Portuguese Alphabet 732l40

Portuguese (Português) Portuguese is a Romance language spoken by about 240 million people mainly in Brazil (Brasil) and Portugal, and also in Angola, Mozambique (Moçambique), Cape Verde (Cabo Verde), Guinea-Bissau (Guiné-Bissau), São Tomé 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 and merchants from 218 BC. The earliest records of a distinctly Portuguese language appear in istrative 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 in accordance 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 português)

Aa á

Bb bê

Jj jota

cê

Kk cá/capa

Ss esse

Cc

Ll ele

Tt tê

Dd dê

é

Mm eme

Uu u

Ee

Vv vê

Ff efe

Nn ene

gê

Ww

Pp pê

Xx xis

Qq quê

Yy ípsilon, ipsilão, i grego

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

Hh agá

Oo ó

dábliu, dáblio, duplo-vê

Gg

Zz zê

Ii i

Rr erre

Pronunciation of the Portuguese of Brazil

Listen to the consonants of Brazilian Portuguese read by Heitor de Moraes from Brazil

Notes 

e = [e] when unstressed and non-final, [e] or [ɛ] when stressed, [i] when final



o = [o] when unstressed and non-final, [ɔ] or [o] when stressed, [u] when final



oa



the diphthongs ea, eo, ia, ie, io, oa, ua, ue and uo appear at the ends of words and are

[ oa o

a] when stressed, oa

ua

[ a] when unstressed

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

[ʤ] before i or a final unstressed e, [d] elsewhere. However in parts of Santa Catarina

and Paraná and the north and north east of Brazil, d in the final -de ispronounced [d]. In those same regions (except Paraná) di is pronounced [di] or [dji]. 

g



gu



Triphthongs are made up of combinations of gu, gü, qu, qü + a diphthong, e.g. saguão,

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

agüei, sequóia. 

l

[ ] after vowels final e before consonants



m is nasalized when at the end of a syllable and preceded by a vowel, e.g. cantam [´kãtã ], homem [ om i ], sim [s i ]



n is nasalized when at the end of a syllable, preceded by a vowel and followed by a consonant, e g cansar [kã sa], alento [a l tu]



nh

[~ii, ɲ], i e nasalizes preceeding vowels, e g banha [ bãiia] In some north eastern

parts of Brazil, –inha

[ a] and -inho

[ u] In some parts of Brazil, nh

[ɲ]



qu



r

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

r

[Ø~x~ʀ~r~ɾ] at the ends of words and before consonants If the following word

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

begins with a vowel, r = [r~Ø] r = [r] after consonants (except n) rr r

[x~ʀ] or [r~ɾ] in some areas [ɽ] before consonants and at the end of words in São Paulo, south of Brasil, Minas

Gerais and Goiás 

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



[ʒ] before d, g, l, m, n, r and v, [ʃ] before c, f, p, qu and t, and when in finalposition .

sc (before e and i) and sç (before a and o) = [s]. In Rio de Janeiro, sc/sç = [is], e.g. nascimento [naisi m tu]



t

[ʧ] before i or a final unstressed e, [t] elsewhere However in parts of Santa Catarina

and Paraná and the north and north east of Brazil, the final t in the final -te is pronounced [t]. In those same regions (apart from Paraná) ti = [ti] or [tji] The [ʧ] sound is also written tch (e.g. tchau), or tx in indigenous names (e.g. txukahamãe). 

x

[ʃ] 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 [e zãmi], or [ʃ], e g vexame [ve ʃami] x

[ʃ], [ks] or [s] elsewhere, e g relaxar [xela ʃa], fixo ['fiksu], auxiliar [a si li a x r ]

x = [ks] when in final position x is silent in exce , exci , exs , e g exceto [e sɛtu], excitar [esi ta], exsudar [esu'da] 

z = [s] in final position and before unvoiced consonants. In parts of Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro and the north east and north of Brazil, z

[ʒ] before voiced consonants, [ʃ]

before unvoiced consonants and when in final position. 

In the north east of Brazil some of the letters have different names: F (fê), J (ji), L (lê), M (mê), N (nê), R (rê), S (si) and Y (ipsilone).

Sample text in Portuguese

Todos os seres humanos nascem livres e iguais em dignidade e em direitos. Dotados de razão e de consciência, devem agir uns para com os outros em espírito de fraternidade. A recording of this text

Sample text in Brazilian Portuguese Todos os seres humanos nascem livres e iguais em dignidade e direitos. São dotados de razão e consciência e devem agir em relação uns aos outros com espírito 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 | Numbers | Tower of Babel | Links | My Portguese learning experiences |Learning materials Contributors to this page: Marcelo Manschein, Mário André Coelho da Silva and Heitor de Moraes from Brazil, and Renato Serôdio from Portugal