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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	Stressed.	/ɛ/	E as in English bed.		Pinhel; Palmela; Penela
	Unstressed.	/ɨ/ ~ /ɯ/	Similar to u in put, but without rounding your lips.		Castelo de Vide; Loures; Penela
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	Stressed.	/ɔ/	A as in ball or aw as in law		Mora; Fonos de Algodres; Murtosa
	Unstressed.	/u/	Oo as in boot, but shorter. Or as French ou in fou.		Espinho; Fornos de Algodres; Corvo
	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
	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
	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
	Syllable coda, preceding a voiceless sound or no sound.	/ʃ/	Sh as in shine.		Esposende; Arruda dos Vinhos; Cascais
	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
	(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
	Not word initial.	/ks/	X as in oxyde.		Táxi (taxi)
	Not word initial.	/s/	S as in since.		Trouxe (brought); Máximo (maximum)
	Not word initial.	/z/	Z as in Brazil.		Exacto/exato (exact)
	Brazilian Portuguese	Soundless.			Exceção (exception)
Z	Syllable onset.	/z/	Z as in Brazil.		Nazaré; Vizela; Azambuja
	Syllable coda, preceding a voiceless sound.	/ʃ/	Sh as in shine.		Porto Moniz; Santa Cruz; Vila Nova de Foz Côa
	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
	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.
	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
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