The Portuguese Language (O Portugues)

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Portuguese is an Indo-European language, which originated from the Vulgar Latin about two thousand years ago. The author points out that, as Christians conquered the peninsula, a lot of the grammar and words used in Spain and France greatly influenced the modern Portuguese language although the morphology and syntax were only slightly changed. The paper reports that Portuguese is a pluricentric language, which varies from its geographic locations but remains one language. The author describes its phonology, vowels, morphology, syntax, lexicon and pragmatics.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
History
Phonology
Vowels in Portuguese
Morphology and Syntax
Lexicon
Pragmatics
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Notice that there are actually three ways that one may say, "You make" in Portuguese. Vos fazeis is actually very archaic and is only used in Holy Scriptures or when praying to God. If you dare mention this, people would look at you very weird. It is similar to the use of ye in English which no one uses anymore (I hope not!). Now depending whether one is in Portugal or Brazil, the use of tu and voce varies. In the Portuguese spoken in Portugal, this dialect is considered as an honorable title. The pronoun voce is used when speaking to older people or when showing respect."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Experience, Festival (2008, April 12). Brazilian Portuguese. Retrieved May 08, 2008, from Experience Festival Web site: http://www.experiencefestival.com/brazilian_portuguese_-_the_imperative
• Hutchinson, A , & Lloyd, J (1996). Portuguese: An Essential Grammar. New York: Routledge
• Maroneze, B. Phonology of the Portuguese language in Brazil. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from Orbilat Web site: http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Portuguese-Brazilian/Brazilian-Phonology.htm
• Nitti, J., & Ferreira, M. (2006). 501 Portuguese Verbs.Hauppauge: Barrons.
• Wikipedia, (2008, April 09). Brazilian Portuguese. Retrieved May 12, 2008, from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Portuguese

More papers on The Portuguese Language (O Portugues):

• Research Paper # 6610 : "The History of the Portuguese Language"
• Analytical Essay # 5931 : "The Portuguese" by George Braque"
• Essay # 41394 : "The Silent Language"

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