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用戶:Aetherlur/sp

維基百科,自由的百科全書

這是個翻譯沙盒。

雖然葡萄牙語西班牙語作為兩種極為相似的羅曼語一定程度下可以相互理解,兩種語言之間仍有一些較大的不同點會對學習造成一定的困難。Both are part of a broader group known as West Iberian Romance, which also contains several minor languages or dialects with fewer speakers, all of which are mutually intelligible among themselves to some degree.

相比於更容易相互理解的書面語言,葡萄牙語和西班牙語最大的差別在於其發音。The most obvious differences are in pronunciation. The written languages are often significantly more intercomprehensible than the spoken languages. Compare, for example, 西班牙語 suerte "luck" /sweɾte/ vs. 葡萄牙語 sorte (Brazilian /sɔχtʃi/, European /sɔɾt(ǝ)/); cantamos "we sing" (西班牙語 /kantamos/, European 葡萄牙語 /kɐ̃tɐmuʃ/); 西班牙語 río de ... "river of ..." /rio ðe/ vs. 葡萄牙語 rio de ... (European /ʁiu ð(ǝ)/, Brazilian /χiu dʒi/).

正如同|英國|美國的英語、歐洲和拉丁美洲的西班牙語之間有較大的差別一樣,歐洲的葡萄牙語和巴西的葡萄牙語也有很多明顯的不同之處。這個條目主要包含以下的三個不同方面:

  • 葡萄牙語內部不僅有歐洲的和巴西的兩種不同版本,整體上與西班牙語也不同;
  • 西班牙語內部不僅有歐洲的和拉丁美洲的兩種不同版本,整體上與葡萄牙語也不同;和
  • 巴西或歐洲葡萄牙語與西班牙語在句法上的不同。

例子

葡萄牙語和西班牙語有相當多的詞拼法是一樣的、或即使不完全一樣也有規律可循。下面是一個兩種語言的對比例子,內容來自 Manuel Seco (Espasa Calpe, 1989) 的作品Gramática esencial del español

Pero, a pesar de esta variedad de posibilidades que la voz posee, sería un muy pobre instrumento de comunicación si no contara más que con ella. La capacidad de expresión del hombre no dispondría de más medios que la de los animales. La voz, sola, es para el hombre apenas una materia informe, que para convertirse en un instrumento perfecto de comunicación debe ser sometida a un cierto tratamiento. Esa manipulación que recibe la voz son las "articulaciones".

Porém, apesar desta variedade de possibilidades que a voz possui, seria um instrumento de comunicação muito pobre se não se contasse com mais do que ela. A capacidade de expressão do homem não disporia de mais meios que a dos animais. A voz, sozinha, é para o homem apenas uma matéria informe, que para se converter num instrumento perfeito de comunicação deve ser submetida a um certo tratamento. Essa manipulação que a voz recebe são as "articulações".

有很多常用的詞在葡萄牙語和西班牙語中的拼法是不一樣的,例如:

詞意 西班牙語 葡萄牙語 詞源 註釋
'商店' tienda loja Late Latin tendam (< tendere),
Germanic via Old French loge
The primary meaning of the 葡萄牙語 term tenda is 'tent' (in 西班牙語 tienda also can mean 'tent'). 西班牙語 lonja ('market') is rare.
'膝蓋' rodilla joelho 拉丁語 rotellam, genvcvlvm Rótula ('kneecap' in both 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語) is etymologically related to 西班牙語 rodilla ('little wheel'). The 西班牙語 idiom de hinojos 'kneeling' has the same etymology as 葡萄牙語 joelho.
'街道' calle rua Latin callem,
[viam] rvgam
西班牙語 rúa and 葡萄牙語 calhe also exist, but are far less common (and their forms indicate that they are borrowings from the other language, rather than inheritances from Latin).
'窗戶' ventana janela Latin ventvs,
iānvella (iānva+ella)
Latin ventvs means 'wind', ventana is etymologically 'wind opening'. 葡萄牙語 janela comes from Latin iānvella, diminutive form of iānva ('door, opening'), the same root as English 'January' and 'janitor' (originally from the name ianvs, the God of gates or doors).
'擦除 (to erase)' borrar apagar Late Latin bvrra,
拉丁語 adpācāre
The same word borrar exists in 葡萄牙語 but its commonest acception is 'to blur, make dirty' (e.g. está borrado 'it's blurry', compare 西班牙語 borroso 'blurry'); nevertheless, it can also mean 'to erase'. Meanwhile, 葡萄牙語 borracha means 'rubber', 'eraser' (borracha in 西班牙語 means 'drunk'), and 西班牙語 apagar means 'to turn off' (a meaning that also exists in 葡萄牙語, in expressions such as apagar a luz 'turn the light off').
'忘記 (to forget)' olvidar esquecer Latin oblītare,
excadescere
Olvidar also exists in 葡萄牙語 but is far less common, as well as obliterar and obliviar, from the same root as English 'oblivion'.

詞彙

Overview

Vocabulary differences between the two languages arose from various factors:

  • Substratum differences. 西班牙語 kept much of the Mozarabic vocabulary of Arabic origin, while the Mozarabic substratum was slightly less influential in 葡萄牙語. Thus we find cases in which the usual 西班牙語 word is derived from Arabic, while the corresponding word in 葡萄牙語 is Latin-derived, as in the following examples: Sp. albañil, Port. pedreiro, 'stonemason'; Sp. alcalde, Port. presidente da câmara (Portugal)/prefeito (Brasil), 'mayor'; Sp. alfarero, Port. oleiro, 'potter'; Sp. alfil/, Port. bispo, 'bishop' (in chess; otherwise the 西班牙語 word is obispo). In some of these cases 西班牙語 may have a less-frequent synonym derived from Latin, and 葡萄牙語 may have one from Arabic. Despite this, the opposite may also occur, that is an Arabic root may be more common in 葡萄牙語 than in 西班牙語; e.g. Port. alfaiate, Sp. sastre 'tailor'; Port. alface, Sp. lechuga 'lettuce'; Port. cartaz/póster (the second is less common), Sp. póster 'poster'.
  • Influences from other European languages during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. 葡萄牙語 received a great deal of French influence, while 西班牙語 was more autonomous and Mediterranean-oriented.[來源請求]
  • Influences from other languages (Amerindian, African, or Asian). For example, compare the respective 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 main words for:
'pineapple': piña (from the 西班牙語 word for 'pine cone') / abacaxi (from Tupi) or ananás (ananás or ananá also in 西班牙語, though less common)
(from Tupi–Guarani), in 西班牙語 by way of 葡萄牙語.)
'smoking pipe': pipa (from supposed Late Latin pīpa) / cachimbo (from Kimbundu).[1]
'tea': (from Min Nan Chinese) / chá (from Cantonese).
  • Semantic change, producing cognates that look similar but mean different things (false friends): diseñar means 'to design' in 西班牙語, while its cognate desenhar means 'to draw' in 葡萄牙語. Similarly, dibujo is 西班牙語 for 'drawing', but debuxo means 'sketch' in 葡萄牙語 (although it is rather rare and bookish, having been largely displaced by rascunho; c.f. 西班牙語 rasguño, which means 'scratch').
  • Words that have two forms in one language, but just one in the other: 葡萄牙語 criar corresponds to both 西班牙語 crear 'to create' and criar 'to raise', while 西班牙語 sueño corresponds to both 葡萄牙語 sonho 'dream' and sono 'sleep'.

星期

與其他羅曼語不同,現代葡萄牙語不使用羅馬時期的行星名來命名星期里的每日,而使用與現代漢語一樣的數字命名法, and derived from Ecclesiastical Latin. The word feira (from Latin feria) refers to daily (Roman Catholic) religious celebrations; it is cognate with feira 'fair' or 'market', as well as with férias 'vacation' and feriado 'holiday'. 西班牙語裏表示星期里某天的詞均為陽性,而葡萄牙語裏的 feira 日期為陰性,sábadodomingo 為陽性。

西班牙語 葡萄牙語 中文
lunes (< 拉丁語 diēs lūnae '月亮日')

segunda-feira ('second feria')

Monday
martes (< 拉丁語 diēs martis '火星日')

terça-feira ('third feria')

Tuesday

miércoles (< 拉丁語 diēs mercvrii '水星日')

quarta-feira ('fourth feria')

Wednesday

jueves (< 拉丁語 diēs iovis '木星日')

quinta-feira ('fifth feria')

Thursday

viernes (< 拉丁語 diēs veneris, '金星日')

sexta-feira ('sixth feria')

Friday

sábado (< Lat. sabbatvm '安息日')

sábado

Saturday

domingo (< Lat. diēs dominica '禮拜日')

domingo

Sunday

The form terça-feira (< Lat. tertia feria) differs in its first component from the usual 葡萄牙語 word for 'third', terceira.

日常生活中「feira」一詞經常會被省略:

Vou visitar-te na segunda. (歐洲葡萄牙語)
Vou te visitar na segunda. (巴西葡萄牙語)
'我會星期一去拜訪你。'

Cognates

Apart from a considerable number of false friends, there are also some cognate words whose meaning is broader in one language than in the other. Some examples:

Todo and tudo

西班牙語中的不定代詞「todo同時有「'all/every'」和「'everything'」的意思,但葡萄牙語中這兩個意思是區分的。(used when the referent is a neuter, an indefinite object or abstraction).

Todos los insectos tienen seis patas. (西班牙語)
Todos os inse(c)tos têm seis patas. (葡萄牙語)
'所有昆蟲都有兩隻腿。'
El ladrón robó todo. (西班牙語)
O ladrão roubou tudo. (葡萄牙語)
'小偷把所有東西都偷走了'或'小偷偷走了全部東西。'

Muy, mucho, and muito

西班牙語 distinguishes the adjective mucho 'much/many' from the adverb muy 'very/quite'. 葡萄牙語 uses muito for both (the cognate mui still exists in 葡萄牙語, but it is rarely used in spoken language, only used in very formal texts).

Saqué muchas fotos durante el viaje. (西班牙語)
Tirei muitas fotos durante a viagem. (葡萄牙語)
'I took many photos during the trip.'
Las cerezas están muy maduras. (西班牙語)
As cerejas estão muito maduras. (葡萄牙語)
'The cherries are quite ripe.'

As an adjective, muito is inflected according to the gender and number of the noun it qualifies, like mucho. As an adverb, it is invariable like muy. Thus, it would be incorrect to say *muitas maduras in the second example.

Cardinal numbers

The cardinal numbers are very similar in 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語, but there are differences of usage in numbers one and two. 西班牙語 has different words for the masculine singular indefinite article ('a, an') and the numeral 'one', thus un capítulo 'a chapter', but capítulo uno 'chapter one'. In 葡萄牙語, both words are the same: um capítulo and capítulo um. 西班牙語 uno can also be used as a pronoun, like the English generic "one", to represent an indeterminate subject, but this is not possible with 葡萄牙語 um; the reflexive pronoun se is used instead. Se may be used in 西班牙語 to form passive and impersonal constructions, as well.[2]

Uno (or Se) debe pensar antes de actuar. (西班牙語)
Deve-se pensar antes de agir. (葡萄牙語)
'One should think before acting.'

This still applies in cases where a relatively indeterminate subject is genderized, such as the 西班牙語 todos a una [voz] ('all at once', literally 'all at one [voice]'). It should be rewritten in 葡萄牙語 without any cardinal number. For example, todos juntos 'all together'.

On the other hand, in 葡萄牙語, cardinal number 'two' inflects with gender (dois if masculine, duas if feminine), while in 西班牙語 dos is used for both.

Uno más uno es igual a dos. (西班牙語)
Um mais um é igual a dois. (葡萄牙語)
'One plus one equals two.'
Dos cabezas piensan mejor que una. (西班牙語)
Duas cabeças pensam melhor que uma. (葡萄牙語)
'Two heads think better than one.'
Tengo dos hermanos y dos hermanas. (西班牙語)
Tenho dois irmãos e duas irmãs. (葡萄牙語)
'I have two brothers and two sisters.'

連接詞

絕大多數情況下,西班牙語的對應「和」(and)的詞是是「y」(輔音前讀作[i],元音前讀作 [j]),如果後面的詞的第一個音為[i](拼作i-或hi-)(雙元音[je]比如「hierro」這個詞就不算)則使用「e[e̞]。葡萄牙語的「和」無論在什麼詞前都使用「e[i]

Sal y pimienta. (西班牙語)
Sal e pimenta. (葡萄牙語)
'鹽胡椒。'
Judío e hindú. (西班牙語)
Judeu e hindu. (葡萄牙語)
'猶太教印度教。'
Leones y hienas. (西班牙語)
Leões e hienas. (葡萄牙語)
'獅子鬣狗。'

同樣的,西班牙語對應「或」("or")的詞一般為o [o̞],除非是後面的詞以o-或ho-開頭的時候應該用u [w]。葡萄牙語則在任何詞前都用ou [ow]~[o]

Vino o agua. (西班牙語)
Vinho ou água. (葡萄牙語)
'紅酒水'
Uno u otro. (西班牙語)
Um ou outro. (葡萄牙語)
'One or the other.'

Se, si, , and sim

In 葡萄牙語, the word se can be a reflexive pronoun or a conjunction meaning 'if'. This may give the false impression that a 葡萄牙語 verb is pronominal when it is not. For example, Se ficou em Paris... means 'If (he/she) remained in Paris...' When the conjunction se precedes a pronominal verb, it is common to have a double se in the sentence, e.g. Se se esqueceu da sua senha... 'If you forgot your password...'

Meaning and description 西班牙語 葡萄牙語
'yes' sim [sĩ]
'himself' / 'herself' / 'itself' / 'themselves'
(stressed reflexive pronoun, object of preposition)
si
'if' (conjunction) si se
'himself' / 'herself' / 'itself' / 'themselves'
(unstressed reflexive pronoun)
se

Miscellaneous

  • 西班牙語 largo (arch. also luengo) means 'long', while ancho means 'wide'. In 葡萄牙語 largo (also ancho) is 'wide' and longo is 'long'.
  • 西班牙語 extrañar can mean 'to find strange' or 'to miss'. 葡萄牙語 estranhar only means 'to find strange'.
  • 西班牙語 raro can mean 'rare' or 'strange'. In 葡萄牙語, it just means 'rare'.
  • 西班牙語 todavía can mean 'yet/still' or 'however/nevertheless'. 葡萄牙語 todavia means 'however/nevertheless'. In 葡萄牙語, 'yet/still' is ainda.
  • 西班牙語 (estar) embarazada means '(to be) pregnant'. 葡萄牙語 (estar) embaraçada means '(to be) embarrassed' or '(to be) entangled'.[3] However, 西班牙語 does have the term embarazoso/a meaning 'embarrassing'. 'Pregnant' in 葡萄牙語 is grávida.
  • 西班牙語 exquisito means 'exquisite/sophisticated'. 葡萄牙語 esquisito means 'strange/weird'.
  • Experto means 'expert' in both 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語, but in 葡萄牙語 it should not be confused with its homophone esperto (it's a homophone only in Brazil), which means 'smart/intelligent'. 'Expert' in 葡萄牙語 may also be perito, especialista, or exímio. 西班牙語 also has perito and eximio, with the same meaning.
  • 西班牙語 escoba is 'broom'. 葡萄牙語 escova is 'brush' or 'broom' (but 葡萄牙語 通常 chooses 'vassoura' for 'broom'). However, in some varieties of 西班牙語, escobilla means 'toilet brush'.
  • 西班牙語 apellido 'surname' is apelido in European 葡萄牙語, and sobrenome in both Brazilian and European 葡萄牙語 (but 葡萄牙語 通常 say apelido). 西班牙語 sobrenombre/apodo 'nickname' is apelido/alcunha/codinome in 巴西葡萄牙語, and alcunha in European 葡萄牙語.
  • 西班牙語 rojo is 'red'. 葡萄牙語 roxo is 'purple'. 'Red' in 葡萄牙語 is vermelho. In European 葡萄牙語 the word encarnado (literally in the flesh) is also used as synonym of 'red' even though vermelho is more frequent.
  • 西班牙語 apenas means 'hardly'. 葡萄牙語 apenas is 'only'. Thus the 西班牙語 phrase él apenas pudo dormir means 'he could not even/hardly sleep', or 'he was just barely able to sleep', whereas the 葡萄牙語 phrase ele pôde apenas dormir means 'he could only sleep'.

Grammar

Broadly speaking, the grammars of 葡萄牙語 and 西班牙語 are not greatly different. Nevertheless, there are some differences between them which can be hurdles for people acquainted with one of the languages who attempt to learn the other.

Gender

西班牙語 has three forms for the singular definite article, el, masculine, la, feminine, and lo, neuter. The last is used with adjectives to form abstract nouns employed in a generic sense, and also to intensify the meaning of adjectives. In 葡萄牙語, there is only o, masculine, and a, feminine. Literary 西班牙語 has also three corresponding third person pronouns, él 'he', ella 'she', and ello 'it' (referring to a broad concept, not a named object), while 葡萄牙語 has only ele, masculine, and ela, feminine. The 西班牙語 neuters lo and ello have no plural forms.

Some words are masculine in 西班牙語, but feminine in 葡萄牙語, or vice versa. A common example are nouns ended in -aje in 西班牙語, which are masculine, and their 葡萄牙語 cognates ending in -agem, which are feminine. For example, 西班牙語 el viaje 'the journey' (masculine, like French le voyage and Italian il viaggio) corresponds to the 葡萄牙語 feminine a viagem. Similarly, el puente 'bridge', el dolor 'pain', or el árbol 'tree' are masculine nouns in Modern 西班牙語, whereas a ponte, a dor, and a árvore are feminine in 葡萄牙語. On the other hand, the 西班牙語 feminine la leche 'the milk' corresponds to 葡萄牙語 o leite (masculine, like French le lait, Italian il latte). Likewise, nariz 'nose' is feminine in 西班牙語 and masculine in 葡萄牙語.

Some 西班牙語 words can be both masculine and feminine, with different meanings. Both meanings 通常 exist also in 葡萄牙語, but with one and the same gender, so that they can't be differentiated unless further information is provided. For instance, the word orden 'order' can mean both 'harmonious arrangement' and 'directive', like its counterparts in English and 葡萄牙語. But the 西班牙語 word is masculine when used with the first meaning, and feminine with the second:

Me sorprendió el orden. ('I was surprised by the order [i.e., by how orderly it all was].')
Me sorprendió la orden. ('I was surprised by the order [i.e., by the directive that was given].')

In 葡萄牙語, the equivalent word ordem is always feminine:

Surpreendeu-me a ordem. ('I was surprised by the order.')

Without additional context, it is impossible to tell which meaning was intended in 葡萄牙語 and English (although other words could be substituted; in English, one would likely use "orderliness" in the first case above rather than "order", which would by itself suggest the second case).

Use of the definite article

In many varieties of 葡萄牙語, personal names are normally preceded by a definite article, a trait also found in Catalan but only in certain dialects in 西班牙語. In 葡萄牙語, this is a relatively recent development, which some Brazilian dialects have not adopted yet, most notably in some states of the Brazilian Northeast. In those dialects of 葡萄牙語 that do regularly use definite articles before proper nouns, the article may be omitted for extra formality, or to show distance in a literary narrative. Compare, for example, English "Mary left", 西班牙語 María salió, and 葡萄牙語 A Maria saiu. Note, however, that in many 西班牙語 dialects the definite article is used before personal names; thus, la María salió is commonly heard.

葡萄牙語 uses the definite article before the names of some cities and almost all countries except relatively new ones such as Cingapura/Singapura ('Singapore'), and those which are related to Portugal (or with which Portugal has had historical relationships, even though this is a rough rule) and the 葡萄牙語-speaking countries, e.g. a Holanda but Portugal; o México but Angola, a Suécia, but Moçambique. The major exception to the country rule is o Brasil. Also Inglaterra, França, Espanha, Itália in European 葡萄牙語, but with the article a in 巴西葡萄牙語. In 西班牙語, use of the definite article is optional with some countries: (la) China, (el) Japón, (la) India, (la) Argentina, (el) Ecuador, (el) Perú, (el) Uruguay, (el) Paraguay, (el) Brasil, (los) Estados Unidos, etc. The same is true with two continents: (la) Antártida and (el) África; with archipelagos and islands: (las) Filipinas, (las) Canarias, (las) Azores, with some provinces, regions or territories: (el) Tíbet, (la) Toscana, (el) Piamonte, (el) Lacio and with some cities: (el) Cairo, (la) Valeta. 西班牙語 uses the definite article with all geographical names when they appear with an adjective or modifying phrase, as in the following examples: la España medieval 'medieval Spain', el Puerto Rico prehispánico 'pre-Hispanic Puerto Rico', el Portugal de Salazar 'Portugal during Salazar's dictatorship', etc.

Santiago es la capital de Chile. (西班牙語)
Santiago é a capital do Chile. (葡萄牙語)
'Santiago is the capital of Chile.'
Él es de Costa Rica, que está en América Central. (西班牙語)
Ele é da Costa Rica, que fica na América Central. (葡萄牙語)
'He is from Costa Rica, which is in Central America.'
Tengo un billete a/para (los) Estados Unidos de América. (西班牙語)
Tenho um bilhete para os Estados Unidos da América. (葡萄牙語)
'I have a ticket to the United States of America.'
Nueva Delhi no es la ciudad más populosa de (la) India. (西班牙語)
Nova Déli não é a cidade mais populosa da Índia. (葡萄牙語)
'New Delhi is not the most populous city in India.'
La Europa medieval pertenecía a monarcas absolutos. (西班牙語)
A Europa medieval pertencia a monarcas absolutos. (葡萄牙語)
'Medieval Europe belonged to absolute monarchs.'

葡萄牙語 omits the definite article in stating the time of day unless para as is used.

Son las nueve y quince. (西班牙語)
São nove e quinze. (葡萄牙語)
'It's nine fifteen.'

In addition, in most dialects of 葡萄牙語 the definite article is used before possessive adjectives (like in Italian), which is not possible in 西班牙語. For instance, the sentence 'This is my brother' is Este es mi hermano in 西班牙語, but may be Este é o meu irmão in 葡萄牙語. Nevertheless, in some Brazilian dialects (mostly in the Northeast) the article is not used in sentences such as: Este é meu irmão [來源請求] (although it 通常 appears in sentences such as O meu irmão está lá). [來源請求]

Possessives

In 葡萄牙語, possessive adjectives have the same form as possessive pronouns, and they all agree with the gender of the possessed item. In 西班牙語, the same is true of nuestro/nuestra ("our") and vuestro/vuestra ("your" [plural]), but for all other possessives, the pronoun has a longer form that agrees with the gender of the possessed item, while the adjective has a shorter form that does not change for gender. The possessive adjectives are normally preceded by a definite article in Continental 葡萄牙語, less so in 巴西葡萄牙語, and never in 西班牙語. The possessive pronouns are preceded by a definite article in all dialects of both languages. See examples in the table below.

Gender of
possessed item
西班牙語 葡萄牙語
Adjective Pronoun Adjective Pronoun
Feminine su casa
"your house"
la suya
"yours"
(a) sua casa
"your house"
a sua
"yours"
Masculine su libro
"your book"
el suyo
"yours"
(o) seu livro
"your book"
o seu
"yours"

Pronouns

Object pronouns

In 葡萄牙語, third-person clitic pronouns have special variants used after certain types of verb endings, which does not happen in 西班牙語. The default object pronouns o/a/os/as change to lo/la/los/las when they follow a verb that ends in ⟨r⟩, ⟨s⟩ or ⟨z⟩, and to no/na/nos/nas when they follow a verb that ends in a nasal sound.

西班牙語 葡萄牙語 Meaning
manténgalo mantenha-o 'keep it'
mantenerlo mantê-lo 'to keep it'
lo mantienen mantêm-no 'they keep it'

In 巴西葡萄牙語, these forms are uncommon, since the pronoun normally precedes the verb (i.e. você o mantenha in the above example), and third-person subject pronouns are used informally as object pronouns (mantenha ele), though the latter is technically incorrect. However, as it is considered ungrammatical to begin a sentence with an object pronoun, the above examples are, on rare occasion, used in Brazil as well.

Clitic personal pronouns

European 葡萄牙語 differs from 巴西葡萄牙語 with regard to the placement of clitic personal pronouns, and 西班牙語 is in turn different from both of them.

  • In 西班牙語, clitic pronouns normally come before the verb, except with the imperative, the infinitive, and the gerund. In verbal periphrases, they precede the auxiliary verb.
  • In spoken 巴西葡萄牙語, clitic pronouns normally come before the main verb. In verbal periphrases, they come between the auxiliary verb and the main verb. This occurs even with the imperative, the infinitive, the gerund, and the past participle.
  • In European 葡萄牙語, clitic pronouns may come before or after the verb, depending on the type of clause. In verbal periphrases, they may precede or follow the auxiliary verb, or follow the main verb (when this is in the infinitive or the gerund).
西班牙語 葡萄牙語 Meaning
Ella le dio un libro. Ela deu-lhe um livro.
Ela lhe deu um livro.
'She gave him a book.'
Dígame dónde ha estado. Diz-me onde estiveste.[4]
Diga-me por onde você esteve.
'Tell me where you've been.'
Tómame una foto.
Sácame una foto.
Tira-me uma foto.
Me tira uma foto.
'Take a picture for me.'
Quería verte.
Te quería ver.
Queria ver-te.
Queria te ver.
'I wanted to see you.'
No te he conseguido ver.
No he conseguido verte.
No conseguí verte.
Não consegui ver-te.
Não consegui te ver.
'I didn't manage to see you.'

Mesoclisis

In European 葡萄牙語, verbs in the future indicative or conditional tense may be split into morphemes, and the clitic pronoun can be inserted between them, a feature known as mesoclisis. This also occurred in Old 西班牙語, but no comparable phenomenon takes place in modern 西班牙語:

Lo traerá. (西班牙語)
Trá-lo-á. (European 葡萄牙語 and formal written 巴西葡萄牙語)
'He/She will bring it.'

However, these tenses are often replaced with others in the spoken language. Future indicative is sometimes replaced by present indicative; conditional is very often replaced by imperfect indicative. In colloquial language, most 葡萄牙語 would state trá-lo-á as vai trazê-lo ('going to bring it') or irá trazê-lo ('will bring it').

Combining pronouns in 西班牙語

The 西班牙語 construction, se lo dio, means either '[He/She] gave it to [him/her]' or '[He/She] gave it to himself/herself'. The expected pattern for the former would be *le lo dio, but such a construction does not exist. This is unique to 西班牙語.

  • Latin: dedit illis illvddedit illis illvm (early Vulgar Latin) → dit illis illu (Late Vulgar Latin)
  • 西班牙語: dio (i)lli (el)lodio ge lodiógelo (arch.) → dióselose lo dio
  • 葡萄牙語: deu (i)lli (l)odeu lhe (l)odeu-lho

Thus, modern 西班牙語 makes no distinction between the reflexive pronoun se and the dative personal pronoun se. Note that this did not happen in old 西班牙語: diógelo, 'he gave it to him', dióselo, 'he gave it to himself'. The medieval g sound (similar to that of French) was replaced with s in the 14th-15th centuries (cf. 西班牙語 coger, 'to catch', but cosecha, 'harvest', Port. colher and colheita, both from Lat. colligere).

Use of stressed pronouns for inanimate subjects

In 西班牙語, stressed pronouns are never used for inanimate subjects (i.e. things, as opposed to persons or animals), not even for clarity or disambiguation purposes [1]. 葡萄牙語 knows no such restriction, so that stressed pronouns referring to inanimate subjects can either be used or dropped:

¿Dónde están las llaves? Están en la mesa. (西班牙語 – pronoun is always dropped)
Onde estão as chaves? (Elas) estão na mesa. (葡萄牙語 – pronoun is optional)
'Where are the keys? They are on the table.' (English – pronoun is required)

Second-person pronouns

The use of second-person pronouns differs dramatically between 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語, and even more so between European and 巴西葡萄牙語. 西班牙語 tú, usted corresponds to 葡萄牙語 tu, você, but 葡萄牙語 gained a third, even more formal form o senhor(es), a senhora(s), demoting você to an "equalizing" rather than respectful form. In the plural, familiar vós is archaic everywhere in 葡萄牙語, and both the pronoun and corresponding second-person plural verb forms 通常 appear only in the Bible; normally, vocês serves as the familiar (and equalizing) form. In the case of 西班牙語 in Spain, tú, usted, vosotros, and ustedes have more or less kept their original functions; if anything, is displacing usted out of common use and usted used only for formal situations (like o senhor in 葡萄牙語). Latin American 西班牙語 is more complicated; vosotros has been archaicized out of use in favor of ustedes, as 葡萄牙語 vós has, but certain Latin American countries also use vos as a singular informal pronoun, elbowing out of its original role to a greater or lesser extent (see voseo).

Spoken 巴西葡萄牙語 has dramatically simplified the pronoun system, with você tending to displace all other forms. Although a few parts of Brazil still use tu and the corresponding second-person singular verb forms, most areas either use tu with third-person verb forms or (increasingly) drop it entirely in favor of você. This has in turn caused the original third-person possessive seu, sua to shift to the second person, with a new third-person possessive dele, dela (plural deles, delas, "their") following the noun arising (cf. paraphrases such as o carro dele 'his car', o carro dela 'her car'). The formal o senhor is also increasingly restricted to highly formal situations, such as a storekeeper addressing a client. See the article on 巴西葡萄牙語 for more information.

Verbs

"To be"

西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 have two main copulas, ser and estar. For the most part, the use of these verbs is the same in both languages, but there are a few cases where it differs. The main difference between 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 is in the interpretation of the concept of state versus essence and in the generalisations one way or another that are made in certain constructions. For instance,

Está prohibido fumar. (西班牙語) [estar]
É proibido fumar. (葡萄牙語) [ser]
'Smoking is forbidden.'
La silla está hecha de madera. (西班牙語) [estar]
A cadeira é feita de madeira. (葡萄牙語) [ser]
'The chair is made of wood.'
Sólo uno es correcto. (西班牙語) [ser]
Só um está corre(c)to. (葡萄牙語) [estar]
'Only one is correct.'

Also, the use of ser regarding a permanent location is much more accepted in 葡萄牙語. Conversely, estar is often permanent in 西班牙語 regarding a location, while in 葡萄牙語, it implies being temporary and/or something within the immediate vicinity (same house, building, etc.) See the first two examples below.

Secondary copulas are quedar(se) in 西班牙語 and ficar in 葡萄牙語. Each can also mean 'to stay' or 'to remain.'

Me quedé dentro de la casa todo el día. (西班牙語)
Fiquei dentro de casa todo o dia. (葡萄牙語)
'I stayed inside the house all day.'

As explained in the next section, the 西班牙語 sentence implies that staying inside the house was voluntary, while 葡萄牙語 and English are quite ambiguous on this matter without any additional context.

Nuestra oficina queda (or está) muy lejos. (西班牙語) [quedar/estar]
O nosso escritório é (or fica) muito longe. (葡萄牙語) [ser/ficar]
'Our office is very far away.'
¿Dónde está (or queda) el aeropuerto? (西班牙語) [estar/quedar]
Onde fica (or é) o aeroporto? (葡萄牙語) [ficar/ser]
'Where is the airport?'

Because the airport is obviously not anywhere nearby, ficar is used in 葡萄牙語 (most common), though ser can also be used.

Both 西班牙語 quedar(se) and 葡萄牙語 ficar can mean 'become':

Mi abuela se está quedando sorda. (西班牙語)
A minha avó está ficando surda. (巴西葡萄牙語 and some dialects of European 葡萄牙語)
A minha avó está a ficar surda. (European 葡萄牙語)
'My grandmother is becoming deaf.'

Reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs are somewhat more frequent in 西班牙語 than in 葡萄牙語, especially with actions relating to parts of the body:

Guillermo se quebró la pierna jugando a la pelota. (西班牙語)
O Guilherme quebrou a perna jogando bola. (巴西葡萄牙語)
O Guilherme partiu a perna a jogar à bola. (European 葡萄牙語)
'William broke his leg playing football.'

When the same verb in 西班牙語 becomes pronominal, voluntary action is implied:

Pablo quedó en París. (西班牙語)
'Paul stayed in Paris [an accident may have forced him to].'
Pablo se quedó en París. (西班牙語)
'Paul stayed in Paris [because he decided to].'

Both sentences above would generally be rendered in 葡萄牙語 as O Paulo ficou em Paris. If necessary for clarity, though, this could be expanded as either O Paulo teve de ficar em Paris ('Paul had to stay in Paris') or O Paulo decidiu ficar em Paris ('Paul decided to stay in Paris').

Auxiliary verb of the perfect

In 西班牙語, the compound perfect is constructed with the auxiliary verb haber (< Latin habere). Although 葡萄牙語 used to use its cognate verb (haver) in this way, now it's more common to form these tenses with ter ('to have') (< Latin tenere). Haver is more used in 巴西葡萄牙語, while ter is used as an auxiliary by other Iberian languages; it is much more pervasive in 葡萄牙語. Note that most 葡萄牙語 verb tables only contain ter with regard to the perfect.

Yo ya había comido cuando mi madre volvió. (西班牙語) [imperfect form of haber]
Eu já comera quando a minha mãe voltou. (葡萄牙語) [pluperfect inherited from Latin]
Eu já tinha comido quando a minha mãe voltou. (葡萄牙語) [imperfect form of ter]
Eu já havia comido quando a minha mãe voltou. (葡萄牙語) [imperfect form of haver]
'I already had eaten when my mother returned.'

Imperfect subjunctive versus pluperfect indicative

A class of false friends between the two languages is composed of the verb forms with endings containing -ra-, such as cantara, cantaras, cantáramos, and so on. 西班牙語 has two forms for the imperfect subjunctive, one with endings in -se- and another with endings in -ra- (e.g. cantase/cantara 'were I to sing'), which are 通常 interchangeable. In 葡萄牙語, only cantasse has this value; cantara is employed as a pluperfect indicative, i.e. the equivalent to 西班牙語 había cantado ('I had sung'). Although there is a strong tendency to use a verb phrase instead in the spoken language, like in 西班牙語 and English (tinha cantado), the simple tense is still frequent in literature.

Present perfect

In 西班牙語, as in English, the present perfect is normally used to talk about an action initiated and completed in the past, which is still considered relevant or influential in the present moment. In 葡萄牙語, the same meaning is conveyed by the simple preterite, as in the examples below:

No, gracias. Ya he cenado. (西班牙語) [present perfect]
Não, obrigado. Já jantei. (葡萄牙語) [preterite perfect]
'No, thank you. I have already dined.' [present perfect]
He ido a España dos veces. (西班牙語) [present perfect]
Fui a Espanha duas vezes. (葡萄牙語) [preterite perfect]
'I have been to Spain twice.' [present perfect]
¿Ha oído usted las últimas noticias, señor? (西班牙語) [present perfect]
O senhor ouviu as últimas notícias? (葡萄牙語) [preterite perfect]
'Have you heard the latest news, sir?' [present perfect]

In 葡萄牙語, the present perfect (pretérito perfeito composto) is normally used for speaking of events which began in the past, were repeated regularly up to the present, and could keep happening in the future. See the contrast with 西班牙語 in the following example:

He pensado en pedirle matrimonio. (西班牙語) [present perfect]
'I have thought of asking her/him [indirect object] to marry me [the thought has occurred to me at least once].' [present perfect]
Tenho pensado em pedi-la em casamento. (葡萄牙語) [present perfect]
'I have been thinking of asking her [direct object] to marry me.' [present perfect continuous]

As this example suggests, the 葡萄牙語 present perfect is often closer in meaning to the English present perfect continuous. See also 西班牙語 verbs: Contrasting the preterite and the perfect.

Personal infinitive

葡萄牙語, uniquely among the major Romance languages, has acquired a "personal infinitive", which can be used as an alternative to subjunctive in subordinate clauses.

La recepcionista nos pidió que esperáramos/esperásemos. (西班牙語) [imperfect subjunctive]
A recepcionista pediu para esperarmos. (葡萄牙語) [personal infinitive]
A recepcionista pediu que esperássemos. (葡萄牙語) [imperfect subjunctive]
'The receptionist asked that we wait' / 'The receptionist asked (for) us to wait.'

The 葡萄牙語 perfect form of the personal infinitive corresponds to one of several possible 西班牙語 finite verbs.

Alguien nos acusó de haber robado un bolígrafo. (西班牙語)
Alguém nos acusou de termos roubado uma caneta. (葡萄牙語)
'Somebody accused us of having stolen a pen.'

On some occasions, the personal infinitive can hardly be replaced by a finite clause and corresponds to a different structure in 西班牙語 (and English):

Tu hábito de fumar junto a una ventana es desagradable. (西班牙語: 'Your habit of smoking close to a window is unpleasant.')
O hábito de fumares à janela é desagradável. (葡萄牙語, using personal infinitive. Literally, 'The habit of [you] smoking at the window is unpleasant.')
(O) teu hábito de fumar à janela é desagradável. (葡萄牙語, using impersonal infinitive. Literally, '(The) Your habit of smoking at the window is unpleasant.')

The personal infinitive is not used in counterfactual situations, as these require the imperfect subjunctive. 'If we were rich...' is Se fôssemos ricos..., not *Se sermos ricos... Also, it is conjugated the same as the future subjunctive (see next section), provided the latter is not irregular (ser, estar, ter, etc.) The personal infinitive is never irregular, though the circumflex accent may be dropped in writing on expanded forms (such as pôr).[5]

In the first and third person singular, the personal infinitive appears no different from the unconjugated infinitive.

É bom eu/ele esperar um bocadinho. (葡萄牙語)
'It is good that I/he wait(s) a bit.'

The above rules also apply whenever the subjects of the two clauses are the same, but independent of each other.

Para que lleguemos temprano, necesitamos apresurarnos. (西班牙語) [present subjunctive]
Para chegarmos cedo, temos/teremos de nos apressar. (葡萄牙語) [personal infinitive]
'For us to arrive early, we will need to hurry.'
Para que llegáramos/llegásemos temprano, necesitaríamos apresurarnos. (西班牙語) [imperfect subjunctive]
Para chegarmos cedo, tínhamos/teríamos de nos apressar. (葡萄牙語) [personal infinitive]
'For us to arrive early, we would need to hurry.'

As shown, the personal infinitive can be used at times to replace both the impersonal infinitive and the subjunctive. 西班牙語 has no such alternative.

Future subjunctive

The future subjunctive, now virtually obsolete in 西班牙語, continues in use in both written and spoken 葡萄牙語. It is used in subordinate clauses referring to a hypothetical future event or state – either adverbial clauses (通常 introduced by se 'if ' or quando 'when') or adjective clauses that modify nouns referring to a hypothetical future entity. 西班牙語, in the analogous if-clauses, uses the present indicative, and in the cuando- and adjective clauses uses the present subjunctive.

Se eu for eleito presidente, mudarei a lei. (葡萄牙語)
Si yo soy elegido presidente, cambiaré la ley. (西班牙語)
'If I am elected president, I will change the law.'
Quando fores mais velho, compreenderás. (葡萄牙語)
Cuando seas mayor, comprenderás. (西班牙語)
'When you are older, you'll understand.'
Dar-se-á/Se dará o prêmio à primeira pessoa que disser a resposta corre(c)ta.
Se dará el premio a la primera persona que diga la respuesta correcta.
'The prize will be given to the first person who says the right answer.'

Irregular verbs

A number of irregular verbs in 葡萄牙語 change the main vowel to indicate differences between first and third person singular: fiz 'I did' vs fez 'he did', pude 'I could' vs pôde 'he could', fui 'I was' vs foi 'he was', tive 'I had' vs teve 'he had', etc. These vowel differences stem from vowel raising (metaphony) triggered by the final -Ī of the first-person singular. 西班牙語 maintains such a difference only in fui 'I was' vs fue 'he was'. In all other cases, one of the two vowels has been regularized throughout the conjugation and a new third-person ending -o adopted: hice 'I did' vs hizo 'he did', pude 'I could' vs pudo 'he could', etc.

Contrarily, 西班牙語 maintains many more irregular forms in the future and conditional: saldré 'I will leave', pondré 'I will put', vendré 'I will come', diré 'I will say', etc. 葡萄牙語 has only three: farei 'I will do', direi 'I will say', trarei 'I will carry'.

葡萄牙語 drops -e in "irregular" third-person singular present indicative forms after ⟨z⟩ and ⟨r⟩, according to phonological rules: faz 'he does', diz 'he says', quer 'he wants', etc. 西班牙語 has restored -e by analogy with other verbs: hace 'he does', dice 'he says', quiere 'he wants', etc. (The same type of analogy accounts for fiz vs hice 'I did' in the past tense. In nouns such as paz 'peace', luz 'light', amor 'love', etc. -e was dropped in both languages and never restored).

Prepositions

Contractions

In 西班牙語 the prepositions a ('to') and de ('of, from') form contractions with a following masculine singular definite article (el 'the'): a + el > al, and de + el > del. This kind of contraction is much more extensive in 葡萄牙語, involving the prepositions a ('to'), de ('of, from'), em ('in'), and por ('for') with articles and demonstratives regardless of number or gender.[6] All four of these prepositions join with the definite article, as shown in the following table:

Preposition +
definite article
(葡萄牙語)
a de em por
o
(masc.sing.)
ao do no 1 pelo
a
(fem.sing.)
à 2 da na pela
os
(masc.pl.)
aos dos 1 nos pelos
as
(fem.pl.)
às das nas pelas

1These 葡萄牙語 contractions include some potential "false friends" for the reader of 西班牙語, such as no (Port. 'in the', Sp. 'no, not') and dos (Port. 'of the', Sp. 'two').
2In European 葡萄牙語, a is pronounced [ɐ], while à is pronounced [a]. Both are generally [a] in 巴西葡萄牙語.

Additionally, the prepositions de and em combine with the demonstrative adjectives and pronouns as shown below:

Preposition +
demonstrative
(葡萄牙語)
de em
este (masc.sing.)
esta (fem.sing.)
estes (masc.pl.)
estas (fem.pl.)
deste
desta
destes
destas
neste
nesta
nestes
nestas
esse (masc.sing.)
essa (fem.sing.)
esses (masc.pl.)
essas (fem.pl.)
desse
dessa
desses
dessas
nesse
nessa
nesses
nessas
aquele (masc.sing.)
aquela (fem.sing.)
aqueles (masc.pl.)
aquelas (fem.pl.)
daquele
daquela
daqueles
daquelas
naquele
naquela
naqueles
naquelas

The neuter demonstrative pronouns (isto 'this' isso, aquilo 'that') likewise combine with de and em – thus, disto, nisto, etc. And the preposition a combines with the "distal" demonstratives (those that begin with a-) to form àquele, àquilo, etc.

The 葡萄牙語 contractions mentioned thus far are obligatory. Contractions also can be optionally formed from em and de with the indefinite article (um, uma, uns, umas), resulting in num, numa, dum, duma, etc and from the third person pronouns (ele, ela, eles, elas), resulting in nele, nela, dele, dela, etc. Other optional contractions include de with aqui > daqui ('from here') and even with the noun água (um copo d'água 'a glass of water').

The 西班牙語 con ('with', com in 葡萄牙語) combines with the prepositional pronouns , ti, and to form conmigo, contigo, consigo ('with me', 'with you', 'with him-/herself '). In 葡萄牙語 this process not only applies to the pronouns mim, ti, and si (giving comigo, contigo, and consigo), but also is extended to nós and (in those varieties that use it) vós, producing connosco (conosco in 巴西葡萄牙語) and convosco.

Personal "a"

西班牙語 employs a preposition, the so-called "personal a", before the direct object of a transitive verb (except tener) when it denotes a specific person(s), or domestic pet; thus Veo a Juan 'I see John'; Hemos invitado a los estudiantes 'We've invited the students.' In 葡萄牙語, personal a is virtually non-existent, except before Deus 'God': louvar a Deus 'to praise God', amar a Deus 'to love God'.

Ir a versus ir para

Quite common in both languages are the prepositions a (which often translates as "to"), and para (which often translates as "for"). However, European 葡萄牙語 distinguishes between going somewhere for a short while versus a longer stay, especially if it is an intended destination, in the latter case using para instead of a. While there is no specified duration of stay before a European 葡萄牙語 speaker must switch prepositions, a implies one will return sooner, rather than later, relative to the context. This distinction is not made in English, 西班牙語 and 巴西葡萄牙語, and the 西班牙語 para cannot be used for this purpose.

Fui al mercado cerca de mi casa. (西班牙語)
Fui ao mercado perto de/da minha casa./Fui para o mercado perto de/da minha casa. (European and 巴西葡萄牙語)
'I went to the market near my house.' [temporary displacement]
El presidente anterior fue exiliado a Portugal. (西班牙語)
O presidente anterior foi exilado para Portugal. (European and 巴西葡萄牙語)
'The former president was exiled to Portugal.' [permanent, or more lasting displacement]

Note, though, in the first example, para could be used in 葡萄牙語 if in contrast to a very brief period of time.

Não fico muito tempo, só um minuto. Tenho que/de ir para o mercado. (葡萄牙語)
'I can't stay long, only a minute. I have to go to the market.' [pending task or appointment]

In informal, non-standard 巴西葡萄牙語, em (in its original form or combined with a given article in a contraction, yielding no, na, numa, etc.), often replaces the preposition a from standard 葡萄牙語.

Vou na padaria. (non-standard 巴西葡萄牙語)
Vou à padaria. (standard 葡萄牙語)
'I'm going to the bakery.'
Fui numa festa ontem. (non-standard 巴西葡萄牙語)
Fui a uma festa ontem. (standard 葡萄牙語)
'I went to a party yesterday.'

Such a construction is not used in 西班牙語 or in European 葡萄牙語.

In 葡萄牙語 the preposition até can also be used when the duration of the stay is expected to be short and/or when there is a specific reason for going somewhere.

Vou ir até a praia.
'I will go to the beach.'

Hacia and para

西班牙語 has two prepositions of direction: para ('for', including 'headed for [a destination]'), and hacia ('toward [not necessarily implying arrival]'). Of them, only para exists in 葡萄牙語, covering both meanings.

Este regalo es para ti. (西班牙語)
Este presente é para ti. (葡萄牙語)
'This gift is for you.'
Aquel/Ese avión va hacia Brasilia. (西班牙語)
Aquele avião voa para Brasília. (葡萄牙語)
'That airplane is flying toward Brasilia.'

Colloquially, para is often reduced in both languages: to pa' in 西班牙語,[7] and to pra (sometimes written p'ra and this form may be used in literature) or pa (only in slang in European 葡萄牙語 and not permitted in writing) in 葡萄牙語. 葡萄牙語 pra, in turn, may join with the definite article: pra + o > pro (BP) or prò (EP), pra + a > pra (BP) or prà (EP), etc.[8] In reference to the slang option pa, these become: pa + o > , pa + a > , etc.

"Going to" future

Both languages have a construction similar to the English "going-to" future. 西班牙語 includes the preposition a between the conjugated form of ir "to go" and the infinitive: Vamos a cantar 'We're going to sing' (present tense of ir + a + infinitive). Usually, in 葡萄牙語, there is no preposition between the helping verb and the main verb: Vamos cantar (present tense of ir + infinitive). This also applies when the verb is in other tenses:

Ayer yo iba a leer el libro, pero no tuve la oportunidad. (西班牙語)
Ontem eu ia ler o livro, mas não tive oportunidade. (葡萄牙語)
Yesterday I was going to read the book, but never had the chance.

Other differences in preposition usage

While as a rule the same prepositions are used in the same contexts in both languages, there are many exceptions.

Nuestros gastos de energía. (西班牙語)
(Os) nossos gastos com/de energia. (葡萄牙語)
Our energy expenses.
Voy a votar por Juan. (西班牙語)
Vou votar em/no João. (葡萄牙語)
I'm going to vote for John.

Orthography

Alphabet

The traditional 西班牙語 alphabet had 28 letters, while the 葡萄牙語 had 23. Modern versions of recent years added k and w (found only in foreign words) to both languages. 葡萄牙語 also added y for loanwords.

With the reform in 1994 by the 10th congress of the Association of 西班牙語 Language Academies, 西班牙語 alphabetization now follows the same pattern as that of other major West European languages. Prior to this date, however, digraphs were independently alphabetized. For example, the following surnames would be put in this order: Cervantes, Contreras, Cruz, Chávez, Dávila. Many 西班牙語 dictionaries and other reference material still exist using the pre-reform rule of alphabetization.

Current 西班牙語 alphabet (西班牙語 alphabet reform of 1994)

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n ñ o p q r s t u v w x y z

Digraphs

ch ll rr

Current 葡萄牙語 alphabet (葡萄牙語 Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990) introducing k, w and y

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Digraphs

ch lh nh rr gu qu ss (cc cç sc sç xc xs)

In 西班牙語, ⟨gu⟩, ⟨qu⟩, and ⟨sc⟩ in Latin American 西班牙語 are not called digraphs, however they are single sounds as in 葡萄牙語 (for the exception of ⟨sc⟩ in European 葡萄牙語). Also 西班牙語 has taken ⟨sh⟩ /ʃ/ from English as a loan sound; e.g. sherpa, show, flash. 巴西葡萄牙語 uses the trigraph ⟨tch⟩ /tʃ/ for loanwords; e.g. tchau, 'ciao', tcheco 'Czech', República Tcheca 'Czech Republic', tchê 'che' (this latter is regional), etc. European 葡萄牙語 normally replace the trigraph ⟨tch⟩ with ⟨ch⟩ /ʃ/: chau, checo, República Checa, etc.

Both, 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語, use ⟨zz⟩ /ts/ (never as /dz/) for some Italian loanwords, but in 葡萄牙語 may sometimes not be pronounced as affricate, but having an epenthetic /i/ or /ɨ/; e.g. Sp. and Port. pizza 'pizza', Sp. and Port. paparazzo 'paparazzo', etc. 西班牙語 also utilizes ⟨tz⟩ /ts/ for Basque, Catalan and Nahuatl loanwords, and ⟨tl⟩ /tɬ/ (or /tl/) for Nahuatl loanwords; e.g. Ertzaintza, quetzal, xoloitzcuintle, Tlaxcala, etc.

Different spellings for similar sounds

The palatal consonants are spelled differently in the two languages.

Description 西班牙語 葡萄牙語
Spelling Pronunciation Spelling Pronunciation
palatal "l" ll ʎ (~ ʝ)[9] lh ʎ
palatal "n" ñ ɲ nh ɲ
palatal "y" y ʝ i j

The symbols ⟨ll⟩ and ⟨ñ⟩ are etymological in 西班牙語, as the sounds they represent are often derived from Latin ll and nn (for those positions, 葡萄牙語 has simple ⟨l⟩ and ⟨n⟩; cf. rodilla/rodela, peña/pena). The 葡萄牙語 digraphs ⟨lh⟩ and ⟨nh⟩ were adopted from Occitan, as poetry of the troubadours was the most important influence on 葡萄牙語 literature up until the 14th century. King Denis of Portugal, who established 葡萄牙語 instead of Latin as the official language, was an admirer of the poetry of the troubadours and a poet himself. Examples include names such as Port. Minho (Sp. Miño) and Magalhães (Sp. Magallanes).

The letter ⟨y⟩ was used in 葡萄牙語 from the 16th to the early 20th century in Greek loans, much as in English (e.g. Psychologia, modern Psicologia 'Psychology'). The orthographic reform in 1911 officially replaced it with ⟨i⟩. The corresponding sound can be regarded as an allophone of the vowel /i/ in both languages. Compare Sp. rey ('king'), mayor ('greater, elder') with Port. rei ('king'), maior ('larger, greater').

The exact pronunciation of these three consonants varies somewhat with dialect. The table indicates only the most common sound values in each language. In most 西班牙語 dialects, the consonants written ⟨ll⟩ and ⟨y⟩ have come to be pronounced the same way, a sound merger known as yeísmo. A similar phenomenon can be found in some dialects of 巴西葡萄牙語, but it is much less widespread than in 西班牙語.

The 葡萄牙語 letter ⟨ç⟩ (c-cedilla) was first used in Old 西班牙語, based on a Visigothic form of the letter ⟨z⟩. In 葡萄牙語 it is used before ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩, and ⟨u⟩, and never word-initially or at the end, and it always represents the "soft c" sound, namely [s]. In modern 西班牙語, it has been replaced by ⟨z⟩. Example: calzado (Sp.), calçado (Port.) 'footwear'.

Correspondences between word endings

Various word endings are consistently different in the two languages.

  • 西班牙語 -n corresponds to 葡萄牙語 -m when in word-final position (e.g. 西班牙語: jardín, algún; 葡萄牙語: jardim, algum). In 葡萄牙語, word- or syllable-final ⟨m⟩ and ⟨n⟩ indicate nasalization of the previous vowel; e.g. som /ˈsõ/ 'sound' (see phonology below). In the plural, ⟨m⟩ is replaced with an ⟨n⟩ (西班牙語: jardines, algunos; 葡萄牙語: jardins, alguns), that is because in these cases the ⟨m⟩ is not in word-final position anymore. Notice, some rare learned words in 葡萄牙語 and 西班牙語 may also have a word final -n (e.g. 葡萄牙語 abdómen/abdômen 'abdomen'), and -m (e.g. 西班牙語 tándem 'tandem'), respectively.
  • Common exceptions to the above rule concern the 西班牙語 noun endings:
    • -án and -ano, which normally correspond to -ão or -ã in 葡萄牙語 (Irán vs Irão (EP)/Irã (BP) 'Iran', hermano vs irmão 'brother', and huérfano vs órfão, 'orphan m.');
    • -ana, which corresponds to -ã (hermana vs irmã 'sister', mañana vs manhã 'morning', huérfana vs órfã 'orphan f.');
    • -ón / -ción or -cción / -sión, which 通常 correspond to -ão / -ção or -(c)ção / -são or -ssão (melón vs melão 'melon', opción vs opção 'option', corrección vs corre(c)ção 'correction', pensión vs pensão 'pension', or admisión vs admissão 'admission');
    • -on or -an, which corresponds to -ão in most monosyllables (son vs são 'they are', tan vs tão 'as, so');
  • Different singular word endings in 西班牙語 (-ano, -án, -ón, and in monosyllables also -an and -on) 通常 correspond to just one singular word ending in 葡萄牙語 (-ão); however, the 葡萄牙語 plural ending varies (-ãos, -ães or -ões), 通常 denoting the archaic version of the word (which was often closer to 西班牙語):
    • -ãos, as in mão/mãos (西班牙語 mano(s), English 'hand(s)');
    • -ães, as in capitão/capitães (西班牙語 capitán/capitanes, English 'captain(s)');
    • -ões, as in melão/melões (西班牙語 melón/melones, English 'melon(s)').
  • Notable exceptions to the above rule:
    • verão/verões (西班牙語 verano(s) English 'summer(s)');
    • ancião, which allows the three plural forms: anciãos, anciães and anciões (西班牙語 anciano(s), English 'elder(s)').
  • The 3rd person plural endings of the preterite indicative tense are spelled with -on in 西班牙語 (pensaron, vivieron 'they thought, they lived'), but with -am in 葡萄牙語 (pensaram, viveram).
  • In 葡萄牙語 words ending in -l form their plurals by dropping ⟨l⟩ and adding -is (-eis when final unstressed -il): caracol/caracóis (西班牙語 caracol(es), English 'snail(s)'), fácil/fáceis (西班牙語 fácil(es), English 'easy').
  • In 西班牙語, adjectives and nouns ending in -z form their plurals by replacing ⟨z⟩ with ⟨c⟩ (-ces); e.g. feroz/feroces (葡萄牙語 feroz(es), English 'ferocious'), vez/veces (葡萄牙語 vez(es) English 'time(s)').
  • Another conspicuous difference is the use of -z in 西班牙語 versus -s in 葡萄牙語 at the end of unstressed syllables, especially when the consonant is the last letter in a word. A few examples:
Álvarez, Fernández, Suárez, izquierda, mezquino, lápiz (西班牙語)
Álvares, Fernandes, Soares, esquerda, mesquinho, lápis (葡萄牙語)
  • Other correspondences between word endings are:
    • -dad(es) or -tad(es) (西班牙語) and -dade(s) (葡萄牙語), as in bondad(es) vs bondade(s) 'goodness(es)' and libertad(es) vs liberdade(s) 'liberty/ies'. The word ending -zade(s) is also found in 葡萄牙語, e.g. amizade(s) (西班牙語 amistad(es), English 'friendship(s)');
    • -ud(es) (西班牙語) and -ude(s) (葡萄牙語), as in virtud(es) vs virtude(s) 'virtue';
    • -ble(s) (西班牙語) and -vel/eis (葡萄牙語), as in amable(s) vs amável/amáveis 'amiable';
    • -je(s) (西班牙語) and -gem/ns (葡萄牙語), as in lenguaje(s) vs linguagem/linguagens 'language(s)';
    • -aso (西班牙語) and -asso (葡萄牙語), as in escaso vs escasso 'scarce';
    • -eso (西班牙語) and -esso (葡萄牙語), as in espeso vs espesso 'thick';
    • -esa (西班牙語) and -essa or -esa (葡萄牙語), as in condesa vs condessa 'countess' and inglesa vs inglesa 'Englishwoman';
    • -eza (西班牙語) and -iça or -eza (葡萄牙語), as in pereza vs preguiça 'laziness' and naturaleza vs natureza 'nature';
    • -ez (西班牙語) and -ice and -ez (葡萄牙語), as in idiotez vs idiotice 'idiocy' (there are unpredictable exceptions in 葡萄牙語, e.g. estupidez 'stupidity') and timidez vs timidez 'shyness';
    • -izar (西班牙語) and -izar or -isar (葡萄牙語), as in realizar vs realizar 'to realize/realise' and analizar vs analisar 'to analize/analise' (notice there are also some 西班牙語 verbs that in -isar; e.g. avisar 'warn', pesquisar 'research', etc.) 巴西葡萄牙語 uses an alternative word ending in -issar in some exceptional cases; e.g. aterrissar, alunissar (European 葡萄牙語 aterrar, alunar; 西班牙語 aterrizar, alunizar, English 'landing', 'moon landing');
    • -azar (西班牙語) and -açar (葡萄牙語), amenazar vs ameaçar 'threaten';
    • -anza (西班牙語) and -ança (葡萄牙語), esperanza vs esperança 'hope';
    • -encia (西班牙語) and -ença or -ência (葡萄牙語), as in diferencia vs diferença 'difference' and ocurrencia vs ocorrência 'occurrence' (in 西班牙語 there are few exceptional words ending in -enza; e.g. vergüenza 'shame');
    • -icia (西班牙語) and -iça or -ícia (葡萄牙語), as in justicia vs justiça 'justice' and malicia vs malícia 'malice';
    • -izo (西班牙語) and -iço (葡萄牙語), as in movedizo vs movediço 'moveable';
    • -miento or -mento (西班牙語) and -mento (葡萄牙語), as in sentimiento vs sentimento 'feeling, sentiment' and reglamento vs regulamento 'rules, regulations';
    • -ísimo (西班牙語) and -íssimo (葡萄牙語), as in fidelísimo vs fidelíssimo 'most loyal'.

Accentuation and nasalization

Both languages use diacritics to mark the stressed syllable of a word whenever it is not otherwise predictable from spelling. Since 西班牙語 does not differentiate between mid-open and mid-close vowels and nasal vowels, it uses only one accent, the acute. 葡萄牙語 通常 uses the acute accent ( ´ ), but also uses the circumflex accent ( ˆ ) on the mid-close vowels ⟨ê⟩ and ⟨ô⟩ and the stressed (always nasal in Brasil) ⟨â⟩.

Although the 西班牙語 ⟨y⟩ can be either a consonant or a vowel, as a vowel it never takes an accent. At the end of a word, the 葡萄牙語 diphthong -ai is the equivalent of the 西班牙語 -ay, however, -ai can have an accent on the ⟨í⟩ to break the diphthong into two separate vowels, e.g. açaí (three syllables). Without the accent, as in 西班牙語, the last syllable would be a diphthong: Paraguai (葡萄牙語) and Paraguay (西班牙語) 'Paraguay'.

葡萄牙語 nasal vowels occur before ⟨n⟩ and ⟨m⟩ (see phonology below) without an accent mark, as these consonants are not fully pronounced in such cases. The tilde (~), is only used on nasal diphthongs such as ⟨ão⟩ [ɐ̃w̃] and ⟨õe⟩ [õj̃], plus the final ⟨ã⟩ [ɐ̃] which replaces the -am ending, as the latter is reserved for verbs, e.g. amanhã [amɐˈɲɐ̃] 'tomorrow'.

  • Initial and middle: vowel + ⟨n⟩ + consonant (except ⟨h⟩, ⟨p⟩ or ⟨b⟩): antecedente, geringonça, mundo  
  • Initial and middle: vowel + ⟨m⟩ + bilabial consonant (⟨p⟩ or ⟨b⟩): caçamba, emprego, supimpa, pomba, penumbra  
  • Final: vowel + ⟨m⟩: fizeram, em, ruim, bom, algum (except for learned words, e.g. abdómen/abdômen, hífen, etc.)

These do not alter the rules for stress, though note endings -im, -ins and -um, -uns are stressed, as are their non-nasal counterparts (see below). A couple of two-letter words consist of only the nasal vowel: em and um.

Phonetic vowel nasalization occurs in 西班牙語—vowels may get slightly nasalized in contact with nasal consonants—but it is not phonemically distinctive. In 葡萄牙語, on the other hand, vowel nasalization is distinctive, and therefore phonemic: pois /ˈpojs/ or /ˈpojʃ/ 'because' vs pões /ˈpõj̃s/ or /ˈpõj̃ʃ/ '(you) put'.

葡萄牙語 changes vowel sounds with (and without) accents marks. Unaccented ⟨o⟩ (/u/, /o/, /ɔ/) and ⟨e⟩ (/i/, /ɨ/, /e/, /ɛ/, /ɐ/), acute accented ⟨ó⟩ (/ɔ/) and ⟨é⟩ (/ɛ/), or circumflex accented ⟨ô⟩ (/o/) and ⟨e⟩ (/e/). Thus, nós [ˈnɔs] or [ˈnɔʃ] 'we' vs nos [nus] or [nuʃ] 'us', avô [aˈvo] 'grandfather' vs avó [aˈvɔ] 'grandmother', se [si] or [sɨ] 'itself, himself, herself' reflexive pronoun vs [ˈsɛ] 'seat, headquarters' vs [ˈse] 'to be' 2nd person imperative. 西班牙語 pronunciation makes no such distinction.

The grave accent ( ` ) is also used in 葡萄牙語 to indicate the contraction of the preposition a (to) with a few words beginning with the vowel a, but not to indicate stress. In other cases, it is the combination of the preposition and the feminine definite article; in other words, the equivalent of a la ('to the') in 西班牙語. Às is used for the plural (a las in 西班牙語).

  • a (prep.) + a(s) (def. article 'the') = à(s) ('to the').
  • a (prep.) + aquele(s), aquela(s) (pron. 'that') = àquele(s), àquela(s)—underlined stressed syllable—('to that').
  • a (prep.) + aquilo (pron. n. 'that') = àquilo ('to that').

The diaeresis or trema ( ¨ ) is used in 西班牙語 to indicate ⟨u⟩ is pronounced in the sequence ⟨gu⟩; e.g. desagüe [deˈsaɣwe]. As the 葡萄牙語 grave accent, the trema does not indicate stress. In 巴西葡萄牙語 it was also used for the digraphs ⟨gu⟩ and ⟨qu⟩ for the same purpose as 西班牙語 (e.g. former BP spelling *qüinqüênio [kwĩˈkwẽniu], EP quinquénio [kwĩˈkwɛniu] 'five year period'), however since the implementation of the 葡萄牙語 Language Orthographic Agreement in Brazil, the trema was abolished (current BP spelling quinquênio [kwĩˈkwẽniu]), and its usage was restricted to some loanwords (e.g. mülleriano 'Müllerian').

The accentuation rules (including those of predictable stress) of 葡萄牙語 and 西班牙語 are similar, but not identical. Discrepancies are especially pervasive in words that contain i or u in their last syllable. Note the 葡萄牙語 diphthongs ei and ou are the approximate 西班牙語 equivalent of e and o respectively, but any word ending with these diphthongs is, by default, stressed on its final syllable.

Compare the following pairs of cognates in which the stress falls on the same syllable in both languages:

taxi, vi, bam, ansia, seria, sea, jardín, pensáis, pen (西班牙語)
xi, vivi, bambu, ânsia, ria, seria, jardim, pensais, pensou (葡萄牙語)

Semivowel–vowel sequences are treated differently in both languages when it comes to accentuation rules. A sequence of a semivowel adjacent to a vowel is by default assumed to be read as a diphthong (part of the same syllable) in 西班牙語, whereas it is by default assumed to be read as a hiatus (belonging to different syllables) in 葡萄牙語. For both languages, accentuation rules consistently indicate something other than the default.

A consequence of this is that words that are pronounced alike in both languages are written according to different accentuation rules. Some examples:

  • emergencia (西班牙語), emergência (葡萄牙語) 'emergency'
  • tolerancia (西班牙語), tolerância (葡萄牙語) 'tolerance'
  • audacia (西班牙語), aucia (葡萄牙語) 'audace'
  • ocio (西班牙語), ócio (葡萄牙語) 'leisure'
  • continuo (西班牙語), connuo (葡萄牙語) 'continuous'
  • contio (西班牙語), continuo (葡萄牙語) 'I continue'

Another consequence (though less common) is that some words are written exactly (or almost exactly) the same in both languages, but the stress falls on different syllables:

Phonology

Although the vocabularies of 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 are very similar (at times identical), both languages differ phonologically from each other. Phonetically 葡萄牙語 is closer to Catalan or to French while the phonetics of 西班牙語 are much closer to Sardinian and the Southern Italian dialects. 葡萄牙語 has a larger phonemic inventory than 西班牙語. That could explain why it is generally not very intelligible to 西班牙語 speakers despite the strong lexical similarity between the two languages; 葡萄牙語 speakers have a greater intelligibility of 西班牙語 than do the reverse.

One of the main differences between the 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 pronunciation are the vowel sounds. 西班牙語 has a basic vowel phonological system, with five phonemic vowels (/a/, //, /i/, //, /u/). Phonetic nasalization occurs in 西班牙語 for vowels occurring between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal consonant (/n/ and /m/), but it is not distinctive as in 葡萄牙語. On the other hand, 葡萄牙語 has eight to nine oral vowels (/a/, /ɐ/, /e/, /ɛ/, /ɨ/, /i/, /o/, /ɔ/, /u/) (/ɐ/ is closer to [ə] in Portugal, while the near-close near-back unrounded vowel /ɨ/—also rendered as [ɯ̟] or [ʊ̜]—is only found in European 葡萄牙語) plus five phonemic nasal vowels (/ɐ̃/, //, /ĩ/, /õ/, /ũ/) when preceding an omitted syllable-final nasal (⟨n⟩ and ⟨m⟩) or when is marked with a tilde (~): ⟨ã⟩ and ⟨õ⟩. 葡萄牙語, as Catalan, uses vowel height, contrasting stressed and unstressed (reduced) vowels. Moreover, 西班牙語 has two semivowels as allophones, [j, w]; while 葡萄牙語 has four, two oral [j w] and two nasalized glides [ ].

The following considerations are based on a comparison of standard versions of 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語. Apparent divergence of the information below from anyone's personal pronunciation may indicate one's idiolect (or dialect) diverges from the mentioned standards. Information on 葡萄牙語 phonology is adapted from Celso Pedro Luft (Novo Manual de Português, 1971), and information on 西班牙語 phonology adapted from Manuel Seco (Gramática Esencial del Español, 1994).

Comparing the phonemic inventory of the two languages, a noticeable divergence stands out. First, 葡萄牙語 has more phonemes than 西班牙語. Also, each language has phonemes that are not shared by the other.

Early phonetic divergence

Vowels

西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 have been diverging for over a thousand years. One of the most noticeable early differences between them concerned the result of the stressed vowels of Latin:

Classical Latin
(spelling)
Vulgar Latin
(pronunciation)
西班牙語 葡萄牙語
Spelling Pronunciation Spelling Pronunciation
a /a/ a ~ á /a/ a ~ á ~ â /a/ ~ /ɐ/1
ā
e /ɛ/ ie ~ ié /je̞/ e ~ é /ɛ/
ē /e/ e ~ é /e̞/ e ~ ê /e/
i
ī /i/ i ~ í /i/ i ~ í /i/
o /ɔ/ ue ~ ué /we̞/ o ~ ó /ɔ/
ō /o/ o ~ ó /o̞/ o ~ ô /o/
u
ū /u/ u ~ ú /u/ u ~ ú /u/
au /aw/ o ~ ó /o̞/ ou /ow/²

1The vowels /a/ and /ɐ/ occur largely in complementary distribution.
²This diphthong has been reduced to the monophthong /o/ in many dialects of modern 葡萄牙語.

As vowel length ceased to be distinctive in the transition from Latin to Romance, the stressed vowels e and o became ie and ue in 西班牙語 whenever they were short (Latin petra → 西班牙語 piedra 'stone'; Latin moritvr → 西班牙語 muere "he dies"). Similar diphthongizations can be found in other Romance languages (French pierre, Italian pietra; French meurt/muert, Italian muore, Romanian moare), but in Galician-葡萄牙語 these vowels underwent a qualitative change instead (葡萄牙語/Galician pedra, morre), becoming lower, as also happened with short i and short u in stressed syllables. The Classical Latin vowels /e/-/eː/ and /o/-/oː/ were correspondingly lowered in 西班牙語 and turned into diphthongs /je̞/ and /we̞/. In 西班牙語, short e and o and long ē and ō merged into mid vowels, /e̞/ and /o̞/, while in 葡萄牙語 these vowels stayed as close-mid, /e/ and /o/ and open-mid, /ɛ/ and /ɔ/, as in Vulgar Latin.

葡萄牙語 has five nasal vowels (/ɐ̃/, /ẽ/, /ĩ/, /õ/, /ũ/), which, according to historical linguistics, arose from the assimilation of the nasal consonants /m/ and /n/, often at the end of syllables. Syllable-final m and n are still written down to indicate nasalization, even though they are no longer fully pronounced [ⁿ] or elided completely. In other cases, nasal vowels are marked with a tilde (ã, õ). Not all words containing vowel + n have the nasal sound, as the subsequent letter must be a consonant in order for this to occur: e.g. anel /ɐˈnɛw/ ('ring') –oral/non-nasal– vs anca /ˈɐ̃kɐ/ ('hip') –nasal–. However, in 巴西葡萄牙語, stressed vowels have nasal allophones before one of the nasal consonants /m/, /n/, /ɲ/, followed by another vowel. In European 葡萄牙語, nasalization is absent in this environment.

The 葡萄牙語 digraph ou (pronounced 通常 as the diphthong [ow], but sometimes as a monophthong [o]) corresponds to the final of 西班牙語 -ar verbs in the preterite tense; e.g. 西班牙語 descansó and 葡萄牙語 descansou ("he/she rested"). The 西班牙語 irregular verb forms in -oy (e.g. doy "I give", estoy "I am", soy "I am", voy "I go") correspond to 葡萄牙語 forms in -ou (e.g. dou, estou, sou, vou). But in some other words, conversely, 西班牙語 o corresponds to 葡萄牙語 oi, e.g. 西班牙語 cosa, 葡萄牙語 coisa "thing"; 西班牙語 oro "gold", 葡萄牙語 通常 ouro, but sometimes oiro.

Stressed vowel alternations may occur in 葡萄牙語, but not in 西班牙語:

西班牙語 葡萄牙語 English
nuevo   [ˈnwe̞βo̞]

novo   [ˈnovu]

new (m. sg.)
nueva   [ˈnwe̞βa]

nova   [ˈnɔvɐ]

new (f. sg.)

nuevos   [ˈnwe̞βo̞s]

novos   [ˈnɔvuʃ]

new (m. pl.)

nuevas   [ˈnwe̞βas]

novas   [ˈnɔvɐʃ]

new (f. pl.)

Unstressed vowels

The history of the unstressed vowels in 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 is not as well known as that of the stressed vowels, but some points are generally agreed upon. 西班牙語 has the five short vowels of classical Latin, /a/, /e̞/, /i/, /o̞/, /u/. It has also two semivowels, [j] and [w], that appear in diphthongs, but these can be considered allophones of /i/ and /u/, respectively. The pronunciation of the unstressed vowels does not differ much from that of stressed vowels. Unstressed, non-syllabic /e̞/ /o̞/, and /a/ can be reduced to [ʝ], [w̝] and complete elision in some dialects; e.g. poetisa [pw̝e̞ˈtisa] ('poet' f.), línea [ˈlinʝa] ('line'), ahorita [o̞ˈɾita] ('now').

The system of seven oral vowels of Vulgar Latin has been fairly well preserved in 葡萄牙語, as in the closely related Galician language. In 葡萄牙語, unstressed vowels have been more unstable, both diachronically (across time) and synchronically (between dialects), producing new vowel sounds. The vowels written ⟨a⟩, ⟨e⟩ and ⟨o⟩ are pronounced in different ways according to several factors, most notably whether they are stressed, and whether they occur in the last syllable of a word. The basic paradigm is shown in the following table (it has some exceptions).

西班牙語 巴西葡萄牙語 European 葡萄牙語
Stressed or
non-terminal
Unstressed
and terminal
Stressed Unstressed
/a/ /a/ /ɐ ~ a/ /a/ or /ə/ /ə/
/e̞/ /e/ or /ɛ/ /ɪ ~ i/ /e/ or /ɛ/ /ɨ/
/o̞/ /o/ or /ɔ/ /ʊ ~ u/ /o/ or /ɔ/ /u/

Similar alternation patterns to these exist in other Romance languages such as Catalan or Occitan. Although it is mostly an allophonic variation, some dialects have developed minimal pairs that distinguish the stressed variants from the unstressed ones. The vowel /ɨ/ is often elided in connected speech (it is not present in 巴西葡萄牙語).

Some Brazilian dialects diphthongize stressed vowels to [ai̯], [ɛi̯], [ei̯], etc. (except /i/), before a sibilant at the end of a syllable (written ⟨s⟩, ⟨x⟩, or ⟨z⟩). For instance, Jesus [ʒeˈzui̯s] 'Jesus', faz [ˈfai̯s] 'he does', dez [ˈdɛi̯s] 'ten'. This has led to the use of meia (meaning meia dúzia, 'half a dozen') for seis [sei̯s] 'six' when making enumerations, to avoid any confusion with três [ˈtɾei̯s] 'three' on the telephone. In Lisbon and surrounding areas, stressed /e/ is pronounced [ɐ] or [ɐj] when it comes before a palatal consonant /ʎ/, /ɲ/ or a palato-alveolar /ʃ/, /ʒ/, followed by another vowel.

The orthography of 葡萄牙語, which is partly etymological and analogical, does not indicate these sound changes. This makes the written language look deceptively similar to 西班牙語. For example, although breve ('brief') is spelled the same in both languages, it is pronounced [ˈbɾe̞βe̞] in 西班牙語, but [ˈbɾɛvi]~[ˈbɾɛv(ɨ)] in 葡萄牙語. In 巴西葡萄牙語, in the vast majority of cases, the only difference between final -e and -i is the stress, as both are pronounced as /i/. The former is unstressed, and the latter is stressed without any diacritical mark. In European 葡萄牙語, final -e is 通常 not pronounced (or pronounced like a schwi /ɨ/), unlike i, which is pronounced /i/.

Consonants

Some of the most characteristic sound changes undergone by the consonants from Latin to 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 are shown in the table below.

Latin 西班牙語 葡萄牙語 Examples Meaning
cl-, fl-, pl- ll- or pl ch-

clamāre → S. llamar, P. chamar
platea → S. plaza
flammam → S. llama, P. chama
plēnvm → S. lleno, P. cheio

'to call'
'flame'
'full'

-lt-, -ct- -ch- -it-

mvltvm → S. mucho, P. muito
noctem → S. noche, P. noite
pectvm → S. pecho, P. peito

'much'
'night'
'chest'

f- h-
(later silent)
or f-
f-

fabvlāre → S. hablar, P. falar
filivm → S. hijo, P. filho
focvm → S. fuego, P. fogo

'to speak'
'son'
'fire'

j(a)- ya- ja-

iam → S. ya, P.
iacere → S. yacer, P. jazer (both archaic)

'already'
'to lie, as in a grave'

-l- -l- (elided)

caelvm → S. cielo, P. céu (arch. ceo)
volāre → S. volar, P. voar

'sky'
'to fly'

-li- -j- -lh-

alivm → S. ajo, P. alho
filivm → S. hijo, P. filho

'garlic'
'son'

-ll- -ll- -l-

castellvm → S. castillo, P. castelo

'castle'

-n- -n- (elided)

generālem → S. general, P. geral
tenēre → S. tener, P. ter

'general' (adj.)
'to have'

-ni- -ni- -nh- ivnivs → S. junio, P. Junho 'June'
-nn- -ñ- -n-

ānnvm → S. año, P. ano
cannam → S. caña, P. cana

'year'
'reed'

*reconstructed

Peculiar to early 西班牙語 (as in the Gascon dialect of Occitan, possibly due to a Basque substratum) was the loss of Latin initial f- whenever it was followed by a vowel which did not diphthongize. Thus, 西班牙語 hijo and hablar correspond to 葡萄牙語 filho and falar (from Latin filivm and fabvlāre, 'son' and 'to speak' respectively). Nevertheless, 葡萄牙語 fogo corresponds to 西班牙語 fuego (from Latin focvm 'fire').

Another typical difference concerned the result of Latin -l- and -n- in intervocalic position:

  • When single, they were retained in 西班牙語 but elided in 葡萄牙語. Often, the loss of the consonant was followed by the merger of the two surrounding vowels (as in the examples in the table above), or by the insertion of an epenthetic vowel between them (Latin arenam → 西班牙語 arena, 葡萄牙語 arẽa, today areia 'sand').
  • When double, they developed into the 西班牙語 palatals ⟨ll⟩ /ʎ/ (merged with /ʝ/ in most contemporary 西班牙語 dialects) and ⟨ñ⟩ /ɲ/. Indeed, the 西班牙語 letter ⟨ñ⟩ was originally a shorthand for nn. In 葡萄牙語, -ll- and -nn- just became single, ⟨l⟩ /l/ and ⟨n⟩ /n/, respectively.
  • When followed by the semivowel i, l coalesced with it into a ⟨j⟩ /x/ in 西班牙語. In 葡萄牙語, l and n followed by semivowel i were palatalized into ⟨lh⟩ /ʎ/ and ⟨nh⟩ /ɲ/, respectively.

Other consonant clusters of Latin also took markedly different routes in the two languages in their archaic period:

Origin 西班牙語 葡萄牙語 Meaning
argillam arcilla argila 'clay'
blandvm blando brando 'soft'
sevm queso queijo 'cheese'
ocvlvmoc'lu ojo olho 'eye'
hominemhom'ne hombre homem 'man'
tremvlāretrem'lare temblar tremer 'to tremble'

Learned words such as pleno, ocular, no(c)turno, tremular, and so on, were not included in the examples above, since they were adapted directly from Classical Latin in later times.

The tables above represent only general trends with many exceptions, due to:

  1. Other phonological processes at work in old 西班牙語 and old 葡萄牙語, which interfered with these.
  2. Later regularization by analogy with related words.
  3. Later borrowing of learned words directly from Latin, especially since the Renaissance, which did not respect the original sound laws.
  4. Mutual borrowing, from 西班牙語 to 葡萄牙語 or vice versa.

Synaeresis

葡萄牙語 has tended to eliminate hiatuses that were preserved in 西班牙語, merging similar consecutive vowels into one (often after the above-mentioned loss of intervocalic -l- and -n-). This results in many 葡萄牙語 words being one syllable shorter than their 西班牙語 cognates:

creído, leer, mala, manzana, mañana, poner, reír, venir (西班牙語)
crido, ler, , maçã, manhã, pôr, rir, vir (葡萄牙語)

In other cases, 葡萄牙語 reduces consecutive vowels to a diphthong, again resulting in one syllable fewer:

a-te-o, eu-ro-pe-o, pa-lo, ve-lo (西班牙語)
a-teu, eu-ro-peu, pau, véu (葡萄牙語)

There are nevertheless a few words where the opposite happened, such as 西班牙語 comprender versus 葡萄牙語 compreender, from Latin comprehendere.

Different sounds with the same spelling

Since the late Middle Ages, both languages have gone through more sound shifts and mergers which set them further apart.

Sibilants

The most marked phonetic divergence between 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 in their modern period concerned the evolution of the sibilants. In the Middle Ages, both had a rich system of seven sibilants – paired according to affrication and voicing: /s/, /ts/, /z/, /dz/, /ʃ/, //, and // (the latter probably in free variation with /ʒ/, as still happens today in Ladino) – and spelled virtually the same in 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語.

Medieval 西班牙語 and 葡萄牙語 Modern 葡萄牙語1,2 Modern 西班牙語1
Spelling Pronunciation Pronunciation Examples Spelling Pronunciation Examples
s-, -ss- /s/ /s/ saber 'to know',
passar 'to pass'
s /s/ saber, pasar
-s- /z/ /z/ casa 'house' casa
ç/c /ts/ /s/ açor 'hawk', cego 'blind' z/c /θ/ or /s/ azor, ciego
z /dz/ /z/ fazer 'to do' hacer
x /ʃ/ /ʃ/ oxalá 'I hope; God grant' j/g /x/ ojalá
j/g /dʒ ~ ʒ/ /ʒ/ jogar 'to play', gente 'people' jugar, gente
ch /tʃ/ /ʃ/ chuva 'rain' ch /tʃ/ chubasco 'cloudburst'
(from Port. chuvasco)

1Before vowels; in the coda position, there are dialectal variations within each language, not discussed here.
2Modern 葡萄牙語 has for the most part kept the medieval spelling.

After the Renaissance, the two languages reduced their inventory of sibilants, but in different ways:

  • Devoicing in 西班牙語: the voiced sibilants written ⟨-s-⟩, ⟨z⟩ and ⟨j/g⟩ became voiceless, merging with ⟨s-/-ss-⟩, ⟨c/ç⟩ and ⟨x⟩, respectively. In many 西班牙語 dialects, modern ⟨c/z⟩ /θ/ also merged with ⟨s⟩ /s/ (seseo). Later, the palato-alveolar fricative ⟨x⟩ /ʃ/ changed into the velar fricative /x/, while ⟨ch⟩ stay unchanged //. 西班牙語 spelling has been updated according to these sound changes.
  • Deaffrication in 葡萄牙語: the affricates written ⟨c/ç⟩, ⟨z⟩ and ⟨ch⟩ became plain fricatives, merging with the sibilants ⟨s-/-ss-⟩, ⟨-s-⟩ and ⟨x⟩, respectively. In spite of this, modern 葡萄牙語 has for the most part kept the medieval spelling.

Other pronunciation differences

Spelling Pronunciation Notes
西班牙語 葡萄牙語
b [b ~ β] [b ~ β] (EP)
[b] (BP)
In 西班牙語 and European 葡萄牙語 /b/ is lenited after a continuant.
d [d ~ ð] [d ~ ð] (EP)
[d~ dʒ] (BP)
In 西班牙語 and European 葡萄牙語 /d/ is lenited after a continuant.
In many dialects of 巴西葡萄牙語, the consonants /t/ and /d/ have affricate allophones, happening when before an /i/.
t [t] [t] (EP)
[t ~ tʃ] (BP)
g [ɡ ~ ɣ] [ɡ ~ ɣ] (EP)
[ɡ] (BP)
In 西班牙語 and European 葡萄牙語 /ɡ/ is lenited after a continuant.
-l [l] [ɫ] (EP)
[w] (BP)
In European 葡萄牙語 syllable-final /l/ is velarized [ɫ] as in Catalan (see dark l), while in 巴西葡萄牙語 it is vocalized to [w].
r-, -rr- [r] [ʁ] In 葡萄牙語, r- and -rr- have several possible pronunciations. In most dialects, it is a guttural r ([ʁ], [χ], [ʀ], [x], [ɣ], [h], etc.), while in rural northern Portugal it is a trilled r [r] (like in Galician) and in some southeastern Brazilian dialects word final -r may be an approximant [ɹ]. In 西班牙語, r- and -rr- have kept their original pronunciation as an alveolar trill [r]. Intervocalic -r- is an alveolar flap in both languages [ɾ].
v [b ~ β] [v] Originally, the letters ⟨b⟩ and ⟨v⟩ stood for distinct sounds pronounced [b] and [β], respectively, but the two eventually merged into a single phoneme in 西班牙語. In most varieties of 葡萄牙語 they remained separate phonemes, and the bilabial fricative [β] of Old 葡萄牙語 subsequently changed into the labiodental fricative [v], as in French and Italian.

Since no distinction is made anymore between the pronunciation of ⟨b⟩ and ⟨v⟩, 西班牙語 spelling has been reformed according to Classical Latin. In 葡萄牙語, the spelling of these letters is based on pronunciation, which is closer to Vulgar Latin and modern Italian. This leads to some orthographic disparities:

  • Compare for example 西班牙語 gobierno, haber, libro with 葡萄牙語 governo, haver, livro.
  • The endings of the imperfect indicative tense of 1st. conjugation verbs (with infinitives ending in -ar) are spelled with ⟨b⟩ in 西班牙語 (cantaba, cantabas, cantábamos, and so on), but with ⟨v⟩ in 葡萄牙語 (cantava, cantavas, cantávamos, etc.)
  • The 西班牙語 adjectival suffix -ble, as in posible (also used in English, "possible"), corresponds to -vel in 葡萄牙語: possível.

In 西班牙語, the plosives b, d, g are lenited, 通常 realized as "soft" approximants [β̞, ð̞, ɣ̞] (here represented without the undertracks) after continuants. While similar pronunciations can be heard in European 葡萄牙語, most speakers of 葡萄牙語 pronounce these phonemes consistently as "hard" plosives [b, d, ɡ]. This can make a 葡萄牙語 phrase such as uma bala ("a bullet") sound like una pala ("a shovel") to a 西班牙語-speaker.

Contact forms

參見

References

Notes

  1. ^ Cândido Figueiredo, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (Rio de Janeiro: Mérito: 1949); Francisco da Silveira Bueno, Grande Dicionário Etimológico-Prosódico da Língua Portuguesa (São Paulo: Saraiva, 1964).
  2. ^ Butt, John; Carmen Benjamin. A New Reference Grammar of Modern 西班牙语 3rd. New York City: McGraw-Hill Education. 2000: 394 (§28.6). ISBN 0-658-00873-0. 
  3. ^ Curiously, the 葡萄牙語 term is the origin of both the 西班牙語 and, via French, the English term, according to Microsoft Encarta Dictionary, 2004. It is formed of em ('in', as a prefix), baraço (an old term for 'rope') and suffix -ada (which is the feminine form of a verbal ending equivalent to "-ed"), according to its entry in Houaiss Dictionary.
  4. ^ http://www.conjuga-me.net/verbo-estar
  5. ^ Verbix Conjugation
  6. ^ See a list at Wikipedia in 葡萄牙語: List of contracted prepositions
  7. ^ Jacques De Bruyne, A Comprehensive 西班牙語 Grammar (Oxford: Blackwell, 1995), §752.
  8. ^ The Aurélio defines the words pra¹ as a syncopated form of para, and pra² and pro as a contraction of pra¹ plus the article.
  9. ^ The phoneme represented by ⟨ll⟩ has merged with the one represented by ⟨y⟩ in most dialects, commonly realized as [ʝ], or, in River Plate 西班牙語, as [ʒ] or as [ʃ].

Bibliography

外部連結