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Rio De Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

:This article is about the city called Rio de Janeiro. For the state with the same name, see Rio de Janeiro (state). Rio de Janeiro (state)' song The Girl from Ipanema]] The Girl from Ipanema The Girl from Ipanema of Rio de Janeiro]] Rio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in Portuguese), pron. IPA // in Brazilian Portuguese and / in European (African and Asian) Portuguese) is the name of both a state and a city in south-eastern Brazil. Commonly known as just Rio (particularly in English), the city is considered by many to be amongst the most beautiful cities in the world. It is famous for the hotel-lined tourist beaches Copacabana and Ipanema, for the giant statue of Jesus, known as Christ the Redeemer ('Cristo Redentor') atop the Corcovado mountain, and for its yearly Carnival celebration. It also has the biggest forest inside an urban region, called Floresta da Tijuca, or 'Tijuca Forest'. Rio de Janeiro is located at 22 degrees, 54 minutes south latitude, 43 degrees 14 minutes west longitude (). The population of the city of Rio de Janeiro is about 6,150,000 (as of 2004), occupying an area of 1256 km² (485 mi²). The larger metropolitan area population is estimated at 10-13 million. It is Brazil's second-largest city after São Paulo and was the country's capital until 1960, when Brasília took its place. Residents of the city are known as Cariocas. The city's current mayor is Cesar Maia.

History

The area where Rio de Janeiro is now was reached in January of 1502 by Portuguese explorers in an expedition led by Portuguese explorer Gaspar de Lemos. As the Europeans thought primarily that the Guanabara Bay was actually the mouth of a river, they called it Rio de Janeiro, which means January River. The actual city wasn't founded until March 1, 1565, by Portuguese knight Estácio de Sá, who called it São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (St. Sebastian of the January River), in honour of King Sebastian I of Portugal. For centuries, the settlement was commonly called São Sebastião - or even 'Saint Sebastian' - instead of the currently popular second half of its name. It was frequently attacked by pirates and privateers, especially by then enemies of Portugal, such as the Netherlands and France. In the late 16th century the Portuguese crown began treating the village as a strategic location for the Atlantic transit of ships between Brazil, the African colonies and Europe. Fortresses were built and an alliance was formed with nearby native tribes to defend the settlement against invaders - Rio's neighbour, Niterói, for instance, was founded by a native chief for the purpose of supporting defence. Niterói] The exact place of Rio's foundation is at the foot of Pão-de-Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain). Later, the whole city was moved within a palisade on top of a hill, imitating the medieval European defence strategy of fortified castles - the place has since then been called Morro do Castelo (Castle Hill). Thus, the city developed from the current centre (Centro, see below) southwards and then westwards; an urban movement which continues today. Until early in the 18th century the city was threatened or invaded by several - mostly French - pirates and buccaneers, such as Jean-François Duclerc, René Duguay-Trouin and Nicolas de Villegaignon. After 1720, when the Portuguese found gold and diamonds in the neighbouring captaincy of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro became a much more useful port for exporting wealth than Salvador, Bahia, which is much farther to the north. In 1763, the colonial administration in Portuguese America was moved to Rio. The city remained mostly a colonial capital until 1808, when the Portuguese royal family and most of the Lisbon nobles, fleeing from Napoleon's invasion of Portugal, moved to Rio de Janeiro. The kingdom's capital was transferred to the city, which, thus, became the only European capital outside of Europe. As there was no physical space or urban structure to accommodate hundreds of noblemen who arrived suddenly, many inhabitants were simply evicted from their homes. When Prince Pedro I proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822, he decided to keep Rio de Janeiro as the capital of his new empire, but, by then, the city region was losing importance - economic and political - to São Paulo. São Paulos in Rio, it was built in the 1920s]] Until the early years of the 20th century the city was largely limited to the neighbourhood now known as the historic Centro business district (see below), on the mouth of Guanabara Bay. The city's centre of the gravity began to shift south and west to the so-called Zona Sul (South Zone) in the early part of the 20th century, when the first tunnel was built under the mountains located between Botafogo and the neighbourhood now known as Copacabana. That beach's natural beauty, combined with the fame of the Copacabana Palace Hotel, in the 1930s the luxury hotel of the Americas, helped Rio to gain the reputation it still holds today as a beachy party town (though, this reputation has been somewhat tarnished in recent years by favela violence resulting from the narcotics trade). Rio was maintained as Brazilian capital in 1889, when the military overthrew of the monarchy and imposed a republic. However, plans for moving the nation's capital city to the territorial centre were considered off and on, until finally in 1955 president Juscelino Kubitschek was elected, promising to build a new capital. Though many thought that it was just campaign rhetoric, Kubitschek managed to have Brasília built, at great cost, by 1960. On April 21 that year the capital of Brazil was officially moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília. Between 1960 and 1975 Rio was a city-state (such as Hamburg in Germany) under the name State of Guanabara (after the bay it borders). However, for administrative and political reasons, a presidential decree known as A Fusão (The Fusion) removed the city's federative status and merged it with the state of Rio de Janeiro in 1975. Even today, some cariocas claim the return of municipal autonomy.

City districts

cariocas The city is commonly divided into the historic centre (Centro); the tourist-friendly South Zone, with world-famous beaches; the industrial North Zone; the West Zone; and the newer Barra da Tijuca region.

Centro

Centro is the historic centre of the city. Sites of interest include both the historic Church of the Candelária and the modern-style cathedral, the Municipal Theatre and several museums. Centro remains the heart of the city's business community. The "Bondinho", a tram, leaves from a city centre station, crosses a former Roman-style aqueduct - the 'Arcos da Lapa', built in 1750 and converted to a tram viaduct in 1896 - and rambles through the hilly streets of the Santa Teresa neighbourhood nearby.

South Zone

aqueduct The South Zone of Rio de Janeiro is composed of several districts, amongst which are São Conrado, Leblon, Ipanema, Arpoador, Copacabana and Leme, which compose Rio's famous beach coastline. Other districts in the South Zone are Botafogo, Flamengo and Urca, which border Guanabara Bay and Lagoa, Gávea, Jardim Botânico and Laranjeiras, which are inlands. The neighbourhood of Copacabana beach hosts one of the world's most spectacular New Year's Eve parties ("Reveillon"), as more than two million revellers crowd onto the sands to watch the firework display. As of 2001, the fireworks have been launched from boats, to improve the safety of the event. To the north of Leme, and at the entrance to Guanabara bay, lies the district of Urca and the Sugarloaf Mountain ('Pão de Açúcar'), whose name describes the famous hump rising out of the sea. The summit can be reached via a two-stage cable car trip from Praia Vermelha, with the intermediate stop on Morro da Urca. It offers views second only to Corcovado mountain. One of the highest mountains in the city, however, at 842 metres, is the Pedra da Gávea (Topsail Rock), in São Conrado. Hang gliding is a popular activity on the nearby peak, called Pedra Bonita (Beautiful Rock) - after a short flight, they land on the Praia do Pepino beach in São Conrado. Since 1961, the Tijuca forest ("Floresta da Tijuca"), the largest urban forest in the world, has been a National Park.

North Zone

National Park The North Zone of Rio is home to the Maracanã stadium, still the world's highest capacity football (soccer) venue, able to hold nearly 200,000 people (the biggest stadium of any type is located in Prague, Czech Republic. However, it is not suitable for football). In modern times the capacity has been reduced to conform with modern safety regulations and the stadium has introduced seating for all fans. Currently undergoing renovation, it will eventually hold around 120,000 people. Maracanã will be the site for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and football competition of the 2007 Pan-American Games. Besides the Maracanã, the North Zone of Rio also holds other tourist and historical attractions, such as 'Manguinhos', the home of Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, a centenarian biomedical research institution, with its main building fashioned like a Moorish castle, and the beautiful 'Quinta da Boa Vista', the old imperial palace (Paço), which is now the National Museum. The International Airport of Rio de Janeiro (Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport), the main campus of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro at the Fundão Island, and the Governador Island are also located in the Northern part of Rio.

West Zone

The West Zone is the region furthest from the centre of Rio de Janeiro. It includes Barra da Tijuca, Jacarepaguá, Campo Grande, Santa Cruz and Bangu. Neighbouring districts within the West Zone reveal stark differences between social classes. The area has industrial zones, but some agricultural areas still remain in its wide area. To the west of the older zones is Barra da Tijuca, a flat expanse of formerly undeveloped coastal land, which is currently experiencing a wave of new construction. It remains an area of accelerated growth, attracting some of the richer sectors of the population as well as luxury companies. High rise flats and sprawling shopping centres give the area a far more Americanised feel than the crowded city centre. The urban planning of the area, made in the late 1960s, resembles that of United States' suburbs, though mixing zones of single-family houses with residential skyscrapers. The beaches of Barra da Tijuca are also popular with the city's residents. Barra da Tijuca is the home of Pan-American Village for the 2007 Pan American Games. Beyond the neighbourhoods of Barra da Tijuca and Jacarepaguá another district, which has exhibited good economic growth, is that of Campo Grande. Some sports competitions in the Pan-American Games of 2007 will be held in the Miécimo da Silva Sports Centre, nicknamed the 'Algodão' (Cotton) Gymnasium, and others in the Ítalo del Cima Stadium, in Campo Grande.

Social conditions

:Main article: Favela Favela] Rio is typical of the rest of Brazil in that there are enormous disparities between rich and poor. Though the city clearly ranks among the world's major metropolises, a significant proportion of the city's 13 million inhabitants lives amidst poverty. The worst of the poorer areas are the slums and shanty towns known as 'favelas'; often crowded onto the hillsides, where sturdy buildings are difficult to build, and accidents, mainly from heavy rainfall, are frequent. The favelas are troubled by widespread drug-related crime, gang warfare and other poverty-related social issues. A unique aspect of Rio's favelas is their incredible proximity to the city's wealthiest districts. Upper-class neighbourhoods such as Ipanema and Copacabana are squeezed in between the beach and the hills, the latter of which are covered with poor neighbourhoods. It is common for a flat in a wealthy district to face the ocean and beach at the front and to face poor slums at the back. The American School of Rio, the most expensive private school in the city, is located literally within a stone's throw of Rocinha, South America's largest slum, with an estimated population of 200,000; the school's basketball courts and classrooms are visible from the slum.

Carnival

The carnival in Rio de Janeiro has many choices, including the famous 'Escolas de Samba' parades in the sambódromo exhibition centre and the popular 'blocos de carnaval', which parade in almost every corner of the city. The most famous ones are the following:
- Cordão do Bola Preta: Parades in the centre of the city. It is one of the most traditional 'blocos de carnaval'.
- Ipanema's Gand: Gay parade, which goes along the Ipanema beach area.
- Suvaco do Cristo: Band that parades in the Botanic Garden, directly below the Redeemer statue's arm. The name, in English, translates as 'Christ's armpit', and was chosen for that reason.
- Carmelitas: Band that was supposedly created by nuns, but in fact it is just a theme chosen by the band. It parades in the hills of Santa Teresa, which have very nice views.

Sports

Rio de Janeiro will host the 2007 Pan-American Games. More notable sports events in Rio includes the MotoGP Brazilian Grand Prix and the World Beach volleyball finals. Jacarepaguá was the place of Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix into 1978-1990. WCT/WQS Surf championships was disputed on the beaches from 1985-2001. The city is building a new stadium near the Maracanã, to hold 45,000 people. It will be named after Brazilian ex-FIFA president João Havelange. Rio de Janeiro was also a candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Copacabana beach will be the site of the triathlon and beach volleyball with yachting competitions held in Guanabara Bay. Sports are a very popular pastime in Rio de Janeiro. The most popular is futebol (football/soccer). Rio de Janeiro is home to four traditional Brazilian football clubs: Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco. Other popular sports are beach football, beach volleyball, surfing, hang gliding, motor racing, jiu-jitsu, recreational sailing, and sport rowing. The peculiarly Brazilian dance/sport/martial art Capoeira is also popular. Capoeira Rio de Janeiro is also a paradise for rock climbers, with hundreds of routes all over the town, ranging from easy boulders to highly technical big wall climbs, all inside the city. The most famous, Rio's granite mountain, the Sugar Loaf (Pao-de-Açucar), is an example, with routes from the easy 3rd grade (American 5.4, French 3) to the extremely difficult 9th grade (5.13/8b), up to 280 metres. Hang gliding in Rio de Janeiro started in the mid 70’s and quickly proofed to be perfectly suited for this town due to its geography with steep mountains encountering the Atlantic ocean which provides excellent take off locations and great landing zones on the beach. Starting with amateur flights, this activity soon turned into a profitable industry of tandem hang gliding with some very experienced pilots at a cost for a ride around US$ 100.00. In the Summer, between December and March, it’s recommended to book in advance.

Airports

- Galeão International Airport
- Santos Dumont Regional Airport

Famous cariocas

The 'Cariocas', as residents of Rio de Janeiro are popularly called in Brazil, have made extensive contributions to Brazil's history, culture, music, literature, education, science, technology etc. - particularly when Rio de Janeiro was the federal capital and a great hub of Brazilian growth and innovation in all these areas. Some important Cariocas, who were born in Rio, are:
- Adolfo Lutz, physician and scientist
- Bruno Barreto, film director
- Carlos Chagas Filho, physician and scientist
- Carlos Lacerda, politician, governor of Rio
- Carolina Solberg Salgado, beach volleyball player
- Chico Buarque, composer, singer and writer
- Fernanda Montenegro, actress
- Fernando Henrique Cardoso, sociologist, twice president of Brazil
- Heitor Villa-Lobos, classic composer and regent
- Ivo Pitanguy, plastic surgeon
- Jô Soares, television entertainer and writer
- Machado de Assis, writer
- Milton Nascimento, singer and composer
- Oscar Niemeyer, architect
- Paulo Coelho, writer
- Emperor D. Pedro II
- Baden Powell, composer and musician (guitar)
- Romário, football player
- Ronaldo, football player
- Sérgio Vieira de Mello, diplomat
- Silvio Santos, entrepreneur, media mogul and television entertainer
- Tom Jobim, composer and musician, one of the creators of Bossa Nova
- Vinicius de Morais, writer, poet and musician
- Walter Salles, film director
- Zico, former football player, currently the Japanese national football team's coach.

Miscellaneous

In 1992 the city hosted the UNCED Earth Summit on Sustainable development. Rio has also been used as a backdrop for many films, such as 007 Moonraker (1979), Blame It on Rio (1984), Bossa Nova (2000), and City of God (2002). In The Simpsons episode Blame it on Lisa, the family visited Rio de Janeiro, only to encounter a myriad of ludicrously exaggerated problems. The episode angered several tourist officials and they threatened to sue the producers of the show. The Harbour of Rio de Janeiro was declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World by CNN.
See also

- List of Mayors of Rio de Janeiro
Sister cities

- Acapulco, Mexico
- Kobe, Japan
External links

- [http://www.rio.rj.gov.br Official homepage] (Portuguese)
- [http://eayearbooks.com/rio_images.htm Images of Rio— Hundreds of images from the 1920s to the present]
- [http://transito.rio.rj.gov.br/ Rio De Janeiro Webcams]
- [http://www.rio.rj.gov.br/riotur/en/ Riotur]
- [http://www.puc-rio.br/ PUC-Rio] - the Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro
- [http://www.coppe.ufrj.br/ COPPE/UFRJ] - the largest post-graduate and research centre of Engineering in Latin America (part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro-[http://www.ufrj.br UFRJ])
- [http://www.uerj.br/ UERJ] - University of Rio de Janeiro State
- [http://www.unirio.br/ UNIRIO] - Another federal university located in Rio de Janeiro
- [http://www.wikitravel.org/en/article/Rio_de_Janeiro_(city) Rio de Janeiro at Wikitravel] Rio de Janeiro Category:Rio de Janeiro state Category:Coastal cities
- ja:リオデジャネイロ市

Rio de Janeiro (state)
:This article is about the Brazilian state, Rio de Janeiro. For the city with the same name, see Rio de Janeiro

Statistics

Capital: Rio de Janeiro

Area: 43,696.054km²

Inhabitants: 14,381,282

Pop. density: 328.59 inh./km²

Timezone: GMT -3

ISO 3166-2: BR-RJ

Governor: Rosângela Matheus

Map

ISO 3166-2

ISO 3166-2

Rio de Janeiro is one of the 26 states of Brazil (plus the Federal District). It has an area of 43,653km² and is situated on the southeastern coast. Its capital is the city of Rio de Janeiro, which was the colony's capital as of 1764 (the first capital being Salvador da Bahia), and the nation's capital from 1822 to 1960. In the year 2000, the state population was 14,381,282. Governor: Rosângela Matheus (since January 1, 2003). Lieutenant Governor: Luiz Paulo Conde (former mayor of Rio de Janeiro).
Flag
Rio de Janeiro Here the flag can be seen with, in the foreground, the eagle, symbol of Brazil's royal family, and in the background, the rock formation Dedo de Deus ("The Finger of God"), which is visible from the city of Rio de Janeiro on a clear day. The outer part of the coat of arms represents its agricultural richness, sugarcane (left) and coffee (right).

Location
This Brazilian state is in the east of the southeastern subdivision of Brazil, which also contains the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. It has as its limits: The Atlantic Ocean (E), the state of Espírito Santo (N), the state of Minas Gerais (N) and (W), and the state of São Paulo (S).
Cities
Other cities include:

- Angra dos Reis
- Aperibé
- Araruama
- Areal
- Armação dos Búzios
- Arraial do Cabo
- Barra do Piraí
- Barra Mansa
- Belford Roxo
- Bom Jardim
- Bom Jesus do Itabapoana
- Cabo Frio
- Cachoeiras de Macacu
- Cambuci
- Campos dos Goytacazes
- Cantagalo
- Carapebus
- Cardoso Moreira
- Carmo
- Casimiro de Abreu
- Comendador Levy Gasparian
- Conceição de Macabu
- Cordeiro
- Duas Barras
- Duque de Caxias
- Engenheiro Paulo de Frontin
- Guapimirim
- Iguaba Grande
- Itaboraí
- Itaguaí
- Italva
- Itaocara
- Itaperuna
- Itatiaia
- Japeri
- Laje do Muriaé
- Macaé
- Macuco
- Magé
- Mangaratiba
- Maricá
- Mendes
- Miguel Pereira
- Miracema
- Natividade
- Nilópolis
- Niterói
- Nova Friburgo
- Nova Iguaçu
- Paracambi
- Paraíba do Sul
- Parati
- Paty do Alferes
- Petrópolis
- Pinheiral
- Piraí
- Porciúncula
- Porto Real
- Quatis
- Queimados
- Quissamã
- Resende
- Rio Bonito
- Rio Claro
- Rio das Flores
- Rio das Ostras
- Santa Maria Madalena
- Santo Antônio de Pádua
- São Fidélis
- São Francisco de Itabapoana
- São Gonçalo
- São João da Barra
- São João de Meriti
- São José de Ubá
- São José do Vale do Rio Preto
- São Pedro da Aldeia
- São Sebastião do Alto
- Sapucaia
- Saquarema
- Seropédica
- Silva Jardim
- Sumidouro
- Tanguá
- Teresópolis
- Trajano de Morais
- Três Rios
- Valença
- Varre-Sai
- Vassouras
- Volta Redonda

External links

- [http://www.governo.rj.gov.br Official homepage] (Portuguese/English)
- [http://www.tj.rj.gov.br State Judiciary] (Portuguese)
- [http://www.alerj.rj.gov.br State Assembly] (Portuguese)
- [http://www.uerj.br State University] (Portuguese and English)
- [http://www.uenf.br Northern State University] (Portuguese)
- [http://www.pge.rj.gov.br State Attornery Office] (Portuguese)
- [http://www.sedec.rj.gov.br State Civil Defence] (Portuguese)
- [http://www.policiamilitar.rj.gov.br State Military Police]
- [http://www.policiacivil.rj.gov.br State Civil Police] Category:States of Brazil Category:Rio de Janeiro state ja:リオデジャネイロ州

The Girl from Ipanema

"The Girl from Ipanema" ("Garota de Ipanema") is considered the best-known bossa nova song ever written, and was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s. It was written in 1962, with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes; English lyrics were later written by Norman Gimbel. It is often claimed to be the second-most recorded popular song in history, topped only by The Beatles' "Yesterday". The best-known version is that performed by Stan Getz and João Gilberto with vocals by Astrud Gilberto, from the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto. The first commercial recording was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. Numerous recordings have been used in movies, often as an elevator music cliché. In 2003 Gilberto unsuccessfully sued to block use of the song for advertising Doritos snack chips. The song "The Boy From..." by Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers is a parody of "The Girl From Ipanema."

Background

The song was inspired by Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (or, simply, Helô Pinheiro), an 18-year-old girl who lived on Montenegro street in the fashionable Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro. Every day, she would stroll past the popular "Veloso" bar-cafe on the way to the beach, attracting the attention of regulars Jobim and Moraes. The song was originally composed for a musical comedy entitled Dirigível (Blimp), which was a work in progress of Vinícius de Moraes. The original title was "Menina que Passa" ("The Girl Who Passes By"), and the famous first verse was completely different. In Revelação: a verdadeira Garota de Ipanema (Revealed: The Real Girl from Ipanema) Moraes wrote that she was: :"o paradigma do bruto carioca; a moça dourada, misto de flor e sereia, cheia de luz e de graça mas cuja a visão é também triste, pois carrega consigo, a caminho do mar, o sentimento da que passa, da beleza que não é só nossa — é um dom da vida em seu lindo e melancólico fluir e refluir constante." which roughly translates to: :'"the exemplar of the rude Carioca: a golden-tanned girl, a mixture of flower and mermaid, full of brightness and grace, but with a touch of sadness, in that she carries with her, on her route to the sea, the feeling of that which passes by, of the beauty that is not ours alone — it is a gift of life in its constant, beautiful and sad ebb and flow." Today, "Montenegro Street" is called "Vinícius de Moraes Street", and the "Veloso Bar" is named "A Garota de Ipanema". There is also a Garota de Ipanema Park in the nearby Arpoador neighborhood.

Other interpreters

- Oscar Peterson (1965)
- Frank Sinatra (1967)
- Peggy Lee
- Gal Costa
- Lou Rawls
- Diana Krall
- Pizzicato Five
- Kompressor
- Al Jarreau and Oleta Adams (1997)
- Archie Shepp
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Eliane Elias (1998)
- Helge Schneider
- Ottmar Liebert (2001)
- Boston Pops Orchestra
- Stan Getz

English lyrics

Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes
Each one she passes goes "aah"

When she walks she's like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gently
That when she passes
Each one she passes goes "aah"

Oh, but I watch her so sadly
How can I tell her I love her?
Yes, I would give my heart gladly
But each day when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead not at me

Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes I smile
But she doesn't see

Portuguese Lyrics

Vinicius de Moraes is today regarded as one of the most important Brazilian poets of his time. The original Portuguese lyrics were very different from the English lyrics. Girl from Ipanema, The Girl from Ipanema, The ja:イパネマの娘

Portuguese language

Portuguese (Português) is a Romance language predominantly spoken in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea Bissau, Macao Special Administrative Region of China, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Many linguists consider that Portuguese and Galician (the native language of Galicia, Spain) are actually varieties of the same language, but with Galician being strongly influenced by Spanish. With more than 200 million native speakers, Portuguese is one of the few languages spoken in such widely-distributed parts of the world, and is the fifth or sixth most-spoken first language in the world. Because Brazil, with 184 million inhabitants, constitutes about 51% of South America's population, Portuguese is the most widely spoken language in South America and it is also one of the key languages in Africa. The language was spread worldwide in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as Portugal created the first and the longest lived modern-world colonial and commercial empire (1415–1975), spanning from Brazil in the Americas to Macao in China. As a result, Portuguese is now the official language of several independent countries and is widely spoken or studied as a second language in many others. There are also various Portuguese Creole languages spread all over the world. It is an important minority language in Andorra, Luxembourg, Namibia, and Paraguay. The Portuguese language is nicknamed A língua de Camões ("The language of Camões", after Luís de Camões, the author of The Lusiads); A última flor do Lácio ("The last flower of Latium", by Olavo Bilac) or The sweet language (by Cervantes). Portuguese language speakers are known as a Lusophone, after the Roman name for the province of Lusitania.

History

Portuguese developed in the Western Iberian Peninsula from the spoken Latin language brought there by Roman soldiers and colonists starting in the 3rd century BC. The language began to differentiate itself from other Romance languages after the fall of the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasions in the 5th century. It started to be used in written documents around the 9th century, and by the 15th century it had become a mature language with a rich literature. Arriving on the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC, the Romans brought with them the Roman people's language, Vulgar Latin, from which all Romance languages (also known as "New Latin Languages") descend. Already in the 2nd century BC southern Lusitania was Romanized. Strabo, a 1st-century Greek geographer, comments in one of the books of his Geographia "encyclopedia": "they have adopted the Roman customs, and they no longer remember their own language." The language was spread by arriving Roman soldiers, settlers and merchants, who built Roman cities mostly near previous civilizations' settlements. Between 409 A.D. and 711, as the Roman Empire was collapsing, the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by peoples of Germanic origin, known to the Romans as Barbarians. The Barbarians (mainly Suevi and Visigoths) largely absorbed the Roman culture and language of the peninsula; however, Lusitania's language and culture were free to evolve on their own during the Early Middle Ages, due to the lack of Roman schools and administration, Lusitania's relative isolation from the rest of Europe, and changes in the political boundaries of the Iberian peninsula. These changes led to the formation of what is now called "Lusitanian Romance". From 711, with the Moorish invasion of the Peninsula, Arabic was adopted as the administrative language in the conquered regions. However, the population continued to speak their Romance dialects so that when the Moors were overthrown, the influence that they had exerted on the language was small. Its main effect was in the lexicon. The earliest surviving records of a distinctively Portuguese language are administrative documents from the ninth century, still interspersed with many phrases in Latin. Today this phase is known as "Proto-Portuguese" (spoken in the period between the 9th to the 12th century). Portugal was formally recognized by the Kingdom of Leon as an independent country in 1143, with King Afonso Henriques. In the first period of "Old Portuguese" - Portuguese-Galician Period (from the 12th to the 14th century) - the language gradually came into general use. Previously it had mostly been used on the Christian Iberian Peninsula as a language for poetry. In 1290, king Denis created the first Portuguese University in Lisbon (the Estudo Geral) and decreed that Portuguese, then simply called the "Vulgar language" should be known as the Portuguese language and should be officially used. In the second period of "Old Portuguese", from the 14th to the 16th century, with the Portuguese discoveries, the Portuguese language spread to many regions of Asia, Africa and The Americas (nowadays, most of the Portuguese speakers live in Brazil, in South America). By the 16th century it had become a lingua franca in Asia and Africa, used not only for colonial administration and trade but also for communication between local officials and Europeans of all nationalities. The spreading of the language was helped by mixed marriages between Portuguese and local people (also very common in other areas of the world) and its association with the Catholic missionary efforts, which led to it being called Cristão ("Christian") in many places in Asia. The Nippo jisho, a Japanese-Portuguese dictionary written in 1603, was a product of Jesuit missionary activity in Japan. The language continued to be popular in parts of Asia until the 19th century. Some Portuguese-speaking Christian communities in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia preserved their language even after they were isolated from Portugal. The language has largely changed in these communities and has evolved through the centuries into several Portuguese creoles, some still existing today, after hundreds of years of isolation. A considerable number of words of Portuguese origin are also found in Tetum. Portuguese words entered the lexicons of many other languages, such as Japanese, Indonesian, Malay, or Swahili. The end of "Old Portuguese" was marked by the publication of the Cancioneiro Geral de Garcia de Resende, in 1516. The period of "Modern Portuguese" (spanning from the 16th century to present day) saw an increase in the number of words of Classical Latin origin and erudite words of Greek origin borrowed into Portuguese during the Renaissance, which augmented the complexity of the language.

Classification and related languages

Indo-European - Italic - Romance - Italo-Western - Western - Gallo-Iberian - Ibero-Romance - West-Iberian - Portuguese-Galician Portuguese is orthographically similar in many ways to Spanish, but it has a very distinctive phonology. A speaker of one of these languages may require some practice to effectively understand a speaker of the other (although generally it is easier for a Portuguese native speaker to understand Spanish than the other way around). Compare, for example: :Ela fecha sempre a janela antes de jantar. (Portuguese) :Ella cierra siempre la ventana antes de cenar. (Spanish) Some less common phrasings and word choices have closer cognates in Spanish because Portuguese has managed to retain a much larger vocabulary, with stronger Latin heritage: :Ela cerra sempre a janela antes de cear. (less common Portuguese) (Which translates as "She always closes the window before having dinner.") In some places, Spanish and Portuguese are spoken almost interchangeably. Portuguese speakers are generally able to read Spanish, and Spanish speakers are generally able to read Portuguese, even if they cannot understand the spoken language. Portuguese also has significant similarities with Mirandese, Catalan, Italian, French and with other Romance languages. Phonetically, Portuguese sometimes appears closer to French and Catalan than Spanish does. The sound set of Portuguese is very similar to the French one, due to the occurrence of nasalization and some palatalization in both languages, and due to certain sound changes (for example, diphthongization of low-mid stressed vowels, aspiration of /f/, devoicing of sibilants, and change of intervocalic [ʎ] to [ʒ]) that set off Spanish from the others. In lexicon, Portuguese bom (masculine word for good) and French or Catalan bon are very similar, while Spanish bueno is somewhat different, and Portuguese filha, French fille and Catalan filla are opposed to Spanish hija. European Portuguese came under additional French influence as a result of the Napoleonic dominion in Lisbon from 1807-1812, and cultural influences after that. Speakers of other Romance languages may find a peculiarity in the conjugating of certain apparently infinitive verbs and of some real infinitives. When constructing a future tense or conditional tense clause involving an indirect object pronoun, the pronoun can be placed between the verb stem and the verb ending. This phenomenon is called mesoclisis, because the clitic is neither before nor after, but in the middle. For example, Dupondt said trazer-vos-emos o vosso ceptro. Translating as literally as possible, this is "bring (stem)-to you (formal)-we (future) the your scepter". In English we would say, "We will bring you your scepter." The form Nós vos traremos o vosso ceptro. is a regionalism used in most Portuguese speaking countries, as well as Portugal.

Geographic distribution

ceptro Portuguese is the first language in Angola, Brazil, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe, and the most widely used language in Mozambique. Portuguese is also one of the official languages of East Timor (with Tetum) and Macao S.A.R. of China (with Chinese). It is widely spoken, but not official, in Andorra, Luxembourg, Namibia and Paraguay. Portuguese Creoles are the mother tongue of Cape Verde and part of Guinea-Bissau's population. In Cape Verde most also speak standard Portuguese and have a native level language usage. Large Portuguese-speaking immigrant communities exist in many cities around the world, including Montreal and Toronto in Canada; Paris in France; Asunción in Paraguay; and Boston, New Bedford, Cape Cod, Providence, Newark, New York City, Miami, Sacramento, Honolulu and Houston in the United States. Portuguese is spoken by about 187 million people in South America, 17 million Africans, 12 million Europeans, 2 million in North America and 0.34 million in Asia. The CPLP or Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries is an international organization consisting of the eight independent countries which have Portuguese as an official language. Portuguese is also an official language of the European Union, Mercosul and the African Union (one of the working languages) and one of the official languages of other organizations. The Portuguese language is gaining popularity in Africa, Asia, and South America as a second language for study. Portuguese is with Spanish the fastest growing western language, and, following estimates by UNESCO it is the language with the higher potentiality of growth as an international communication language in Africa (south) and South America. The Portuguese speaking African countries are expected to have a combined population of 83 million by 2050. The language is also starting to gain popularity in Asia, mostly due to East Timor's boost in the number of speakers in the last five years, and Macau is becoming the Chinese Mecca for learning Portuguese, where in early 21st century, the language use was in decline, today it is growing as it became a language for opportunity due to Chinese strategical cooperation with the Portuguese speaking countries.

Dialects

Portuguese is a very rich language in terms of dialects, each with its particularity. Most of the differentiation between them are the pronunciation of certain vowels. Between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, there are differences in vocabulary, pronunciation and syntax, especially in popular varieties. The dialect of Piauí, in northeastern Brazil is the closest dialect to European Portuguese in Brazil. Other very close dialects are the ones of Belém and Rio de Janeiro. There are several similarities in pronunciation, syntax and simplification in grammar use between vernacular Brazilian Portuguese and vernacular Angolan Portuguese. But there are no differences between standard European and Angolan Portuguese. Coimbra Portuguese is considered the most standardized Portuguese dialect. Some apparent differences between the two varieties in lexicon are not really differences. In Brazil, the common term for carpet is tapete, while in Portugal it's alcatifa. However, many dialectal zones in Portugal use tapete and other areas in Brazil use alcatifa. This applies in several such apparent differences, except in the new terms, such as ônibus in Brazil, which is autocarro in Portugal. A conversation between an Angolan, a Brazilian and a Portuguese from very rural areas flows very easily. The most exotic Portuguese dialect is vernacular São Tomean Portuguese, because of the interaction with local Portuguese Creoles, but even with this one there are no difficulties when talking to a person from another country. Examples of words that are different in Portuguese dialects from three different continents Angola (Africa), Portugal (Europe) and Brazil (South America). Bus
- Angola: machimbombo
- Brazil: ônibus
- Portugal: autocarro slum quarter
- Angola: musseque
- Brazil: favela
- Portugal: bairro de lata or ilha Go away
- Angola: bazar, ir embora
- Brazil: ir embora, (or vazar as a slang - Portuguese "to leak");
- Portugal: ir embora, (or bazar as a slang - from Kimbundu kubaza - to break, leave with rush); Major Portuguese dialects: Brazil Coimbra Brazil # Caipira — Countryside of São Paulo ( Piraquara — caipira from Vale do Paraíba - São Paulo (state) / Minas Gerais) # Cearense — Ceará # Baiano — Region of Bahia # Fluminense — States of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo (the city of Rio de Janeiro has a particular way of speaking) # Gaúcho — Rio Grande do Sul # Mineiro — Minas Gerais # Nordestino — northeastern states of Brazil (the countryside and Recife have particular ways of speaking) # Nortista — Amazon Basin states # Paulistano — city of São Paulo # Sertanejo — States of Goiás and Mato Grosso # Sulista — south of Brazil (the city of Curitiba has a particular way of speaking) Curitiba Portugal # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som69.html Açoreano] — Azores (São Miguel Island and Terceira Island have particular ways of speaking) # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som40.html Alentejano] — Alentejo # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som44.html Algarvio] — Algarve (there is a particular small dialect in the western area) # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som1.html Alto-Minhoto] — North of Braga (interior) # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som49.html Baixo-Beirão; Alto-Alentejano] — Central Portugal (interior) # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som9.html Beirão] — central Portugal # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som22.html Estremenho] — Regions of Coimbra and Lisbon (can be subdivided in Lisbon Portuguese and Coimbra Portuguese) # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som60.html Madeirense] — Madeira # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som14.html Nortenho] — Regions of Braga and Porto # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som6.html Transmontano] — Trás-os-Montes Angola # Benguelense — Benguela province # image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som85.html Luandense] — Luanda province # Sulista — South of Angola Luanda Other areas
- image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som87.html Caboverdiano] — Cape Verde
- image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som88.html Guineense] — Guinea-Bissau
- image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som92.html Macaense] — Macau, China
- image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som89.html Moçambicano] — Mozambique
- image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som83.html Santomense] — São Tomé and Principe
- image:Loudspeaker.png [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/som84.html Timorense] — East Timor
- Damaense — Daman, India
- Goês — State of Goa, India

Creole

Portugal in the period of discoveries and colonization created a linguistic contact with native languages and people of the discovered lands and thus pidgins were formed. Until the 18th century, these Portuguese pidgins were used as Lingua Franca in Asia and Africa. Later, the Portuguese pidgins were expanded grammatically and lexically, as it became a native language. About three million people worldwide speak a Portuguese Creole. These creoles are spoken, mostly, by inter-racial communities (Portuguese people with natives).
- Angolar Spoken in coastal areas of São Tomé Island, São Tomé and Príncipe.
- Annobonnese Language of the island of Annobón, Equatorial Guinea.
- Crioulo do Barlavento (Criol) Spoken in Barlavento islands of Cape Verde. Some divide it into several creoles: São Nicolau Crioulo, Sal Crioulo, Boavista Crioulo, and Santo Antão Crioulo. Some decreolization.
- Crioulo de São Vicente Language of São Vicente Island, Cape Verde. Semi-Creole. Some decreolization.
- Crioulo do Sotavento (Kriolu) Spoken in Sotavento islands of Cape Verde. Some divide it into several creoles: Santiago Crioulo (Bádiu), Maio Crioulo, Fogo Crioulo, and Brava Crioulo. Some decreolization.
- Daman Indo-Portuguese Spoken in Daman, India. Semi-Creole. Decreolization process occurred.
- Diu Indo-Portuguese Spoken in Diu, India. Almost extinct.
- Forro Spoken in São Tomé Island, São Tomé and Príncipe.
- Kristang Spoken in Malaysia.
- Kristi Language of the village of Korlay, India.
- Lunguyê Spoken in Príncipe Island, São Tomé and Príncipe. Almost extinct.
- Macanese Spoken in Macau and Hong Kong, the two special administrative regions of China. Decreolization process occurred.
- Papiamento Spoken in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. Spanish influenced.
- Saramaccan Portuguese/English Creole. Spoken in Surinam.
- Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole Spoken in coastal cities of Sri Lanka.
- Upper Guinea Creole (Kriol) lingua franca of Guinea-Bissau, also spoken in Casamance, Senegal. In the past, Portuguese creoles were also spoken in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, possibly in Brazil and in other areas in India, Malaysia and China.

Sounds

As with French, Portuguese is often noted for its contrastive use of nasal vowels and the large number of dipthongs. Most dialects, including the standard languages of Portugal and Brazil, have several vowel phonemes that are distinguished by nasality. Most dialects have 14 vowel phonemes, five of which are nasals which combine to form 10 oral and 4 nasal diphtongs. There are 19 consonant phonemes, none of which are unique to the language. European Portuguese differs from the dialects spoken in Brazil and the former Portuguese colonies by a marked velarization that affects vowels as well as consonants. The vowels are generally lowered and centralized (approaching a schwa) and gives pronunciation a distinctly lax quality that is present in colloquial as well as formal speech and often results in complete reduction of vowels.

Consonants

/b, d, g/ are only pronounced as plosives when they occur at the beginning of the word. Following vowels, they are pronounced as the corresponding fricatives . a process which Portuguese shares with Catalan and Spanish. /l/ is markedly velarized, , which is very close to the standard American English /l/ in words such as "ball". In some Brazilian dialects, especially in the dialects spoken in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Bahia, /d/ and /t/ tend to become affricated before the unstressed phoneme /i/.

Vowels

Image:Portuguese_vowel_chart.png is by tradition transcribed as a high central vowel , but it's more accurately described as a somewhat centralized high back unrounded vowel, . for some /u/ occurs in the dialects of Portalegre, Castelo Branco, Algarve (Barlavento area) and São Miguel Island. [ø] occurs in São Miguel Island, for example in boi [bø] "ox".

Prosody

Portuguese features lexical stress which often is a distinguishing feature of minimal pairs. Mostly these are of different word classes, such as dúvida "doubt (noun)" and duvida "doubt (verb, third person singular)". Though rarer, there are occasionally words within the same word class that are distinguished only through stress, like [ˈtunel] túnel "tunnel" and [tuˈnel] tonel "wine cask". Stress is usually on the penultimate syllable, though it may vary between any of the three final syllables. A secondary stress falls on syllables with diphtongs when the primary stress is placed elswhere in a word. There are also several different types of intonation in the form of six separate dynamic tones that affect entire phrases, having their nucleus in the stressed syllables. These tones are used to indicate the mood and intention of the speaker such as implication, emphasis, reservation, etc.

Grammar

Portuguese makes a clear distinction between the different word classes, that include verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, articles, conjunctions and interjections. There are also some other determiners and particles. Verbs are divided into three conjugations, which can be identified by looking at the infinitive ending, one of "-ar", "-er", "-ir" and "-or", which is present in a small number of verbs ,like "pôr" (to put). Most verbs end with "-ar", such as cantar (to sing). All verbs with the same ending follow the same pattern, save irregulars. In Portuguese, verbs appear in distinct moods:
- Imperative, used to express wish, command or advice.
- Indicative, used in the main clauses of declarative sentences.
- Subjunctive (conjuntivo). Used to express the content of a wish, a possibility or, in subordinate clauses, something denied in the main clause.
- Conditional, which is described as a distinct mood in some grammars, mostly in Portugal, less frequently in Brazil. Along with moods, there are non-finite verb forms:
- Infinitive
- Gerund
- Past participle (or passive participle) There is no present or active participle in Portuguese, but many adjectives come from Latin present participles and carry more or less the same meaning. Some neologisms are created in the same pattern. Unlike English, these "present participles" are not identical in form with gerund. Portuguese subjunctive mood has almost as many tenses as the indicative, namely present, perfect, imperfect, pluperfect and future, not mentioning periphrastic structures. In regular verbs, subjunctive future, which is uncommon in Indo-European languages, is identical to personal infinitive, but not in irregular verbs. And its role is obviously very different. Portuguese conditional mood is often described as a tense, namely the "future of the preterite". It has two forms, that can be rendered as the "future of the (perfect or imperfect) past" (for instance iria, would go) and the "future of the pluperfect" (for instance teria ido, would have gone). Periphrastic structures provide other tenses. Conditional is found more often in formal than in informal speech, where it is commonly replaced by the imperfect tense. Another interesting feature of Portuguese verbs is the existence of two or three equivalent forms for some past tenses, either in the indicative or in the subjunctive, but something similar happens in French and Spanish perfect tenses. For instance, in the indicative pluperfect it is possible to use either the auxiliary verbs ter (from Latin tenere) and haver (from Latin habere) or a simple form. He had gone could be translated either as Ele tinha ido, Ele havia ido or Ele fora. The two latter options, however, are much less common in oral and informal languages. The simple form (fora) would be sometimes seen as archaic or literary. All Portuguese nouns have one of two genders: masculine or inclusive and feminine or exclusive. Most adjectives and pronouns, and all articles indicate the gender of the noun they reference. The feminine gender in adjectives is formed in a different way from that in nouns. Most adjectives ending in a consonant remain unchanged: homem superior (superior man), mulher superior (superior woman). This is also true for adjectives ending in "e": homem forte (strong man), mulher forte (strong woman). Except for this, the noun and the adjective must always be in agreement: homem alto (tall man), mulher alta (tall woman). See also: Portuguese pronouns, Portuguese verb conjugation

Vocabulary

The Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa, by Antônio Houaiss (1915 – 1999), son of Lebanese immigrants in Brazil and former Brazilian Minister of Culture, was created with the support of almost two hundred lexicographers from several countries and it is the most complete Portuguese dictionary to date (about 228,500 entries, 376,500 acceptations, 415,500 synonyms, 26,400 antonyms and 57,000 historical words) it includes all variations of the Portuguese language (African, Asian, Brazilian and of Portugal). Dedicating his life to the language, Houaiss started his work in 1986, and died one year before the dictionary was completed by his colleagues in the year 2000, without seeing his dream come true. The dictionary is quickly becoming a reference to the language, some classified it as a "monument to the language". Portuguese, both in morphology and syntax, represents an organic transformation of Latin without the direct intervention of any foreign language. The sounds, grammatical forms, and syntactical types, with a few exceptions, are derived from Latin. And almost 90% of the vocabulary is still derived from the language of Rome. Some of the changes began during the Empire, others took place later. In Late Middle Ages, Portuguese was eroding as much as French, but a conservative policy re-approached it to Latin.
- Nasalization — A vowel before [m] and [n] has a tendency to become a nasal vowel. In the case of Portuguese, it happened between the sixth and seventh centuries, possibly influenced by previously spoken Celtic languages. LVNA → l[]a — Lua (moon). In the Latin example, we used all-capitals so as to be in line with how the ancient language was actually written. Note also that the letter V was the vowel we know today as U.
- Progressive Nasalization — Spread of nasalization forward from a nasal consonant, especially [m]. MADRE → made → mae → mãe mother; HAC NOCTE → ãnoite → ãõte → ontem // (yesterday).
- Elision — Vulgar Latin [l], [n], [d] and [g] were deleted between vowels; the vowels then coalesced. DOLORE → door → dor (pain) BONV → bõo → bom (good).
- Palatalization — Another assimilation occurs before the front vowels [i] and [e], or near the palatal semi-vowel [j]. CENTV → [tj]ento → [ts]ento → cento, (hundred) FACERE → fa[tj]ere → fa[ts]er → fa[dz]er → fazer, (to do). A more ancient evolution was FORTIA → for[ts]a → força (strength).
- Voicing — voiceless stops became voiced stops between vowels (and [b] became [v]): :MVTV → mudo (dumb) LACV → lago (lake) FABA → fava (broadbean).
- Simplification of consonant clusters, especially doubled consonants, occurred: GVTTA → gota (drop); PECCARE → pecar (to sin)
- Dissimilation — similar sounds in a word have a tendency to become different over time, so as to ease pronunciation. Vowels: LOCVSTA → lagosta (lobster). Consonants: ANIMA → alma (soul) LOCALE → logar → lugar (place).
- metathesis — a sound change that alters the order of phonemes in a word. Semi-vowel metathesis: PRIMARIV → primeiro (first); Consonant metathesis in [l] and [r]: TENEBRAS → teevras → trevas (darkness); these last ones are rare in Portuguese. Vowel metathesis: GENUCULUM → genoclo → → joelho (knee).
- epenthesis, insertion of a sound to break up a difficult-to-pronounce combination of vowels: GALLINA → Gali~a → Galinha (Chicken); VINO → Vi~o → Vinho (wine) Another specially relevant shift was the loss of the intervocalic /l/ in a very large set of words, already described in the list above as an example of "elision" → e.g: SALIRE → sair; COLARE → coar; NOTVLA → nódoa, with the typical portuguese voicing of /t/ in /d/ (AMATVS → amado). Fewer words remained unchanged, or reevolved to the original word, such as taberna (tavern) or coxa (thigh). Since the Renaissance, Portuguese became subject to the influence of Literary Latin, other than the spoken form from which Portuguese evolved, due to authors love for antiquity. Thus many adjectives in Portuguese have literary origin and the respective substantive has the popular form: ouro (gold) and áureo (golden) both from Latin, AVRV. Other words have popular and erudite synonyms: The Latin LOCALE (place) which evolved to the people's lugar has local as an erudite synonym. Very few traces of the native or pre-Roman settlers like the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Iberians, or Celts lexicon persist in the language, but there are some exceptions, such as Abóbora (pumpkin) and Bezerro (year-old calf) from Iberian languages or Cerveja (beer) and Saco (bag) from Celtic and Phoenician, respectively. Post-Roman influences, before the Discovery age, were also small. The Germanic influence in Portuguese was restricted to warfare and related topics, such has Barão (baron) from Germanic baro or Guerra (war) from Gothic
- �� (
- wirro). Projections indicate 1000 Arabic loan words, including: Aldeia (village) from التجارية (aldaya), Alface (lettuce) from الخس (alkhass), Armazém (warehouse) from المخزن (almahazan), Azeite (olive oil) from زيت (azzait) and most words starting with "al". With the Portuguese discoveries linguistic contact was made, and the Portuguese language became influenced by other languages other than European or Arabic. In Asia, the language gained words such as catana (cutlass) from Japanese 刀 (katana), Corja (rabble) from Malay Kórchchu or chá (tea) from Mandarin Chinese 茶 (cha). In South America, the language gained words such as Ananás, from Tupi-Guarani naná and Abacaxi from Tupi ibá cati both relating to different species of pineapple, or even Tucano (toucan) from Guarani tucan. The African influence in lexicon was made in Brazil and Africa (mostly in Angola) include words such has Bungular (to dance like African wizards) from Kimbundu kubungula or Cafuné (affections made in the head) from Kimbundu kifumate. Many names of places and local animals have Amerindian names in Brazil; in Angola and Mozambique, the same occurring with the local Bantu languages. These influences are also small even in the local variations of Portuguese in Brazil and Africa.

Writing system

Portuguese is written using the Latin alphabet with 26 letters. Three of them (K, W and Y) are only used for non-Portuguese origin words, in terms like darwinismo (Darwinism, from English "Darwin"). It uses ç and acute, grave, circumflex and tilde accents over vowels, as well as, in some forms and only in Brazil, diaeresis on a U as in lingüística (Linguistics, linguística is used in the rest of the Portuguese speaking nations).

Written varieties and Spelling Reform

As of 2005, Portuguese has two major written forms:
- European and African Portuguese
- Brazilian Portuguese In Brazil most first 'c's in 'cc', 'cç' or 'ct'; and 'p's in 'pc', 'pç' or 'pt' were eliminated from the language, since they are not pronounced in the cultivated spoken language, but are remnants from the language's Latin origin (though some continue to exist in cultivated Brazilian Portuguese, others in European Portuguese). An example is "facto" (in Portugal) and "fato" (in Brazil), both meaning fact -- one of the rare words that will continue to be accepted and is pronounced differently in both countries. Also, there are differences in accent marks, due to: # Different pronunciation: Brazil uses closed vowels in words such as "Antônio" (Anthony) or "anônimo" (anonymous), whereas Portugal and Africa use open ones, "António" or "anónimo", respectively. # Easier reading: Because "qu" can be read in two different ways in Portuguese: "kw" or "k", Brazil uses the diaeresis (called 'trema' in Portuguese), instead of "cinquenta" they write "cinqüenta". Currently, some press in Brazil has stopped using this accent mark. It was part of an orthographic agreement but abolished in Portugal. A 1990 Spelling Reform (Port. Reforma Ortográfica), intended to create an International Portuguese Standard, was ratified by Brazil, Cape Verde, and Portugal. East Timor, not an original subscriber, will ratify shortly along with Guinea-Bissau. Brazil and East Timor were the biggest supporters of the reform and pressured the CPLP for a fast implementation, but the implementation date has not yet been set. In East Timor, both orthographies are currently being taught to children. Galiza was also invited to take part in the reform but the Galician government ignored the invitation (note that this government states that Galician and Portuguese are different languages). However, an unofficial commission formed by Galician linguists (supporting the unity of the language) was sent and participated in the reform. ² At first, the Agreement established that its entrance into practice would only occur when all the countries of the CPLP had ratified it. But the Portuguese-speaking African countries have not ratified, possibly due to problems in implementing it. In the CPLP’s summit of 26–27 July 2004, an adjustment will prompt implementation when just three countries ratify it. The agreement will eliminate most first 'c's in 'cc', 'cç' or 'ct'; and 'p's in 'pc', 'pç' or 'pt' from European/ African Portuguese, the dieresis and accent marks in words ending in "éia" in Brazil and add some new spelling rules. And it will allow either orthography for words like anónimo or anônimo, depending on the dialect of the author or person being transcribed. Late in October 2004, Brazil became the first to approve the adjustment and asked its ambassadors in Portugal and Cape Verde to promote the rapid implementation in those countries. The agreement will enter into practice in the first day of the next month when the third country ratifies it. Even if today's orthographies do not harm intelligibility between native speakers, the orthography of one country is considered incorrect in the other, leading to two different translations of the same book written in another language and it can confuse foreigners that are learning the language. One endeavour of this reform is to promote the language internationally, just like the spelling reforms of Spanish by the Real Academia Española helped to promote the Spanish language. The language is not very popular internationally, even if it is the third-most-spoken Western language in the world, after English and Spanish. Another objective is Portugal's aid to Brazil and African countries in education of the Portuguese language to African and Amerindian populations, Brazil's educational aid to Africa and greater cultural and academic exchange. Another agreement was made for the new words that will come into the language.

Examples

:PT. - Standard Pronunciation of Portugal :BR. - Normal Pronunciation of Brazil :: note: The pronunciation of "o" and final "s" in Rio de Janeiro follows the European standard. ;Extract of «The Lusiads» (I, 33)

Literature

To English speakers, the most famous writer in the Portuguese language is the poet Luís Vaz de Camões (also known as Camoens) (1524–1580), author of the epic poem, the Lusiadas. Several other authors and poets are also internationally known, such as: Machado de Assis (1839-1908), the most traditional Brazilian novelist; Eça de Queirós (1845–1900), one of the most famous Portuguese language novelists; Fernando Pessoa (1888—1935), one of the greatest poets in the history of the language; Jorge Amado (1912—2001), a popular novelist; Pepetela (born 1941), a famous Angolan novelist; Mia Couto (1955), the most famous novelist from Mozambique; and José Saramago (born 1922) who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998. The 2005 winner of Camoens Prize was Lygia Fagundes Telles (1923). See also: Camoens Prize

Notes

- ¹First and Second with first language speakers, respectively. Only counting figures from countries in the table "Portuguese language countries and Territories". Considering second language speakers those people who are bilingual and use Portuguese as a second language.
- ²[http://www.lusografia.org/ao/index.htm www.lusografia.org]

References

- Poesia e Prosa Medievais Ulisseia 1998 (3rd ed.; ISBN 9789725681244).
- Bases Temáticas - Língua Portuguesa in [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/bases/lingua.htm Instituto Camões]
- A Língua Portuguesa in [http://www.linguaportuguesa.ufrn.br/ Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil]
- Portuguese Literature in [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12307a.htm The Catholic Encyclopedia]
- Bergström, Magnus & Reis, Neves Prontuário Ortográfico Editorial Notícias, 2004.
- Lindley Cintra, Luís F. Nova Proposta de Classificação dos Dialectos Galego-Portugueses Boletim de Filologia, Lisboa, Centro de Estudos Filológicos, 1971.
- Mateus, Maria Helena & d'Andrade, Ernesto (2000) The Phonology of Portuguese ISBN 0-19-823581-X

External links

- [http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=por Ethnologue report for Portuguese]
- [http://www.iilp-cplp.cv IILP] International Portuguese Language Institute
- [http://www.iilp-cplp.cv/pdf/iilp/acordoOrtografico.pdf IILP - Ortographic Agreement of 1990]
- [http://www.uea-angola.org/ União de Escritores Angolanos] Angolan authors
- [http://www.academia.org.br/ Academia Brasileira de Letras] Brazilian authors
- [http://www.spautores.pt Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores] Portuguese authors
- [http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/ Instituto Camões] Portuguese language studies
- [http://www.estacaodaluz.org.br/ Estação da Luz da Nossa Língua] Portuguese language studies in Brazil
- [http://www.ipor.org.pt/ Instituto Português do Oriente] - Portuguese language studies in Southeast Asia
- [http://www.observatoriolp.com/ Observatório da Língua Portuguesa] Observatory of Portuguese language
- [http://www.bibvirt.futuro.usp.br/ Biblioteca Virtual do Estudante de Língua Portuguesa] Virtual library for Portuguese language students
- [http://www.escolavirtual.pt/loginPE/comunidpt.do Escola Virtual] Virtual School. Portuguese language classes as taught in Portugal.
- [http://www.aulp.org/ AULP - Associação das Universidades de Língua Portuguesa] Portuguese Language Universities Association.
- [http://www.bn.pt Biblioteca Nacional] National Library of Portugal
- [http://www.bn.br Biblioteca Nacional] National Library of Brazil
- [http://www.dicionarios-online.com Dicionários-Online.com] A directory of Portuguese dictionaries.
- [http://www.priberam.pt/dlpo/dlpo.aspx Portuguese dictionary] A very complete Portuguese dictionary
- [

Pronunciation

Pronunciation refers to:
- the way a word or a language is usually spoken;
- the manner in which someone utters a word.

Introduction

A word can be spoken in different ways by various individuals or groups, depending on many factors, such as the time in which they grew up, the area in which they grew up, the area in which they now live, their social class, and their education.

Linguistic terminology

The way in which an individual pronounces words depends firstly on the basic units of sound (phones) that they use in their language. The branch of linguistics which studies these units of sound is phonetics. Phones which play the same role are grouped together into classes called phonemes; the study of these is phonemics or phonology.

International Phonetic Alphabet

: "IPA" redirects here. For other uses, see IPA (disambiguation). The NATO phonetic alphabet has also informally been called the International Phonetic Alphabet. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. It is intended as a notational standard for the phonemic and phonetic representation of all spoken languages. For a treatment of the English language using the IPA, see International Phonetic Alphabet for English, for a brief chart, see IPA chart for English.
History

Description
The general principle of the IPA is to provide a separate symbol for each speech segment, avoiding letter combinations (digraphs) such as sh and th in English orthography, and avoiding ambiguity such as that of c in English.
The principle of formation
The IPA is what MacMahon (1996) has termed a "selective" phonetic alphabet. It aims to provide a separate symbol for every contrastive (that is, phonemic) sound occurring in human language. For instance, a flap and a tap are two different articulations, but since no language has (yet) been found to make a phonemic distinction between them, the IPA does not provide them with dedicated symbols. Instead, it provides a single symbol, , that covers both. For non-contrastive (that is, phonetic or subphonemic) details of these sounds, the IPA relies on diacritics, which are optional. Thus there is a certain level of flexibility in representing a language with the IPA.
The principles behind the used symbols
The letters chosen for the IPA are generally drawn from the Latin and Greek alphabets, or are modifications of Latin or Greek letters. There are also a few letters derived from Latin punctuation, such as the glottal stop (originally an apostrophe, but later given the form of a "gelded" question mark to have the visual impact of the other consonants), and one, , although Latin in form, was inspired by Arabic ﻉ. In contrast, the old Latin-derived symbols for the clicks have been abandoned in favor of the iconic Khoisanist symbols, such as . The sound-values of the consonants from the Latin alphabet correspond to usage in French and Italian, which are close to those of most other European languages as well: , , , (hard) , , , , , (unvoiced) , , , . English values are used for , , and , The vowels from the Latin alphabet (, , , , ) correspond to the vowels of Spanish and are similar to Italian. is like the vowel in piece, like rule, etc. The other symbols from the Latin alphabet (, , , , , and ) correspond to sounds these letters represent in other languages. has the Germanic value, English y in yoke. has the Scandinavian and Old English value (Finnish y, German y or ü, French u, Dutch u). Letters that share a particular modification sometimes correspond to a similar type of sound. For example, all the retroflex consonants have the same symbol as the equivalent alveolar consonant, with the addition of a rightward pointing hook at the bottom. Although there is some correspondence between modified letters, generally the IPA does not have a systematic "featural" relationship between graphic shape and articulation. For instance, there is not a consistent relationship between lowercase letters and their small capital counterparts, nor are all labial consonants linked through a common character design. Diacritic marks can be combined with IPA letters to transcribe modified phonetic values or secondary articulations. There are also special symbols for suprasegmental features such as stress and tone.
Types of transcriptions
The International Phonetic Association recommends that a phonetic transcription should be enclosed in square brackets ("[ ]"). A transcription that specifically denotes only phonological contrasts may be enclosed in slashes ("/ /") instead. If one is in doubt, it is best to use brackets, for by setting off a transcription with slashes one makes a theoretical claim that every symbol within is phonemically contrastive for the language being transcribed. Phonetic transcriptions try to objectively capture the actual pronunciation of a word, whereas phonemic transcriptions are model dependent. For example, Noam Chomsky transcribed the English word night phonemically as /nixt/. In his model, the phoneme /x/ is often silent, but shows its presence by “lengthening” the preceding vowel. The preceding vowel in this case is the phoneme /i/, which is pronounced [aj] when long. So phonemic /nixt/ is equivalent to phonetic [najt], but only if you share Chomsky's belief that historical sounds such as the gh in night may remain in a word long after they have ceased to be pronounced. For phonetic transcriptions, there is flexibility in how closely sounds may be transcribed. A transcription that gives only a basic idea of the sounds of a language in the broadest terms is called a "broad transcription"; in some cases this may be equivalent to a phonemic transcription (only without any theoretical claims). A close transcription, indicating precise details of the sounds, is called a "narrow transcription". These are not binary choices, but the ends of a continuum, with many possibilities in between. All are enclosed in brackets. For example, in some dialects the English word pretzel in a narrow transcription would be , which notes several phonetic features that may not be evident even to a native speaker. An example of a broader transcription is , which only indicates some of the easier to hear features. A yet broader transcription would be . Here every symbol represents an unambiguous speech sound, but without making any claims as to their status in the language. There are also several possibilities in how to transcribe this word phonemically, but here the differences are not of precision, but of analysis. For example, pretzel could be or . The special symbol for English r is not used, for it is not meaningful to distinguish it from a rolled r. The differences in the letter e reflect claims as to w