Editing Portuguese language (section)

== Phonology ==
{{Main|Portuguese phonology}}
[[File:WIKITONGUES-_Sara_speaking_Portuguese.webm|thumb|Sara, a native speaker of [[European Portuguese]]]]
[[File:2JOB Brasilândia.ogg|thumb|Spoken [[Brazilian Portuguese]]]]

Portuguese phonology is similar to those of languages such as [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]] and [[Catalan phonology|Catalan]], whereas [[Spanish phonology|that of Spanish]] is similar to those of [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] and the [[Neapolitan language|Southern Italian dialects]]. Some would describe the phonology of Portuguese as a blend of [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]] (e.g. [[French language|French]]) and the [[Gallo-Italic languages|languages of northern Italy]] (especially [[Genoese dialect|Genoese]]).<ref>''Handbook of the International Phonetic Association'' pp.&nbsp;126–130</ref><ref name="Gramatica 2007" />

Portuguese can have as many as nine oral vowels, as many as two semivowels, and as many as 21 consonants; some varieties of the language have fewer [[phoneme]]s. There are also five [[nasal vowel]]s, which some linguists regard as [[allophone]]s of oral vowels.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Galician–Portuguese developed in the region of the former Roman province of [[Gallaecia]], from the [[Vulgar Latin]] (common Latin) that had been introduced by Roman soldiers, colonists and magistrates during the time of the [[Roman Empire]]. Although the process may have been slower than in other regions, after a period of bilingualism, the centuries of contact with Vulgar Latin completely extinguished the native languages, and a variety of Latin with a few Gallaecian features evolved.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Luján Martínez |first=Eugenio R. |date=2006 |title=The language(s) of the Callaeci |url=https://dc.uwm.edu/ekeltoi/vol6/iss1/16 |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=715–748 |issn=1540-4889 |access-date=24 March 2021 |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227103240/https://dc.uwm.edu/ekeltoi/vol6/iss1/16/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Piel |first=Joseph-Maria |url=http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/biblioteca/origens_lex_port.pdf |title=Estudos de Linguística Histórica Galego-Portuguesa |publisher=IN-CM |year=1989 |location=Lisboa |pages=9–16 |language=Portuguese |trans-title=Studies in Galician–Portuguese Historical Linguistics |chapter=Origens e estruturação histórica do léxico português |trans-chapter=Origins and historical structure of the Portuguese lexicon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227235128/https://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/biblioteca/origens_lex_port.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008}}</ref>

[[Gallaecian language|Gallaecian]] and [[Lusitanian language|Lusitanian]] influences were absorbed into the local dialect of Vulgar Latin; this can be detected in some Galician–Portuguese words, as well as in placenames of [[Celtic language|Celtic]] and [[Iberians|Iberian]] origin.<ref>Such as ''Bolso'': [http://www.csarmento.uminho.pt/docs/ndat/rg/RGVE1999_015.pdf A Toponímia Céltica e os vestígios de cultura material da Proto-História de Portugal. Freire, José. Revista de Guimarães, Volume Especial, I, Guimarães, 1999, pp. 265–275] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206114400/http://www.csarmento.uminho.pt/docs/ndat/rg/RGVE1999_015.pdf |date=6 February 2012 }}. (PDF) . Retrieved 14 November 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cabeza Quiles |first1=Fernando |title=A toponimia celta de Galicia |date=2014 |publisher=Toxosoutos |location=Noia |isbn=978-84-942224-4-3}}</ref>

An early form of Galician–Portuguese was already spoken in the [[Kingdom of the Suebi]], and by the year 800 Galician–Portuguese had already become the [[vernacular]] of northwestern Iberia.<ref name="lus">{{cite web |title=As origens do romance galego-português |url=http://cvc.instituto-camoes.pt/hlp/brevesum/porque.html#Origens |website=História da Língua Portuguesa em linha |publisher=Instituto Camões |language=Portuguese |trans-title=The origins of the Galician–Portuguese romance language |access-date=24 March 2021 |archive-date=31 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200331050922/http://cvc.instituto-camoes.pt/hlp/brevesum/porque.html#Origens |url-status=live }}</ref> The first known [[phonetic]] changes in Vulgar Latin, which began the evolution to Galician–Portuguese, took place during the rule of the Germanic groups, the [[Suebi]] (411–585) and [[Visigoths]] (585–711).<ref name="lus" /> The Galician–Portuguese "inflected infinitive" (or "personal infinitive")<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Alinei |first1=Mario |url=http://www.continuitas.org/texts/alinei_benozzo_alguns-aspectos.pdf |title=Alguns aspectos da Teoria da Continuidade Paleolítica aplicada à região galega |last2=Benozzo |first2=Francesco |year=2008 |isbn=978-989-618-200-7 |language=Portuguese |trans-title=Some aspects of the Paleolithic Continuity Theory applied to the Galician region |access-date=14 November 2011 |archive-date=17 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317000200/http://www.continuitas.org/texts/alinei_benozzo_alguns-aspectos.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Raposo |first1=Eduardo |chapter=Prepositional Infinitival Constructions in European Portuguese |editor=Osvaldo A. Jaeggli |editor2=Kenneth J. Safir |title=The Null Subject Parameter |series=Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory |year=1989 |volume=15 |pages=277–305 |doi=10.1007/978-94-009-2540-3_10 |isbn=978-1-55608-087-6}}</ref> and the [[nasal vowels]] may have evolved under the influence of local [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] (as in [[Old French]]).<ref name="cornell">{{cite web |title=Comparative Grammar of Latin 34: Language Contact |url=http://ling.cornell.edu/people/Weiss/CGL_34_Language_Contact_5.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927041334/http://ling.cornell.edu/people/Weiss/CGL_34_Language_Contact_5.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ethnologic Map of Pre-Roman Iberia (circa 200 B.C.) |url=http://www.arkeotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm |last=Silva |first=Luís Fraga da |website=Arkeotavira.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125215509/http://www.arkeotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm |archive-date=2011-11-25 |access-date=14 November 2011}}</ref> The nasal vowels would thus be a phonologic characteristic of the Vulgar Latin spoken in Roman [[Gallaecia]], but they are not attested in writing until after the 6th and 7th centuries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fonética histórica |url=http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/gramhist/fonetica.html |website=História da Língua Portuguesa em linha |publisher=Instituto Camões |language=Portuguese |trans-title=Historical phonetics |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070922075547/http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/gramhist/fonetica.html |archive-date=22 September 2007}}</ref>

=== Vowels ===
[[File:European Portuguese vowel chart.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|Chart of monophthongs of the Portuguese of Lisbon, with its {{IPA|/ɐ, ɐ̃/|cat=no}} in central [[schwa]] position]]
[[File:Museu de História Natural (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|The [[Natural history|Natural History]] Museum of [[Mozambique]] ([[Manueline]]) in [[Maputo]]]]
[[File:FUDACAO ORIENTE.jpg|thumb|right|The [[:pt:Fundação Oriente|Fundação Oriente]] of [[Fontainhas (quarter)|Fontainhas]], [[India]]. The [[:pt:Fundação Oriente|Fundação Oriente]], along with [[Instituto Camões]], [[Institute Menezes Braganza|Instituto Menezes Bragança]] among others, are institutions dedicated to the worldwide promotion of the Portuguese language and culture.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foriente.pt/static.php?id=3B2FB7E1-AC3A-4E7C-AB36-39480ADFF5B8&area=a-fundacao |title=Delegação da Índia|website=www.foriente.pt |access-date=8 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527172830/https://www.foriente.pt/static.php?id=3B2FB7E1-AC3A-4E7C-AB36-39480ADFF5B8&area=a-fundacao |archive-date=27 May 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ]]
[[File:Praia-Instituto_Internacional_de_Língua_Portuguesa_(2).jpg|thumb|right|The [[International Portuguese Language Institute]] headquarters, in [[Praia]]]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
|+ Vowel phonemes of Portuguese (Portugal)<ref name="Cruz-Ferreira92">{{Harvcoltxt|Cruz-Ferreira|1995|p=92}}</ref><ref name="mateus11">{{Harvcoltxt|Mateus|d'Andrade|2000|p=11}}</ref><ref name="SpahrC">{{cite web |last1=Christopher |first1=Spahr |title=Confronting the European Portuguese low vowel distinction |url=http://individual.utoronto.ca/spahr/spahr_crc_2013.pdf |website=UToronto |access-date=22 December 2021 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121041405/http://individual.utoronto.ca/spahr/spahr_crc_2013.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
!rowspan="2"|
!colspan="2"|[[Front vowel|Front]]
!colspan="2"|[[Central vowel|Central]]
!colspan="2"|[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!{{small|oral}}
!{{small|nasal}}
!{{small|oral}}
!{{small|nasal}}
!{{small|oral}}
!{{small|nasal}}
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}}
|{{IPA link|ĩ}}
|({{IPA link|ɯ̽|ɨ}})
|
|{{IPA link|u}}
|{{IPA link|ũ}}
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}}
|{{IPA link|ẽ}}
|colspan="2"|
|{{IPA link|o}}
|{{IPA link|õ}}
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|{{IPA link|ɛ}}
|
|{{IPA link|ɐ}}
|{{IPA link|ɐ̃}}
|{{IPA link|ɔ}}
|
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|colspan="2"|
|{{IPA link|ä|a}}
|
|colspan="2"|
|}
Like [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[German language|German]], Portuguese uses vowel quality to contrast stressed syllables with unstressed syllables. Unstressed isolated vowels tend to be [[vowel height|raised]] and sometimes centralized.

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
|+ Consonant phonemes of Portuguese (Portugal)<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvcoltxt|Cruz-Ferreira|1995|p=91}}</ref><ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Barbosa|Albano|2004|pp=228–229}}</ref><ref name="labialized velar - Carvalho">{{Cite journal |last=Carvalho |first=Joana |date=2012 |title=Sobre os Ditongos do Português Europeu |url=http://cl.up.pt/elingup/vol4n1/article/article_2.pdf |journal=ELingUp |volume=4 |issue=1 |page=20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151129081825/http://cl.up.pt/elingup/vol4n1/article/article_2.pdf |archive-date=29 November 2015 |quote=A conclusão será que nos encontramos em presença de dois segmentos fonológicos /kʷ/ e /ɡʷ/, respetivamente, com uma articulação vocálica. Bisol (2005:122), tal como Freitas (1997), afirma que não estamos em presença de um ataque ramificado. Neste caso, a glide, juntamente com a vogal que a sucede, forma um ditongo no nível pós-lexical. Esta conclusão implica um aumento do número de segmentos no inventário segmental fonológico do português. |language=pt}}</ref><ref name="labialized velar - Bisol">{{Harvcoltxt|Bisol|2005|p=122}}: {{lang|pt|italic=no|"A proposta é que a sequencia consoante velar + glide posterior seja indicada no léxico como uma unidade monofonemática /kʷ/ e /ɡʷ/. O glide que, nete caso, situa-se no ataque não-ramificado, forma com a vogal seguinte um ditongo crescente em nível pós lexical. Ditongos crescentes somente se formam neste nível. Em resumo, a consoante velar e o glide posterior, quando seguidos de a/o, formam uma só unidade fonológica, ou seja, um segmento consonantal com articulação secundária vocálica, em outros termos, um segmento complexo."}}</ref>
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 |
! rowspan=2| [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan=2| [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br />[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan=2| [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan=2| [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan=2| [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
|-
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Labialization|labialized]]}}
|-
!colspan=2| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
|colspan=2|
|
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|kʷ}}
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
| {{IPA link|ɡʷ}}
|
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
|colspan=2|
| 
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|v}}
| {{IPA link|z}}
| {{IPA link|ʒ}}
|colspan=2|
| {{IPA link|ʁ}}
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
! {{small|[[semivowel]]}}
| {{IPA link|w}}
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
| ({{IPA link|w}})
|
|-
! {{small|[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
| {{IPA link|ʎ}}
|colspan=2|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
| {{IPA link|ɾ}}
|
|colspan=2|
|
|}

'''Phonetic notes'''
* Semivowels contrast with unstressed high vowels in verbal conjugation, as in ''(eu) rio'' {{IPA|/ˈʁi.u/}} and ''(ele) riu'' {{IPA|/ˈʁiw/}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Rodrigues|2012|pp=39–40}}</ref> Phonologists discuss whether their nature is vowel or consonant.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Bisol|2005|p=123}}</ref>
* In most of Brazil and Angola, the consonant hereafter denoted as {{IPA|/ɲ/}} is realized as a [[nasal palatal approximant]] {{IPAblink|ȷ̃|j̃}}, which [[Nasalization|nasalizes]] the vowel that precedes it: {{IPA|[ˈnĩj̃u]}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Thomas|1974|p=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
|last=Perini
|first=Mário Alberto
|year=2002
|title=Modern Portuguese (A Reference Grammar)
|place=New Haven
|publisher=Yale University Press
|isbn=978-0-300-09155-7
}}</ref>
* {{Harvcoltxt|Bisol|2005|p=122}} proposes that Portuguese possesses labio-velar stops {{IPA|/kʷ/}} and {{IPA|/ɡʷ/}} as additional phonemes rather than sequences of a velar stop and {{IPA|/w/}}.<ref name="labialized velar - Bisol" />
* The consonant hereafter denoted as {{IPA|/ʁ/}} has a variety of realizations depending on dialect. In Europe, it is typically a [[uvular trill]] {{IPA|[ʀ]}}; however, a pronunciation as a [[voiced uvular fricative]] {{IPA|[ʁ]}} may be becoming dominant in urban areas. There is also a realization as a [[voiceless uvular fricative]] {{IPA|[χ]}}, and the original pronunciation as an [[alveolar trill]] {{IPA|[r]}} also remains very common in various dialects.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Mateus|d'Andrade|2000|pp=5–6, 11}}</ref> A common realization of the word-initial {{IPA|/r/}} in the Lisbon accent is a voiced uvular fricative trill {{IPAblink|ʀ̝}}.<ref name="gr157">{{Harvcoltxt|Grønnum|2005|p=157}}</ref> In Brazil, {{IPA|/ʁ/}} can be [[velar consonant|velar]], [[uvular consonant|uvular]], or [[glottal consonant|glottal]] and may be voiceless unless between voiced sounds.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Barbosa|Albano|2004|p=228}}</ref> It is usually pronounced as a [[voiceless velar fricative]] {{IPA|[x]}}, a [[voiceless glottal fricative]] {{IPA|[h]}} or [[voiceless uvular fricative]] {{IPA|[χ]}}. See also {{section link|Guttural R#Portuguese}}.
* {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/z/}} are normally {{lcons|lamino-alveolar}}, as in English. However, a number of dialects in northern Portugal pronounce {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/z/}} as [[apico-alveolar]] sibilants (sounding somewhat like a soft {{IPA|[ʃ]}} or {{IPA|[ʒ]}}), as in the Romance languages of northern Iberia. Some very few northeastern Portugal dialects still maintain the medieval distinction between apical and laminal [[sibilant]]s (written ''s/ss'' and ''c/ç/z'', respectively).
* As a phoneme, {{IPA|/tʃ/}} occurs only in loanwords, names, and interjections, with a dialectal tendency for speakers to substitute in {{IPA|/ʃ/}} in most dialects outside of Brazil (as well as some conservative Brazilian dialects, to a variable extent.) However, {{IPA|[tʃ]}} is an [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/t/}} before {{IPA|/i/}} in a majority of Brazilian dialects. Similarly, {{IPA|[dʒ]}} is an allophone of {{IPA|/d/}} in the same contexts.
* In northern and central Portugal, the voiced stops ({{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}) are usually lenited to [[fricative]]s {{IPA|[β]}}, {{IPA|[ð]}}, and {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, respectively, except at the beginning of words or after nasal vowels.<ref name="Cruz-Ferreira92"/><ref name="mateus11"/> At the end of a phrase, due to [[final-obstruent devoicing]], they may even be devoiced to {{IPA|[ɸ]}}, {{IPA|[θ]}}, and {{IPA|[x]}} (for example, ''verde'' at the end of a sentence may be pronounced {{IPA|[veɹθ]}}).
* In Brazil, many speakers further shift {{IPA|[ɫ]}} to {{IPA|[w]}} in closed syllables, especially outside the southern region.
* Phonetically, Portuguese (and [[French language|French]]) are quite different from the other major Romance languages. It has been suggested that this stems from the ancient link to Celtic languages such as [[Welsh language|Welsh]] or [[Breton language|Breton]],<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44938469//|title=Insular Portuguese Pronunciation:Alleged Breton Influence|date=20 January 2024|jstor=44938469 |last1=Rogers |first1=Francis Millet |journal=Romance Philology |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=305–314 }}</ref> with which it also shares a substantial number of cognates: there are 37 sounds in Portuguese, including vowels, consonants and diphthongs, most of which exist in today's Celtic languages.<ref name="Filppula-Klemola"/>