Portuguese Language
The Portuguese language is a Romance language that evolved from Latin, brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans around the third century BCE. It shares close ties with other Romance languages, particularly Spanish, although differences in pronunciation can create challenges in mutual understanding. Portuguese is the official language in Portugal and Brazil, and it is also widely spoken in several African countries, such as Angola and Mozambique, as well as in parts of Asia, including East Timor and Macau. As of 2015, Portuguese ranks as the seventh most-spoken language globally, with around 220 million speakers.
The language's history reflects a rich tapestry of cultural influences, including Celtic, Germanic, and Mozarabic elements, shaped by various migrations and invasions throughout the centuries. Portuguese spread significantly during the colonial era from the 14th to the 16th centuries, becoming a lingua franca in many regions due to trade and cultural exchange. With its unique orthography and evolving pronunciations in different regions, such as Portugal and Brazil, Portuguese remains an important global language, increasingly sought after in educational contexts for business opportunities in Portuguese-speaking nations.
Portuguese Language
The Portuguese language is a Romance language with origins going back to the Latin spoken in the Roman Empire. The Romance languages include Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian, and Spanish. While Portuguese is the official language in Portugal and Brazil, it is also used as the predominant language in several African countries. As of 2015, Portuguese is the seventh most-spoken language in the world.
While Portuguese is closely related to all the Romance languages, it is closest to the Spanish language. The two languages share many grammatical structures and patterns; however, letters and sounds of each language often differ in pronunciation, making it difficult for Portuguese and Spanish speakers to easily understand one another. In addition, many Portuguese phrases cannot be easily translated to English.
History and Classification
Portuguese is an Indo-European language in the Romance subgroup, so called because its languages originated from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. The Romans brought Latin to the Iberian Peninsula around the third century BCE. Vulgar Latin, as the commonly spoken form of Latin was known as at the time, became the basis from which the Romance languages would develop.
The Celtic people who inhabited the Iberian Peninsula effected the development of Portuguese. Celtic influences have been credited with beginning the evolution of Portuguese from its Latin roots into its modern form.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, from about the fifth to the eight centuries CE, a series of foreign migrations and invasions also began to influence the language. The Germanic people—called barbarians by the Romans—first encountered the Roman Empire about the third century CE, and began to move into the areas of southern and western Europe. In the late fourth century, the Huns invaded eastern Europe, forcing some of the Germanic tribes to move. In the ensuing centuries, the Saxons migrated to Britannia, the Lombards to Italy, the Vandals headed to North Africa, the Franks moved to Gaul (France), the Suevos went to Galicia (Spain), and the Visigoths settled in Lusitania on the Iberian Peninsula. As a result of these many influences, Portuguese incorporated a number of Germanic terms, including guerra (war), orgulho (pride), and rico (rich).
At the beginning of the eight century CE, the Muslim forces of the Moors invaded Lusitania. The Moors introduced their Mozarabic language, a Semitic language heavily based on Arabic and Latin. After the Moors were defeated and driven from the Iberian Peninsula, the Portuguese language retained some words borrowed from the Mozarabic language. These words include arroz (rice), girafa (giraffe), and açucar (sugar).
The earliest written evidence of a distinct Portuguese language is found on ninth-century administrative documents. This early Portuguese contained many Latin phrases. It was used until around the twelfth century.
In the mid-twelfth century, Portugal achieved independence under the rule of King Afonso Henriques. At the time, Portuguese was mostly used in poetry throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Eventually, its use grew, and in 1290, King Denis declared Portuguese the official language of Portugal.
The language spread to Asia, Africa, and the Americas during the colonial period of the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. In parts of Asia and Africa, Portuguese was declared the lingua franca, or common language, during the sixteenth century. It was used for administration and trade and was the language used by locals to communicate with others. In addition, it was spread by mixed marriages between the Portuguese and locals and by the efforts of Catholic missionaries.
The language continued to be spoken in Christian communities in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia after these countries gained their independence from Portugal. In some of these areas, Portuguese mixed with the native language to form a hybrid called a creole. Some of these creoles exist into the twenty-first century. Portuguese also influenced languages such as Indonesian, Japanese, and Swahili.
In Portugal, Portuguese orthography (the way words are spelled) was revised in 1916 to spell words more like the way they are pronounced. Brazil adopted these changes in 1943 and made further revisions to the language’s orthography in 1970. A new orthography to further unify the Portuguese language was adopted in Brazil in 2009. However, this was not adopted in Portugal and pronunciations of Portuguese remain different in Brazil and Portugal.
Geographic Distribution and Modern Usage
About 220 million people worldwide speak Portuguese. It is mostly used in Portugal and Brazil, where it is the official language. Nations such as Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Principe, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, and Macau also use the language. It is also used in the Indian states of Goa, Daman and Diu, and in the Malaysian state of Malacca.
As of 2015, Portuguese is the seventh most-spoken language in the world. The United Kingdom considers it one of the top ten languages important to the country. Students in Southeast Asia are increasingly requesting to learn it as a way to increase their business prospects in Portuguese-speaking nations.
Bibliography
Boyce, Paula. "Portuguese: The World’s Seventh Most Spoken Language." Voices Magazine. British Council, 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 2 Oct. 2015. <http://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/portuguese-worlds-seventh-most-spoken-language>.
Dalby, Andrew. Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More than 400 Languages. New York: Columbia UP, 2004. Print.
"The Origin and Formation of the Portuguese Language." Judeo-Lusitanica. Duke University, n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2015. <http://sites.duke.edu/judeolusitanica/2013/07/21/the-origin-and-formation-of-the-portuguese-language/>.
Pinto, Catarina. "Education/Growing Interest in Portuguese Learning Across Southeast Asia." Macau Daily Times. Macau Daily Times, 14 Sept. 2015. Web. 5 Oct. 2015. <http://macaudailytimes.com.mo/education-growing-interest-in-portuguese-learning-across-southeast-asia.html>.
"Portuguese." Omniglot. Simon Ager. 2015. Web. 2 Oct. 2015. <http://www.omniglot.com/writing/portuguese.htm>.