Lesson p012

12 CONYERSATIONAL PORTUGUESE

LESSON 4

(PronuncuUion Prttctice II)

NASAL SOUNDS

1. m, n, and nh, nasal sounds, tend to nasalize the vowel preceding thcm; this nasal ąuality is espe-ciałly strong in Braził; in Continental Portuguese it may be slight or even absent:

campo field tentar to try cama bed linha linę

nome    name

me nos    less

pomada pomadę senhorita miss, young lady

m, n followed by a consonant are not pro-nounced, nor in finał position (do not close your lips in pronouncing finał m; merely nasalize tfae preceding vowel):

cantar	to sing	falam	they speak
tambdm	also	ton	hehas
sempre	always	bom	good
bomba	bomb	«*»	a, one
2. a, d are nasalized:
tt wooł		manha	morning
3. nasal vowel combinations:
mSe	mother	liędes	lessons
mdo	hand	pde	he puts

4. a special case:    miiito much

father

SOME OTHER VOWEL COMBINATIONS 1. ai: pai

2. au: aula	class	causa	cause
3. ei: falei	Ispoke	sel	Iknow
ei: hotćis	hotels	papćis	papers
4. eu: meu	my, minę
escreveu	he wrote
eu: cću	sky	chapću	hat
5. ia: dińlogo	dialogue
6. ie: sćrie	senes
ie: dieta	diet
7. io: próprio	proper, (one’s) own
8. iu: partiu	he left
9. oi: noite	night	coisa	thing
di: herói	hero
lenęóis	sheets (of bed)
10. ou: outro	another, other
comprou	he bought
11. ua: dgua	water	quando	when
12. ue: sućter (S)	sweater
13. ui: cuidar	to take care (of)
14. uo: quota	ąuota

WORD GROUPS

Keep in mind that the information given about pronunciation applies to word groups as well as to individual words:

1.    s between vowels is like z in zeal:

todososamigos    all the friends

(todos os amigos)

2.    voiced s before a voiced consonant is like z in

azure:

osdemais    the rest

(os demais)

3.    and so in other eases.