# Portuguese/Contents/Complete Pronunciation

Portuguese alphabet, like in other Romance languages has a natural evolution from Latin and so it is not strictly phonetic and has some features inherited from its history. Although, compared to English or even French it is easy to read and not so hard to write.

## Letters

The sounds are better explained in the next chapters.
Glossary:
* Coda: the sounds in a syllable after the vowel, for example t in spit;
* Onset: the sounds in a syllable before the vowel, for example sp in spit;
* Nucleus: the vowel of a syllable;
* Glide: the sounds /j/ and /w/;
* Stressed: (of a syllable) which is pronounced more emphatically, for example compounding.
| Letter | Context | Sound (IPA) | Sound (compared to English) | Example |
| A | Stressed and preceding a nasal consonant; unstressed. | /ɐ/ ~ /ə/ | Similar to u in under or a in beta. | Guarda; Santana |
| A | Stressed and not preceding a nasal consonant. | /a/ | Similar to a as in English father, but the tongue is more to the front. | Guarda; Crato; Ovar |
| B | Not word-initial and not following a nasal vowel. | /β/ | As in Spanish vivir. | Abrantes; Sabugal; Borba |
| B | Word initial or following a nasal vowel. | /b/ | B as in bee. | Borba; Braga; Pombal |
| C | Preceding a, o, u or a consonant. | /k/ | K like in skip (avoid aspiration). | Cascais; Cadaval; Constância |
| C | Preceding e and i. | /s/ | C like in since. | Barcelos; Cinfães; Constância |
| D | Not word-initial and not following a nasal vowel nor a consonant. | /ð/ | Th as in this. | Almada; Mêda; Pedrógão Grande |
| D | Word initial or following a nasal vowel or a consonant. | /d/ | D as in dozen, but have the tip of your tongue touch your teeth. | Mangualde; Fundão; Guarda |
| E | Stressed. | /e/ | A as in English bait (but avoid turning it into a diphthong), é as in French fiancée, or e in Spanish negro. | Vila Verde; Alcochete; Madalena |
| E | Stressed. | /ɛ/ | E as in English bed. | Pinhel; Palmela; Penela |
| E | Unstressed. | /ɨ/ ~ /ɯ/ | Similar to u in put, but without rounding your lips. | Castelo de Vide; Loures; Penela |
| E | Unstressed, in unguarded speech: word-final or word-initial following s and another consonant. | Silent. | | Espinho; Monchique; Nordeste |
| F | | /f/ | F as in fine. | Fafe; Fronteira; Penafiel |
| G | Preceding a, o, u and following a non-nasal vowel or a consonant. | /ɣ/ | | Golegã; Arganil; Melgaço |
| G | Preceding a, o, u or a consonant and following a nasal vowel or word-initial. | /g/ | G as in ago. | Guarda; Angra do Heroísmo; Golegã |
| G | Preceding e or i. | /ʒ/ | S as in pleasure or as French j in Jean. | Gelo; agir |
| H | | Soundless. | H in hour. | Horta |
| I | Syllable nucleus. | /i/ | Ee as in bee, but shorter; or as Spanish i in mina. | Espinho; Alvito; Idanha-a-Nova |
| I | following a vowel (most cases). | /j/ | Y in yes. | Oleiros; Góis; Cascais |
| J | | /ʒ/ | S as in pleasure or j as in French Jean. | Beja; Montijo; Alijó |
| L | Syllable onset. | /l/ | L as in lamb, but have the tip of your tongue touch your teeth. | Alijó; Alandroal; Loulé |
| L | Syllable coda. | /ɫ/ | L as in jungle, but have the tip of your tongue touch your teeth. | Funchal; Alandroal; Melgaço |
| M | Syllable onset. | /m/ | M as in mother. | Almeirim; Armamar; Mafra |
| M | Syllable coda (word-final or preceding b or p). | Nasalises preceding vowel. | | Almeirim; Coimbra; Campo Maior |
| N | Syllable onset. | /n/ | N as in never, but have the tip of your tongue touch your teeth. | Santana; Nisa; Alcanena |
| N | Syllable coda (preceding consonants other than b and p). | Nasalises preceding vowel. | | Santana; Esposende; Entroncamento |
| O | Stressed. | /o/ | As o in boat (but avoid turning it into a diphthong), as French o in mot or as Spanish o in no. | Lisboa; Fornos de Algodres; Corvos |
| O | Stressed. | /ɔ/ | A as in ball or aw as in law | Mora; Fonos de Algodres; Murtosa |
| O | Unstressed. | /u/ | Oo as in boot, but shorter. Or as French ou in fou. | Espinho; Fornos de Algodres; Corvo |
| O | Following a vowel: always in ão, sometimes in other cases. | /w/ | W in win. | Gavião; Olhão; Sátão |
| P | | /p/ | P as in spit (avoid aspiration). | Serpa; Porto; Praia da Vitória |
| Q | | /k/ | K as in skip (avoid aspiration). | Monchique; Ourique; Vila Nova da Barquinha |
| R | Syllable coda; following a consonant or non-nasal vowel, but never word-initially. | /ɾ/ | Dd as in ladder in American English, or r as in Scottish English free | Ribeira Brava; Rio Maior; Trofa |
| R | Word-initial; following nasal vowels. | /ʁ/ ~ /ʀ/ | R in French rouge. | Resende |
| S | Word-initial; following consonant; (sometimes) between a nasal vowel and a vowel. | /s/ | S as in since. | Santo Tirso; Sousel; Reguengos de Monsaraz |
| S | Between two non-nasal vowels; between a vowel and a glide; (sometimes) between a nasal vowel and a vowel. | /z/ | Z as in zoo. | Sousel; Esposende; Nisa |
| S | Syllable coda, preceding a voiceless sound or no sound. | /ʃ/ | Sh as in shine. | Esposende; Arruda dos Vinhos; Cascais |
| S | Syllable coda, preceding a voiced sound. | /ʒ/ | S as in pleasure. | Lisboa; Arruda dos Vinhos; Angra do Heroísmo |
| T | | /t/ | T as in stick (avoid aspiration). | Sintra; Tomar; Trofa |
| U | Syllable nucleus. | /u/ | Oo as in boot, but shorter. Or as French ou in fou. | Cuba; Sabugal; Tábua |
| U | (Usually) following a vowel. | /w/ | W as in win. | Arouca; Viseu; Vouzela |
| V | | /v/ | V as in victory. | Viseu; Vagos; Povoação |
| X | Word initial (always); following /j/ (most cases); otherwise only in some cases. | /ʃ/ | Sh as in shine. | Carta'xo; Seixal; Vila Franca de Xira |
| X | Not word initial. | /ks/ | X as in oxyde. | Táxi (taxi) |
| X | Not word initial. | /s/ | S as in since. | Trouxe (brought); Máximo (maximum) |
| X | Not word initial. | /z/ | Z as in Brazil. | Exacto/exato (exact) |
| X | Brazilian Portuguese | Soundless. | | Exceção (exception) |
| Z | Syllable onset. | /z/ | Z as in Brazil. | Nazaré; Vizela; Azambuja |
| Z | Syllable coda, preceding a voiceless sound. | /ʃ/ | Sh as in shine. | Porto Moniz; Santa Cruz; Vila Nova de Foz Côa |
| Z | Syllable coda, preceding a voiced sound. | /ʒ/ | S as in pleasure. | Santa Cruz da Graciosa |
Note: the letter q is always followed by a u.

## Digraphs

Digraphs is a pair of letters used to sign one sound.
| Digraph | Context | Sound (IPA) | Sound (compared to English) | Example |
| CH | | /ʃ/ | Sh as in she. | Chaves; Machico; Coruche |
| LH | | /ʎ/ | Similar to lli as in million. As gli as in Italian figlio. | Batalha; Covilhã; Olhão |
| NH | | /ɲ/ | Similar to ny as in canyon. As ñ as in Spanish mañana. | Espinho; Cantanhede; Lourinhã |
| GU | Preceding e or i (usually). | /g/ | G as in go. | Felgueiras; Guimarães |
| GU | Preceding a or o; (rare) preceding e or i. | /gw/ | Gw as in Gwen. | Mortágua |
| QU | Preceding e or i (usually). | /k/ | K as in skip. | Ourique; Monchique; Vila Nova da Barquinha. |
| QU | Preceding a or o; (rare) preceding e or i. | /kw/ | Qu as in quite. | Quatro (four); aquoso (watery); frequência (frequency); aquífero (aquifer) |
| RR | | /ʁ/ ~ /ʀ/ | | Carro (car) |
| SS | | /s/ | S as in since. | Passo (step) |

## Diacritics

In Portuguese, a letter with or without Diacritics is considered the same.
| Letter with diacritic | Name | Sound (IPA) | Sound (compared to English) | Example | Example |
| á | a com acento agudo | stressed a | a as in english father | cálice | calix |
| à | a com acento grave (Crase) | aː | a as in english father, but longer. | Fui à cidade. | I went to the city |
| ã | a com til | ã | a as in French dans | não | no |
| ç | ce cedilha | s | s as in since | moça | girl |
| é | e com acento agudo | stressed ɛ | ai as in french Palais or e as in English bed | patético | pathetic |
| ê | e com acento circunflexo | stressed e | é as in French fiancée or e in Spanish negro | bêbado | drunk |
| í | i com acento agudo | stressed i | ee as in bee or i as in French midi | Líbano | Lebanon |
| ó | o com acento agudo | stressed ɔ | a as in ball or aw as in law | próprio | proper |
| ô | o com acento circunflexo | stressed o | o as in French mot or o as in Spanish no | avô | grandfather |
| õ | o com til | õ | aprox. on as in French bon | canções | songs |
| ú | u com acento agudo | stressed u | oo as in boot, but shorter or ou as in French fou | múltiplo | multiple |