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| Letter of the alphabet | Combination / context 1) | Phonemic symbol 2) | Example word | English translation | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | a (unstressed) | /3/ | Lisboa ©, catedral © | Lisbon, cathedral | The first a of both falamos and falámos also falls in this category. |
| aNMNH | /3/ | falarão ©, falamos ©, entramos © | they will speak, we speak, we enter | ||
| â | /3/ | câmara | chamber/room | ||
| á | /a/ | falámos ©, entrámos ©, lágrimas ©, água © | we spoke, we entered, tears, water | In this sample of "lágrimas" the difference between the two sounds spelled "a" can be very clearly heard. | |
| à | /a/ | à, àquela, toda a vida [toDaviD3] © | to the, to that, all his life | ||
| a (stressed, not before m, n, nh) | /a/ | velejar © | to sail | ||
| a[CP][CÇT] | /a/ | actor, actual, acção, aptidão | actor, actual, action, aptness/ability | Before an (often silent) c or p before c, ç or t, a written a always has the open quality, whether stressed or unstressed. So this too results in open vowels in unstressed position, which is otherwise rare. | |
| alC | /a/ | alcácer, alcance, aldeia, Algarve, almirante, faltar, faltou | castle, reach, village, Algarve, admiral, be missing, it was missing | The rule also applies to algures (somewhere), but not to alhures (elsewhere, somewhere), because lh is not l + consonant, but a consonant in its own right. | |
| ã | /3~/ | manhã, rã, irmã © | morning, frog, sister | ||
| ai | /ai/ | cai, raiva © | it falls, rage | In stressed position; otherwise it’s /3i/. | |
| /3i/ | pairar, caibamos, gaiteiro © | to hover/float, that we fit, bagpipe player | In unstressed position; otherwise it’s /ai/. | ||
| ãe | /3~i~/ | mãe ©, cães, pães, alemães | mother, dogs, loaves, Germans |
The merging of ãe and em, both sounding as
/3~i~/
is a peculiarity of the Portuguese in
Portugal, or more accurately, in the middle-class accent of Lisbon.
It doesn’t take place in Brazil, other parts of Portugal (Porto, north), Madeira, Africa.
In Portugal, the accent of Coimbra was always seen as the standard pronunciation, but nowadays the middle-class accent of Lisbon is becoming more influential, and developing into a de facto standard. |
|
| ão | /3~u~/ | falarão ©, dirão ©, não © | they will speak, they will say, no | Nearly always in stressed position. But the phoneme /3~u~/ is sometimes also written ão in unstressed position: sótão (attic), órgão (organ), acórdão (sentence/judgement), Estêvão (Stephen), Joãozinho (Johnny), órfão (orphan), órfã (female orphan), bênção (blessing), côvão (fish-trap), romãzeiro (pomegranate (romã) tree). | |
| amF | /3~u~/ | falam, falaram ©, | they speak, they spoke | Final, in unstressed position. Only used with conjugated verbs. | |
| amC | /3~/ | campo | field | ||
| âmC | /3~/ | câmbio | exchange/change | The circumflex is used here, not the acute accent, because nasalised sounds are always of the more close variety. See also Accent marks for more details. | |
| anC | /3~/ | canta, rasgando © | sing/he sings/she sings, cleaving | ||
| âmC | /3~/ | câmbio | exchange/change | The circumflex is used here, not the acute accent, because nasalised sounds are always of the more close variety. See also Accent marks for more details. | |
| ao | /au/ | ao, aos | on the, on the | ||
| au | /au/ | mau | bad | Before /l/ and /u/, the open and clear sound [a] turns into a much darker [A]: Examples are mau, mal, and fatal ©. | |
| b | b | /b/ | Lisboa ©, Lisboa © vai o bem fugindo © | Lisbon, Lisbon, the good | |
| c | cAOU | /k/ | cão | dog | The choice of /k/ and /s/ sounds for written c works the same as in French, but not as in Spanish. |
| çAOU | /s/ | faço | I do, I make | ||
| cEI | /s/ | céu ©, céus © | heaven(s)/sky/skies | ||
| ch | /S/ | chama, chego © | he/she calls/flame, I arrive | ||
| d | d | /d/ | Deus © | God | |
| e | e (unstressed) | /1/ | velejar ©, sempre ©, horizonte ©, que © | to sail, always, horizon | |
| e (stressed) | /E/ | emprego | I use | ||
| e (stressed) | /e/ | sede, emprego | thirst, use/usage | ||
| é | /E/ | é, exército, pé marés © | he/she/it is, army, foot, tides | ||
| e[CP][CÇT] | /E/ | direcção, recepção, réptil | direction, reception, reptile | Before an (often silent) c or p before c, ç or t, a written e always has the open quality, whether stressed or unstressed. So this too results in open vowels in unstressed position, which is otherwise rare. | |
| ê | /e/ | dês ©, quê, êxito, estrela © | that you give (subj.), something/letter Q, success, star | ||
| e | /i/ | e, exame, estação | and, exam, station | Occurs in the word for "and", and also initially when unstressed, before a sibilant, written s, or x pronounced /z/ or /S/. Then often very short or fully absent. | |
| eV | /i/ | compreender, se existe © | understand, if it exists | /1/ becomes /i/ before a vowel. | |
| emF | /3~i~/ | tem ©, vem, cem, sem ©, nem ©, margem | he/she/it has, he comes, one hundred, without, nor, border/margin | ||
| êmF | /3~i~3~i~/ | têm ©, têm ©, vêm, mantêm © | they have, they come, they maintain | The grapheme êm is not always pronounced with this double nasalised diphthong. See note 17 for more on this. |
|
| enS | /3~i~/ | tens, margens ©, | you have, borders | ||
| émF | /3~i~/ | também, porém, ninguém © | also, however, nobody | ||
| emC | /e~/ | tempo © | time | ||
| enC | /e~/ | penso, mentira ©, desventura © | I think, lie, misfortune | ||
| éi | /Ei/ | hotéis, papéis | hotels, papers | In Lisbon, and increasingly elsewhere in the country: /3i/, just like the written ei without the acute accent. | |
| ei | /3i/ | morrerei ©, sei © | I will die, I know | ||
| éu | /Eu/ | céu ©, céus ©, chapéu | heaven(s)/sky/skies, hat | ||
| eu | /eu/ | meus ©, seu, Deus ©, deu ©, correu © | my, his, God, (he/she/it) gave, (he/she/it) ran | Exception: name of the European currency, note 18. | |
| enh, ex | /3i/ | venho, tenho ©, tenho ©, sexto sentido ©, | I come, I have, sixth sense | ||
| f | f | /f/ | afago © | caress | |
| g | gAOU | /g/ | afago ©, afago © | caress | The choice of /g/ and /Z/ sounds for written g works the same as in French, but not as in Spanish. |
| guEI | /g/ | guerra | war | ||
| gEI | /Z/ | longe, refúgio © | far away, refuge | ||
| h | hV | // | há | there is | Written h is always silent. In the combinations ch, lh and nh the h only modifies the meaning of the preceding c, n or l, and it doesn’t have a sound of its own. |
| ch | /S/ | chama | he/she calls, flame | ||
| i | i, í | /i/ | Lisboa ©, baía, lírios ©, Índia | Lisbon, bay, lilies, India | The accent on the í is merely a stress marker, and doesn’t influence the timbre. The stress rules are described here. |
| ViV | /j/ | caiu, baia | he fell, stall/box/bail | ||
| CiV | /j/ | lírios | lilies | Perhaps this is a [j] (/lirju/), or maybe rather a short and unstressed [i]. | |
| imF | /i~/ | fim ©, assim © | end, so | ||
| imC | /i~/ | Coimbra | Coimbra | ||
| inC | /i~/ | minto | I lie | ||
| j | j | /Z/ | já | already | |
| k | k | /k/ | kilowatt | kilowatt | The letter k is never used in any real Portuguese word. |
| l | l | /l/ | velejar ©
Lisboa © |
to sail Lisbon |
|
| lh | /L/ | mulher, olho, olhos © | woman, I look/eye, eyes | See /O/ and /o/ for the sound difference between "I look" (/OLu/) and "eye" (/oLu/), both written olho. See also note 7. Cf. ll of Spanish, but see the discussion of the difference under /L/. |
|
| m | VmV | /m/ | amanhã | tomorrow | |
| BmV | /m/ | manhã | morning | The circumflex is used here, not the acute accent, because nasalised sounds are always of the more close variety. See also Accent marks for more details. | |
| amF | /3~u~/ | falam | they speak | Final, in unstressed position. Only used with conjugated verbs. | |
| amC | /3~/ | campo | field | ||
| âmC | /3~/ | câmbio | exchange/change | The circumflex is used here, not the acute accent, because nasalised sounds are always of the more close variety. See also Accent marks for more details. | |
| emF | /3~i~/ | tem ©, vem, cem, sem ©, nem ©, margem | he/she/it has, he comes, one hundred, without, nor, border/margin | ||
| êmF | /3~i~3~i~/ | têm ©, vêm | they have, they come | The grapheme êm is not always pronounced with this double nasalised diphthong. See note 17 for more on this. | |
| émF | /3~i~/ | também, porém, ninguém © | also, however, nobody | ||
| emC | /e~/ | tempo © | time | ||
| imF | /i~/ | fim ©, assim © | end, so | ||
| imC | /i~/ | Coimbra | Coimbra | ||
| omF | /o~/ | bom, tom ©, com © | good, pigeon, with | ||
| omC | /o~/ | pombas brancas © | white doves | ||
| um | /u~/ | um dia fatal ©, comum, chumbo | a/one, common, lead | ||
| n | VnV | /n/ | ano | year | |
| BnV | /n/ | não ©, nem ©, novo /novo/ ©, nova /nOv3/ © | no, nor, new (masc.), new (fem.) | ||
| anC | /3~/ | canta, rasgando © | sing/he sings/she sings, cleaving | ||
| ânC | /3~/ | importância | importance | The circumflex is used here, not the acute accent, because nasalised sounds are always of the more close variety. See also Accent marks for more details. | |
| enS | /3~i~/ | tens, margens © | you have, borders | ||
| onC | /o~/ | conto | I tell/ I count/ account / story / 1000 escudos / 5 euro | ||
| enC | /e~/ | penso, mentira ©, desventura © | I think, lie, misfortune | ||
| inC | /i~/ | minto | I lie | ||
| unC | /u~/ | mundo, junto | world, joined | ||
| nh | /J/ | manhã, ganhar © | morning | Like Spanish ñ, Italian and French gn (as in cognac). | |
| o | CoV | /w/ | mágoas ©, Coimbra, moeda | hurts, Coimbra, coin | In unstressed positions. Mágoas © and águas © rhyme, despite the spelling difference regarding o/u. |
| o (unstressed) | /u/ | afago ©, falámos ©, fado louco ©, se douram ©. | caress, we spoke, mad fado, they are gilded/become bright | ||
| o[CP][CÇT] | /O/ | adoptar, óptimo, nocturna © | adopt, excellent, nightly | Not all unstressed letters o are pronounced /u/. Before an (often silent) c or p before c, ç or t, a written o always has the open quality, whether stressed or unstressed. This results in open vowels in unstressed position, which is otherwise rare. | |
| o | /O/ | sol, voz ©, porta © roda © | sun, voice, door, wheel | ||
| o | /o/ | cor, boa, Lisboa ©, porto (first o) © | color, good, Lisbon, harbour | ||
| ó | /O/ | só, fósforo, nós © | alone, match, we/us | ||
| ô | /o/ | pôr, pôr do sol | put, sunset | ||
| ou | /o/
(but /ou/ in the north) |
ou, chegou, fado louco ©, | or, he/she/it arrived, mad fado | ||
| omF | /o~/ | bom, pombas brancas ©, com © | good, white doves, with | ||
| omC | /o~/ | pombo | pigeon, dove | ||
| onC | /o~/ | conto | I tell/ I count/ account / story / 1000 escudos / 5 euro | ||
| oi | /oi/ | foi ©, foi ©, dois © | he was/went | ||
| ói | /Oi/ | dói ©, dói ©, para os heróis ©, | it hurts, for the heroes | ||
| õe | /o~i~/ | põe /po~i~/, põem /po~i~3~i~/, ilusões ©, eleições ©, condições © | he puts, they put, illusions, elections, conditions | Occurs mostly almost in the plural ending -ões of words
that in the singular end in -ão.
(But some words in -ão have plurals in -ães or -ãos).
This diphthong tends to more like [O~i~] than [o~i~], which
is strange, because all nasalised vowels are of the more
close variety (o~, not O~, e~, not ~E, and 3~, not a~).
See also note 9 |
|
| p | p | /p/ | pai, porto © | father, harbour | |
| q | quAO | /k/ | quase | almost | The u is sounded, as /w/. |
| quEI | /k/ | quente quem quer ©. | warm/hot, who | In most words of this type, the written u is not sounded. | |
| r | VrV | /r/ | morrerei (2nd r) ©, mentira © | I will die | |
| VrC | /r/ | porto ©, surda © | port, mute | ||
| VrF | /r/ | velejar © | to sail | ||
| BrV | /R\/ | raiva © | anger | ||
| LSNrV | /R\/ | bilro, chilrear, honra, Israel, mil-reis, ab-rogar | bobbin, chirp, honour, Israel, former monetary unit, abrogate | ||
| VrrV | /R\/ | morrerei (1st r) © | I will die | ||
| s | BsV | /s/ | sem © | without | |
| VsV | /z/ | casa, meus olhos © | house, my eyes | ||
| VssV | /s/ | disse | he said, she said, I said | ||
| Vs | /s/ (allophone [S]) | fazes | you do, you make | ||
| VsC | /s/ (allophone [S]) | Lisboa © | Lisbon | ||
| t | t | /t/ | triste ©, tom © | sad, tone | |
| u | CuV | /w/ | guardar, quase, água © | keep, almost, water | |
| VuV | /w/ | cauã, acauã, uacauã | Names of a Brazilian bird | ||
| u, ú | /u/ | caiu, útil, refúgio ©, surda ©, uma voz © | he fell, useful, refuge, deaf/dull/secret, a voice | The accent on the ú is merely a stress marker, and doesn’t influence the timbre. The stress rules are described here. | |
| um | /u~/ | um dia fatal ©, comum, chumbo | a/one, common, lead | ||
| unC | /u~/ | mundo, junto | world, joined | ||
| ui | /ui/ | fui © | I was/went | ||
| ui | /u~i~/ | muito © | many, much | Occurs only in this single word! (and in its derivatives, "muita", "muitas" and "muitos". Nasalisation is not shown in the spelling in this special case. | |
| v | v | /v/ | verde, voz ©, vai o bem fugindo © | green, voice, there goes | |
| w | w | /w/ | O Word | Word | The letter w is never used in any real Portuguese word. Where it occurs in foreign names or words, it usually sounds as /w/, as in the name of the word processor: "O Word". |
| x | x | /S/ | paixão, peixe, deixar, excelente | passion, fish, leave/let/etc., excellent | This is the most common sound for written x. |
| BexV | /z/ | exame, existir | exam, exist | Initial ex followed by a vowel. | |
| x | /ks/ | fixar, maxila | fix/fasten/attach, jaw | In some words. | |
| x | /s/ | máximo, próximo, trouxe, auxiliar | maximum, next, he brought/carried, help/support | In some words, most of which are mentioned here. | |
| y | y | /j/ | Yuan | Yuan (Chinese currency unit) | The letter y is never used in any real Portuguese word. |
| z | zV | /z/ | fazes | you make | |
| zF (also zC) | /z/ (allophone [Z]) | faz, voz © | he does |
Copyright © 2000-2013 by R. Harmsen.