The official language of Brazil. What language is spoken in Brazil? Languages brought to Brazil by immigrants
Brazil is a country whose population uses about 175 languages in everyday life. In the past, their number was much larger – close to a thousand! But they all “fell” under the onslaught of the Portuguese language, which penetrated into the country along with the colonialists in the 16th century. This played a decisive role in what official language was adopted in Brazil in the future. Today, only a few local dialects can compare with Portuguese in terms of active use.
History of the development of the Brazilian version of Portuguese
The first speakers of Portuguese appeared in Brazil at the very beginning of the 16th century. Portuguese colonialists developed the territory of the country on the basis of the Treaty of Tordesillas, concluded with Spain in 1494. According to this treaty, all lands east of a line stretching 400 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands remained with Portugal, and those located west of them remained with Spain. This is why the people of Brazil speak Portuguese and not Spanish or any other language.
In 1530, the first colonies of Portuguese settlers began to appear in Brazil. Their contacts with the local population led to the formation of Língua Geral (common language) - a mixture of Portuguese and borrowings from local dialects. It was actively used until the middle of the 18th century. And on August 17, 1758, the Marquis de Pombal banned Língua Geral and proclaimed Portuguese the state language of Brazil. His decision was never challenged. That is why in Brazil they speak Portuguese in all government institutions, on radio and television.
Currently, Brazilian Portuguese, which has significant phonetic and lexical differences from the European version, has over ten dialects.
Which language has the status of state (official) in Brazil?
Portuguese has the status of the state language throughout the country. This is enshrined in Article 13 of the 1988 Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil. According to statistics, it is spoken by 99% of the country's population.
It is Portuguese, being the official language in Brazil, that is used as the language of instruction in schools and office work in government agencies.
However, numerous borrowings from local dialects changed European Portuguese so much that it was separated into a special version - Brazilian. Currently, it successfully exists along with Asian and African. The Brazilian version has minor grammatical differences from the European original, but much more in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary. This is confirmed by the lexical differences that exist between the main dialects of Brazilian Portuguese. The most influential of these are the dialects of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Even a special dictionary of karyokisms has been published - words used in the Rio de Janeiro version. However, the São Paulo dialect is considered more prestigious. All this makes the official language in Brazil not a monolithic, but a diverse and rather complex phenomenon.
On March 15, 2020, the country made the transition to a new unified spelling standard, although the agreement between Brazil, Mozambique, Portugal, Angola, Sao Tome and Guinea-Bissau was signed back in 1990 (East Timor also joined them in 2004 ). Thanks to this solution, Internet searches in Portuguese were greatly simplified and possible discrepancies in the interpretation of official documents were eliminated.
And finally, the most interesting thing is the restriction of travel abroad for debtors. It is the status of the debtor that is easiest to “forget” when getting ready for your next vacation abroad. The reason may be overdue loans, unpaid housing and communal services receipts, alimony or fines from the traffic police. Any of these debts may threaten to restrict travel abroad in 2018; we recommend finding out information about the presence of debt using the proven service nevylet.rf
In 2003, the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira in the state of Amazon adopted the Nyengatu, Baniwa and Tukano languages along with Portuguese as official languages. Their speakers are about 800 representatives of local tribes, whose languages are recognized as a way of ethnic self-identification. This decision became a significant support for the indigenous population at the country level. Thus, despite the fact that the official language in Brazil is Portuguese, three other languages in the state of Amazon have the same status as it.
Indian languages in modern Brazil
Initially, on the territory of what is now Brazil, there were over 1,000 Indian languages belonging to 17 language families. Most of them have died out, the rest still remain poorly understood.
Only three Indian languages - Baniwa, Nyengatu and Tukano - received official status in the Amazon state. They are well studied and actively used by the local population of the state.
Currently, the following Indian language families exist in Brazil:
- Arawakan (northwest Amazon, banks of the Yapura, Rio Negro and Putumayo rivers);
- Chapakur and Aravan, Maku-Puinava, Diapan, Tukanoan (western Amazonia);
- Caribbean and Yanomami (northern coast of the Amazon, eastern coast of the Rio Negro);
- Tupian (south of the Rio Negro);
- jee (Xingu-Tocantins and Tiete-Uruguay river basins);
- Mbaya-Guaycuru (along the border with Paraguay);
- Carian (northeast of the country);
- Murano and Nambiquar (central regions of the country);
- pano-tacanskaya (southern foothills of the Andes).
- German;
- thalian;
- Spanish;
- Polish;
- Ukrainian;
- Russian.
- Chinese;
- Japanese;
- Korean;
- New Aramaic dialects.
Each of these macrofamilies includes several languages. Thus, there is not just one native language of Brazil - there are dozens of them, and each Indian tribe preserves its own.
In the past, the most widely spoken language among the local population was Tupi. Now the pumpkin is in first place. Behind him come Makushi, Kayva, Tenetehara and others.
Languages brought to Brazil by immigrants
In addition to the original Indian languages and Portuguese, which has become the state language, the population of Brazil actively uses 30 languages of the Romance, Slavic and Germanic groups, as well as some Asian ones. Modern peoples and languages in Brazil often borrow words, speech patterns and intonations from each other. Thanks to this, the speech of emigrants acquires specific “Brazilian” features.
Transformation of European languages in Brazil
Of the European languages in the territory of modern Brazil, the following are most actively used:
Determining which languages are most spoken in Brazil is quite difficult. For a long time, the leading positions were occupied by two dialects of the German language - Pomeranian and Hunsrich. But in recent years, the number of their speakers has almost halved.
Spanish, along with Portuguese, is used in schools in border areas, which contributes to its spread. Ukrainian, Russian and Polish can be heard everywhere, but mainly in the neighborhoods with the largest concentrations of gringos, as white immigrants are commonly called in Brazil. For example, in Sao Paulo these are Jardim Paulista, Vila Olimpia and Itaim Bibi. There is even an entire village of Santa Cruz, where Russian-speaking Old Believers live.
Talian is the most famous representative of the Romance group of languages in Brazil.
Development of Asian languages in Brazil
The following Asian languages are represented on the territory of the Brazilian state:
And although they are not as widespread as European ones, some Brazilian cities have entire Asian neighborhoods. For example, in Sao Paulo it is Liberdade. The leading position is occupied by Japanese, the number of speakers of which in Brazil is more than 300 thousand people.
The situation with Chinese is complicated: there are Northern Chinese, Cantonese, and even the endangered Macaense. As for the latter, Brazil became a real salvation for him. It should be noted that the Brazilian government is focused on expanding bilateral relations with China, and this will certainly contribute to a more active spread of the Chinese language in Brazil.
As for the New Aramaic dialects, they are mainly used by small Kurdistan Christian settlers.
Thus, it is almost impossible to give a definite answer to the question of what language the people speak in Brazil.
Myths about the existence of the Brazilian language
Surprisingly, even knowing what language 90% of the Brazilian population speaks, many continue to believe in the existence of the mythical “Brazilian language”. This error arose from the use in everyday speech of the abbreviated expression “Brazilian” instead of the full version “Brazilian Portuguese”. Of course, there are differences between Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese, but they are still the same language. British and American English find themselves in a similar situation.
Another myth claims that the Brazilian language is a version of Spanish. However, this is not the case, although speakers of Brazilian Portuguese often emphasize their similarities. However, these are different languages.
As for the Língua Geral (common language) that existed in the past, it was never an independent language and was, rather, a kind of artificial mixture of a number of local dialects based on the European version of Portuguese.
What do Russian immigrants think about the Brazilian version of Portuguese?
The blogs of Russian immigrants in Brazil are replete with curious examples of how they could not determine what language people nearby were speaking - Russian or Portuguese: someone mistook their neighbors in a cinema for speaking Russian in Portuguese, while others thought they were speaking Russian words in the chatter of Portuguese children outside the windows of the house.
And such situations are not fiction - they are quite real. Professional phonographers have long noticed that the language spoken in Brazil, namely Portuguese, is very similar in sound to Russian. In this case, we are talking about both intonation and their tonality.
In addition, Russian-speaking immigrants note a special, “flirty” pronunciation characteristic of Brazilian Portuguese. They are surprised by the abundance of nasal sounds and the characteristic hoarse “r”. At the same time, immigrants who speak Spanish note some similarities with Portuguese, claiming that knowledge of its European counterpart helped them in learning the official language of Brazil.
Portuguese in Brazil: Video
On April 22, 1500, the Portuguese Pedro Alvarez Cabral first landed on the Brazilian coast and took possession of it. To get ahead of the Spaniards and French, King João III of Portugal, starting in 1531, accelerated the colonization of the country. The indigenous population - Indians who did not die in battles or from infectious diseases, were turned into slaves or forced into the interior of the country. Since 1574, black slaves were imported to work on the plantations where cotton and sugar cane were grown.
In 1822, Brazil achieved independence from Portugal and became an independent empire. In 1850, slavery was outlawed. And in 1889, the monarchical form of government ceased to exist in Brazil. In accordance with the Constitution adopted on February 24, 1891, Brazil became a federal republic. Currently, it includes 26 states and 1 federal (capital) district. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, covering an area of 8,515,770 km2 and having (as of 2017 estimates) 207,350,000 inhabitants.
The population of Brazil is 47.73% white, 43.13% mestizo, 7.61% black and 1.5% Indian and Asian. The indigenous Indian population mixed with the Portuguese who arrived there first, and then the blacks and representatives of other peoples who arrived in Brazil over the course of five centuries.
The Portuguese language of Brazil and Portugal has certain differences in spelling, pronunciation, syntax and vocabulary, which are explained, on the one hand, by geographical distance, and on the other hand, by the special ethnic composition of the population of Brazil. Thus, from the language of the most important groups of the Tupi-Guarani Indian indigenous population, thousands of words passed into the Brazilian version of the Portuguese language. First of all, this applies to words denoting the names of persons, places, certain trees, plants, animals, objects, dishes and diseases. In a similar way, words were also borrowed from the language of African blacks brought to Brazil.
Linguistic scientists believe that the Brazilian Portuguese language contains some syntactic structures and pronunciation norms that were previously used equally in both Portugal and Brazil. However, over time they received a different development in Portugal. On the other hand, Brazilian Romantic literature opposed the conservative adherence to Portuguese grammatical norms and advocated a mixture of the norms of the traditional solemn (high) style of language, various forms of colloquial speech and expressions from the vernacular of all regions of Brazil. In the 20th century, Brazilian writers sought to avoid significant differences between literary and spoken language. In literary works and in the speech of all segments of the Brazilian population, there are usages that are a striking example of non-compliance with the literary norms of the Portuguese language in Portugal. In the Portuguese languages of Portugal and Brazil, there are sometimes two completely different words for the same thing, for example:
tram: braz. bond m.r., port. electric m.r.; bus: braz. Onibus m.r., port. autocarro m.r.; train: braz. trem m.r., port. comboio m.r.; stewardess: braz. aeromoca zh.r., port. hospedeira w.r.
Pronunciation of Portuguese in Brazil
The differences between the pronunciation of Portuguese in Portugal and in Brazil (where several regions of the country have their own local dialects) are not so great as to be a serious obstacle to understanding spoken language.
Attention! The information below is intended for those who have completed at least the first 5 lessons of this course.
Differences are observed in the following cases:
Unstressed vowels pronounced in Brazil clearer, so in general the difference between stressed and unstressed syllables is not as strong as in Portugal.
Nasal vowels And diphthongs in Brazil become more nasalized than in Portugal.
Features of vowel pronunciation:
Unstressed e V end of the word pronounced not as [(ə)], but as [i].
Example:
diss e[ˈdʒisi]
Unstressed e inside a word pronounced not as [(ə)], but as [e].
Example:
b e ber
Unstressed o V end of the word not pronounced as the obligatory [u] in Portugal, but as the [o] pronounced in some areas of Brazil.
Example:
grup o[ˈgrupo]
Unstressed o inside a word pronounced not as [u], but as [o].
Example:
rec o meçar
Features of pronunciation of diphthongs:
Diphthong [ɐj̃], in writing em, en or ãe, pronounced more closed in Brazil, namely as [ẽj̃].
Example:
ord em[ˈɔrdẽj̃]
Diphthong ei pronounced not as [ɐj], but as or as [e].
Example:
ters ei ro
Features of consonant pronunciation:
Before a vowel pronounced [i], d And t in Brazil they are pronounced not as [d] and [t], but as [ʤ] and as [ʧ].
Example:
vin t e [ˈvĩʧi]
At the end of a word and syllable l pronounced not as [l], but as a weak [u].
Example:
fina l mente
At the end of a word r pronounced either very weakly or not pronounced at all. In some areas of Brazil r pronounced as a back-lingual uvular [ʀ], and in some - as the common front-lingual in Portugal or even as [x], i.e. as a voiceless velar fricative.
Only in certain areas of Brazil s at the end of a word or syllable is pronounced as in Portugal, i.e. like [ʃ] or like [ʒ] (see Lesson 3). Much more often s pronounced as [s] or as [z].
Example:
bu s car
Before m And n vowels e,o And a always pronounced in Brazil closed.
Example:
quil ô
metro instead of quil ó
metro
Therefore, root vowels e or o and those following them m or n pronounced differently than in Portugal (see lesson 2), - in the 2nd person singular. numbers and in the 3rd person singular. and many more numbers - closed.
Example:
c o mes [ˈkomis] instead of c o mes [ˈkɔm(ə)ʃ]
While in Portugal verbs have -ar in 1st person plural numbers Presente And P.P.S. distinguish between open and closed pronunciation a before -mos, in Brazil in both cases they pronounce closed a.
Example:
in Portugal: cheg a mos [ʃ (ə) ˈgɐmuʃ] - cheg á
mos [ʃ(ə)ˈgɐmuʃ]
in Brazil: cheg a mos [ʃ(ə)ˈgɐmos] - cheg a mos [ʃ(ə)ˈgɐmos]
Spelling of Portuguese in Brazil
In cases where in Portugal there is a vowel before m or n pronounced openly and placed above it in writing acento agudo, in Brazil this vowel is pronounced closed (see Lesson 5: accent marks) and is written above it acento circunflexo.
Examples:
in Portugal
quil ó
metro
t é
nis
ir ó
nico
in Brazil
quil ô
metro
t ê
nis
ir ô
nico
In Brazil, unlike Portugal, the letter c before s, ç or t written only when it must be pronounced. In many words c is omitted, despite the fact that in Portugal it is pronounced in these words.
This also applies to p before s, ç And t.
Examples:
in Portugal
a c tividade
arquite c to
dire cção
Egi p to
espe c tador
espe c táculo
eucali p to
exa c to
excel p to
fa c to
in Brazil
atividade
arquiteto
direção
Egito
espetador
espetáculo
eucalito
exato
exceto
fato
The only word in which two are written in Portugal n, connosco, in Brazil it is written with one n, i.e. conosco. In other cases, both in Portugal and Brazil, doubles can only be s or r.
The peculiarities of spoken pronunciation of Portuguese in Brazil are partially reflected in writing. So, in Brazil you can sometimes find the spelling pra instead of para. Verb forms estar sometimes written without initials es-, i.e. instead of está is written tá.
In colloquial language instead of address Senhor often used Seu, if immediately followed by a surname or given name.
Grammatical features of the Portuguese language in Brazil
Gerund
The construction with the preposition, which has become very common in Portugal a and infinitive estar + a + infinitivo not typical for Brazil. Instead, the gerund is mainly used:
estar + gerúndio.
Use of the definite article
Unlike Portugal, in Brazil the definite article is usually not used before possessive pronouns, before proper names, or before names used to indicate position and degree of relationship. In Brazil, the definite article is omitted from speech more often than in Portugal.
Diminutive forms
Diminutive forms are used much more often in Brazil than in Portugal.
Appeal in Brazil
Contrary to Portuguese tradition (see lesson 7), conversion in Brazil is greatly simplified. Respectful treatment is limited to words about senhor or a senhora, and senhorita in relation to a young unmarried woman. Used as an informal address você, which corresponds to the Russian pronoun You. In the south of Brazil, the pronoun is partially used as such address tu. Unlike Portugal, official and honorary titles are generally not used in Brazil. Despite the fact that every university graduate has the title of doctor, in Brazil this title is not given as much social significance as in Portugal. Teachers are addressed with the words professor or professora, regardless of whether they work in a school, gymnasium, institute or university, or whether they teach schoolchildren or students.
Prepositions
The use of a number of prepositions in combination with certain verbs in Brazil differs in some cases from their use in Portugal. Some stable prepositional combinations characteristic of Portugal do not exist in Brazil and vice versa. Here we will not give examples for each individual case, we will only say that where in Brazil the preposition is used with a verb denoting a purposeful movement em, in Portugal the preposition would be used a or para(cm.
Brazil is a dream country for many travelers. The largest state in South America is famous for its carnival and beaches, Iguazu Falls and many more natural and cultural attractions and interesting places. The official language is Portuguese and it is the only Portuguese-speaking country in this part of the world.
Three hundred colonial years
In 1500, Pedro Alvares Cabral, a Portuguese navigator, landed on the shores of South America, whose record, among other achievements, from that moment included the discovery of Brazil. On April 24, 1500, he and his crew set foot on the shores of South America and named the coast Terra de Vera Cruz.
33 years later, the large-scale colonization of Brazil by the Portuguese began. The colonists who came from here actively grew coffee and sugar cane, mined gold and sent ships loaded with valuable timber to the Old World.
In 1574, a decree was passed banning the use of slave labor by local Indians, and labor began to be imported from. In parallel with colonization, the spread of language occurred. It will become official in Brazil later, but for now both local residents and imported Africans had to learn to speak Portuguese.
The country gained independence in 1822 and was officially called the Republic of the United States of Brazil.
Some statistics
- Despite the fact that the country has a huge expat population and more than 170 languages and indigenous dialects are spoken, Portuguese is the only official state language in Brazil.
- It is used in everyday life by the vast majority of citizens of the country.
- The rest are spoken by less than one percent of the republic's residents.
- The only exception is the municipality of Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira in the state of Amazonas. The second official language adopted here is Nyengatu.
The Nyengatu language is used by about 8,000 people in northern Brazil. It serves as a means of ethnic self-identification for some tribes that have lost their own dialects during the process of colonization.
That one and not that one
Modern varieties of Portuguese in Europe and Brazil are somewhat different. Even within Brazil itself, phonetic and lexical discrepancies can be discerned between the dialects of the northern and southern provinces. This is largely due to borrowings from the languages of local Indian tribes and the dialects of slaves brought to South America in the 16th-17th centuries from the black continent.
How do I get to the library?
When traveling to Brazil as a tourist, be prepared for the fact that very few people in the country speak English. At best, you can talk to the receptionist at a good hotel. The way out of the situation will be a Russian-Portuguese phrasebook and the ability to gesticulate emotionally, and the innate Brazilian sociability will be more useful than an ideal knowledge of languages.
From this article you will learn what the official language is in Brazil.
Brazil is the largest country on the southern American continent. It speaks 175 languages, but has only one official language. What language is this? Let's find out in this article.
What language is spoken in Brazil?
Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro with a statue of Christ installed on the mountainUntil Europeans came to the American continent, the territory of modern Brazil was inhabited by Indian tribes. They spoke Indian languages, there were more than 1 thousand of them. Today, the number of Indians in this territory has decreased significantly, the languages have also been forgotten, now 145 Indian languages are known, spoken by 1% of the population of Brazil. The largest tribe of Indians is the Matses, living on the border with Peru.
The Portuguese began to settle in new lands in the mid-16th century. At the same time, ships with slaves from Africa began to arrive in South America. Later, the Portuguese had to fight for new colonies with the Spaniards, British, Dutch and Italians, some of them remained to live on these lands.
Now in Brazil there are Germans, Russians, Arabs, Japanese and other peoples living nearby, and they all speak their own languages.
What is the official language in Brazil?
The official language in Brazil is Portuguese. It is the only country in South America to recognize this language as a common language for the entire country. Portuguese is spoken by 191 million people, out of 205 million people living in the country. But in educational institutions and schools, Spanish and English are compulsory to study.
The following language groups can most often be heard spoken on the streets of Brazil:
- Germanic (Spanish, English, German)
- Romance (Talian language, spoken by some immigrants from Italy)
- Slavic (Polish, Russian, Ukrainian languages)
- Sino-Tibetan (Chinese)
- Japanese
- Creole language (now endangered)
Is there a Brazilian language?
Amazon River flowing through Brazil
Just as the English language in the UK and the US is different from each other, so the Portuguese language is different in America and Europe.
In Brazil, the Portuguese language differs from the language spoken in Portugal in phonetics, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The Brazilian analogue of the language is more melodic, soft, intelligible, it uses the letter “s” more, in Portugal “sh”. It is a kind of Brazilian dialect of Portuguese. And the fact that the Brazilian language exists is just a myth.
What is the Brazilian dialect? As you know, the Portuguese language originates from the Latin language. According to linguistic studies, in the Brazilian dialect, 80% of words are taken from Portuguese, 16% of Spanish words, 4% of words from Indian and African African languages.
So, we learned that Brazil has one official language, and many languages that are not prohibited from being spoken.
Video: Brazil. Interesting facts about Brazil
Brazil is a multinational country with a distinct culture. Its territory is home to a large number of different peoples, whose linguistic traditions are equally diverse. What language do Brazilians speak?
Official language of the country
Portuguese is the national language of this state. It is recognized at the official level. It is taught in schools in almost every corner of Brazil.
The population of this state is more than 191 million people. All of them know the official language, but many of them also communicate in their native languages and dialects.
Brazil borders countries where it is common to speak Spanish and English. But Portuguese is considered the official state language only here. It is not spoken in other South American countries.
The Portuguese also communicate in their native language. But the difference between the two pronunciations in these countries is comparable to the differences between British and American English.
Interesting! " All who speak this language are called Lusophones. This word is borrowed from Latin, and when translated it sounds like “Luisitania”. This was the name given to the province of the Romans on the territory of modern Portugal. Therefore, the lands where Portuguese is spoken are conditionally united into the region of Lusophonia. Although their versions of Portuguese have many differences, both in grammar and pronunciation».
In general, Brazil is recognized as a multilingual country. Since its population has a very heterogeneous ethnic group.
Other languages in Brazil
Immigrant and native lexical variations are represented in 175 different languages. The most famous aboriginal dialect is the Nyengatu language. It is recognized as the second official language in the state of Amazonas.
Before the colonization of Brazil, Indian tribes lived in its territories, whose languages belonged to 17 linguistic groups. Today, the right of Indian tribes to their dialects is enshrined in the Brazilian Constitution.
European languages in Brazil belong to the following groups:
- German;
- Romanskaya;
- Slavic.
The Asian linguistic group is also represented in this state in the widest possible format. There are also New Aramaic languages in the country. The Aramaic Christians brought them with them.
Why do people speak Portuguese in Brazil?
For a long period, Brazil was suppressed by the colonial oppression of Portugal. During this time, the local population managed to get used to the Portuguese language. Then the Portuguese lost power over their colony several times, but their language took root quite well among the local population.
In addition, Portuguese in Brazil is enriched with words from other indigenous languages. This is why its differences with the language in Portugal are so obvious.
The original Portuguese language of Brazil is gaining more and more popularity in different countries every year. After all, this country is actively establishing economic and political ties with the whole world.
The Portuguese language of Brazilians has Romance roots, and its origins lie where Latin reigns. The population of Brazil speaks their language very fluently. But learning Portuguese is not difficult. In addition to the state version, most Brazilians' children study other languages in schools and colleges.