Phonology
The Study of the Sound System of a Language
The Portuguese language phonology is composed of
seven
vowel sounds and twenty
consonant sounds (Schütz, 2004). In English, The Oxford
American Dictionary in its pronunciation key shows a total
of twenty-six vowel
sounds (Guppy, n.d) in English while Portuguese has only
seven (Schütz, 2004). Ricardo Schütz (2004) states that:
. . . [A]chieving the correct vowel position is perhaps the most significant
and persistent problem not only for learners of English as
a foreign language that speak Portuguese or Spanish as a native
language, but also for speakers of all languages that do not
have as large a number of vowels in the spectrum as English.
Phonemes (the Smallest
Unit of Sound in Language)
Phonemes are contrasted speech sounds that make a
difference in meaning. In the Portuguese language, phonemes
are classified as consonants and vowels. Portuguese
has seven vowel sounds (while English has 26) represented
by a variety of graphemes.
VOWELS: A E I O U
Spanish, Portuguese and English vowel phonemes
From Spanish, Portuguese and English vowel phonemes on the
sound spectrum of human speech. Copyright 2004. by Schütz,
R. Used with permission.
Portuguese Consonants
|
B |
C |
D |
F |
G |
H |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
V |
X |
Z |
|
b |
c |
d |
f |
g |
h |
j |
k |
l |
m |
n |
p |
q |
r |
s |
t |
v |
x |
z |
NOTE: Letter K is not present in the Portuguese
alphabet, but is used in certain words
English Consonant Phonemes
|
Position |
B
I
L
A
B
I
A
L |
L
A
B
I
O
D
E
N
T
A
L |
I
N
T
E
R
D
E
N
T
A
L |
A
L
V
E
O
L
A
R |
P
A
L
A
T
A
L |
V
E
L
A
R |
G
L
O
T
T
A
L |
|
Manner |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
| STOPS |
p |
b |
|
|
|
|
t |
d |
|
|
k |
g |
|
| AFRICATES |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
tsh |
dzh |
|
|
|
| FRICATIVES |
|
|
f |
v |
ø |
• |
s |
z |
sh |
zh |
|
|
h |
| NASALS |
|
m |
|
|
|
|
|
n |
|
|
|
µ |
|
| RETROFLEXES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
r |
|
|
|
| LATERALS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
l |
|
|
|
|
|
| FLAPS |
occur only on the phonetic level. Ex: water (' wa Ð
âr) |
| TRILLS |
never occur in English, except in Scottish |
| GLIDES |
|
w |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
y |
|
|
|
|
Vl. = voiceless (sem vibração das cordas
vocais)
Vd. = Voiced (acompanhado de vibração
das cordas vocais) |
Portuguese consonant
phonemes
|
Position |
B
I
L
A
B
I
A
L |
L
A
B
I
O
D
E
N
T
A
L |
I
N
T
E
R
D
E
N
T
A
L |
A
L
V
E
O
L
A
R |
P
A
L
A
T
A
L |
V
E
L
A
R |
G
L
O
T
T
A
L |
|
Manner |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
Vd. |
Vl. |
| STOPS |
p |
b |
|
|
never |
t |
d |
|
|
k |
g |
o
c
c
u
r
i
n
i
n
t
e
r
j
e
c
t
i
o
n
s
(1) |
| AFRICATES |
occur only |
on the phonetic level(3) |
| FRICATIVES |
|
|
f |
v |
s |
z |
sh |
zh |
|
x |
| NASALS |
|
m |
|
|
|
n |
|
ñ |
|
µ |
| RETROFLEXES
|
rarely occur in Portuguese(4) |
| LATERALS |
|
|
|
|
occur |
|
l |
|
lh |
|
|
| FLAPS |
|
|
|
|
|
Đ |
|
|
|
|
| TRILLS |
|
|
|
|
|
R5 |
|
|
|
|
|
GLIDES |
occur only on the phonetic level |
Syllables (Units of
Language Smaller than a Word, but Larger than a Phoneme)
A syllable may be defined as “pulses of speech that
carry its rhythm: The word bicycle has three syllables . .
. ” (Gillet 2004). Goswami (2000) points out that English-speaking
children appear to show awareness of syllable by age four.
On the other hand, Portuguese-speaking youngsters demonstrate
competency in this area much earlier - between two and three
years of age (Serpa, 1978). Indeed, Portuguese-speakers are
quite competent in segmenting a spoken word into syllables
without even knowing the technical term “syllable”;
they may call it bocadinhos (little pieces), because
the Portuguese language lends itself to natural breaks between
syllables in words.
Syllabic structures vary from language to language. Dividing
English words into syllables poses special challenges to English
language learners from Portuguese and Spanish backgrounds,
because word segmentation (into syllables) is much harder
to hear and determine in English. In fact, American English
dictionaries include syllabic segmentation, stressed syllable
and phonetic transcription in each word entry. Portuguese
and Spanish dictionaries do not include these features because
syllable division, stress and pronunciation are very predictable.
Syllables in both Portuguese and Spanish consist
of three types:
- Direct (directas) syllables have either
a consonant preceding a vowel (sa/pa/to – shoe) or
a syllable that is composed of only a vowel (a/zul
– blue). This structure is the most common.
- Indirect (inversas) syllables have a
vowel preceding the consonant (ar/te-art,
al/to-tall, cam/po –
field and is/ca (bait)
- Mistas (Compund) syllables – have
elements of both direct and indirect structures (fras/co
–bottle)
Common words in Portuguese tend, on average, to have a higher
number of syllables and are longer than in English, as illustrated
below.
|
Syllable Count in English and Portuguese |
|
Body Parts: |
| Portuguese |
# of syllables
|
English |
#of
syllables |
| ca/be/ça |
3 |
head |
1 |
|
bra/ço |
2 |
arm |
1 |
| ca/be/lo |
3 |
hair |
1 |
| per/na |
2 |
leg |
1 |
|
pés/co/ço |
3 |
neck |
1 |
| mão
|
1 |
hand |
1 |
| na/riz |
2 |
nose |
1 |
| o/lhos |
2 |
eyes |
1 |
| o/re/lhas |
3 |
ears |
1 |
| jo/e/lho |
3 |
knee |
1 |
|
Total |
24 |
|
10 |
|
Average # of syllables |
2.4 |
|
1 |
|
Colors: |
|
vermelho |
3 |
red |
1 |
|
verde |
2 |
green |
1 |
| azul
|
2 |
blue |
1 |
| castanho |
3 |
brown |
1 |
|
amarelo |
4 |
yellow |
2 |
| preto
|
2 |
black |
1 |
| laranja
|
3 |
orange |
2 |
|
Total |
19 |
|
9 |
|
Average # of syllables |
2.71 |
|
1.28 |
Placement of Stress in a Word
The placement of stress (accent) in a word is of fundamental
importance in Portuguese phonology. According to Câmara
(1972), “There is a strong contrast between stressed
and unstressed syllables” (p.22). Indeed, each polysyllabic
word has one “sílaba tónica”
(stressed syllable) and the other/s are “sílaba(s)
átona(s)” (unstressed syllables). For example,
in the word ca/sa/co the syllable sa is the
stressed syllable and the other two syllables are unstressed.
As Câmara also explains, the stressed syllable in Portuguese
only happens in one of three positions:
- The last syllable palavras agúdas, (bo/né),
- The penultimate syllable (second before last) - palavras
graves (li/vro), and
- The antepenultimate syllable (third before last) - palavras
esdrúxulas. [ plá/ta/no].
Due to its predictability, Portuguese language dictionaries
do not include where the stressed syllable is in the word.
Câmara also states that syllable stress is not determined
by the phonological structure of the word.
The predictability of stressed syllables in Portuguese is
in stark contrast to the absence of it in English. This will
likely affect a Portuguese speaker’s pronunciation of
written English words in the initial stages of learning English.
A newcomer to English must refer to a dictionary for the appropriate
articulation of a word with the appropriate stressed syllable
(e.g., fortunate read as fortunate).
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