Portuguese Alphabet

8/13/2019 Portuguese Alphabet

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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 andmerchants 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 inaccordance 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)

A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i

b c d efe g ag i

J j K k L l M m N n O o P p Q q R r

jota c/capa ele eme ene p qu erre

S s T t U u V v W w X x Y y Z z

esse t u v

dbliu,

dblio,

duplo-v

xis

psilon,

ipsilo,

i grego

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
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Pronunciation of the Portuguese of Brazil


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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 [oaoa] when stressed, oa ua [a] when unstressed

the diphthongs ea, eo, ia, ie, io, oa, ua, ue and uo appear at the ends ofwords 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 [] beforei 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 [] before i or e, [g] elsewhere

gu [g] before i or e, [g] elsewhere

Triphthongs are madeup of combinations of gu, g, qu, q + a diphthong, e.g. saguo,

agei, sequia.

l [] after vowels final e before consonants
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m is nasalized when at the end of a syllable and preceded by a vowel, e.g. cantam

[kt], homem [omi ], sim [si ]

n is nasalized when at the end of a syllable, preceded by a vowel and followed by a

consonant, eg cansar [ksa], alento [altu]

nh [~ii, ], ie nasalizes preceeding vowels, eg banha [biia] In some north eastern

parts of Brazil,inha [a] and -inho [u] In some parts of Brazil, nh []

qu [k] before i or e, [k] before a or o

r [x~] or [r~] in some areas at the beginning of words and after n

r [~x~~r~] at the ends of words and before consonants If thefollowing word

begins with a vowel, r = [r~]

r = [r] after consonants (except n)

rr [x~] or [r~] in some areasr [] 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 [naisimtu]

t [] 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).

x [] 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 [ezmi], or [], eg vexame [veami]

x [], [ks] or [s] elsewhere, eg relaxar [xelaa], fixo ['fiksu], auxiliar [asili axr]

x = [ks] when in finalposition

x is silent in exce, exci, exs, eg exceto [estu], excitar [esita],exsudar [esu'da]

z = [s] in finalposition 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
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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 PortugueseTodos 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
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Portuguese Alphabet

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