Portuguese language

Portuguese language
Name	Portuguese
Nativename	português
Pronunciation	[puɾtuˈɣeʃ], [poʁtuˈɡe(j)s]
States	Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor, Macau, Goa
Region	Iberian Peninsula, Latin America, Africa, Asia
Speakers	~260 million
Date	2020
Familycolor	Indo-European
Fam2	Italic
Fam3	Latino-Faliscan
Fam4	Romance
Fam5	Italo-Western
Fam6	Western Romance
Fam7	Ibero-Romance
Fam8	West Iberian
Script	Latin script (Portuguese alphabet)
Nation	See list
Iso1	pt
Iso2	por
Iso3	por
Lingua	51-AAA-a
Mapcaption	Official and administrative language, Cultural or secondary language

Portuguese language. It is a Romance language originating in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia and the County of Portugal on the Iberian Peninsula. With approximately 260 million total speakers, it is the sixth-most spoken native language globally and the most widely spoken in the Southern Hemisphere. It serves as the official language of nine sovereign states, including Portugal, Brazil, and several nations in Africa and Asia.

Introduction

This language is a member of the Ibero-Romance branch that evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in the medieval kingdoms of northwestern Iberian Peninsula. It is the sole official language of Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe, while having co-official status in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, and Macau. The Community of Portuguese Language Countries serves as the primary international political organization representing its speakers. Its global spread is intrinsically linked to the Portuguese Empire, one of the longest-lived colonial empires in history, which established trading posts and colonies from Brazil to Nagasaki.

History

The development of this language began after the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, when local languages were supplanted by Vulgar Latin. Following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was influenced by the Germanic Suebi and Visigoths. The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula introduced some Arabic lexical influence. The earliest known records are administrative documents from the 9th century, with the poetic text Cancioneiro da Ajuda representing early literature. The publication of the Gramática da Língua Portuguesa by Fernão de Oliveira in 1536 marked a key moment of standardization. The Treaty of Tordesillas and subsequent colonial expansion by explorers like Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral propelled it across continents.

Grammar

It is a synthetic, fusional language with a grammar system typical of Romance languages. Verbs are highly inflected for tense, aspect, mood, and person, following patterns established in Latin. The standard sentence structure is Subject-Verb-Object, though Subject-Verb and Verb-Subject orders occur. It features two conjugation classes for verbs and retains a case system only in pronouns. Notable features include the extensive use of the personal infinitive and the placement of clitic pronouns, which can be proclitic or enclitic depending on syntactic context. The system of grammatical gender affects nouns, adjectives, and articles.

Vocabulary

Its lexicon is predominantly derived from Latin, with an estimated 80% of words having Latin origins. A significant number of words were incorporated from Arabic during the Al-Andalus period, often identifiable by the prefix al-, such as in açúcar. The Age of Discovery led to the adoption of loanwords from languages across Africa, Asia, and the Americas, including terms from Tupi-Guarani languages, Kimbundu, Japanese, and Konkani. In the modern era, it has absorbed numerous internationalisms, particularly from French and English. Differences in vocabulary are one of the primary distinctions between the European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese standards.

Geographical_distribution

It is an official language on four continents, making it one of the world's most geographically dispersed languages. The majority of speakers reside in Brazil, which has over 200 million inhabitants. In Africa, it is the official language of six countries, with major speaker communities in Luanda and Maputo. In Europe, it is concentrated in Portugal but also has official status in the Autonomous Region of Madeira and the Azores. In Asia, it retains official status in Macau and East Timor, and has a historical presence in Goa, Daman and Diu, and Sri Lanka. Significant diaspora communities exist in the United States, France, Luxembourg, and Venezuela.

Dialects

The two major standardized dialects are European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese, which differ in phonology, lexicon, and syntax. Within Portugal, notable dialects include those of the Alentejo, the Algarve, and the northern regions, such as the Transmontano dialect. The Galician language, spoken in the Autonomous Community of Galicia, is extremely closely related, with some considering it a dialect continuum. In Brazil, main dialect groups include the Caipira dialect of the interior, the Sulista dialect of the south, and the distinctive speech of Rio de Janeiro. African Portuguese dialects, such as those of Angola and Mozambique, have their own unique phonological and lexical characteristics influenced by local Bantu languages.

Category:Languages of Portugal Category:Languages of Brazil Category:Romance languages Category:Portuguese language