The Portuguese dialects are variants of the Portuguese language that are shared by a substantial number of speakers over several generations, but are not sufficiently distinct from the official norms to be considered a separate language. This definition therefore excludes the numerous Portuguese-based creole languages that differ radically from the norm in fundamental grammatical features. Portuguese (  or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain) and northern Portugal from the Latin spoken by romanized Celtiberians about 1000 years ago. ... Portuguese creoles are creole languages which have been significantly influenced by Portuguese. ...

The differences between Portuguese dialects are mostly in phonology, in the frequency of usage of certain grammatical forms, and especially in the distance between the formal and informal levels of speech. Lexical differences are numerous but largely confined to "peripheral" words such as plants, animals, and other local items, with little impact in the core lexicon. Dialectal deviations from the official grammar are relatively few. As a consequence, all Portuguese dialects are mutually intelligible; although for some of the most extremely divergent pairs the phonological changes may make it difficult for speakers to understand rapid speech.

Phrase- and sentence-level stress and tone patterns and differ significantly between dialects: south-central European Portuguese dialects are often described as a stress-timed dialects (consistent with the reduction of pre-stress vowels), while most Brazilian Portuguese dialects are syllable-timed. In linguistics, the timing in a language comprises the rhythmic qualities of speech, in particular how syllables are distributed across time. ...

Differences

Between Brazilian Portuguese, particularly in its most informal varieties, and European Portuguese, there can be considerable differences in grammar, as well. The most prominent ones concern the placement of clitic pronouns, and the use of subject pronouns as objects in the third person. Non-standard inflections are also common in colloquial Brazilian Portuguese.

Within the two major varieties of Portuguese, most differences between dialects concern pronunciation and vocabulary. Below are some examples:

words for bus

Angola & Mozambique: machimbombo

Brazil: ônibus

Portugal: autocarro

slang terms for to go away

Angola: bazar - from Kimbundu kubaza - to break, leave with rush

Brazil: vazar - from Portuguese "to leak"

Portugal: bazar - from Kimbundu kubaza - to break, leave with rush

words for slum quarter

Angola: musseque

Brazil: favela

Portugal: bairro de lata or ilha

Main subdivisions

Africa

Main article: African Portuguese

For historical reasons, the dialects of Africa are generally closer to those of Portugal than the Brazilian dialects, although in some aspects of their phonology, especially the pronunciation of unstressed vowels, they resemble Brazilian Portuguese more than European Portuguese. They have not been studied as exhaustively as European and Brazilian Portuguese. African Portuguese is the group of Portuguese language dialects spoken in Africa. ...

Asia

Asian Portuguese dialects are similar to the African ones, thus generally close to those of Portugal.

Brazil

Main article: Brazilian Portuguese

Brazilian dialects are divided into a northern and southern groups, where the northern dialects tend to slightly more open pre-stressed vowels. Due to the economic and cultural dominance of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, their dialects end up having some influence on the rest of the country. However, thanks to the migration from the Northern states to the Southern states, this influence can be seen as a two-way phenomenon. Cultural issues also play their roles and speakers of the Gaúcho dialect usually have strong feelings about their way of speaking and are largely uninfluenced by the other dialects. Brazilian Portuguese (Português Brasileiro in Portuguese) is the group of dialects of Portuguese written and spoken by virtually all the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a couple million Brazilian immigrants, mainly in the United States, Portugal, Canada, Japan, and Paraguay. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word. ... Landmark buildings Edifício Italia (at left) and Copan (curved façade at center), in São Paulo Downtown. ... Ipanema beach A NASA satellite image of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in Portuguese) is the name of both a state and a city in southeastern Brazil. ...

Between Brazilian Portuguese, particularly in its most informal varieties, and European Portuguese, there can be considerable differences in grammar, aside from the differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. The most prominent ones concern the placement of clitic pronouns, and the use of subject pronouns as objects in the third person. Non-standard inflections are also common in colloquial Brazilian Portuguese.

Portugal

Main article: European Portuguese

The dialects of Portugal can be divided into two major groups: European Portuguese (also named Continental Portuguese or Lusitanian Portuguese) is a group of Portuguese dialects spoken in Portugal. ...

• The southern and central dialects are broadly characterized by preserving the distinction between /b/ and /v/, and by the tendency to monophthongize ei and ou to [e] and [o]. They include the dialect of the capital, Lisbon, which however has some peculiarities of its own. Although the dialects of the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira have unique characteristics, as well, they can also be grouped with the southern dialects.
• The northern dialects are characterized by preserving the pronunciation of ei and ou as diphthongs [ei̯], [ou̯], and by having merged /v/ with /b/ (like in Spanish). This includes the dialect of Porto, Portugal's second largest city.

Within each of these regions, however, there is further variation, especially in what concerns pronunciation. For example, in Lisbon and its vicinity the diphthong ei is centralized to [ɐi̯], instead of being monophthongized as in the south. Location    - Country Portugal    - Region Lisboa  - Subregion Grande Lisboa  - District or A.R. Lisbon Mayor Carmona Rodrigues  - Party PSD Area 84. ... Motto (Portuguese for Rather die free than in peace subjugated) Anthem  (national)  (local) Capital Ponta Delgada1 Angra do Heroísmo2 Horta3 Largest city Ponta Delgada Official languages Portuguese Government Autonomous region  -  President Carlos César Establishment  -  Settled 1439   -  Autonomy 1976  Area  -  Total 2,333 km² (n/a) 911 sq mi... Motto Das ilhas, as mais belas e livres(Portuguese) Of all islands, the most beautiful and free Anthem A Portuguesa(national) Hino da Região Autónoma da Madeira(local) Capital (and largest city) Funchal Official languages Portuguese Government Autonomous region  -  President Alberto João Jardim Establishment  -  Settled 1420   -  Autonomy... Location    - Country Portugal    - Region Norte  - Subregion Grande Porto  - District or A.R. Porto Mayor Rui Rio  - Party PSD Area 41. ...

It is usually believed that the dialects of Brazil, Africa and Asia derived mostly from those of central and southern Portugal. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ...

Barranquenho

In the Portuguese town of Barrancos (in the border between Extremadura, Andalucia and Portugal), a dialect of Portuguese heavily influenced by Extremaduran is spoken, known as barranquenho. Coat of Arms Barrancos is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 168. ... Capital Mérida Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 5th  41 634 km²  8,2% Population  â€“ Total (2005)  â€“ % of Spain  â€“ Density Ranked 12th  1 083 879  2,5%  26,03/km² Demonym  â€“ English  â€“ Spanish  â€”  extremeño/a, castúo Statute of Autonomy February 26, 1983 ISO 3166-2 EX Parliamentary representation... Motto: Dominator Hercules Fundator Andaluc a por s , para Espa a y la humanidad (Andalusia for herself, for Spain, and for humanity) Capital Seville Area  - total  - % of Spain Ranked 2nd 87 268 km 17,2% Population  - Total (2003)  - % of Spain  - Density Ranked 1st 7 478 432 17,9% 85,70... Extremaduran is a Romance language spoken by some thousands in Spain, most of them in the autonomous community of Extremadura and the province of Salamanca. ... Barranquenho (Barranquenhu; English: Barrancainian) is a dialect of Portuguese heavily influenced by Extremaduran spoken in the Portuguese town of Barrancos (in the border between Extremadura and Andalusia, in Spain, and Portugal). ...

Notable features of some accents

Many regional accents have special phonological characteristics. Below are some of the most remarkable:

Conservative features

• In some regions of northern Portugal and Brazil, the digraph ou still denotes a falling diphthong [ou̯], although it has been monophthongized to [o] by most speakers of Portuguese.

• In the dialects of Alto-Minho and Trás-os-Montes (northern Portugal), the digraph ch still denotes the affricate /tʃ/, as in Spanish, although for most speakers it has merged with /ʃ/.

• Some dialects of northern Portugal still contrast the laminal sibilants c/ç /s/ and z /z/ with apical sibilants s(s) /s̺/ and s /z̺/, with minimal pairs such as passo /pas̺u/ "step" and paço /pasu/ "palace" or coser /kuz̺eɾ/ "to sew" and cozer /kuzeɾ/ "to cook", which are homophones in most dialects.

• In northern Portugal, the phoneme /m/ has a velar allophone [ŋ] at the end of words.

In phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds, or with two tones) is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ) but release as a fricative (such as or or, in a couple of languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ... A laminal consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the blade of the tongue, which is the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue. ... An apical consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the apex of the tongue (i. ... In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, which differ in only one phone, phoneme, toneme or chroneme and have a distinct meaning. ... Look up Homophone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

Innovative features

• In central and southern Portugal (except the city of Lisbon and its vicinity), the diphthong /ei̯/ is monophthongized to [e]. The nasal diphthong /ẽi̯/ is often monophthongized to [ẽ] in this region, as well.

• In Lisbon and its surroundings, /ei̯/ and /ẽi̯/ are pronounced [ɐi̯] and [ɐ̃i̯], respectively. Furthermore, in this region stressed /e/ is pronounced [ɐ] or [ɐi̯] before a palato-alveolar or a palatal consonant followed by another vowel.

• In the dialect of the Beiras (central Portugal), the sibilant /ʒ/ occurs at the end of words, before another word which starts with a vowel, instead of /z/.

• In the dialects of Portalegre, Castelo Branco, Algarve (Barlavento area) and São Miguel Island (Azores), the near-front rounded vowel [ʏ] replaces /u/, in a process similar to the one which originated the French u. The dialect of São Miguel has also the front rounded vowel [ø] replacing /o/, as in outra or boi.

• In some dialects of Brazilian Portuguese, such as those of the Northeast and in Rio de Janeiro, /ʃ/ replaces /s/ before /t/.

• In northern Portugal, the close vowels /o/ and /e/, may be pronounced as diphthongs, such as in "Porto", pronounced as ['pwoɾtu], "quê":[kje], "hoje": ['woi̯ʒɨ] or ['woʒɨ] or even ['woi̯ʒɨ]

• In the caipira dialect, and in Goiás and Minas Gerais, /ɾ/ is pronounced as the alveolar approximant [ɹ]. The same sound replaces [w] as the allophone of /l/ at the end of syllables.

• The pronunciation of syllable-initial and syllable-final r varies considerably with dialect. See Guttural R in Portuguese, for details.

• In Macau (where Portuguese is spoken mostly as a second language), initial "r" is realized as [w] while the intervocalic "r" is [l]. At the end of stressed final syllables, "r" is often silent.

• The pronunciation of syllable-final s/x/z also varies with dialect. See Portuguese phonology, for details.

Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Caipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas in some brazilian states, particularly São Paulo, Minas Gerais and the western brazilian states. ... The alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Below is a sketch of the phonology of Portuguese. ...

Mixed languages

Portunhol/Portuñol

Main article: Portunhol

In regions where Spanish and Portuguese coexist, various types of language contact have occurred, ranging from improvised code-switching between monolingual speakers of each language to more or less stable mixed languages. They are often designated by the common term portunhol (portuñol). The best studied example of this is Portunhol Riverense, spoken in the region between Uruguay and Brazil, particularly in the twin cities of Rivera and Santana do Livramento, where the border is open and a street is the only line dividing the two countries. Portuñol (also spelled Portunhol) is a mixed language based on Spanish and Portuguese. ... Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact. ... Code-switching is a term in linguistics referring to alternation between one or more languages, dialects, or language registers in the course of discourse between people who have more than one language in common. ... A mixed language is a language that arises when speakers of different languages are in contact and show a high degree of bilingualism. ... The Riverense Portuñol or Riverense Portunhol, also known as Fronterizo or Fronteiriço is a portuñol language (linguasphere language code 51-AAA-am [1]), spoken on the border between Uruguay and Brazil, and more specifically in the region of the twin cities of Rivera (Uruguay) and SantAna... Rivera is the capital of the department of Rivera in Uruguay with a population of about 64,000. ...

Porglish

Main article: Porglish

Porglish is a portmanteau of the words Portuguese and English. ...

Closely related languages

Main articles: Galician and Fala language

This article does not cover Galician, which is treated as a separate language from Portuguese by Galician official institutions, nor the Fala language. For a discussion of the controversy regarding the status of Galician with respect to Portuguese, see Reintegrationism. Galician (Galician: galego) is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia. ... Fala language (SIL Code: FAX; ISO 639-2 code: roa) is a Romance language from the Portuguese-Galician subgroup spoken in Spain by about 10,500 people, of which 5,500 live in a valley of the northwestern part of Extremadura near the border with Portugal. ... Galician (Galician: galego, IPA: ) is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community with the constitutional status of historic nationality, located in northwestern Spain and small bordering zones in neighbouring autonomous communities of Asturias and Castilla y León. ... Fala language (SIL Code: FAX; ISO 639-2 code: roa) is a Romance language from the Portuguese-Galician subgroup spoken in Spain by about 10,500 people, of which 5,500 live in a valley of the northwestern part of Extremadura near the border with Portugal. ... The term reintegracionismo or reintegrationism describes a linguistic movement in Galicia, Spain, which aims to reincorporate the Galician dialect or language into the Portuguese language. ...

List of dialects

Dialects in Europe: European Portuguese (also named Continental Portuguese or Lusitanian Portuguese) is a group of Portuguese dialects spoken in Portugal. ...

• Açoriano
• Alentejano
• Barranquenho
• Algarvio
• Alto-Minhoto
• Baixo-Beirão and Alto-Alentejano
• Beirão
• Estremenho
• Madeirense
• Nortenho
• Transmontano
• Judaeo-Portuguese: extinct.

Dialects in America: Barranquenho (Barranquenhu; English: Barrancainian) is a dialect of Portuguese heavily influenced by Extremaduran spoken in the Portuguese town of Barrancos (in the border between Extremadura and Andalusia, in Spain, and Portugal). ... Judeo-Portuguese is the extinct Jewish language of the Jews of Portugal. ...

• Dialectos Portugueses del Uruguay (DPU)

Dialects in Brazil: Brazilian Portuguese (Português Brasileiro in Portuguese) is the group of dialects of Portuguese written and spoken by virtually all the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a couple million Brazilian immigrants, mainly in the United States, Portugal, Canada, Japan, and Paraguay. ...

• Caipira
• Cearense
• Bahiano
• Fluminense
• Gaúcho
• Manezês
• Mineiro
• Nordestino
• Nortista
• Paulistano
• Sertanejo
• Sulista

Dialects in Africa: Caipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas in some brazilian states, particularly São Paulo, Minas Gerais and the western brazilian states. ... Fluminense Football Club is a Brazilian multimodality sportive association from Rio de Janeiro, founded on July 21, 1902. ... Gauchos fight dramatization A gaucho is a South American cattle herder, the equivalent to the North American cowboy in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and (with the spelling gaúcho) southern Brazil, and formerly the Falkland Islands. ... A view of downtown Florianópolis, where Manezês can often be heard. ... Mineiro is the form of the Portuguese language spoken in Minas Gerais state of Brazil. ... Paulistano designates a person who was born in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. ... African Portuguese is the group of Portuguese language dialects spoken in Africa. ...

• Dialects in Angola
  • Benguelense
  • Luandense
  • Sulista
• Capeverdean Portuguese
• Guinean Portuguese
• Mozambican Portuguese
• São Tomean Portuguese

Dialects in Asia: Angolan Portuguese (Português Angolano in Portuguese) is a variety of Portuguese used mostly in Angola. ... Guinean Portuguese (Portuguese: Guineense Português) is a Portuguese dialect spoken in Guinea-Bissau. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... São Tomean Portuguese is a dialect of the Portuguese language spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe. ...

• Damanese Portuguese
• Goan Portuguese
• East Timorese Portuguese
• Macanese Portuguese

East Timorese Portuguese (Portuguese: Timorense Português) is a Portuguese dialect spoken in East Timor. ... Macanese Portuguese (Portuguese: Macaense Português) is a Portuguese dialect spoken in Macau. ...

See also

• Portuguese phonology
• Galician
• Fala

Below is a sketch of the phonology of Portuguese. ... Galician (Galician: galego, IPA: ) is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community with the constitutional status of historic nationality, located in northwestern Spain and small bordering zones in neighbouring autonomous communities of Asturias and Castilla y León. ... Fala language (SIL Code: FAX; ISO 639-2 code: roa) is a Romance language from the Portuguese-Galician subgroup spoken in Spain by about 10,500 people, of which 5,500 live in a valley of the northwestern part of Extremadura near the border with Portugal. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... European Portuguese (also named Continental Portuguese or Lusitanian Portuguese) is a group of Portuguese dialects spoken in Portugal. ... Barranquenho (Barranquenhu; English: Barrancainian) is a dialect of Portuguese heavily influenced by Extremaduran spoken in the Portuguese town of Barrancos (in the border between Extremadura and Andalusia, in Spain, and Portugal). ... Judeo-Portuguese is the extinct Jewish language of the Jews of Portugal. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... African Portuguese is the group of Portuguese language dialects spoken in Africa. ... São Tomean Portuguese is a dialect of the Portuguese language spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe. ... World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... Caipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas in some brazilian states, particularly São Paulo, Minas Gerais and the western brazilian states. ... Carioca is an adjective in the Portuguese language that refers to people or things from (i. ... A view of downtown Florianópolis, where Manezês can often be heard. ... Mineiro is the form of the Portuguese language spoken in Minas Gerais state of Brazil. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... East Timorese Portuguese (Portuguese: Timorense Português) is a Portuguese dialect spoken in East Timor. ... Macanese Portuguese (Portuguese: Macaense Português) is a Portuguese dialect spoken in Macau. ... Portuguese is the first language in Angola, Brazil, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe, and the most widely used language in Mozambique. ... Below is a sketch of the phonology of Portuguese. ... See also: Portuguese language Since Portuguese is a Romance language, most of the language comes from Latin. ...

External links

• Dialects of Portuguese at the Instituto Camões
• Audio samples of the dialects of Portugal
• Audio samples of the dialects from outside Europe
• Audio samples of Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, and Galician
• A Pronúncia do Português Europeu at the website of the Instituto Camões
• Isoglosses of the main dialects in Portugal at the website of the Instituto Camões
• Lindley Cintra, Luís F. Nova Proposta de Classificação dos Dialectos Galego-Portugueses Boletim de Filologia, Lisboa, Centro de Estudos Filológicos, 1971. (PDF)
• Portugués del Uruguay y educación bilingüe