On Friday, the Portuguese Parliament passed a law that adopts the Brazilian form of ortografia (spelling) of hundreds of words. The move is a small part of a movement to unify the Portuguese language in the eight countries where Portuguese is spoken.

But the move is not exactly popular in Portugal. Over 33,000 people signed a petition against the law, arguing that the legislation gives in to Brazilian influence. But the President is expected to sign the legislation, and it appears that the law is one step closer to making widespread changes in the Portuguese language all over the world. It will take around six years to incorporate the changes into written materials.

Here are the changes to Portuguese ortografia, based on the Brazilian spelling:

• three letters have been added to the alphabet: k, w, and y, which are used in foreign words
• the silent “h”  will no longer be used; words like “húmido” will be come “úmido”
• the use of other silent consonants, “c” and “p” will be discarded:

-óptimo becomes ótimo
-baptismo becomes batismo
-acto becomes ato
-acção becomes ação

To see the potential changes to the “global” Portuguese language, click here.