First Preliminary Lesson

Vowels- As vogais

Brazilian Portuguese has seven basic (oral) vowel sounds.

1.1 [a] the “front a,” the most common sound represented by the letter a. Similar to the a of father.

[ɐ] the “central a,” which occurs in unstressed syllables. Similar to the English sound o in money or some. Note the sound [ɐ] in the final syllable of the following words.

1.2 [i] the “high front” vowel, usually spelled i. Similar to English i in machine.

In unstressed final syllables (and occasionally elsewhere), this same sound [i] is also spelled e.

1.3 [u] the “high back” vowel, usually spelled u. Similar to English oo in too.

In unstressed final syllables (and occasionally elsewhere), this same sound [u] is also spelled o. This means that all words, that end in unstressed o one of the most frequently endings in Portuguese, will be end with the [u] sound.

1.4 [e] the “closed e,” sometimes spelled ê but more often e. Similar to English pronunciation of the second é in résumé.

1.5 [o] the “closed o,” sometimes spelled ô but more often simply o. Similar to English o in open.

1.6 [ɛ] the “open e,” sometimes spelled é but more often simply e. Similar to English e in bet or the first é in résumé.

1.7 [ɔ] the “open o,” sometimes spelled ó but more often simply o. Similar to English aw in law.

Nasals- As vogais nasais

In Portuguese the vowels a, e, i, o, u may also occur nasalized. The nasalization is indicated in one of three ways: by m or n after the vowel or by the til (˜) over it. The letter m is used at the end of a word and before p and b; n is used in other places.

2.1 [ɐ͂] nasalized “central a,” spelled am, an, or ã.

2.2 [e͂] nasalized “close e,” spelled em or en.

2.3 [ĩ] nasalized “high front i,” spelled im or in.

2.4 [õ] nasalized “closed o,” spelled om, on, or õ.

2.5 [ũ] nasalized “high back u,” spelled um or un.

Diphthongs- Os ditongos

Oral diphthongs- Os ditongos orais

A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds. The follow vowel combinations constitute the 11 different pronunciations of the 8 oral diphthongs in Portuguese: ai, au, ei, eu, oi, ou, iu, and ui.

3.1 [ai] spelled ai. Similar to the English i in ice.

3.2 [au] spelled au. Similar to the English ow in cow.

3.3 [ei] spelled ei. Similar to the English ai in faith.

3.4 [εi] spelled éi.

3.5 [eu] spelled eu.

3.6 [εu] spelled éu.

3.7 [oi] spelled oi. Similar to the English oi in moist or hoist.

3.8 [ɔi] spelled ói.

3.9 [ou] spelled ou. For many speakers ou denotes merely a “closed o” [o] as in the English oh!

3.10 [iu] spelled iu.

3.11  [ui] spelled ui.

Nasal diphthongs- Os ditongos nasais

There are five nasal diphthongs in Brazilian Portuguese. Nasalization is indicated by m after the vowel or by the til (˜) placed over the first vowel of the diphthong. Both elements of the diphthong are nasalized.

4.1   [ɐ̃ũ/ɐ̃w] spelled ão or am. In unstressed position, the intensity of the nasality is slightly reduced.

4.2 [e͂ĩ] spelled em.

4.3 [ɐ̃ĩ] spelled ãe.

4.4 [õĩ] spelled õe. Similar to the oi in the English oink or boing.

4.5   [ũĩ] This nasal diphthong occurs only in one Portuguese word (muito) and its variations. Note that the spelling does not indicate nasalization.

4.6 Combinations of vowels other than those listed above do not constitute diphthongs in Portuguese.

Consonants- As consoantes

5.1 [p] voiceless bilabial stop, spelled p. Similar to English p in pine but without aspiration (extra air that accompanies initial voiceless stops (p, t, k) sounds in English).

5.2 [b] voiced bilabial stop, spelled b. Similar to English b in bet.

5.3 [t] voiceless dental stop, spelled t. Similar to English t in time.

[t] before [i] spelled either i or e is pronounced by many Brazilians as a voiceless affricate [t∫], similar to the ch of the English word chief.

5.4 [d] voiced dental stop, spelled d. Similar to English d in date.

[d] before [i] spelled either i or e is pronounced by many Brazilians as [dʒ], similar to the j or the dg of the English word judge

5.5 [k] voiceless velar stop, spelled c, –qu. Similar to English k.

5.5a   [ks] voiceless velar stop, spelled x. Similar to the x in the English taxi.

5.6 [g] voiced velar stop, spelled g, gu. Similar to English g in gate.

5.7 [f] voiceless labio-dental fricative, spelled f. Similar to English f in fate.

5.8 [v] voiced labio-dental fricative, spelled v. Similar to English v in vein.

5.9 [m] voiced bilabial nasal (when syllable initial), spelled m. Similar to English m in mad. Remember when m is syllable final it indicates nasality in the vowel that precedes it.

5.10 [n] voiced dental nasal (when syllable initial), spelled n. Similar to English n in not. Remember when n is syllable final it indicates nasality in the vowel that precedes it.

5.11 [ɲ] voiced palatal nasal, spelled nh. Similar to English ni in onion.

5.12 [s] voiceless dental sibilant, spelled s, ss, sc, and c (before e, i), sc and ç (before o, a, u), xc, x. Similar to English s in sat.

5.13 [z] voiced dental sibilant, spelled z, s, x. Similar to English z in zone. Z is always pronounced this way. S is pronounced this way when it appears between two vowels.

5.14 [∫] voiceless palatal sibilant, spelled ch or x. Similar to English sh in show.

5.15 [ʒ] voiced palatal sibilant, spelled j, g (before e, i) Similar to English s in treasure.

5.16 [l] voiced dental lateral, spelled l. At the beginning of a syllable, l is a sound like English l in leap.

***At the end of a syllable, l is like English w at the end of a word, a semi-vowel, as in the words caw, few, mow.

5.17 [ʎ] voiced palatal lateral, spelled lh. Similar to English ll in million.

5.18 [ɾ] voiced dental flap, spelled r. Similar to English d in heeding or the t in heating. R is pronounced this way between vowels or as part of a consonant cluster (cr, tr, gr, etc.).

7.19  [h] voiceless glottal fricative* spelled r, rr. R is pronounced this way when it is rr between vowels, or word initial.

*** When syllable or word final, either [ɾ] or [h] are possible pronunciations, depending on dialect. Portuguese allows for still other dialect variants.

Summary of the consonants of the Portuguese alphabet and their sound values in Brazilian Portuguese- Resumo das consoantes do alfabeto português e seus valores sonoros em português brasileiro

Practice i.1- Prática i.1

Pronounce the following words:

• adeus
• bom
• Brasil
• caro
• carro
• casa
• cinema
• chapéu
• dente
• dia
• disse
• é
• feira
• fui
• grande
• gelo
• herói
• igreja
• jardim
• lã
• mãe
• maio
• muito
• não
• olho
• pau
• pão
• pediu
• Portugal
• quem
• Rio
• roxo
• sim
• tigre
• tudo
• um
• você
• xícara
• zanga