The Pronunciation.

1. The Alphabet.

The Portuguese Alphabet is composed of the 25 following letters:

pronounced pronounced
aahnennay
bbayoo
csayppay
ddayqkay
eairerray
feffaysessay
gjayttay
haghahuoo
ieevvay
jdshodxshees
kkahyypsilon
lellayzzea
memmay

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.