Comparison of Portuguese and Spanish

Common card · No. 230118

Portuguese and Spanish, although closely related Romance languages, differ in many aspects of their phonology, grammar, and lexicon. Both belong to a subset of the Romance languages known as West Iberian Romance, which also includes several other languages or dialects with fewer speakers, all of which are mutually intelligible to a considerable degree. The most obvious differences between Spanish and Portuguese are in pronunciation. Mutual intelligibility is greater when written rather than spoken. Compare, for example, the following sentences—roughly equivalent to the English proverb "A word to the wise is sufficient," or, a more literal translation, "To a good listener, a few words are enough.": Al buen entendedor pocas palabras bastan (Spanish pronunciation: [al ˈβwen entendeˈðoɾ ˈpokas paˈlaβɾas ˈβastan]) Ao bom entendedor poucas palavras bastam (European Portuguese: [aw ˈβõ ẽtẽdɨˈðoɾ ˈpokɐʃ pɐˈlavɾɐʒ ˈβaʃtɐ̃w]). There are also some differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese...

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