Language - The Rough Guide to Brazil - page 675

Language
Learning some Portuguese before you go to Brazil is an extremely good
idea. Although many well-educated Brazilians speak English, and it's now
the main second language taught in schools, this hasn't filtered through to
most of the population. If you know Spanish you're halfway there: there are
obvious similarities in the grammar and vocabulary, so you should be able
to make yourself understood if you speak slowly, and reading won't present
you with too many problems. However, Portuguese pronunciation is utterly
different and much less straightforward than Spanish, so unless you take the
trouble to learn a bit about it you won't have a clue what Brazilians are
talking about. And contrary to what you might expect, very few Brazilians
speak Spanish themselves.

Unfortunately, far too many people - especially Spanish-speakers - are put off going to
Brazil precisely by the language, but in reality this should be one of your main reasons
for going. Brazilian Portuguese is a colourful, sensual language full of wonderfully rude
and exotic vowel sounds, swooping intonation and hilarious idiomatic expressions.
You'll also find that Brazilians will greatly appreciate even your most rudimentary
efforts, and every small improvement in your Portuguese will make your stay in Brazil
ten times more enjoyable.
People who have learned their Portuguese in Portugal or in Lusophone Africa won't
have any real problems with the language in Brazil, but there are some quite big
differences. There are many variations in vocabulary, and Brazilians take more liberties
with the language, but the most notable differences are in pronunciation: Brazilian
Portuguese is spoken more slowly and clearly; the neutral vowels so characteristic of
European Portuguese tend to be sounded in full; in much of Brazil outside Rio the
slushy “sh” sound doesn't exist; and the “de” and “te” endings of words like cidade and
diferente are palatalized so they end up sounding like “sidadgee” and “djiferentchee”.

Pronunciation
The rules of pronunciation are complicated, but the secret is to throw yourself
wholeheartedly into this explosive linguistic jacuzzi.

Non-nasal vowels
A shouldn't present you with too many problems. It's
usually somewhere between the “ a ” sound of “b a t”
and that of “f a ther”.
E has three possible pronunciations. When it occurs
at the beginning or in the middle of a word, it will
usually sound either a bit like the “ e ” in “b e t”- eg
ferro (iron) and miséria (poverty) - or like the “ ay ” in
“h ay ”- eg mesa (table) and pêlo (hair). However, the
difference can be quite subtle and it's not something
you should worry about too much at the start. The
third pronunciation is radically different from the
other two: at the end of a word, “ e ” sounds like “ y ” in
“happ y ”, eg fome (“fommy”, hunger) and se (if ), which

actually sounds like the Spanish “si”.
I is straightforward. It's always an “ ee ” sound like the “ i ”
in “pol i ce” - eg isto (this).
O is another letter with three possible pronunciations.
At the beginning or in the middle of a word, it normally
sounds either the way it does in “d o g” - eg loja (shop)
and pó (powder) - or the way it does in “g o ”- eg
homem (man) and pôquer (poker). At the end of a word
“ o ” sounds like the “ oo ” in “b oo t”, so obrigado (thank
you) is pronounced “obri-GA-doo”. And the definite
article “ o ” as in o homem (the man) is pronounced “ oo ”.
U is always pronounced like “ oo ” in “b oo t”, eg cruz
(cross).