boi, ui in fui. It is to be noted, however, that these combinations are pronounced, not as single sounds, but as if the letters were sounded separately yet with a slight abbreviation from the full values of the separate vowels.

The true diphthongs are known in Portuguese as the nasal diphthongs. These are ãe as in mãe, ão as in mão, õe as in põe, ũi as in muito. (Muito, however, is a unique case.)

4. Nasal Sounds.—There are nasal sounds for most of the vowels. These are indicated either by the nasal diphthongs or by the single vowels followed by m or n, as tão or tam, bem, sim, bom, um. These words are pronounced as if they ended with an English ng in which the g is not heard. Tão is pronounced nearly as if written towng with the ng sound omitted or cut short. Bem is pronounced as if written beng, but without the g being sounded; um as if written oong but omitting the g sound.

All syllables ending in em, en, im, in, õ, om, on, um, and un have the nasal sound whether at the end of a word or followed by a consonant.

5. Consonants.—The consonants not mentioned here are pronounced as in English.

b is silent in subdito, subject (pronounced as if written súdito), and in subjeitar, an old form of sujeitar.

ç with the cedilla (cedílha) is soft as in French. The cedilla is used to soften the sound of c before a, o, and u: calças (pr. as if written cálsas).

c is silent when followed by t or c: activo (pr. as if written ativo), acção (pr. as ação). Except convicto, pacto, fricção, convicção.

ch has the sound of sh in she: chá (pr. as if written shah); before consonants and in words of Greek origin it has the sound of k: Christo (pr. as Krísto).

g is hard before a, o, and u in all cases; before e, i, and y it has the sound of the French j: gelo (pr. as if written hjelo).

When g would ordinarily precede e or i, u is added before those vowels in order to give or preserve the hard sound: entregar, to deliver, has entregue for the past participle, thus preserving the hard g sound.

g when followed by n is silent: in the words signal (as if sinal) and signalar and words beginning with assign: as assignar, assignatura.

h has no sound of its own in Portuguese; it is not a letter, properly speaking, but an etymological mark or sign. It has a value, however, in connection with c, l, n, and p, which see.

j is pronounced as in French, like g in midge.

lh is pronounced like lli in million. In writing and printing these two letters belong to the syllable whose vowel follows and must be kept together. The syllables of cordilheira are cor-di-lhei-ra; of filha they are fi-lha.

m at the end of a word or syllable is nasal. Bem is pronounced as if spelled beng, but without the final g-sound; bemdito (pr. bengdeeto, but with the g silent).

In some words the m is apparently silent on account of the nasal sound: damno (pr. as if written dánno).

n never ends a word in Portuguese except irman, sister, iman, magnet, hyphen, colon, and certain antiquated forms like christan for christã;⁠[10] when it precedes final s it is nasal.

nh is sounded like ni in union, that is like the Spanish ñ, the Italian gn, or the French gn: banho, bath, lenha, fire-wood. In syllabication these two letters, when so pronounced, always belong with the vowel that follows them: lenha is divided le-nha.

There are a few words, however, which are compounded of the prefix an or in, in which the nh is not so pronounced or written: such as anhydro, inhabil, inhalar, inhibir, inhumano.

p is silent before t: prompto (pr. as if spelled prónto); escripto (pr. as if written escríto). Except that the p is pronounced in captar, raptar, optar, repto, and mentecapto. In exempção also the p is silent (pr. izenssão).

ph is pronounced like f: photographia (pr. as if spelled fotografía).

q is always followed by u, and always has the sound of k. Qu varies somewhat: before a and o the u is sounded, as quando (pr. kwándo); but before e and i the u is used with the q only for the purpose of producing or preserving the k sound and is therefore not heard: quer (pr. ker); aqui (pr. akee).

Exceptions: the u is sounded in consequencia, frequente, equestre, antiquíssimo. It is also allowable to sound the u in questão.

r has two sounds: when it begins a word, or is double, it is rolled as in French or Spanish: río, érro; in other positions it is pronounced by striking the tongue lightly against the roof of the mouth almost as if pronouncing the letter d: arara (pr. nearly as if spelled adada but with the d approaching the English r-sound). Except: that the single r is rolled after l, m, n, s: honrar, tenro, genro, Henrique, melro, chilrar.

s has the soft or hissing s-sound, and that of soft z. It has the z-sound when it stands between vowels: rosa, casa (pr. as if spelled róza, cáza). Except in cases of compound words where it has the s-sound.

It has the soft s-sound in most other cases.

th has the sound of t: theoria is pronounced as if written teoria.

w is used only in foreign words and should be pronounced as in the language from which those words are taken.

x has several sounds as follows:

1. like the English ks in words ending in ex, ix, and ux, fixar and its compounds and derivatives, flexão and related words such as flexibilidade and sexo, fluxo, maximo, and lexicologia (index and appendix are pronounced índes and appéndes in addition).

Note.—There are, however, some local differences in the pronunciation of some of these words: flexão properly pronounced fleksão, in Bahia is pronounced flechão.

2. like s when followed by c, t, or p: extenso, excepto (pr. as if esténso, escépto).

3. like z when preceded by e and followed by a vowel or by h and a vowel: exemplo (pr. ezémplo); exercito (pr. ezército); exhausto (pr. ezausto).

4. It is like ss or ç in trouxe, anxiedade, syntaxe, defluxo.

5. At the beginning of words, and in places other than those mentioned above, it is pronounced like the English sh; most cases fall under this rule: xarope (pr. as if sharópe); exministro (pr. as if written eijminístro); baixo (pr. báisho); lixo (pr. leesho).

DIALECTICAL

6. In certain parts of Portugal one hears many pronunciations that are purely dialectical. In Minho for example the people generally say binho instead of vinho, wine, and sordado instead of soldado, soldier. In Traz-os-Montes they say tchapeo for chapeo, hat, tchave for chave, key, djente for gente, folks; the caipiras or backwoodsmen of the state of São Paulo in Brazil have a similar pronunciation which was probably introduced from Portugal.⁠[11] See the example quoted in the exercise at page 166.

In Portugal as a rule the quantity of the short syllables is perceptibly shorter than in Brazil. Sobrado, perigo, and pessoa are so pronounced in full in the latter country, while in Portugal they are commonly pronounced s’brado, p’rigo, and p’ssoa. The d is pronounced in Brazil nearly as it is in the English language, but in Portugal it frequently has a strong resemblance to the English th in these, so that desde in Portugal sounds very like thézthy, and dedo, like dáytho, the th being soft like that in though.

7. Slang.—Like other languages Portuguese has its slang words or expressions; such words and expressions are called calão, gíria, or geringónça. Some of them are not Portuguese but simply fantastic expressions; for the most part, however, they are the ordinary words of the language used in some figurative or special sense. For example, estar na bagagem literally means to be in the baggage, but it is a slang expression used in regard to a person who is behindhand, or who is a slow coach. Mandachuva, one who orders the rain, is slang equivalent to the American expression political boss.⁠[12]⁠

ACCENT MARKS

8. The cedilla is used with c to show that that letter has the soft c sound.

The tilde (~) is used to show that the vowel over which it is placed is a nasal. It is only used over a and o.

The acute accent (´) and the circumflex (^) are used:

1. To show the position of the tonic accent, especially in homonyms where there is a chance of mistaking one word for another, as esta, this, and está, it is; séria, serious, and sería, would be.

2. To indicate contractions: em relação á (for a a) idéa, with regard to the idea.

Note.—The omission of the accent sometimes entirely changes the meaning of a sentence; for example, matar a sede means to quench one’s thirst, while matar á sede means to kill with thirst. In the second sentence the á is a contraction of the preposition a, by or with, and the article a, the.

3. To indicate what are called open (´) and close (^) sounds of the vowels e and o: café, mercê, paletó, avô.

TONE ACCENT

(See Exercise III, page 121)

9. Tone accent is a matter of so much importance in Portuguese that it is often quite impossible to understand the spoken language when the accents are improperly placed. Take as an illustration the word sabia: the accent may make it sábia, a learned woman, sabía, I knew or he knew, or sabiá, the Brazilian robin.

This kind of a case is not exceptional. In speaking the language, therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the accent be properly placed.

The tone accent always falls on one of the last three syllables. There is an apparent exception to this rule in the enclitic monosyllables which are joined to certain other words, as digo-lhe, I tell you; gosta-lo, to like it. In these instances the addition of this enclitic does not change the position of the accent even when it falls on the syllable preceding the antepenult. Example: fála-se-lhes.

a. There are no short and compact rules for guidance in the placing of the tone accent, and to almost every rule formulated there are many exceptions. The greatest number of words have it on the penult; fewest have it on the antepenult. The following suggestions may be found useful. For the accents of verbs see the models at § 107, pages 72-75.

b. The following words take the accent on the final syllable:

1. Those ending in the nasal diphthongs:

ão,⁠[13] except bénção, frángão, órfão, and órgão;

ãos;

ães;

ões.

2. Words ending in

i, except álcali, espermacéti, quási;

l, except words of Latin origin ending in ilis, as dócil, fácil, hábil, útil, and those ending in vel: amável, agradável, crível, nível;

im;

r, except assúcar, cadáver, cáncer, carácter, éther, júnior, mártyr, néctar, súlphur, and a few foreign words like repórter and revólver;

u, except tríbu;

y, except júry, tílbury;

z.

c. The following have the accent on the penult:

1. Erudite forms from the Greek ending in ia: as democracía, geología, philosophía, autopsía,⁠[14] etc. Except the following which take it on the antepenult: comédia, polícia, encyclopédia, geodésia, estratégia, necrománcia, pharmácia.

2. Words ending as follows:⁠[15]⁠

List of Words having the Accent on the Penult

ENDING EXAMPLE

-aco-a velhaco

-aço-a bagaço

-acho-a despacho

-acto-a contacto

-ado-a delgado

-ade idade

-ago-a estrago

-age-em estalagem

-aldo ribaldo

-alo-a exc. escándalo, sándalo

-alho-a soalho

-ama panorama

-ame arame

-ampo-a estampa

-ança balança

-anco-a alavanca

-ando-a contrabando

-anho-a campanha

-ano-a porcelana

-anto-a adianta

-ante abundante

-arco-a comarca

-ardo-a mostarda

-argo amargo

-aro amparo, exc. pássaro

-arro-a cigarro

-asso-a devasso

-asto-a nefasto

-aste contraste

-ato-a combata

-ate abacate

-avo-a escravo

-axo-a (see acho)

-eço-a aconteça

-edo-a brinquédo

-ego-a exc. tráfego

-eiro ferreiro

-eite leite

-eito respeito

-ejo-a gracejo

-elho evangelho

-ello-a cancello-a

-elo cogumelo

-emo extremo

-eme leme, exc. íngreme

-ença nascença

-endo-a legenda

-enho-a engenho

-enso-a imprensa

-ense cearense

-ento-a alimenta

-ente presente

-erso-a conversa

-erto-a concerto

-essa impressa

-esto modesto

-eto-a completo

-ete canivete

-exa perplexa

-eza baroneza

-ice velhice, exc. ápice, vertice, obice

-icho rabicho

-iço-a roliço

-ife recife

-igo-a exc. código, pródigo

-ilho-a quartilho

-ilo-a crocodilo

-imba cacimba

-indo-a tamarindo

-ingo-a domingo

-ino-a pepino

-into-a precinto-a

-inte ouvinte

-ique alambique

-ira caipira

-isco-a marisco

-ismo-a fatalismo

-iso paraiso

-isto-a revista

-istro registro

-ite limite, exc. trámite

-ivo-a objectivo

-ixo-a suffixo

-izo-a prejuizo

-oa canoa, exc. nódoa, névoa

-oço-a almoço

-ode pagode

-ogo-a fogo

-oito-a biscoito

-olho-a escolho

-olo-a viola, exc. frívolo, malévolo

-olto-a revolta

-olvo revolvo

-oma diploma

-ombo-a quilombo

-ona azeitona

-onça geringonça

-ondo-a redondo

maribondo

-onga oblonga

-onha vergonha

risonha

-ono abandono

-onto-a affronta

-onte horizonte

-oque reboque

-ora espora, exc. víbora, ámphora, cánfora

-orço-a esforça

-orma reforma

-orme conforme

-orno-a contorno

-orro-a cachorro

-orto-a morto

-orte consorte

-oso caprichoso

-osso colosso

-osto-a desgosta

-oto-a gafanhoto

terremoto

-ote serrote

-uco-a caduco

maluco

-udo-a agudo

-ude altitude

saude

-ugem ferrugem

-uega Noruega

-ulho-a embrulho

-umo-a resumo

-ume betume

-uno-a gatuno

-umno-a alumno

-undo-a fecunda

-unho-a testemunho

-uncto-a defuncta

-upo-a chalupa

-uque batuque

-uro-a figura

-urro-a empurra

-uso-a confusa

abuso

-usto-a robusta

arbusto

-uto-a enxuto

-ucto fructo

-upto corrupto

d. The following take the accent on the antepenult:

1. Masculine nouns from the Greek such as astrónomo, geólogo, philósopho.

2. Absolute superlatives in -imo: illustríssimo, óptimo.

3. Words ending as in the following:

List of Words having the Accent on the Antepenult

ENDING EXAMPLE

-acio palacio

-aculo espectaculo

-afico biografico

-aia praia

-alo (few) escandalo, exc. badálo

-ancia abundancia

-andega alfandega

-ania subterrania

-anico vulcanico

-antico romantico

-astico-a elastica

-atico-a aquatico

-eio-a passeio

-elico evangelico

-encia corpulencia

-enito congenito

-erico-a generica

-erio-a materia, exc. bateria

-errimo miserrimo

-etico-a magnetico

-etrico-a geometrico

-fugo centrifugo

-geno-a indigena

-icio-a sacrificio

-icie superficie

-iculo-a agricola

-idio-a suicidio

-ifero montifero

-ifico magnifico

-igero belligero

-ilio exilio

-inio-a dominio

-irio-a delirio

-itico-a politica

-itimo-a legitimo

-ivoro carnivoro

-odico methodico

-ogico logico

-ogio relogio, exc. elogío

-ographo geographo

-olico-a diabolico

-oloio espolio

-ologo geologo

-onico-a carbonico

-onio-a demonio

-onymo-a enonymo

-ore arvore, marmore

-orico-a categorico

-orio-a historia, exc. categoría

-otico-a narcotico

-uncio-a pronuncio

-undio-a gerundio

-unio importunio

-uo melifluo, exc. amúo

-uria penuria

-usculo maiusculo

e. There is a natural tendency in Portuguese to avoid placing the accent as far back as the antepenult; so much so that words thus accented are called esdrúxulos, a word of Italian origin (sdrúcciolo, slippery) which is used figuratively in Portuguese to mean odd, strange, extravagant. The esdrúxulos are few in number and are nearly all erudite forms.

QUANTITY

10. The tonic or accented vowels are always long; the atonic or unaccented ones are generally short: útil, agradável.⁠[16]⁠

SYLLABICATION

(See Exercise IV, page 123)

11. In syllabication,

a. Diphthongs cannot be separated.

b. Monosyllables cannot be divided.

c. The consonant combinations lh, nh, rh, and ph cannot be separated from each other or from the following vowels with which they form syllables: ma-nhã, ba-ta-lha, phi-lo-so-phí-a.

d. A consonant between vowels belongs with the second one: na-ríz, bár-ba-ro.

e. G and q followed by u remain with the vowel that follows: guin-das-te, qual-quer.

f. Double consonants are separated: bel-lo, af-fli-cto.

g. Mute letters, c in ch, t in th, g in gn, t in ct, t in pt, go with the following vowel: ar-chi-tec-tu-ra, pan-the-is-mo, si-gnal, fru-cto, ca-pti-vo, ex-em-pto.

h. In nasal syllables m and n generally belong with the preceding vowel: bem-di-to, man-so, dan-sar.

i. But when m is followed by n both of these letters belong with the following vowel: so-mno, da-mno.

j. Compound words are divided according to their elements: sub-stan-ti-vo.

CAPITAL LETTERS

12. The rules for capitals are the same in general as in English; except that adjectives derived from proper names and eu, I, are not written with capitals save for some other reason such as at the beginning of a sentence: francez, French; inglez, English. This rule is not invariable, however, and one sees the proper adjectives sometimes with the capital and sometimes without. The use of the capital in such cases is regarded by some authors as more strictly the Portuguese custom.

In addressing persons as Senhor, Senhora, Vossa Senhoria, Vossa Santidade, etc., it is the custom to begin these words with capitals. But capitals are not used when a person is referred to without the name, as o sr. engenheiro tomou conta da estrada.

ORTHOGRAPHY

13. Portuguese orthography is remarkably phonetic, and after a little practise one can usually spell correctly words heard for the first time. The etymology of the words, however, is not lost sight of, though some writers adhere more closely to the etymology while others tend toward phonetic simplification.

The only exceptions to the phonetic writing of vowel sounds are:

1. That unaccented o is generally pronounced like u short, as bonito (pr. as if bonítu).

2. Unaccented e is often pronounced like i short, as doce (pr. as if dóci).

a. The following will serve as examples of words spelled in different ways. For present purposes either spelling may be regarded as correct.

ETYMOLOGICAL SPELLING PHONETIC SPELLING MEANING

apprender aprender to learn

approximar aproximar to approach

charidade caridade charity

commigo comigo with me

dicto dito said

edade idade age

egreja igreja church

eschola escola school

escripto escrito written

logar lugar place

There are also many antiquated forms found in old books such as:

he for é is

hum, huma for um, uma a or one

sam for são are

b. It is to be expected that the spelling of the present day should differ considerably from that of the sixteenth century, but aside from these differences one finds certain variations (called syncretic forms) that often puzzle the beginner. These come chiefly from the equivalence of the diphthongs ou and oi. The following is a list of the most common syncretic forms. Either form is allowable.

List of Common Syncretic Forms

açoute açoite whip-lash

cousa coisa thing

couro coiro leather

doudo doido crazy

dous dois two

lousa loisa paving slate

mouta moita coppice

noute noite night

ouro oiro gold

thesouro thesoiro treasure

vindouro vindoiro future

c. On the whole the tendency is toward the phonetic spelling, a tendency that has lately received much fresh impulse. These variations, however, are not to be regarded as license to spell words in any way.⁠[17]⁠

FOOTNOTES: