Language

Portuguese Language:



Portuguese is one of the major languages of the world (the sixth most spoken language worldwide), spoken by about 200 million people on four continents. It belongs to a group of languages called "Romance" or "Neo-Latin" that evolved from Latin, the language of Latium in Ancient Italy, or more specifically, the city of Rome.

There was always great regional variation in Latin vocabulary, depending on each region's position with respect to Rome. The Iberian provinces were somewhat on the sidelines, and did not receive many of the lexical changes that were constantly created in Rome by the urban masses' need for expression. Portuguese and Spanish maintain, for example, the traditional Latin verb comedere (comer in both Portuguese and Spanish), meaning "to eat", while Italy and France adopted the new term manducare, which became mangiare and manger.

The other groups that settled in what is now Portugal over the centuries had little effect on the language, although there is still a small number of words that go back to Celtic times.  Other languages that have influenced Portuguese include French, due to the infiltration of French manners and customs in Portugal during the tenth and eleventh centuries, when Frenchmen went to Portugal as pilgrims, courtiers, statesmen, scholars, and soldiers of fortune to help fight the Moors. There were also influences of Provençal, a language from the south of France, with words such as rua ("street"), similar to the French rue.

Portuguese Phonetic System: 

Common English Words/Phrases translated to Portuguese:


 * Yes - //sim// **


 *  No - //não// **


 *  Thank You - //obrigado// **


 *  Good Bye - //adeus// or //chao// **


 *  Good Morning - //bom dia// **


 *  Good Afternoon - //boa tarde// **


 *  Good Night - //boa noite// **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Welcome - //bem-vindo// **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Excuse Me - //com licença// **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> I'm Sorry - //desculpe// **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> See You Later - //até logo// **



<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18.6667px;">Some Interesting Facts:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18.6667px;">The Portuguese alphabet does not have a "k", "w" or "y." These letters are only used in "foreign" words such as whisky.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18.6667px;">English is the second language taught at most Portuguese schools, followed by French.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18.6667px;">There are about 2.5 million Portuguese speakers in North America, about 170 million in South America (Brazil), close to 12 million in Europe (in Portugal and elsewhere), about 16.5 million in Africa, close to 400,000 in Asia, and close to 70,000 in Australia.