Notes on Portuguese phonology and phonetics
Nine vowels: [a] [ɐ] [ɛ] [e] [i] [ɔ] [o] [u] (and [ɨ] in European Portuguese).
[Portuguese SAMPA key from Isabel Trancoso is here ]
Letter-to-sound mapping for vowels:
("CODE" is a convenient choice of accessible letter...)
| LETTER | PHONEME | EXAMPLE | TRANSCRIPTION | GLOSS | CODE |
| a | a | caso | ˈka.zu | "case" | a |
| a | ɐ | café | kɐˈfɛ | "coffee" | @ |
| a | ɐ | sopa | ˈso.pɐ | "soup" | @ |
| e | ɛ | belo | ˈbɛ.lu | "beautiful" | E |
| e | e | seco | ˈsɛ.ku | "dry" | e |
| e | i | ermida | iɾˈmi.dɐ | "small church" | i |
| e | i | estar | iʃˈtaɾ (BP) | "to be" | i |
| e | i | nove | ˈnɔ.vi (BP) | "nine" | i |
| e | ɨ | dever | dɨˈveɾ (EP) | "duty" | I |
| e | ɨ | nove | ˈnɔ.vɨ (EP) | "nine" | I |
| e | i / j | cear | siˈaɾ / ˈsjaɾ | "to have supper" | i / j |
| i | i | vi | ˈvi | "I saw" | i |
| i | i | tirar | tiˈɾaɾ | "to take" | i |
| i | j | pai | ˈpaj | "father" | j |
| i | i / j | pior | piˈɔɾ / ˈpjɔɾ | "worst" | i / j |
| o | ɔ | bola | ˈbɔ.lɐ | "ball" | c |
| o | o | força | ˈfoɾ.sɐ | "strength" | o |
| o | u | poder | puˈdeɾ (EP) | "power" | u |
| o | u | pato | ˈpa.tu | "duck" | u |
| o | u | voar | vuˈaɾ / ˈvwaɾ | "to fly" | u |
| u | u | tudo | ˈtu.du | "everything" | u |
| u | u | murar | muˈɾaɾ | "to enclose" | u |
| u | w | pau | ˈpaw | "stick" | w |
| u | u / w | suor | suˈɔɾ / ˈswɔɾ | "sweat" | u / w |
For consonants:
p → p
b → b
t → t
d →
d
c /_o,u → k
g / _o,u → g
qu → k | kw
gu /_e,i
→ g | gw
| LETTER | PHONEME | EXAMPLE | TRANSCRIPTION | GLOSS | CODE |
| ss | s | passo | ˈpa.su | "step" | s |
| ç | s | paço | ˈpa.su | "palace" | s |
| c /_e,i | s | cego | ˈsɛ.gu | "blind" | s |
| s | s | saber | sɐˈbeɾ | "knowledge" | s |
| s | z | casa | ˈka.zɐ | "house" | z |
| s | ʃ | pás | ˈpaʃ | "spdes" | S |
| z | z | gozo | ˈgo.zu | "joy" | z |
| z | ʃ | páz | ˈpaʃ | "peace" | S |
| ch | ʃ | chá | ˈʃa | "tea" | S |
| x | ʃ | xá | ˈʃa | "Shah" | S |
| x | s | sintaxe | sĩˈta.sɨ / sĩˈta.sɨ | "syntax" | s |
| x | z | éxodo | ˈe.zu.du | "exodus" | z |
| x | ks | táxi | ˈtak.si | "taxi" | ks |
| g /_e,i | ʒ | gingar | ʒĩˈgaɾ | "to roll" | Z |
| j | ʒ | jacto | ˈʒa.tu | "jet" | Z |
| ll,l (onset) | l | mala | ˈma.lɐ | "bag" | l |
| l (coda) | ɬ (EP), w (BP) | mal | ˈmaɬ , ˈmaw | "evil" | L / w |
| lh | ʎ | alho | ˈa.ʎu | "garlic" | 6 |
| r (medial) | ɾ | caro | ˈka.ɾu | "expensive" | r |
| r (initial) | ʀ | rato | ˈʀa.tu | "mouse" | R |
| rr | ʀ | carro | ˈka.ʀu | "car" | R |
| m | m | mama | ˈmɐ.mɐ | "mamma" | m |
| n | n | mana | ˈmɐ.nɐ | "sister" | n |
| nh | ɲ | manha | ˈmɐ.ɲɐ | "slyness" | N |
Initial orthographic 'h' is silent -- 'ch', 'nh', 'lh' are digraphs.
For nasalized vowels:
| LETTER | PHONEME | EXAMPLE | TRANSCRIPTION | GLOSS | CODE |
| am | ɐ̃ | campina | kɐ̃ˈpi.nɐ | "level land" | @~ |
| am /_# | ɐ̃w̃ | falam | ˈfa.lɐ̃w̃ | "they speak" | aw~ |
| em | ẽ | embora | ẽˈbɔ.ɾɐ | "even so" | e~ |
| em /_# | ɐ̃j̃ (EP) | viagem | viˈa.ʒɐ̃j | "trip" | @j~ |
| em /_# | ẽj̃ (BP) | viagem | viˈa.ʒẽj̃ | "trip" | ej~ |
| im | ĩ | assim | ɐˈsĩ | "so" | i~ |
| en | ẽ | pensar | pẽˈsaɾ | "to think" | e~ |
| on | õ | contar | kõˈtaɾ | "to count" | o~ |
Diacritics:
| LETTER | PHONEME | EXAMPLE | TRANSCRIPTION | GLOSS | CODE |
| ão | ɐ̃w̃ | limão | liˈmɐ̃w̃ | "lemon" | @w~ |
| ãe | ɐ̃j̃ | limães | liˈmɐ̃j̃ʃ | "lemons" | @j~ |
| â | ɐ | pânico | ˈpɐ.ni.ku | "panic" | @ |
| ê | e | mês | ˈmeʃ | "mouth" | e |
| ô | o | avô | ɐˈvo | "grandfather" | o |
| ô | o | estômago | ˈʃto.mɐ.gu (EP) | "stomach" | o |
| ô | o | estômago | iˈʃto.ma.gu (BP) | "stomach" | o |
Acute accent marks stress where it does not fall in the predicted syllable.
Grave accent marks contraction of preposition a with a pronoun starting with 'a'.
Connected speech phenomena:
Regressive voicing assimilation [TK]
Cluster assimilation and simplification [TK]
Interaction with vowel deletion - haplology:
"If phrase stress is not on the second word, that is, if the second word is not in phrase final position, both consonants just become a single one":
Examples:
| Faculdade de Letras | fɐ.kuɫˈdadˈlet.ɾɐʃ | "Faculty of Letters" |
| cidade luz | siˈdadˈluʃ | "light city" |
| cidade de luz | siˈdadˈluʃ | "city of light" |
| cidade do Cabo | siˈda.duˈka.bu | "Capetown" |
| Campo Pequeno | ˈkɐ̃.pu.pɨˈke.nu |
"small field" (district of Lisbon) |
In /...V1#V2.../ sequences, V1 is deleted, except in certain cases with 'o' and 'i' -- not clear from M&d'A what the rule is:
Extra codes:
| CODE | INTERPRETATION |
| = | preceding is devoiced |
| % | very short, central/reduced vowel |
Some examples:
Librivox reading of Amor de Perdição (1862) by Camilo Castelo Branco; first section -- corresponding text.
1. porque muita gente está persuadida --- p%r= k% 'mwi t@ ZEn t 'sta p swa di d@
2. discorrer no parlamento ácerca de caminhos de ferro
3. que sabia tanto de caminhos de ferro como eu
4. Que lá tem alguns, que não leu porque o tempo lhe falece, e outros porque não merecem tempo, também o creio.
Sources:
Maria Helena Mateus and Ernesto d'Andrade, The Phonology of Portuguese