Portuguese language

Geographic distribution

Portuguese is the first language in Angola, Brazil, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe, and the most widely used language in Mozambique.

Related Topics:
Language - Angola - Brazil - Portugal - São Tomé and Príncipe - Mozambique

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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 are bilinguals and have a comparable use of the language similar to natives.

Related Topics:
East Timor - Tetum - Macao S.A.R. of China - Chinese - Andorra - Luxembourg - Namibia - Paraguay - Portuguese Creole - Cape Verde - Guinea-Bissau

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Portuguese is spoken by about 187 million people in South America, 17 million Africans, 12 million Europeans, two million in North America and 0.34 million in Asia. The table "Portuguese language countries and territories" includes countries where the Portuguese language is official and while not official, where it is spoken by more than 1% of the population.

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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.

Related Topics:
Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries - European Union - Mercosul - African Union

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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.

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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.

Related Topics:
Brazilian Portuguese - European Portuguese - Piauí - Belém - Rio de Janeiro - Coimbra

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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.

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Examples of words that are different in Portuguese dialects from three different continents Angola (Africa), Portugal (Europe) and Brazil (South America).

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Bus

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• Angola: machimbombo
• Brazil: ônibus
• Portugal: autocarro

slum quarter

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• Angola: musseque
• Brazil: favela
• Portugal: bairro de lata or ilha

Go away

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• 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:

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Brazil

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• 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)
• Brasiliense; city of Brasilia (the capital has a mixture of all brazilians accents)

Portugal

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• Açoreano — Azores (São Miguel Island and Terceira Island have particular ways of speaking)
• Alentejano — Alentejo
• Algarvio — Algarve (there is a particular small dialect in the western area)
• Alto-Minhoto — North of Braga (interior)
• Baixo-Beirão; Alto-Alentejano — Central Portugal (interior)
• Beirão — central Portugal
• Estremenho — Regions of Coimbra and Lisbon (can be subdivided in Lisbon Portuguese and Coimbra Portuguese)
• Madeirense — Madeira
• Nortenho — Regions of Braga and Porto
• Transmontano — Trás-os-Montes

Angola

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• Benguelense — Benguela province
• Luandense — Luanda province
• Sulista — South of Angola

Other areas

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• Caboverdiano — Cape Verde
• Guineense — Guinea-Bissau
• Macaense — Macau, China
• Moçambicano — Mozambique
• Santomense — São Tomé and Principe
• 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).

Related Topics:
Portugal in the period of discoveries - 18th century

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• 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.
• Crioulo de São Vicente Language of São Vicente Island, Cape Verde. It could not be a, de facto, Creole.
• 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.
• Daman Indo-Portuguese Spoken in Daman, India. 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 Macauand 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 India (several other areas), Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia (other areas), and possibly in Brazil.

Related Topics:
Myanmar - Bangladesh - Thailand

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