FIRST COURSE.
Reading edition
The Pronunciation.
1. The Alphabet.
The Portuguese Alphabet is composed of the 25 following letters:
pronounced pronounced
a ah n ennay
b bay o o
c say p pay
d day q kay
e ai r erray
f effay s essay
g jay t tay
h aghah u oo
i ee v vay
j dshod x shees
k kah y ypsilon
l ellay z zea
m emmay
There are six vowels: a, e, i, o, u and y, the rest are consonants.
2. The Accent.
The Portuguese language has several accents:
the ʹ acute accent,
the ^ circumflex accent,
the ~ hyphen, called til, is set over some letters
as a substitute for m, as:
lã for lam
bẽ for bem
huã for huam.
3. The Vowels.
A 1. is pronounced like the a in the English word path, when it has the acute accent ´:
chá, tea
dá, he gives
lá, there.
2. is it pronounced short and clear like the a in father:
capitão, the captain (first a),
or if found before the double consonants: cc, ll, mm, nn, pp, ss, tt, as:
acclamar, to call out
annullar, to annull
alludir, to allude
appellar, to appeal.
3. it has a soft and aspirated sound at the end of words if not accentuated: vergonha, the shame. If the hyphen ~ til stands over the a it takes a nasal sound:
irmãa (pr. irmāng), the sister
lã (pr. lāng), the world.
E has three sounds:
1. open but short like ai in the English word hail, when with the acute accent ´ as:
pé, foot
fé, belief
sé,
or in:
mel, honey
he, he is
quero (pr. kayro), I will,
or in those verbs ending in er:
conhecer, to know
receber, to receive.
2. long, when with the circumflex ^ over it, as:
lê, he reads
vê, he sees
rêde, the net.
3. It is almost mute at the end of words without the accent, as:
liberdade, liberty
amizade, friendship.
I is pronounced like e in the English word me, and it is only the accent that determines the pronunciation, as:
tímido,
timoré,
difficil,
javalí.
O has three sounds:
1. clear and strong in:
mólho,
dó.
2. soft and long in:
bôlo, cake
gôrdo, fat
rapôsa, the fox (fem.).
3. quite short, almost like oo in:
poder, to be able
molho, a bundle almost pronounced like
molyou.
U is pronounced like the oo in the word wood, but the pronunciation depends much upon the length of the syllables, f. i. in túmulo, the grave, the first u is long, the second is short. If provided with the til ~ and before m and n it takes the nasal sound.
If it follows after g and q, it is either aspirated, or it is quite mute, as:
guerra (gerrah), war
quero (kayro), I will
quieto (key-eh-to), quite.
In qual, it is slightly sounded to distinguish it from the Noun cal, the chalk.
Y is pronounced like the vowel I.
4. The Consonants.
B is pronounced like the English B.
C before a, o, u, l and r is pronounced like k, as:
cavallo (kahvallo), the horse
cravo (krahvo), the pink
cuidado (kooeedado), the care.
Before e and i it sounds like s, as:
ceo (sayo), heaven
cigarro (seegarro), cigar.
If the c before a, o, u has a cedille (ç)
it sounds like s, as:
caça (kassah), chase
aço (asso), the steel
açucar (assookar), sugar.
The double c, is distinctly heard only before e and i,
the first sounds like k, the second like s, as:
accidente (akseedente), the accident.
D is pronounced like the English.
Fdo.do.
G before a, o and a consonant is pronounced like the English g, as:
gordo, fat
gravo, grave.
g before e and i sounds like the j in the English word joy, as: general.
gua almost sounds like the English wa, as: guarda, pr. gwarda.
H is only softly aspirated in few words, as:
anhelar,
hálito;
otherwise it is mute, as:
homem (omem), man
hora (ora), hour.
Many writers drop the h at the beginning
and write um, uma,
instead of: hum, huma.
J is pronounced like the English j.
K only occurs in foreign words and is pronounced like the English K.
L is pronounced like the English L.
M at the beginning of words, or between two vowels when it belongs to the second syllable, is pronounced like the English m, as:
menino, child
amar, to love.
It takes a nasal sound at the end of words, or when it follows after a, e, i, o or u which cannot well be described, as:
condição, condition
bem (bang), well
bom (bong), good.
N is pronounced like the English n, but has the same peculiarities as m.
P is pronounced as in English.
Q sounds like k, as: quero (kayro), I will.
R is pronounced as in English.
S is pronounced as in English; between two vowels it sounds like z.
T is pronounced like the English.
Vdo.do.
X has three sounds.
1. It sounds generally like sh, as:
xarope (sharope), syrup
enxaqueca (anshakeykah), headake.
2. After e it is pronounced like ks, as:
extenção,
extenuado,
expulso,
excellente.
3. Between two vowels it is pronounced like gz, as:
exactamente,
exornar,
except in:
paixão,
puxo,
Alexandre,
baixo,
and some other words, where it sounds like sh.
The x must be pronounced so softly that it is scarcely audible.
Z sounds like the English, as:
zelo,
zona.
At the end of words it sounds like s, as:
rapaz,
luz,
voz.
5. Double Consonants.
The Portuguese language has the following double consonants:
Ch 1. is pronounced like the English ch, as:
acho,
chaga,
marchar.
2. it is pronounced like k in words derived from Latin or Greek, as:
monarchia,
archeo,
archonte,
Achilles.
Lh is pronounced like the ll in the English word “billiards” or in the French words “fille, bouilli”,as:
mulher, woman
mólho, the bundle.
Nh is pronounced like the French gn in “espagne, peigner”, as:
ganho, I win
banho, bath
manha, trick.
Ph is pronounced like f, as: philosophia.
Rh and Th are pronounced like r and t.
6. The Diphthongs.
The Portuguese language has two kinds of diphthongs: the pure, those which are distinctly pronounced, and the nasal diphthongs, pronounced with a nasal sound.
Pure Diphthongs.
ae, as:
taes,
olivaes.
ai (the a and i do not blend), as:
pai (pa-i),
ai (a-i).
ao, as:
páo (pa-o),
máo (ma-o).
au, as:
aula,
auto,
pauta,
causa.
ei, ey, as:
rei,
rey,
lei,
sei.
éi, as:
papéis,
réis.
eo, as:
deo,
mordeo,
viveo.
éo, as:
Céo,
véo,
réo.
eu, as:
eu,
euro,
meu,
seu.
io, as:
pio,
rio,
vio,
ouvio.
oa, as:
loa,
toa.
oe, as:
heroe,
dóe,
róe.
oi, as:
boi.
ôo, oo, as:
vôo,
sôo,
môo.
ou, as:
ou,
ouvir,
douto.
ui, uy, as:
fui,
Rui.
In the above the first vowel is preeminent,
in the following the second vowel has most emphasis.
ea, as:
lactea,
área.
eo, as:
lacteo,
arboreo.
ia, as:
gloria.
oa (pron. oâ and oá), as:
agoa,
coadura,
coalho.
ui (pron. ui), as:
quirinal,
inquirir.
uo (pron. uó), as:
equoreo.
uu (pron. uú), as:
equuleo.
Nasal Diphthongs.
ãa (bad orthography am or an), as:
maçãa (mas-sang), apple,
irmãa (ir-mang), sister.
ãe (bad aem, aen), as:
capitães (kapeeta-engs), captains,
cães (ka-engs), dogs.
am, as:
amparo (ang-paro), protection.
an, as:
andar (ang-dar), to go.
ão (bad orthogr. aõ, am, an), as:
captião, captain.
em, ẽe, ẽem, as:
lem or lẽem (lay-eng), they read,
bem, good.
im, as:
fim (fing), the end.
õe (oem, oen), as:
põe (pong-eng),
nações (nahs-so-engs).
om, as:
bom (bong), good.
um, un, as:
mundo (moong-do), the world.
The Portuguese have also syllables of three vowels such, as:
eei,
éio,
eão,
ião,
as:
eia, hallo!
meia, half
ideia, idea
rodeão, they surround
vivião, they lived.