1. The Alphabet.
The Portuguese Alphabet is composed of the 25 following letters:
| pronounced | pronounced | ||
| a | ah | n | ennay |
| b | bay | o | o |
| c | say | p | pay |
| d | day | q | kay |
| e | ai | r | erray |
| f | effay | s | essay |
| g | jay | t | tay |
| h | aghah | u | oo |
| i | ee | v | vay |
| j | dshod | x | shees |
| k | kah | y | ypsilon |
| l | ellay | z | zea |
| m | emmay |
There are six vowels: a, e, i, o, u and y, the rest are consonants.
2. The Accent.
The Portuguese language has several accents:
3. The Vowels.
A 1. is pronounced like the a in the English word path, when it has the acute accent ´:
2. is it pronounced short and clear like the a in father:
capitão, the captain (first a),
or if found before the double consonants: cc, ll, mm, nn, pp, ss, tt, as:
3. it has a soft and aspirated sound at the end of words if not accentuated: vergonha, the shame. If the hyphen ~ til stands over the a it takes a nasal sound:
E has three sounds:
1. open but short like ai in the English word hail, when with the acute accent ´ as:
or in:
or in those verbs ending in er:
2. long, when with the circumflex ^ over it, as:
3. It is almost mute at the end of words without the accent, as:
I is pronounced like e in the English word me, and it is only the accent that determines the pronunciation, as:
O has three sounds:
1. clear and strong in:
2. soft and long in:
3. quite short, almost like oo in:
U is pronounced like the oo in the word wood, but the pronunciation depends much upon the length of the syllables, f. i. in túmulo, the grave, the first u is long, the second is short. If provided with the til ~ and before m and n it takes the nasal sound.
If it follows after g and q, it is either aspirated, or it is quite mute, as:
In qual, it is slightly sounded to distinguish it from the Noun cal, the chalk.
Y is pronounced like the vowel I.
4. The Consonants.
B is pronounced like the English B.
C before a, o, u, l and r is pronounced like k, as:
D is pronounced like the English.
Fdo.do.
G before a, o and a consonant is pronounced like the English g, as:
g before e and i sounds like the j in the English word joy, as: general.
gua almost sounds like the English wa, as: guarda, pr. gwarda.
H is only softly aspirated in few words, as:
J is pronounced like the English j.
K only occurs in foreign words and is pronounced like the English K.
L is pronounced like the English L.
M at the beginning of words, or between two vowels when it belongs to the second syllable, is pronounced like the English m, as:
It takes a nasal sound at the end of words, or when it follows after a, e, i, o or u which cannot well be described, as:
N is pronounced like the English n, but has the same peculiarities as m.
P is pronounced as in English.
Q sounds like k, as: quero (kayro), I will.
R is pronounced as in English.
S is pronounced as in English; between two vowels it sounds like z.
T is pronounced like the English.
Vdo.do.
X has three sounds.
1. It sounds generally like sh, as:
2. After e it is pronounced like ks, as:
3. Between two vowels it is pronounced like gz, as:
The x must be pronounced so softly that it is scarcely audible.
Z sounds like the English, as:
5. Double Consonants.
The Portuguese language has the following double consonants:
Ch 1. is pronounced like the English ch, as:
2. it is pronounced like k in words derived from Latin or Greek, as:
Lh is pronounced like the ll in the English word “billiards” or in the French words “fille, bouilli”,as:
Nh is pronounced like the French gn in “espagne, peigner”, as:
Ph is pronounced like f, as: philosophia.
Rh and Th are pronounced like r and t.
6. The Diphthongs.
The Portuguese language has two kinds of diphthongs: the pure, those which are distinctly pronounced, and the nasal diphthongs, pronounced with a nasal sound.
Pure Diphthongs.
Nasal Diphthongs.