Writing system
Main article'
Portuguese alphabetPortuguese 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
darwinism' (
Darwinism, from English "Darwin"). It uses
c 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
linguistic' (
Linguistics,
linguistic' is used in the rest of the Portuguese speaking nations).
Written varieties
Until the Ortographic Agreement is established, Portuguese has two written varieties, but Portuguese speakers prefer to name them as
Padroe' (
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.
Some apparent differences between the two varieties in lexicon are not really differences. In Brazil, the common term for carpet is
tapet'. And, in Portugal,
alcatif'. However, many dialectal zones in Portugal uses
tapet' and other areas in Brazil uses
alcatif'. This applies in almost all such apparent differences, except in the new terms, such as
onibu' in Brazil, that is
Autocarr' in Portugal.
| Portugal/ Africa | Brazil | translation |
|---|
| accao | acao | action |
| contracto | contrato | contract |
| direccao | direcao | direction |
| electrico | eletrico | electric |
| optimo | otimo | great |
In Brazil most first "c" when "cc", "cc" or "ct"; and "p" when "pc", "pc" 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:
- Different pronunciation. Brazil in words such as "Antonio" (Anthony) or "anonimo" (anonimous) uses close vowels, where Portugal and Africa uses open ones, "Antonio" or "anonimo", respectively. In the case of Africa, it is mostly due that the European Portuguese is preferred standard'
- 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 "cinquenta"'
A Spelling Reform (Port.
Reforma Ortografic'), 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", "cc" or "ct"; and "p" when "pc", "pc" or "pt" from European Portuguese, the dieresis and accent marks in words ending in "eia" in Brazil and added some new minor spelling rules. And will accept dual accentuation in words like
anonim' or
anonim', now depending on a person's accent.
Another agreement was made for the new words that will enter in the language.
例子
PT. - 标准葡萄牙语读音
BR. - 巴西发音
| 翻译 | 词汇 | 国际音标 | |
|---|
| 葡萄牙人（语） | portuguê' | PT. /purtu'geʃ/ BR. /portu'gejʃ/ |
| 你好 | ol' | /ɔ'la/ |
| 再见 | adeu' | PT. /ɐ'dewʃ/ BR. /a'dewʃ/ |
| 请 | por favo' | PT. /puɾ fɐ'voɾ/
BR. /poɾ fa'vo:/或/por fa'vor/ |
| 谢谢（男性用）、谢谢（女性用） | obrigad'; obrigad' | /obɾi'gadu/;
PT. /obɾi'gadɐ/ BR. /obɾi'gada/ |
| 对不起 | desculp' | PT. /dɨʃkulpɨ/ BR. /diʃkulpi/ |
| 那个 | aquel'; aquel' | PT. /ɐ'kelɨ/; /ɐ'kɛlɐ/
BR. /a'keli/; /a'kɛla/ |
| 多少钱? | quant' | /kw?tu/ |
| 是 | si' | /sĩ/ |
| 否 | n?' | /n?w̃/ |
| 我不懂/不明白 | n?o entend' | /n?w̃ ẽtẽdu/ |
| 厕所在哪里? | PT. Onde fica o quarto de banho'
BR. Onde fica o banheiro' |
PT. /?dɨ fikɐ u kwaɾtu dɨ baɲu/
BR. /?di fika u baɲɛjɾu/ |
| 乾杯! | à vossa'或Saúde' | PT. /a vosɐ/ BR. /a vosa/ |
| 你讲中文吗? | Fala chinês' | PT. /falɐ/ BR. /fala/ |