Portuguese language: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Portuguese (português) is a Romance language spoken in various countries, including Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and East Timor. With more than 200 million native speakers, Portuguese is the fifth or sixth most popular mother-tongue language in the world, and the second Romance language, outnumbered only by Spanish, and one of the few languages spoken all over the world.

Portuguese is nicknamed A língua de Camões ("The language of Camoens", after Luís de Camões, the author of The Lusiad); and A última flor do Lácio ("The last flower of Latium"). Portuguese language speakers are known as Lusitanic.

The Portuguese language was spread worldwide in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as Portugal created the first and the longest lived modern-world colonial and commercial empire (1415–1975), spanning from Brazil in the Americas to Macau in China and Japan. As a result of that expansion, Portuguese is now the official language of several independent countries, and is widely spoken or studied as a second language in many others. There are still more than 20 Portuguese Creole languages. It is an important minority language in Andorra, Luxembourg and Namibia. Large Portuguese-speaking immigrant communities exist in many cities around the world, e.g. Paris in France, Boston, New Bedford and Newark in the USA.

History

Portuguese developed in the Western Iberian Peninsula from the spoken Latin language brought there by Roman soldiers and colonist starting in the 3rd century BC. The language began to differentiate itself from other Romance languages after the fall of the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasions in the 5th century. It started to be used in written documents around the 9th century, and by the 15th century it had become a mature language with a rich literature.

Roman colonization

The Romans conquered the Western Iberian Peninsula, wich they called Hispania, later part of the Roman provinces of Lusitania and Callaecia, currently Portugal and Galicia (region of Spain). Arriving at the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC, they brought with them the Roman people's language, the Vulgar Latin from which all Romance languages (also known as "new Latin languages") descend. The Roman control of the western part of Hispania was not complete until Caesar Augustus campaigns in 26 BC, but allready in the 2nd century BC southern Lusitania was romanized and very few traces of the native languages persist in modern Portuguese. Strabo, a 1st century Greek geographer comments about it on one of his Geographia book series: "they adopted the Roman customs, and already they do not remember their own language."

For a thousand years, the Romance dialect of that region evolved only as a spoken language.

Barbarian invasions

Between 409 A.D. and 711, as the Roman Empire was collapsing, the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by peoples of germanic origin, known by the Romans as Barbarians. The Barbarians (mainly Suevi and Visigoths) largely absorbed the Roman culture and language of the peninsula; however, since the Roman schools and administration were closed and Europe entered in the Dark Ages, the Latin language was left free to evolve on its own and the uniformity of the Peninsula was soon disrupted. In the western part of the Peninsula (Today's Northern Portugal and Galicia), Latin gained some local characteristics and in that region the Suevi had established, leading to the formation of the "Lusitanic Romance". The Germanic languages influenced Portuguese in words linked to war and violence, such as "Guerra" (to mean War).

Moorish invasion

From 711, with the Moorish invasion of the Peninsula, Arabic was adopted as the administrative language in the conquered regions. However, the population continued to speak Romance; so that when the Moors were expelled, the influence that they had exerted on the language was small. Its main effect was in the lexicon: modern Portuguese still has a large number of words of Arabic origin, especially relating to food and crafts, which have no cognates in other Romance languages. But there is any loan word in lexicon related to human feelings, all remaining of Latin origin. The Arabic influence is also visible in placenames throughout the Southern provinces, such as Algarve and Fátima.

The rise of the Portuguese language

In the 3rd century the Roman emperor Diocletian split the Tarragonensis province in three and the Callaecia province was created, the western Hispania was then made of Lusitania in the south and Callaecia in the north. The Portuguese language developed mainly in Northern Portugal and Galicia (northwestern region of Spain), but was largely influenced by similar Romance dialects spoken in southern Portugal.

The earliest surviving records of a distinctively Portuguese language are administrative documents from the ninth century, still interspersed with many phrases in Latin, today this phase is known as "Proto-Portuguese" (spoken in the period between the 9th to the 12th century).

Portugal became an independent country in 1143, with King Afonso Henriques. In the first period of "Old Portuguese" (from 12th to the 14th century), the language came gradually into general use in the following centuries. In 1290, king Diniz created the first Portuguese University in Lisbon (the Estudo Geral) and decreed that Portuguese, then simply called the "Vulgar language" (i.e. Vulgar Latin) should be used in preference to Classical Latin and known as "Portuguese language". In 1296, Portuguese is adopted by Royal Chancellary. Used now not only in poetry but also when writing law and in notaries.

Until 1350, the language Portuguese-Galician remained the native language of Galicia and Portugal only; but by the 14th century Portuguese had become a mature language with a rich literary tradition, becoming a popular language for poetry in Iberia, adopted by many Leonese, Castilian, Aragonese and Catalan poets. For instance, Cantigas de Santa Maria was written by a Alfonso X, a Castillian king. Some time later, when Spanish also became written in Castilian realms, Galicia came under the influence of Castilian language, and the southern variant became the language of Portugal.

The Portuguese discoveries

in the second period of Old Portuguese, Between the 14th and the 16th centuries, with the Portuguese discoveries, the Portuguese language spread to many regions of Asia, Africa and America. By the 16th century it had become a lingua franca in Asia and Africa, used not only for colonial administration and trade but also for communication between local officials and Europeans of all nationalities. In Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) several kings became fluent speakers of Portuguese, and nobles often took Portuguese names. The spread of the language was helped by mixed marriages between Portuguese and local people (also very common in other areas of the world), and its association with the Catholic missionary efforts which led to the language being called Cristão ("Christian") in many places. The language continued to be popular despite the severe measures taken by the Dutch to abolish it in Ceylon and Indonesia

Some Portuguese-speaking Christian communities in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia preserved their language even after they were isolated from Portugal, the language largelly changed and have evolved through the centuries into several Portuguese Creoles. Also, many words of Portuguese origin entered the lexicons of many other languages such as "pan" to mean "bread" to mean "thank you" in Japanese (from "pão"), "sepatu" to mean "shoe" in Indonesian (from "sapato"), "keju" to mean "cheese" in Malay (from "queijo"), "meza" to mean "table" in Swahili (from "mesa").

The Renaissance

The end of "Old Portuguese" was marked by the publication of the Cancioneiro Geral de Garcia de Resende, in 1516. But a variant of Old Portuguese is still spoken, as a dialect, especially in São Tomé and Principe, but also Brazil, Portugal and Angola. In period of "Modern Portuguese" (from the 16th century until this days) and with the Renaissance, increases the number of words of Classical Latin origin and erudite words of Greek origin increased the complexity of Portuguese.

Indo-European - Italic - Romance - Italo-Western - Western - Gallo-Iberian - Ibero-Romance - West-Iberian - Portuguese-Galician

Portuguese is orthographically similar in many ways to Spanish, but is very different in speech. A speaker of one may require some practice to effectively understand a speaker of the other. Compare, for example:

Ela fecha sempre a janela antes de jantar. (Portuguese)

Ella cierra siempre la ventana antes de cenar. (Spanish)

A large number of words in Spanish or Portuguese have close relatives in both languages if you are cultivated enough to use less common words:

Ela encerra sempre a janela antes de cear. (less common Portuguese)

(Which translates as "She always closes the window before having dinner.")

In some places, Spanish and Portuguese are spoken almost interchangeably. Portuguese speakers are generally able to read Spanish, and Spanish speakers are generally able to read Portuguese, even if they cannot understand the spoken language. Tourists in Portugal and Brazil trying to communicate with the locals in Spanish are understood but may seem very offensive. French or English languages should be preferred in Portugal (because they are the two foreign languages taught in portuguese schools - most people under 40 speak one of them well), if not speaking Portuguese. Portuguese people appreciate an "olá" for hello and "tchau" for good-bye.

Portuguese has obvious similaries also with Mirandese, Catalan, Italian, French and with other Romance languages. Speakers of other Romance languages may find a peculiarity in the conjugating of certain apparently infinitive verbs. In particular, when constructing a future tense or conditional tense expression involving an indirect object pronoun, the pronoun is placed between the verb stem and the verb ending. For example, Dupondt said trazer-vos-emos o vosso ceptro. Translating as literally as possible, this is "bring (stem)-to you (formal)-we (future) the your scepter". In English we would say, "We will bring you your scepter." The form Nós vos traremos o vosso ceptro. is also correct, used mainly in spoken Portuguese, while the first form is prefered for written Portuguese.

Portuguese is the first language in Angola, Brazil, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe. And, it is the most widely used language in Mozambique.

Portuguese is also one of the official languages of East Timor (with Tetum) and Macau (with Chinese). It is largely spoken, but not official, in Andorra, Luxembourg and Namibia. Portuguese Creoles are the mother tongue of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau's population.

The majority of the speakers of Portuguese live in four continents: Africa, South America, Asia and Europe. However, still almost two million speakers are found in North America (most in the United States, Canada, Bermuda and Antigua and Barbuda). Less than 50 thousand speakers live in Oceania.

The table "Portuguese language countries and territories" includes countries where Portuguese language is official and while not official, where it is spoken by more than 1% of the population. The data are based on projections made by local governments, public institutes, associations and language official census (Angola - 1983; Mozambique - 1997). In Spain, Galicia² (circa 90%) and Vale do Xálima³, the language is also largely spoken. Their data was not included because these "languages" are not officially understood as Portuguese language.

South America

The language of Camoens is growing in importance in South America. Because of Brazil, it is being taught (and is popular, especially in Argentina) in the rest of the South American countries that constitute Mercosul. There are 182.1 million people in Brazil who use Portuguese as their main language, but there are also first-language speakers in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, where a hybrid dialect, known as "portuñol" (from português and español) has emerged. It is also spoken in Venezuela.

Europe

In Europe, Portuguese is spoken mainly in Portugal by its 10.3 million inhabitants, as their first language. The language is also spoken throughout Europe by Portuguese influence, by more than 10% of the population of Luxembourg and Andorra. There are also strong Portuguese speaking communities in Belgium, France, Germany, Jersey and Switzerland, but Portuguese emigration has stopped what could lead to a decrease of speakers in some European countries. Except for Luxembourg, where the language has gained strong roots, and most Luxembourguese of Portuguese decent can speak Portuguese perfectly, there are Portuguese radio and TV stations and the language is taught in some schools. In January 2003, 14,23% of the Luxembourgese population was Portuguese. It is also spoken in Spain, especially in Galicia (known officially as Galician), Olivença and in Vale do Xalima (known as A fala). Portuguese is an optional learning language in eleven European countries (nine of them in the European Union).

Galician (Galego) can be seen as a somewhat Spanish-like form of Portuguese. The current Galician Autonomous Government backs a standard variety of Galician which distances it from Portuguese and makes its written form more similar to Spanish. Nevertheless, there is another standard, used in some political circles and universities, that treats Galician as a Portuguese dialect with minor differences. Most linguists have always recognized the unity of these linguistic varieties (for instance, Joan Corominas, Lindley Cintra, Coseriu), as they were once just the same language and both are relatively conservative varieties. However, in practice, they are normally treated as different languages by both populations mainly due to sociolinguistic factors. During the Middle Ages, Galician and Portuguese were undoubtedly the same language, nowadays known as Portuguese-Galician, a language used for poetic works even in Castile. The only Galician deputy in the European Union Parliament, Camilo Nogueira, speaks in Portuguese and says that his language is already official in the EU, that is Portuguese. There are many Galician groups that demand the reunification of the language.

Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa, Portuguese is a growing language and is projected by UNESCO to be one of the most spoken languages within 50 years. As the populations of Angola and Mozambique continue to grow, their influence on Portuguese will becoming increasingly important. Angola and Mozambique, along with São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau are known as the Paises Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa (Official Portuguese Language African Countries) or PALOP, forming a community of some 16 million speakers (9 million use it has first or only language, the rest are bilinguals, using the language daily). The Portuguese language especially grew in use after the independence of Portugal's former colonies. Independence movements from Guinea-Bissau to Mozambique saw it as an instrument to achieve their countries development and national unity. Portuguese is spoken and a learning language in Malawi, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Spoken by 20% of the population of Namibia and by more than one million people in South Africa.

In the south of Senegal, known as Casamance, an active Portuguese creole community linked culturally and linguistically to Guinea-Bissau, learning the history and language of Portugal is popular, and people feel they are learning part of their own background, since they are desdendants of both Portuguese and Africans. A Portuguese creole linked to São Tomé and Principe is the language of the island of Annobón, Equatorial Guinea.

In Angola, Portuguese is quickly becoming a national language rather than only an official language or a cohesion vehicle. By the census of 1983, in the capital, Luanda, Portuguese was the first language of 75% of a population of 2.5 million. In the entire country 60% of the 12.5 million inhabitants spoke Portuguese as their main spoken language . Most younger Angolans can only speak Portuguese. Angola receives several Portuguese and Brazilian televison stations, a Portuguese news TV station (SIC Notícias) became very popular in Angola in a record time after it started broadcasting there in 2003. There are also many other native languages in Angola, though the population treats them as dialects and not languages. Some words from those languages have been borrowed by Portuguese, when the retornados returned to Portugal after Angola's independence. Words like iá (yes), bué (many) or bazar (going away), common in the young and urban Portuguese population have their origin in Angolan languages, used in Angolan Portuguese.

Mozambique is among the countries where the Portuguese has the status of official language, being spoken essentially as a second language. However, it is the main language in the cities. According to the Census of 1997, Portuguese speakers account for more than 40% of the population, this number rises to more than 72% in the urban areas. But only 9% consider Portuguese as their main language (26% in the cities). All the Mozambican writers write in Portuguese, it has become attached to the colour and texture of the Mozambican culture.

In Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, the most widely spoken languages are Portuguese creoles known as Crioulos, and the informal use of the Portuguese language seems to decrease. Most Cape Verdians can also speak Standard Portuguese, used formally. There is some decreoulization due to education and the popularity of Portugal's national TV channels. The case is a bit different in Guinea-Bissau where, Portuguese and its Creole is spoken by more than 60% of the inhabitants, of which Portuguese itself is only spoken by 14%.

In São Tomé and Príncipe, the Portuguese used by the population is an archaic Portuguese, known as São Tomean Portuguese, presenting many similarities with Brazilian Portuguese. Politicians and the upper classes use the modern European Portuguese variety, much like the other PALOP countries. Three different Portuguese creoles are also spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe. Usually, Children can only speak Portuguese, because of their parents preference, and not because of school, by the time they are adults they usually have learned a Portuguese Creole known as Forro. But more than 50% of the population keeps using Portuguese informally and its use seems to increase. Almost all the population can speak Portuguese.

Asia

Portuguese is also spoken in Asia, especially in East Timor, Goa, Daman and Diu in India, and Macau in China. In Goa, where it is spoken by an increasingly small minority, it is seen as the 'language of grandparents', because it is no longer taught in schools, nor is it an official language. In Macau, Portuguese remains an official language with equal status to Chinese, although only the small Macanese or Eurasian population uses it and there is only one Portuguese-medium school. Portuguese is also learned in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In Malacca in Malaysia, there is a Portuguese creole known as Cristão or Papiá Kristang still spoken by some of the Eurasian population. There are also active Portuguese creoles, especially in India and Sri Lanka. In Japan, Portuguese is spoken by Brazilians of Japanese descent, known as dekasegui, who number approximately 250,000 people.

In East Timor, the most spoken language is Tetum, an Austronesian language, but it has been heavily influenced by Portuguese. The reintroduction of Portuguese as an official language has caused suspicion and resentment among some younger East Timorese who have been educated under the Indonesian system, and do not speak it. Portuguese in East Timor is spoken by less than 20% of its population, mostly the elder generation, though this percentage is increasing as Portuguese is being taught to the younger generation and to interrested adults. East Timor asked the other CPLP nations to help it to reintroduce Portuguese as an official language. East Timor uses Portuguese to link itself to a larger international community and to differentiate itself from Indonesia. Xanana Gusmão, president of East Timor, believes that Portuguese will be widely spoken again within 10 years.

Official status

The CPLP or Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries is an international organization consisting of the eight independent countries which have Portuguese as an official language. Portuguese is also an official language of the European Union, Mercosul and the African Union (one of the working languages) and one of the official languages of other organizations. Except for the Asian territories (East Timor and Macau), Portuguese is the sole official language in each country.

Dialects

Main article: Portuguese dialects

Portuguese language speakers do not understand their dialects as "dialects", but as "accents" (Port. sotaques) or even pronunciation (Port. pronúncia), even if in different countries, but especially within the same. Mostly because the term "dialect" has been used to classify a language without prestige.

Standard European Portuguese (also known as Estremenho) has changed more than the other varieties. Still, all aspects and sounds of all Portuguese (nation) dialects can be found in some Brazilian (nation) dialect. African Portuguese especially São Tomean Portuguese (also known as Santomense) has many similarities with Brazilian Portuguese (also know as fluminense), also Southern Portugal dialects presents many similarities, especially, the excessive use of the geround. In Europe, Alto-Minhoto and Transmontano are very similar to Galician.

Even with independence of the former African colonies, the standard Portuguese of Portugal is still the preferred standard for the African Portuguese countries. Thus, Portuguese has only two learning accent standards, the European and the Brazilian. Note that: in Portuguese there are four preferred accents: Coimbra's, Lisbon's, Rio de Janeiro's and São Paulo's and these four influence most other dialects.

Major Portuguese dialects:

Brazil

1. Caipira - interior of the State of São Paulo
2. Cearense - Ceará
3. Baiano - Region of Bahia
4. Fluminense (hear it) - States of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo (the city of Rio de Janeiro has a particular way of speaking)
5. Gaúcho - Rio Grande do Sul
6. Mineiro - Minas Gerais
7. Nordestino (hear it) - northeastern states of Brazil (the interior area and Recife have particular ways of speaking)
8. Nortista - Amazon Basin states
9. Paulistano - city of São Paulo
10. Sertão - States of Goiás and Mato Grosso
11. Sulista - south of Brazil

Portugal

1. Açoriano (hear it) - Azores
2. Alentejano (hear it) - Alentejo
3. Algarvio (hear it) - Algarve (there is a particular small dialect in the western area)
4. Alto-Minhoto (hear it) - North of Braga (interior)
5. Baixo-Beirão; Alto-Alentejano (hear it) - Central Portugal (interior)
6. Beirão (hear it) - central Portugal
7. Estremenho (hear it) - Regions of Coimbra and Lisbon (can be subdivided in Lisbon Portuguese and Coimbra Portuguese)
8. Madeirense (hear it) - Madeira
9. Nortenho (hear it) - Regions of Braga and Porto
10. Transmontano (hear it) Trás-os-Montes

Angola

1. Benguelense - Benguela province
2. Luandense (hear it) - Luanda province
3. Sulista - South of Angola

Other areas

• Caboverdiano (hear it) - Cape Verde
• Galician - Galiza, Spain
• Guineense (hear it) - Guinea-Bissau
• Macaense (hear it) - Macau, China
• Moçambicano (hear it) - Mozambique
• Santomense (hear it) - São Tomé and Principe
• Timorense (hear it) - East Timor

Examples of words that are different in Portuguese dialects from three different continents Angola (Africa), Portugal (Europe) and Brazil (South America).

Go away

• Angola: bazar, ir embora
• Brazil: ir embora;
• Portugal: ir embora; (or bazar among teenagers)

Bus

• Portugal: autocarro
• Brazil: ônibus
• Angola: machimbombo

slum quarter

• Angola: muceque
• Brazil: favela
• Portugal: bairro de lata

Derived languages

Main article: Portuguese Creole

Portugal in the period of discoveries and colonization created a linguistic contact with native languages and people of the discovered lands and thus pidgins were formed. Until the 18th century, these Portuguese pidgins were used as Lingua Franca in Asia and Africa. Later, the Portuguese pidgins were expanded grammatically and lexically, as it became a native language. These creoles are spoken, mostly, by inter-racial communities (Portuguese people with natives).

Cape Verde:

• Crioulo Barlavento (Criol)
• Crioulo Sotavento (Kriolu)

Equatorial Guinea:

• Falar de Ano Bom

Guinea-Bissau and Senegal:

• Crioulo da Guiné (Kriol)

India:

• Creole of Diu
• Creole of Vaipim
• Kristi
• Língua da Casa

Macau, China:

• Macaista

Malaysia, Singapore:

• Papiá Kristang

Netherlands Antilles and Aruba:

• Papiamento

São Tomé and Principe:

• Angolar
• Forro
• Lunguyê

Sri Lanka:

• Burgher

Suriname:

• Saramacano

Some hybrid dialects came to exist after an interaction with Spanish:

• A Fala, Spain
• Barranquenho, Portugal
• Gallego, Spain (The official variety, Galicians name it "Castrapo")
• Portuñol, Uruguai

Main article: Portuguese sounds

The Portuguese language is particularly interesting to linguists because of the complexity of its phonetic structure. The language contains 9 vowels, 5 nasal vowels and 25 consonantal sounds. Also, Portuguese is a "free accentuation language", as distinct pronunciation exists even in the same dialect.

Main articles: Portuguese grammar - Personal pronouns - Verbs conjugation

Verbs are divided into three declensions, which can be identified by looking at the infinitive ending, one of "-ar", "-er", "-ir" (and "-or", irregular verbs). Most verbs ends with "-ar", such as cantar (to sing). All verbs with the same ending follow the same patern.

In Portuguese, verbs are divided into moods:

• Imperative. Used to express a wish, command or advice
• Indicative. Used to express a fact
• Subjective. Used to express a wish or a possibility

All Portuguese nouns have one of two genders: masculine or inclusive and feminine or exclusive. Most adjectives and pronouns, and all articles indicate the gender of the noun they reference. The feminine gender in adjectives is formed in a different way to that in nouns. Most adjectives ending in a consonant remain unchanged: homem superior (superior man), mulher superior (superior woman). This is also true for adjectives ending in "e": homem forte(strong man), mulher forte(strong woman). Except for this, the noun and the adjective must always be in agreement.

Since Portuguese is a Romance language, most of the language comes from Latin. However, other languages that have come into contact with Portuguese have left their mark.

Pre-Roman origin words

Very few traces of the native (Lusitanians, Conii, or Calicians) or pre-Roman settlers like the Phoenicians, Carthaginians or Celts lexicon persist in the language, but there are some exceptions, most are unconfirmed. Many places in Portugal, have pre-Roman names, such has the name of the cities of Braga and Coimbra and the rivers Minho and Tâmega.

Native Iberian:

• Abóbora (pumpkin)
• Bezerro (year-old calf)
• Louça (claw)
• Manteiga (butter)
• Sapo (frog)

Celtic:

• Cabana (hut)
• Cama (bed)
• Camisa (shirt)
• Carvalho(oak)
• Cerveja (beer)
• Touca (headress)

Phoenician:

• Malha (mesh)
• Mapa (map)
• Saco (bag)

From Latin to Portuguese

Portuguese, both in morphology and syntax, represents an organic transformation of Latin without the direct intervention of any foreign language. The sounds, grammatical forms, and syntactical types, with a few exceptions, are derived from Latin. And almost 90% of the vocabulary is still derived from the language of Rome. Some of the changes began during the Empire, others took place later. Since Portuguese was reinfluenced by it (reinfluence represented with 1), many original words are still familiar to Portuguese speakers.

N.B.: In the Latin examples below, we have used all-capitals so as to be in line with how the ancient language was actually written. Note also that the letter V was the vowel we know today as U, and that the C was always pronounced /k/, so CENTV was pronounced /kentu/ (the derived Cento in Portuguese is pronunced as /se~tu/).

Nasalization — A vowel before [m] and [n] has a tendency to become a nasal vowel, this occurs in many languages. In the case of Portuguese, it happened between the sixth and seventh centuries. This change sharply distinguishes Portuguese from Spanish, in which it did not occur.

• LVNA > l[ũ]a > Lua (moon).

Palatalization — Another assimilation occurs before the high vowels [i] and [e], or near the semi-vowel, or palatal [j].

• CENTV > [tj]ento > [ts]ento > cento, (hundred)
• FACERE > fa[tj]ere > fa[ts]er > fa[dz]er > fazer, (to do)
• A more ancient evolution was FORTIA > for[ts]a > força (strength)

Elision — Simultaneous influence in a consonant by vowels, occurring a sintagmatic chain.

• DOLORE > door > dor (pain) — dolorido¹ (in pain)
• BONV > bõo > bom, (good)
• ANELLV > ãelo > elo (Ring) — Anel¹ (hand ring)

Voicing - some consonants did not disappear but rather evolved:

• MUTV > mudo (deaf)
• LACV > lago (lake)
• FABA > fava (broadbean)

Simplification of consonant clusters, especially doubled vowels, occurred:

• GVTTA > gota (drop)
• PECCARE > pecar (to sin)

Dissimilation - Modification of a sound by the influence of neighbouring sounds.

• Dissimilation between vowels:
  • LOCVSTA > lagosta (lobster)
  • CAMPANA > campãa > campa (tomb)
• Dissimilation between consonants:
  • MEMORARE > nembrar > lembrar (to remember) — Memorizar¹ (to memorize)
  • ANIMA > alma (soul) — Animado¹ (livened up)
  • LOCALE > logar > lugar (place) — local¹ (place)

Some other alterations were semi-vowel metathesis: PRIMARIV becomes primeiro (Eng. first); consonant metathesis in [l] and [r] are rare in Portuguese (e.g. TENEBRAS > teevras > trevas, Eng. darkness); and epenthesis, where there is not a total assimilation by adding new sounds. Such as for wine: Vulgar Latin: VINO, medieval Portuguese Vi~o, Modern Portuguese (since 14th or 15th centuries): Vinho. However, the sound of medieval Portuguese is still alive in some Portuguese dialects of Brazil and São Tomé and Príncipe. Another specially relevant shift was the loss of the intervocalic /l/ in a very large set of words, already described in the list above as an example of "elision" -> e.g: SALIRE > sair; COLARE > coar; NOTVLA > nódoa, with the typical portuguese voicing of /t/ in /d/ (AMATVS > amado). Fewer words remaned unchanged, such as Taberna (tavern).

Germanic origin words

The Germanic influence in Portuguese was small restricted to warfare and cloths used in war. The influence also exists in placenames such has Ermesinde and Esposende, where sinde and sende are derived from the Germanic "sinths" (military expedition).

• Barão (baron) from Germanic baro
• Ganhar (to win) from Germanic waidanjan
• Guerra (war) from Gothic *wirro
• Roubar (to rob) from Germanic raubon
• Saga (Saga) from Gothic saega

Arabic origin words

Projections indicate 1000 Arabic loan words. In old Portuguese this represented 25% of the used lexicon, today its importance decreased has the language became richer and reinfluenced by Greek, Latin and other languages.

• Alcova (Alcove) from alkubba
• Aldeia (village) from aldaya
• Alface (lettuce) from alkhass
• Algarismo (algarism, number) from alkarizmi
• Almirante (admiral) from amir + ar-rahl
• Almofada (cushion) from almukhadda
• Âmbar (amber) from anbar
• Armazém (warehouse) from almahazan (see "magazine")
• Arroz (rice) from arruz (loan from Greek óryza)
• Azeite (olive oil) from azzait
• Garrafa (bottle) from garrafâ (see "caraff")
• Girafa (giraffe) from zurafa
• Jasmim (jasmin) from Persian jasamin
• Jarra (jar) from jarra
• Xadrez (Chess) from shatranj (loan from Sanscrit chaturanga)
• Xerife (sheriff) from sharif

Asian, Amerindian and African origin Words

With the Portuguese discoveries a linguistic contact was made, and Portuguese language became influenced by other languages other than European or Arabic. Many placenames and local animals have Amerindian names in Brazil, in Angola and Mozambique, the same occurs with the local Bantu languages.

Asian:

• Catana (cutlass) from Japanese Katana
• Chá (Tea), from Chinese cha
• Corja (rabble) from Malay kórchchu
• Ramarrão (routinous sound), from Hindu Ráma-Ráma
• Manga (mango), from Malay mangga

Amerindian:

• Ananás (a pineapple species) from Tupi-Guarani naná
• Abacaxi (another pineapple species) from Tupi ibá + cati
• Jaguar (jaguar) from Tupi-Guarani jaguara
• Tatu (armadillo) from Guarani tatu
• Tucano (toucan) from Guarani tucan

Sub-saharan Africa:

• Banana (banana) from Wolof
• Bungular (to dance like African wizards) from Kimbundu kubungula
• Chimpanzé (chimpanzee) from Bantu
• Cabiri (small domestic animal) from Kimbundu kabiribiri
• Cafuné (affections made in the head) from Kimbundu kifumate

Main article: Portuguese alphabet

Portuguese is written using the Latin alphabet with 26 letters. Three of them (K, W and Y) are only used for non-Portuguese origin words, in terms like darwinismo (Darwinism, from English "Darwin"). It uses ç and acute, grave, circumflex and tilde accents over vowels, as well as, in some forms and only in Brazil, diaeresis on a U as in lingüística (Linguistics, linguística is used in the rest of the Portuguese speaking nations´).

Written varieties

Until the Ortographic Agreement is established, Portuguese has two written varieties (Port. Variedades) but Portuguese speakers prefer to name them as Padrões (Eng. Standards):

• European and African Portuguese
• Brazilian Portuguese

The differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese varieties are in vocabulary, pronunciation and syntax, especially in popular varieties, while between upper-class Brazilians these differences ease largely. The differences are somewhat less than those between American English and British English. Both varieties are undoubtedly dialects of the same language and speakers from both varieties can easily understand each other.

Some apparent differences between the two varieties in lexicon are not really differences. In Brazil, the common term for carpet is tapete. And, in Portugal, alcatifa. However, many dialectal zones in Portugal uses tapete and other areas in Brazil uses alcatifa. This applies in almost all such apparent differences, except in the new terms, such as ônibus in Brazil, that is Autocarro in Portugal.

In Brazil most first "c" when "cc", "cç" or "ct"; and "p" when "pc", "pç" or "pt" from the language were eliminated since they are not pronounced in the cultivated spoken language, a remnant from the language's Latin origin (some continue to exist in cultivated Brazilian Portuguese, some more in the European).

Also, there are differences in accent marks, due to:

1. Different pronunciation. Brazil in words such as "Antônio" (Anthony) or "anônimo" (anonimous) uses close vowels, where Portugal and Africa uses open ones, "António" or "anónimo", respectively. In the case of Africa, it is mostly due that the European Portuguese is preferred standard.
2. Easy reading. Because "qu" can be read in two different ways in Portuguese: "ku" or "k", Brazil decided to facilitate it, using the diaeresis. Insted of "cinquenta" they write "cinqüenta".

A Spelling Reform (Port. Reforma Ortográfica), written in 1990, will create an International Portuguese Standard, and it was ratified by Brazil, Cape Verde and Portugal. East Timor, not an original subscriber, will ratify shortly along with Guinea-Bissau. East Timor was the biggest supporter for a fast implementation and pressured CPLP. The agreement's Implementation date is not yet set.

At first, the Agreement established that its entrance into practice would only occur when all the countries of the CPLP had ratified it. But the African countries of Portuguese language have not ratified, possibly due to problems in implementing it. In the CPLP’s summit of 26-27 July 2004, an adjustment will prompt implementation in Brazil, Cape Verde and Portugal and its use can also be done in the other countries. The agreement will eliminate most "c" when "cc", "cç" or "ct"; and "p" when "pc", "pç" or "pt" from European Portuguese, the dieresis and accent marks in words ending in "éia" in Brazil and added some new minor spelling rules. And will accept dual accentuation in words like anónimo or anônimo, now depending on a person's accent.

Another agreement was made for the new words that will enter in the language.

There is a

• Portuguese: português
• Hello: olá (hear it)
• Goodbye: tchau -- "Adeus" is the standard, but it could be seem as offensive.
• Please: por favor
• Thank you: obrigado (for men); obrigada (for women)
• Sorry: desculpe
• That one: esse (masculine); essa (feminine)
• How much?: quanto
• English: inglês
• yes: sim (as for English "sing")
• no: não (as for English "now", with nazalization)
• I don't understand: Não percebo
• Where's the bathroom?: Onde fica o quarto de banho? - for Portugal; Onde fica o banheiro?- for Brazil
• generic toast: tchin-tchin; À nossa (To us)
• Do you speak English?: Fala inglês?

See also: List of tongue-twisters- Common phrases in different languages

Literature

Main articles: Portuguese literature - Camoens Prize

To English speakers, the most famous writer in the Portuguese language is the poet Luís Vaz de Camoes or Luís Vaz Camoens (1524-June 10, 1580), author of the epic poem, the Lusiad.

Several other authors and poets are also internationally known, such as: Eça de Queirós (1845 - 1900), the most famous Portuguese language novelist; Fernando Pessoa (1888 - 1935), one of the greatest poets in the language's history; Jorge Amado (1912 - 2001), a popular novelist; and José Saramago (born 1922) who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998.

• [1] First and Second with first language speakers, respectively. Only counting figures from countries in the table "Portuguese language countries and Territories". Considering second language speakers those people who are bilingual and use Portuguese as a second language.
• [2] Galicia is only included as a Portuguese language territory since many linguists understand both languages has being co-dialects. The government of Galicia regards Galician as a separate language.
• [3] A Fala is not recognized by the Spanish authorities to be a Portuguese dialect, although there have been attempts to consider it Galician, but the locals do not want to use the Galician orthography. A Fala differs very little from the neighbouring Portuguese dialect on the other side of the border, but it will probably be recognized (if it will be) as a separate language.