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ACCENTS and VOWELS
Since the pronunciation of vowels depends on stress, as well as position, let us first consider the accents in Portuguese: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACCENTS: Accents in Portuguese determine both stress and the length of a vowel: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The acute accent forms short vowels - á = as in cat é = as in bet ó = as in got -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The circumflex accent forms long vowels - â = as in earn ê = as in Scottish great ô = as in Scottish low -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The grave accent only exists in à and às and is short - à = as in cat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The tilde can be considered not to be an accent at all, since it arises originally from a form of shorthand for an extra n which has been placed on top of the preceding vowel: this can be seen when comparing Spanish and Portuguese - ciudadano > cidadão; In Portuguese therefore the tilde signals a nasal sound -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOWELS: Single vowels:- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note that u and i are always long and strong vowels in Portuguese - so remember:- " you and I are like Andrex®" !!!! i - always long as in English ee u - always long as in English oo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- o / a / e - unless stressed these vowels are weak or even disappear -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- O - when unstressed it is pronounced as English oo; when speaking quickly the Portuguese will hardly pronounce it. - otherwise long (as in low ) or short (as in cow) depending on position; it is easier to learn the individual words than all the possible vowel and consonant combination rules! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A - when unstressed it is pronounced as English uh; when speaking quickly the Portuguese will hardly pronounce it. - otherwise long (as in ah ) or short (as in hat ) depending on position; it is easier to learn the individual words! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E - when unstressed it is pronounced as a clipped i, something like English bit; when speaking quickly the Portuguese will rarely pronounce it. It is the weakest vowel of all. - otherwise long (as in hay ) or short (as in bet ) depending on position; it is easier to learn the individual words! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: apart from -oo (e.g. o voo), you will never see a double vowel in Portuguese - they always merge into a single vowel, sometimes with an accent cf. to the = a + a --> à [楼 主] | Posted:2005 06 7 5:07 PM| 森林 级别: 新手上路 发贴: 57 威望: 57 财富: 0 注册时间:2005-01-05 最后登陆:1970-01-01 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 葡萄牙语PRONUNCIATION CONSONANTS:- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- b - roughly equivalent to English Spanish students NOTE: b is not identical to v c - ca/co/cu = hard as in cat/cot/cut ce/ci - = soft as in French, or English cent/cist ç - as in French, or English ss ch - as in French chercher or English sh d - roughly equivalent to English f - roughly equivalent to English -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- g - ga/go/gu = hard as in gash/gosh/gush ge/gi - = soft as in french je or English blancmange gu - gua[guo/guu ] = gw gue/gui - normally hard as in French and Spanish > gue = g; but note exceptions like aguentar = [agwen-tar] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- h - not pronounced j- soft as in French je or English 's' in leisure k - only exists in Foreign words - qu replaces it l - roughly equivalent to English lh - equivalent to Spanish ll, or English million -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- m - roughly equivalent to English before vowels; - nasalizes preceding vowels similar to French falam = fah-lowng falem = fah-laing sim = seeng n - roughly equivalent to English before vowels; - nasalizes preceding vowels similar to French. Spanish students N.B: n is never found at end of words, as all final n's convert to m : e.g. comen > comem nh - equivalent to Spanish ñ or English onion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- p - roughly equivalent to English qu - qua/quo as in English quack, quota = kw; - que/qui normally hard as in French and Spanish que = k; but note exceptions like tranquilo = trangkweeloo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- r - roughly equivalent to English, except at beginning of word or after n, s or l = either French r, Spanish r or Scots r rr - similar to either French r, Spanish r or Scots r -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- s - at beginning of word equivalent to English; - between vowels pronounced as English z : casa - at end of word not followed by vowel = English sh : casas - before hard (unvoiced) consonant (p/t/c) = English sh : castelo, escudo, respeito - before soft (voiced) consonant (b/d/g) = English 's' in pleasure : esboço, desde, esgotar ss - roughly equivalent to English -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- t - roughly equivalent to English v - roughly equivalent to English - Spanish students N.B: not = b w - only exists in Foreign words -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- x - at beginning of word equivalent to English sh : xaile = shyl; otherwise uncertain: - can be English sh - êxtase = aysh-taz - can be English x - sexo = sek-soo - can be English ss - próximo = prossimoo - can be English z - exame= ee-zam -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- y - only exists in Foreign words z - equivalent to English, except at end of word with no following vowel = English sh : faz, giz, foz -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: the only time you will see a double consonant in Portuguese is -rr- and -ss- : -rr- is used to mark its special sound; -ss- allows a soft 's' between vowels as in 'professor' where a single 's' would give a 'z' sound. [It is possible to have a double -mm- when adverbs are formed by adding -mente e.g. comum--> comummente but this will drop in the new Spelling Accord. Note also -nn- in connosco] |
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