葡萄牙语发音PRONUNCIATIONsell语言交流

ACCENTS and VOWELS

Since the pronunciation of vowels depends on stress, as well as position, let us first consider the accents in Portuguese:




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ACCENTS:

Accents in Portuguese determine both stress and the length of a vowel:



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The acute accent forms short vowels -


á = as in cat


é = as in bet


ó = as in got



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The circumflex accent forms long vowels -


â = as in earn


ê = as in Scottish great


ô = as in Scottish low



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The grave accent only exists in à and às and is short -


à = as in cat



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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




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VOWELS:


Single vowels:-




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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



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o / a / e - unless stressed these vowels are weak or even disappear



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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!



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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!



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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!



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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|  
 
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 葡萄牙语PRONUNCIATION



CONSONANTS:-



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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


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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]



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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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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t - roughly equivalent to English

v - roughly equivalent to English -


Spanish students N.B: not = b

w - only exists in Foreign words



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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


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y - only exists in Foreign words

z - equivalent to English, except at end of word


with no following vowel = English sh : faz, giz, foz



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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]