L'interface est traduite, mais les explications de cette page sont encore rédigées en anglais — le texte pédagogique n'a pas encore été traduit.
Portugais : orthographe → son
European Portuguese is transcribed here, with Brazilian noted where it differs — and it differs a lot. Two things define the sound. First, nasal vowels: Portuguese has five, they are phonemic, and lá 'there' versus lã 'wool' turns on nothing else. Second, vowel reduction: unstressed e collapses to /ɨ/ and often disappears entirely, which is why Portugal sounds clipped and consonant-heavy while Brazil, which keeps its vowels open, sounds nothing like it. Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable by default; anything else carries an accent. s at the end of a syllable is /ʃ/ — the hiss that makes Lisbon recognisable.
Suivre un mot
Chaque case est une règle qui se déclenche. Survolez une case (ou ouvrez le tableau) pour voir pourquoi. Les règles s'appliquent dans l'ordre, la première qui correspond gagne — et cet ordre est le système orthographique.
Consonnes et semi-voyelles
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| p | p | pão pɐ̃w bread |
| b | b | boca ˈbokɐ mouth |
| t | t | tudo ˈtudu everything — Brazil palatalises it before i: /t͡ʃ/. |
| d | d | dedo ˈdedu finger — Brazil: /d͡ʒ/ before i — dia sounds like 'jee-a'. |
| k | c, qu, k | casa ˈkazɐ house |
| ɡ | g, gu | gato ˈɡatu cat |
| m | m | mão mɐ̃w hand |
| n | n | nada ˈnadɐ nothing |
| ɲ | nh | vinho ˈviɲu wine — Spanish writes this ñ, French gn, Portuguese nh. |
| f | f | falar fɐˈlaɾ to speak |
| v | v | verde ˈveɾdɨ green — A real v, unlike Spanish where b and v merged. |
| s | s, ss, ç, c | sol sɔl sun |
| z | z, s | casa ˈkazɐ house — s between vowels is /z/. |
| ʃ | x, ch, s (final) | chave ˈʃavɨ key — Also every syllable-final s: os livros = /uʒ ˈlivɾuʃ/. |
| ʒ | j, g | hoje ˈoʒɨ today |
| l | l | livro ˈlivɾu book |
| ʎ | lh | filho ˈfiʎu son |
| ɾ | r | caro ˈkaɾu expensive — One tap. |
| ʁ | rr, r- (initial) | carro ˈkaʁu car — Back in the throat, like French r. Brazil often makes it /h/. |
| j | i+vowel | pai paj father |
| w | u+vowel, o (in ão) | mau maw bad |
Voyelles
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| i | i | vida ˈvidɐ life |
| e | e, ê | medo ˈmedu fear |
| ɛ | e, é | pé pɛ foot — Open e. The accent tells you which: pêlo vs pélo. |
| ɐ | a | cama ˈkɐmɐ bed — Unstressed a, and a before a nasal. |
| a | a, á | pá pa spade |
| ɔ | o, ó | avó ɐˈvɔ grandmother — avó /ɔ/ grandmother vs avô /o/ grandfather — one accent apart. |
| o | o, ô | avô ɐˈvo grandfather |
| u | u, o (final) | tudo ˈtudu everything — Unstressed final o is /u/ — always. |
| ɨ | e (unstressed) | pequeno pɨˈkenu small — The vowel that vanishes. Often deleted outright, which is why European Portuguese sounds like a run of consonants. |
| ɐ̃ | ã, an, am | lã lɐ̃ wool — lá 'there' vs lã 'wool' — the nasality is the whole difference. |
| ẽ | em, en | tempo ˈtẽpu time |
| ĩ | im, in | sim sĩ yes |
| õ | õ, om, on | bom bõ good |
| ũ | um, un | um ũ one, a |
Les règles, dans l'ordre
49 règles. La colonne de gauche est un motif (expression régulière) testé à la position courante dans le mot ; (?=…) regarde devant, (?<=…) regarde derrière, $ est la fin du mot.
| # | Pattern | Sound | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | nh | nh = Spanish ñ | |
| 2 | lh | lh = Spanish ll, Italian gli | |
| 3 | ch | ch is /ʃ/, never /t͡ʃ/ as in Spanish | |
| 4 | ão | the commonest Portuguese ending — nasal a plus a w glide | |
| 5 | ãe | nasal a plus a y glide (mãe, pães) | |
| 6 | õe | nasal o plus a y glide (põe, lições) | |
| 7 | ã | ||
| 8 | õ | ||
| 9 | a[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | a + m/n at the end of a syllable nasalises the vowel and the consonant disappears | |
| 10 | e[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | em/en nasalise | |
| 11 | i[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | im/in nasalise | |
| 12 | o[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | om/on nasalise | |
| 13 | u[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | um/un nasalise | |
| 14 | rr | double r is the throaty one | |
| 15 | (?<=^| )r | word-initial r is throaty too | |
| 16 | r | single r between vowels is one tap | |
| 17 | ss | ||
| 18 | ç | ç is always /s/ | |
| 19 | qu(?=[eié]) | qu before e/i: u is silent | |
| 20 | gu(?=[eié]) | gu before e/i: u is silent | |
| 21 | c(?=[eiéí]) | c before e/i | |
| 22 | c | ||
| 23 | g(?=[eiéí]) | g before e/i is the zh sound | |
| 24 | g | ||
| 25 | j | j is always /ʒ/, never Spanish /x/ | |
| 26 | x | x is usually /ʃ/ — but it is the least predictable letter in the language | |
| 27 | h | h is silent | |
| 28 | (?<=[aeiouáéíóúâêô])s(?=[aeiouáéíóúâêô]) | s between vowels is /z/ | |
| 29 | s(?=$| |[ptckfʃ]) | syllable-final s is /ʃ/ — the Lisbon hiss | |
| 30 | s | ||
| 31 | z(?=$| ) | final z is /ʃ/ too | |
| 32 | z | ||
| 33 | á | ||
| 34 | â | ||
| 35 | é | ||
| 36 | ê | ||
| 37 | í | ||
| 38 | ó | ||
| 39 | ô | ||
| 40 | ú | ||
| 41 | a(?=$| ) | final unstressed a reduces to /ɐ/ — casa is /ˈkazɐ/, not /kaza/ | |
| 42 | e(?=$| ) | final e reduces to /ɨ/ and is often dropped altogether | |
| 43 | o(?=$| ) | final o is always /u/ | |
| 44 | i(?=[aeouáéóú]) | i before another vowel becomes a glide | |
| 45 | u(?=[aeioáéíó]) | u before another vowel becomes a glide | |
| 46 | (?<=[aeoáéó])i | i after a vowel closes the diphthong (pai, sei) | |
| 47 | (?<=[aeoáéó])u | u after a vowel closes the diphthong (mau, meu) | |
| 48 | [aeiou] | ||
| 49 | [ptbdkɡmnfvlj] |