Posts tagged with "language"

Portuguese-Speaking Countries

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Nov 19 2010

While Transparent’s Portuguese Blog’s main focus is on Brazil and Brazilian Portuguese, it’s also important to know where else Portuguese is spoken in the world!

Here are the countries where Portuguese is the official language:

1. Portugal (population: 10 million) The birthplace of this beautiful language, there are around twelve dialects, ranging from Açoriano to Lisboeta.

2. Brazil (population: 201 million) The largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world, there are at least 13 dialects. Brazilian Portuguese is quite different from continental Portuguese, especially spoken Brazilian Portuguese, but grammar and written Brazilian Portuguese more closely follow European Portuguese.

3. Angola (population: 13 million) This African nation was colonized by the Portuguese and was ruled by Portugal for centuries – it didn’t become an independent country until 1975. Though Portuguese is the official language, there are four regional indigenous languages as well. There are around four recognized Portuguese dialects

4. Mozambique (population: 22 million) Colonized by the Portuguese in the 1500s and recognized as independent in 1975, this East African country’s official language is Portuguese, but Swahili, Makhuwa, and Sena are also spoken. The country is divided into 11 provinces, including the capital.

5. Cape Verde (population: 508,600) These islands were colonized by the Portuguese in the 1400s, and became independent in 1975. Portuguese is the official language, but people also speak Crioulo, a mixture of Portuguese and West African vocabulary.

6. Guinea-Bissau (population: 1.6 million) This small West African national was a part of the Mali Empire until it was conquered by the Portuguese in the 1800s. Like in Cape Verde, Portuguese is the official language, but people also speak a Portuguese Creole known as Kriol, as well as languages native to the region.

7. São Tomé and Príncipe (population: 163,00) The smallest Portuguese-speaking country in the world, this country was settled by the Portuguese in the 1470s and gained its independence in 1975.

Other Portuguese-speaking regions

Equitorial Guinea - Portuguese is one of three official languages in this small West African nation (Spanish and French are the other two). The Spanish and Portuguese both colonized here, and the country gained its independence in 1968 from Spain.

East Timor – Portuguese is one of two official languages (Tetum is the other) in this southeast Asian state. It was colonized by the Portuguese in the 1500s and declared independence in yes, you guessed it, 1975.

Macau – an administrative region of China, the Portuguese first settled this coastal region in the 1500s. Portugal “administered” Macau until 1999, when it was turned over to China, though it remains a semi-autonomous region. Though Portuguese is still spoken there, Cantonese is the most commonly spoken language.

Goa – this is a western state in India where the Portuguese settled in 1510.  Portuguese is less common now, since Konkani is the most spoken language.

Uruguay – in the border region near Brazil, some people speak Riverense Portunhol, a mixture of Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish.

Hey Everybody!

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Jul 22 2010

There are a few ways to say “everybody” in Portuguese when referring to a group of people in an informal manner. While these nouns may mean something in one context, they are slang for a group of people in another context. Let’s take a look:       

1. gente [people]

You can use the word for people (which also can be used for “us” in other contexts) to describe “everybody,” or in American slang, “guys” (a group of people).

Oi gente! Tudo bom? Hey guys! How’s it going?

Vamos lá gente! Está na hora. Let’s go, everyone! It’s time.

2. pessoal [staff]

While in some contexts this refers to personnel or staff, it is slang for “everybody.”

Bom dia, pessoal! Podemos começar? Good morning everyone! Can we begin?

Fala, pessoal! Preciso de uma resposta. Tell me, guys! I need an answer.

3. galera [galley]

While in some contexts this can mean the galley of a ship, it also means “guys” or “gang,” in the sense of a group of friends.

Oi galera!  E ai? Hey guys! What’s up?

Escuta galera! Quero falar. Listen everyone! I want to speak.

Brazilian Portuguese vs. European Portuguese

Posted by Rachel 14 Comments
Jun 16 2010

We get a lot of questions on Facebook about why we don’t feature content teaching European Portuguese. The simple answer is that none of the Portuguese bloggers know European Portuguese – only Brazilian Portuguese. The longer answer, which follows in detail, is that the two are so different that they are taught individually, almost as different languages. In fact, some people from Portugal don’t acknowledge Brazilian Portuguese as the same language; they call the language brasileiro, or Brazilian.

While Brazilian Portuguese developed from European Portuguese, the two dialects diverged enormously over time, much more so than UK English and American English, for example. There are several areas where the languages differ, so let’s take a look at a few of them.

1. Spelling

Despite reforms to the Portuguese language, differences in spelling in continental Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese abound. European Portuguese tends to be closer to Spanish – for example, the word current is atual in Brazilian Portuguese, whereas in European Portuguese, it’s actual.  Click here to see more examples.

2. Vocabulary

European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese use very different vocabulary, and speakers may have trouble understanding each other because of it (along with spoken accents). European Portuguese tends to have words more closely related to other Romance languages, particularly Spanish, whereas Brazilian Portuguese has more words  from South American indigenous languages. A good example of this is the word for pineapple: in Portugal, it’s ananas, like in Spanish, whereas in Brazil, it’s abacaxi, which comes from Tupi.

3. Infinitive & gerund

In Brazil, you use the gerund to describe something you are doing right now, whereas in Portugal, you use the infinitive. Here’s an example, using the sentence “I am working.”

Brazil: Estou trabalhando.

Portuguese: Estou a trabalhar.

4. Object pronouns

In Brazil, the object pronoun tends to come before the verb, whereas in Portugal, it’s more common for the object pronoun to follow the verb with a dash. Here’s an example, using the sentence “Nobody warned me.”

Brazil: Ninguém me avisou.

Portugal: Ninguém avisou-me.

5. Você

The word você (you) is more commonly used in Brazil than in Portugal. In Brazil, it’s frequently used throughout the country for both formal and informal you, along with the informal tu in certain parts of the country. Meanwhile, in Portugal, people tend to use just tu for informal you, and o senhor/a senhora in formal situations. However, the use of você is increasing amongst young people in Portugal.

For more information about the differences between the two types of Portuguese, click here.

Wrong or right?

Posted by André No Comments
Apr 25 2010

If you’re an intermediate or advanced speaker of Portuguese you may have already noticed that spoken Portuguese differs a lot from written Portuguese. Some people say that many popular ways of using the language is wrong while some others say it’s simply the way that the natural evolution of the language takes.

A very popular example of it is the word “você”. Nowadays it’s considered a valid word in Brazilian Portuguese but some centuries ago it wasn’t. A common abbreviation of it is “cê” and although it’s not officially considered to be good Portuguese by the grammarians even the elite of the country uses it on every day and formal interactions.

On this week’s issue of Época magazine they talked a little about this. Click here to read the report. (In Portuguese).

Do you have any examples of Portuguese “errors” or “mistakes” that should be made official as good language?

The Magic Word

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Jan 8 2010

We’ve discussed this word before, but I wanted to devote aother post to it to emphasize its importance. One of the most useful words to know in Portuguese is cadê, which means where is/are.

Cadê meus óculos? Where are my glasses?

Juro que vi um fantasma. I swear I saw a ghost.  Cadê? Where?

Quero ver a revista. Cadê ela? I want to see the magazine. Where is it?

Cadê minha chave? Where’s my key?

Can you give another example?

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