View source for Portuguese dialects

{{Short description|Variations of the Portuguese language}}
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'''Portuguese dialects''' are the [[mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] variations of the [[Portuguese language]] in [[Portuguese-speaking countries]] and other areas holding some degree of cultural bond with the language. Portuguese has two standard forms of writing and numerous regional spoken variations, with often large phonological and lexical differences.

In Portugal, the language is regulated by the [[Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Classe de Letras|Sciences Academy of Lisbon, Class of Letters]] and its national dialect is called [[European Portuguese]]. This written variation is the one preferred by Portuguese ex-colonies in [[Africa]] and [[Asia]], including [[Cabo Verde]], [[Mozambique]], [[Angola]], [[Timor-Leste]], [[Macau]] and [[Goa]]. The form of Portuguese used in [[Brazil]] is regulated by the [[Academia Brasileira de Letras|Brazilian Academy of Letters]] and is known as [[Brazilian Portuguese]].

Differences between European and Brazilian written forms of Portuguese occur in a similar way, and are often compared to, those of [[British English]] and [[American English|American]], though spelling divergencies were generally believed to occur with a little greater frequency in the two Portuguese written dialects until a new standard orthography came into full effect in the 2010s. Differences in syntax and word construction, not directly related to spelling, are also observed. Furthermore, there were attempts to unify the two written variations, the most recent of them being the [[Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990|Orthographic Agreement of 1990]], which only began to take effect in the 2000s and is still under implementation in some countries. This and previous reforms faced criticism by people who say they are unnecessary or inefficient or even that they create more differences instead of reducing or eliminating them.

The differences between the various spoken Portuguese dialects are mostly in phonology, in the frequency of usage of certain grammatical forms, and especially in the distance between the formal and informal levels of speech. Lexical differences are numerous but largely confined to "peripheral" words, such as plants, animals, and other local items, with little impact in the core lexicon.

Dialectal deviations from the official grammar are relatively few. As a consequence, all Portuguese dialects are mutually intelligible although for some of the most extremely divergent pairs, the phonological changes may make it difficult for speakers to understand rapid speech.

== Main subdivisions ==

===Europe===
{{Main|European Portuguese}}
[[File:Portugués europeo.png|270px|thumbnail|European Portuguese dialects
{{ordered list
| Dark green: North
| Light green: South
| Yellow: Azorean
| Orange: Madeirense
|}}
]]
The dialects of Portugal can be divided into two major groups:
*The '''southern and central dialects''' are broadly characterized by preserving the distinction between {{IPAslink|b}} and {{IPAslink|v}}, and by the tendency to monophthongize ''ei'' and ''ou'' to {{IPAblink|e̞}} and {{IPAblink|o̞}}. They include the dialect of the capital, [[Lisbon]], but it has some peculiarities of its own. Although the dialects of the Atlantic archipelagos of the [[Azores]] and [[Madeira]] have unique characteristics, as well, they can also be grouped with the southern dialects.
*The '''northern dialects''' are characterized by preserving the pronunciation of ''ei'' and ''ou'' as diphthongs {{IPA|[ei̯]}}, {{IPA|[ou̯]}}, and by somewhat having sometimes merged {{IPAslink|v}} with {{IPAslink|b}} (like in [[Spanish phonology|Spanish]]). They include the dialect of [[Porto]], Portugal's second largest city.

Within each of these regions, however, is further variation, especially in pronunciation. For example, in Lisbon and its vicinity, the diphthong ''ei'' is centralized to {{IPA|[ɐi̯]}} instead of being monophthongized, as in the south.

It is usually believed that the dialects of [[Brazil]], [[Africa]], and [[Asia]] are derived mostly from those of central and southern Portugal.

====Barranquenho====
In the Portuguese town of [[Barrancos]] (on the border between [[Extremadura]], [[Andalucia]] and Portugal), a dialect of Portuguese heavily influenced by Southern Spanish dialects, known as ''[[barranquenho]]'' is spoken by a small community of 1500 people.

===South America===
[[File:Brazil_dialect_map.png|250px|right|thumb|Some of the documented dialects within Brazil<br>
'''Amazon''':<br>
· [[Amazofonia|Nortista]] (Northern)<br>
· Serra Amazônica (Highland)<br>
'''[[Nordeste]] (Northeast)''':<br>
· [[Central northeastern Portuguese|Nordestino]]<br>
· [[North coast Portuguese|Costa Norte]] (North Coast)<br>
· Recifense ([[Recife]])<br>
· Baiano<br>
'''Central:'''<br>
· Sertanejo<br>
· [[Mineiro]]<br>
· [[Caipira dialect|Caipira]]<br>
'''Carioca:'''<br>
· Fluminense<br>
· [[Carioca#Sociolect|Carioca]] ([[Rio de Janeiro]])<br>
· Brasiliense ([[Brasília]])<br>
'''Southern:'''<br>
· Sulista (Southern)<br>
· [[Gaúcho dialect|Gaúcho]]<br>
· [[Florianopolitan dialect|Florianopolitan]] ([[Florianópolis]])<br>
'''Paulista''':<br>
· [[Paulistano dialect|Paulistano]] ([[São Paulo]])]]

{{Main|Brazilian Portuguese}}
Brazilian dialects can be divided into northern and southern groups, the northern dialects tending to slightly more [[vowel#Articulation|open]] [[stress (linguistics)|pre-stressed]] vowels. The dialects of [[São Paulo]] and [[Rio de Janeiro]] have had some influence on the rest of the country in Brazil during the occupation of the territory, and through economic influence in the country (alongside neighbor states like Minas Gerais). However, migration from the Northern states to the Southern states points to the two-way nature of the phenomenon. Local culture also plays important roles in the dialect-region sinergy throughout time. Speakers of what is for times called the ''Gaúcho'' accent (which carries traits from several languages), have been found<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Ramos | first1=Jânia | date=1997 | title=Avaliação de dialetos brasileiros: o sotaque | doi=10.17851/2237-2083.5.1.103-125 | url=https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/relin/article/view/28946 | access-date=13 Apr 2025|journal=Revista de Estudos da Linguagem| doi-access=free }}</ref> to hold the accent as representative at remarkable level compared to other dialects. Also, considerable groups of people in inland cities of the three southern states carry noticeable German accent in their speech, which also applies to languages like [[Italian accent|Italian]] or [[Polish accent|Polish]]. Phenomena like internal migration, government policy, external pressure and socio-economic dynamics are some drivers that allow for proper understanding of the overwhelmingly complex development of the language, and the country, up to, and arguably most importantly for the current state of things, the 20th century. A convoluted process that was somehow encoded through, and into the language, not always in writing.
Between Brazilian Portuguese, particularly in its most informal varieties, and European Portuguese, there can be noticeable differences in grammar, aside from the differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. The most prominent ones concern the placement of clitic pronouns, and the use of subject pronouns as objects in the third person. Non-standard inflections are also common in colloquial Brazilian Portuguese.

===Africa, Asia and Oceania===
{{Main|Portuguese language in Africa|Portuguese language in Asia}}

For historical reasons, the dialects of Africa are generally closer to those of Portugal than the Brazilian dialects, but in some aspects of their phonology, especially the pronunciation of unstressed vowels, they resemble Brazilian Portuguese more than European Portuguese. They have not been studied as exhaustively as European and Brazilian Portuguese.

Asian Portuguese dialects are similar to the African ones and so are generally close to those of Portugal. In Macau, the syllable onset rhotic {{IPA|/ʁ/}} is pronounced as a [[voiced uvular fricative]] {{IPA|[ʁ]}} or an [[uvular trill]] {{IPA|[ʀ]}}.

== Notable features of some dialects ==
Many dialects have special characteristics. Most of the differences are seen in phonetics and phonology, and here are some of the more prominent:

===Conservative===
*In some regions of northern Portugal and Brazil, the digraph ''ou'' still denotes a falling [[diphthong]] {{IPA|[ou̯]}}, but it has been monophthongized to {{IPA|[o]}} by most speakers of Portuguese.{{Citation needed |date=May 2024}}
*In the dialects of Alto-Minho and Trás-os-Montes (northern Portugal), the digraph ''ch'' still denotes the [[affricate consonant|affricate]] {{IPA|/tʃ/}}, as in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], but for most speakers, it has merged with {{IPA|/ʃ/}}.
*Some dialects of northern Portugal still contrast the [[Laminal consonant|predorsodental]] [[sibilant consonant|sibilants]] ''c''/''ç'' {{IPA|/s/}} and ''z'' {{IPA|/z/}} with [[apicoalveolar]] sibilants ''s(s)'' {{IPA|/s̺/}} and ''s'' {{IPA|/z̺/}}, with [[minimal pair]]s such as ''passo'' {{IPA|/ˈpas̺u/}} "step" and ''paço'' {{IPA|/ˈpasu/}} "palace" or ''coser'' {{IPA|/kuˈz̺eɾ/}} "to sew" and ''cozer'' {{IPA|/kuˈzeɾ/}} "to cook", which are [[homophone]]s in most dialects. The other dialects of northern Portugal that have lost this distinction have apicoalveolar sibilants instead of the predorsodental fricatives, found in all southern dialects of Portugal as well as in Brazil. In those dialects, they also appear in syllable codas instead of the {{IPA|[ʃ]}} realizations that can be observed in all southern dialects.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zampaulo |first1=André |date=19 Dec 2016 |title=Sibilant sound change in the history of Portuguese: An information-theoretic approach |url=https://www.academia.edu/38544292 |journal=Diachronica |language=English |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |volume=33 |issue=4 |page=507 |doi=10.1075/dia.33.4.03zam |access-date=9 October 2022 |via=Academia.edu}}</ref>
*In northern Portugal, the pronoun ''vós'' and its associated verb forms are still in use.
*In Alentejo and parts of the Algarve (southern Portugal), one finds word-final {{IPA|[i]}} where standard EP has {{IPA|[ɨ]}}, a feature shared with BP.
*Also in Brazil, Alentejo and the Algarve, progressive constructions are formed with the gerund form of verbs instead of ''a'' followed by the infinitive that one finds in most dialects of Portugal: ''está chovendo'' vs. ''está a chover'' ("it's raining").

===Innovative===
*In central and southern Portugal (except the city of Lisbon and its vicinity), the diphthong {{IPA|/ei̯/}} is monophthongized to {{IPA|[e]}}. The nasal diphthong {{IPA|/ẽi̯/}} is often monophthongized to {{IPA|[ẽ]}} as well.
*In and near Lisbon, {{IPA|/ei̯/}} and {{IPA|/ẽi̯/}} are pronounced {{IPA|[ɐi̯]}} and {{IPA|[ɐ̃i̯]}}, respectively. Furthermore, stressed {{IPA|/e/}} is pronounced {{IPA|[ɐ]}} or {{IPA|[ɐi̯]}} before a [[palato-alveolar consonant|palato-alveolar]] or a [[palatal consonant]] followed by another vowel.
*In the dialect of the Beiras ([[Beira Interior Norte]], [[Cova da Beira Subregion|Cova da Beira]] and [[Beira Interior Sul]]) in central Portugal, the sibilant {{IPA|/ʒ/}} occurs at the end of words, before another word which starts with a vowel, instead of {{IPA|/z/}}.
*In northern Portugal, the phoneme {{IPA|/m/}} has a [[velar nasal|velar]] allophone {{IPA|[ŋ]}} at the end of words.
* In the dialects of [[Beira Baixa Province|Beira Baixa]] (Southern Inland Beiras, [[Beira Interior Sul]]) ([[Castelo Branco District|Castelo Branco]]), Northern [[Portalegre District|Portalegre]] and Far Western [[Algarve region|Algarve]] (Barlavento area) and [[São Miguel Island]] in the [[Azores]] (aka ''Micaelense''), the [[near-close near-front rounded vowel|near-front rounded vowel]] {{IPA|[ʏ]}} replaces {{IPA|/u/}}, in a process similar to the one that originated the [[French language|French]] ''u''. (There is also [[close-mid front rounded vowel|front rounded vowel]] {{IPA|[ø]}} in Beira Baixa, Northern Portalegre and São Miguel Island dialects but not in Far Western Algarve dialect or Madeira island). These are the only Galician-Portuguese and [[Ibero-Romance]] (or [[Ibero-Romance|Hispano-Romance]]) dialects to have these phonemes and they are in common with [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]] ones, which differentiate them from all the other Galician-Portuguese and Ibero-Romance dialects.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=Dias |first=Felisberto |title=A Voz Popular: Estudos de Etnolinguística |date=2000 |publisher=Patrimonia |location=Cascais |pages=53–80 |language=pt |chapter=Origens do Português Micaelense: Abordagem diacrónica do sistema vocálico}}</ref>(see note at the end of the article)

* Micaelense Portuguese also features other sounds in its vowel inventory that is unique to all Portuguese dialects (like the nasal {{IPA|[ʏ]}}). The Micaelense vowel [[close-mid front rounded vowel|front rounded vowel]] {{IPA|[ø]}} replaces the Standard European Portuguese [[close-mid back rounded vowel]] {{IPA|[o]}} in words spelt with ''ou/oi'', as in ''outra'' or ''boi''. Although all Azorean dialects are usually grouped together as a whole (for the sake of geographical grouping), these two characteristics are emblematic mostly of Micaelense Portuguese only, and is not the case in the way speakers of Azorean dialects from the other eight islands speak.<ref name="auto" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Silva |first=David J. |date=2008 |title=The Persistence of Stereotyped Dialect Features among Portuguese-American Immigrants from São Miguel, Azores |journal=Journal of Portuguese Linguistics |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=3–21 |doi=10.5334/jpl.133 |doi-access=free}}</ref> However both {{IPA|[ʏ]}} and {{IPA|[ø]}} phonemes are also present in the some parts (locolects) of other islands, in [[Terceira Island|Terceira]], [[Graciosa]], Eastern [[Pico Island|Pico]], [[Flores Island (Azores)|Flores]] and [[Corvo Island|Corvo]], but are totally absent in the islands of [[Santa Maria Island|Santa Maria]] (although close and south of São Miguel, Santa Maria island dialect is very different from São Miguel), [[Faial Island|Faial]], [[São Jorge Island|São Jorge]] and Western [[Pico Island|Pico]]. (see note at the end of the article)
*In northern Portugal, the close vowels {{IPA|/o/}} and {{IPA|/e/}} may be pronounced as diphthongs, such as in "Porto", pronounced {{IPA|[ˈpwoɾtu]}}, "quê": {{IPA|[kje]}},  "hoje": {{IPA|[ˈwoʒɨ]}} or even {{IPA|[ˈwoi̯ʒɨ]}}
*Some dialects of southern Portugal have gerund forms that inflect for person and number: ''em chegandos'' (''when you arrive''), ''em chegândemos'' (''when we arrive''), ''em chegandem'' (''when you/they arrive''). They are not used in writing.
*There are some dialectal differences in how word final [u] is realized. In Brazilian Portuguese, it is always pronounced. In Portugal, it is usually most audible when at the end of an utterance. In other contexts, it may be realized not at all or as mere [[labialization]] of the preceding consonant. The northern dialects tend to maintain it in most contexts. For instance, a sentence like ''o meu irmão comprou um carro novo'' ("my brother bought a new car") would be pronounced as {{IPA|[u ˈmew iɾˈmɐ̃w̃ kõˈpɾow ũ ˈkaʁu ˈnovu]}} or {{IPA|[u ˈmew iɾˈmɐ̃w̃ kõˈpɾow ũ ˈkaʁʷ ˈnovu]}} in those dialects. In the Lisbon dialect the last two words would instead be pronounced {{IPA|[ˈkaʁʷ ˈnovu]}}, {{IPA|[ˈkaʁʷ ˈnovʷ]}}, {{IPA|[ˈkaʁ ˈnovu]}} or {{IPA|[ˈkaʁ ˈnovʷ]}}. In southern Portugal, word final {{IPA|[w]}} and {{IPA|[w̃]}} are also affected so in Alentejo, the same sentence would sound {{IPA|[u ˈme iɾˈmɐ̃ kõˈpɾo ũ ˈkaʁ ˈnovu]}} (in that dialect, utterance final vowels are also noticeably very prolonged so a more accurate transcription might be {{IPA|[ˈnovuː]}} for this example). In the southernmost region of the country, the Algarve, the vowel is completely lost: {{IPA|[u ˈme iɾˈmɐ̃ kõˈpɾo ũ ˈkaʁ ˈnov]}}.
*In most of Brazil, syllable-final {{IPA|/l/}} is [[L-vocalization#Romance languages|vocalized]] to {{IPA|/w/}}, which causes ''mau'' "bad" and ''mal'' "badly" to become homophones (although Brazilians tends to use ''ruim'' in place of ''mau'').  Similarly, ''degrau'' "step" and ''jornal'' "journal" rhyme, which results in false plurals such as ''degrais'' "steps" (vs. correct ''degraus''), by analogy with correct plural ''jornais''. In the [[Caipira|''caipira'' dialect]], and in parts of Goiás and Minas Gerais, syllable-final {{IPA|/l/}} is instead merged with {{IPA|/ɾ/}}, pronounced as an [[alveolar approximant]] {{IPA|[ɹ]}} in the Caipira way.
*The pronunciation of syllable-initial and syllable-final ''r'' varies considerably with dialect. See [[Guttural R#Portuguese|Guttural R in Portuguese]], for details. Syllable-initial ⟨r⟩ and doubled ⟨rr⟩ are pronounced as a guttural {{IPA|[ʁ]}} in most cities in Portugal, but as a traditional trill {{IPA|[r]}} in rural Portugal. In Brazil, the sound is normally pronounced as an ''unvoiced'' guttural ({{IPA|[x], [χ] or [h]}}), which is also used for ⟨r⟩ at the end of syllables (except in the [[Caipira|''caipira'' dialect]], which uses an [[alveolar approximant]] {{IPA|[ɹ]}}, and the [[Gaucho|''gaúcho'' dialect]], [[Sulista|''sulista'' dialect]] and [[Paulistano|''paulistano'' dialect]] which use an [[alveolar flap]] {{IPA|[ɾ]}} or [[alveolar trill|trill]] {{IPA|[r]}}). In the northern dialects of Brazil, ⟨r⟩ at the end of words is normally silent or barely pronounced, it is kept, however, in most southern dialects, except in infinitives, where it tends to be omitted everywhere. In [[Macau]], where Portuguese is spoken mostly as a second language, initial and intervocalic "r" is sometimes replaced with a diphthong, and ⟨r⟩ at the end of words (esp. when final-stressed) is sometimes silent.
*Some speakers of [[São Tomé and Príncipe]] produce the vibratory alveolar consonant [r] in positions that do not exist in the Portuguese spoken in Brazil and Portugal. In addition, there is still the voiced uvular fricative {{IPA|[ʁ]}} as a variant that clearly distinguishes two generations of Portuguese speakers, those under 39 years old and those over 40 years old, or those born before or after the independence of the country.
*Varieties in the Portuguese spoken in [[Uruguay]] share many similarities with the countryside dialects of the southern Brazilian state of [[Rio Grande do Sul]], such as the denasalization of final unstressed nasal vowels, replacement of lateral palatal /ʎ/ with semivowel /j/, no raising of final unstressed /e/, alveolar trill /r/ instead of the guttural R, and lateral realization of coda /l/ instead of L-vocalization. Some of these sounds do not exist in Portugal.
*In [[Guinea-Bissau]], "the final ‘l’ seems weaker than in Portugal, even giving the impression of that there is a minimal pause between the preceding vowel and it, as in 'Senegal', which comes out like [seneˈga-l]". There is also height neutralization between middle vowels and, therefore, "if [Guineans] say 'he' (pronoun), we seem to hear 'he' (letter name), and vice versa".{{Citation needed|reason=Where is this being quoted from?|date=June 2023}}
*The close central vowel /ɨ/ occurs only at final, unstressed syllables, e.g. presidente /pɾeziˈdẽtɨ/ in [[Angola]]. Furthermore, many Angolans usually replace the consonant /ɲ/ with [j̃], for example, "ninho" [ˈnĩj̃u], nasalizing the vowel that precedes it.
*The pronunciation of syllable-final ''s/x/z'' also varies with dialect. See [[Portuguese phonology#Fricatives|Portuguese phonology]] for details. Portugal and Rio de Janeiro favor {{IPA|[ʃ]}}, both before a consonant and finally.  Most other parts of Brazil favor {{IPA|[s]}}, but in the [[Northeast Region, Brazil|Northeast]], {{IPA|[ʃ]}} is often heard before consonants, especially {{IPA|/t/}} (but not at the end of words).
*In the Northeast of Brazil and, to an increasing extent, in Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere, {{IPA|[j]}} is inserted before final {{IPA|/s/}} in a final-stressed word, which makes ''mas'' "but" and ''mais'' "more" homonyms, both pronounced {{IPA|[majs]}} or {{IPA|[majʃ]}}. Other affected examples are ''faz'' "he does", ''dez'' "ten", ''nós'' "we", ''voz'' "voice", ''luz'' "light", ''Jesus'' "Jesus", etc.  Related forms like ''fazem'', ''vozes'', ''nosso'' are unaffected since {{IPA|/s/}} is no longer final.
*In [[Mozambique]] at the end of words ending in 'e' it changes to 'i' instead of 'ɨ' as in Portugal (for example [felisidádi] instead of [fɨlisidádɨ]), as well as in Brazil. Mozambicans also suppress the final /r/ phoneme (for example, estar is read [eʃ'tá] instead of [eʃ'táɾ]) and the suppression of unaccented vowels is not as strong as in Portugal.
*In [[Cape Verde]] /l/ is laminal dental [l̪], i.e., it is pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the upper teeth. It is similar to the "l" sound in Spanish, French or German. The "l" sound in Portugal is velarized alveolar [ɫ͇], i.e., that is, it is pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the alveoli, well behind the upper incisor teeth, with the tongue curved, with a concavity facing upwards.
*In most of Brazil, {{IPA|/t/, /d/}} are [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]] to {{IPA|[tʃ], [dʒ]}} when they are followed by {{IPA|/i/}}. Common sources of {{IPA|/i/}} are the unstressed ending ''-e'', as in ''gente'' "people" {{IPA|[ˈʒẽtʃi]}} and ''de'' "of" {{IPA|[dʒi]}}, and the epenthetic {{IPA|/i/}} in words such as ''advogado'' "lawyer" {{IPA|[adʒivoˈɡadu]}}. Prefixes ''de-'', ''des-'' and ''dez-'' (such as ''dezoito'' "eighteen") vary from word to word and from speaker to speaker between {{IPA|[de], [des]/[dez]/etc.}} and {{IPA|[dʒi], [dʒis]/[dʒiz]/etc.}}.
*Informal Brazilian Portuguese makes major changes in its use of pronouns:
**Informal ''tu'' is dropped entirely in most regions along with all second-person singular verbal inflections. When ''tu'' survives, it is used with third-person inflections.
**Clitic ''te'' {{IPA|[tʃi]}} survives as the normal clitic object pronoun corresponding to ''você''.
**Clitic pronouns almost always precede the verb. Post-verbal clitics and mesoclisis are seen only in formal contexts.
**Possessives ''seu, sua'' virtually always mean "your". To say "his, her", constructions like ''o carro dele'' "his car" or ''o carro dela'' "her car" are used.
**Third-person clitics ''o, a, os, as'' and combined clitics like ''mo, no-lo'' are virtually never heard in speech. Instead, the clitics are simply omitted, especially to refer to objects; or a subject pronoun is placed ''after'' the verb: ''Eu levo'' "I'll get it"; ''Vi ele'' "I saw him".
*In [[East Timor]], the phoneme /ʒ/ sometimes realized as [z], sometimes as [dʒ], is typical of the [[Kristang language|Creole of Malacca and Singapore]] and also the [[Bidau Creole Portuguese|Creole of Bidau]] and the same realization was also found of Portuguese spoken on the island, such as ʒ > z: já [za] ~ [dʒa]; vigésimo (twentieth) [vi.ˈzɛ.zi.mu] ~ [bi.ˈzɛ.zi.mu] ~ [vi.ˈzɛ.si.mu] ~ [bi.ˈzɛ.si.mu].

=== Homophones in dialects ===

==== ''Mau'' and ''mal'' ====
Both mean ''bad'', but ''mau'' is an adjective, ''mal'' an adverb. In most parts of Brazil, the ''l'' before consonants and ending words, which represents a [[velarized alveolar lateral approximant]] in differing dialects, became a [[labio-velar approximant]], making both words homophones.

==== ''Júri'' and ''jure'' ====
While ''júri'' means ''jury'', ''jure'' is the imperative and second subjunctive third singular form of ''jurar'', "may he/she swear". In different contexts, unstressed /e/ often became a [[close front unrounded vowel]], but in some [[South Region, Brazil|Southern Brazilian]] dialects, /e/ never goes through the change.

==== ''Comprimento'' and ''cumprimento'' ====
''Comprimento'' means "length", and ''cumprimento'' means "greeting". The same thing that happened with /e/ in the example of ''júri''/''jure'' happened to the letter /o/, such becomes a [[close back rounded vowel]] in some cases. Hispanic influence makes it never represent that sound in some [[South Region, Brazil|Southern Brazilian]].{{clarify|date=February 2017}}

==== ''Asa'' and ''haja'' ====
''Asa'' means "wing", and ''haja'' is the imperative and second subjunctive third singular form of ''haver'', "may he/she exist". The words are usually distinguished, but in [[Alto Trás-os-Montes]] and for some [[East Timorese Portuguese]] speakers, they are homophones, both [[voiced palato-alveolar sibilant]]s.

==== ''Boa'' and ''voa'' ====
''Boa'' means "good" (feminine) and ''voa'', "he/she/it flies". Unlike most of the [[West Iberian languages]], Portuguese usually distinguishes between the [[voiced bilabial plosive]] and the [[voiced labiodental fricative]], but the distinction used to be absent in the dialects of the northern half of Portugal, and in [[Uruguayan Portuguese]]. In these varieties, both are realized indistinctly as a [[voiced bilabial plosive]] or a [[voiced bilabial fricative]], as in Spanish.

==== ''Más'', ''mas'' and ''mais'' ====
''Más'' means "bad ones" (feminine), ''mas'' means "but" and ''mais'' means "more" or "most". In [[Northeast Region, Brazil|Northeastern Brazil]] and [[Carioca|the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro]], the vowels followed by [[coronal consonant|coronal]] [[fricative consonant|fricatives]] in the same syllable have a [[palatal approximant]] pronounced between both. The feature is very distinguishable since this combination appears in the plural forms.

==== ''Xá'' and ''chá'' ====
''Xá'' means "[[shah]]", and ''chá'' means [[tea]]. At the beginning of words, {{angbr|x}} and {{angbr|ch}} are usually [[voiceless palato-alveolar fricative]]s, but {{angbr|ch}} is a [[voiceless palato-alveolar affricate]] in northern Portugal. The sound happens in other cases in [[Southeast Region, Brazil|Southeastern Brazil]] but disappeared in the rest of the Portuguese-speaking world.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}

== Other differences ==
Terms for modern elements often differ between variations of Portuguese, sometimes even taking different genders. The following is a basic description of the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] videogame console:
{| class="wikitable"
! English
| The PlayStation is a video game console.
|-
! European Portuguese
| A PlayStation é uma consola de videojogos.
|-
! Brazilian Portuguese
| O PlayStation é um console de videogame.
|} 
In this sentence, not only is "PlayStation" feminine in one dialect and masculine in another (because "console" has different genders<ref>{{Cite web |title=console |url=https://dicionario.priberam.org/console |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015521/https://dicionario.priberam.org/console |archive-date=2020-11-12 |access-date=2019-04-29 |website=Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=consola |url=https://dicionario.priberam.org/consola |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020315/https://dicionario.priberam.org/consola |archive-date=2020-11-12 |access-date=2019-04-29 |website=Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa |language=pt}}</ref>), but the words for "console" and "videogame"<ref>{{Cite web |title=videojogo |url=https://dicionario.priberam.org/videojogo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922192552/https://dicionario.priberam.org/videojogo |archive-date=2021-09-22 |access-date=2019-04-29 |website=Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=videogame |url=https://dicionario.priberam.org/videogame |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922192552/https://dicionario.priberam.org/videojogo |archive-date=2021-09-22 |access-date=2019-04-29 |website=Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa |language=pt}}</ref> are adapted from English in Portugal (because "consola" is actually adapted from French, where the word "console" is feminine) but retained in their original form in Brazil, and "video game" in the phrase "video game console" is pluralized in Portugal but singular in Brazil.

== Mixed languages ==
[[Portuñol]]/Portunhol: In regions where Spanish and Portuguese coexist, various types of [[language contact]] have occurred, ranging from improvised [[code-switching]] between monolingual speakers of each language to more or less stable [[mixed language]]s.

== Closely related languages ==
{{Main|Galician language|Fala language}}

''This section does not cover [[Galician language|Galician]], which is treated as a separate language from Portuguese by Galician official institutions, or [[Fala language|Fala]]. For a discussion of the controversy regarding the status of Galician with respect to Portuguese, see [[Reintegrationism]].''

[[Riverense Portuñol language|Portunhol Riverense]] is spoken in the region between [[Uruguay]] and [[Brazil]], particularly in the twin cities of [[Rivera]] and [[Santana do Livramento]].

The language must not be confused with [[Portuñol]], since it is not a mixing of Spanish and Portuguese, but a variety of Portuguese language developed in Uruguay back in the time of its first settlers. It has since received influence from Uruguayan Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

In academic circles, the Portuguese used by the northern population of Uruguay received the name "Dialectos Portugueses del Uruguay" (Uruguayan Portuguese Dialects). There's still no consensus if the language(s) is (are) a dialect or a creole, although the name given by linguists uses the term "dialect". There is also no consensus on how many varieties it has, with some studies indicating that there are at least two varieties, an urban one and a rural one, while others say there are six varieties, of which Riverense Portuñol is one.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carvalho |first=Ana Maria |title=Comunidades e individuos bilingües: Actas do I Simposio Internacional sobre o Bilingüismo |date=2003 |publisher=Universidade de Vigo |editor-last=Cabeza |editor-first=C. |location=Vigo |pages=642–651 |language=en |chapter=Variation and Diffusion of Uruguayan Portuguese in a Bilingual Border Town |access-date=2008-04-27 |editor-last2=Rodríguez Yáñez |editor-first2=X. P. |editor-last3=Lorenzo Suárez |editor-first3=A. |chapter-url=http://webs.uvigo.es/ssl/actas1997/05/Carvalho.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307192527/http://webs.uvigo.es/ssl/actas1997/05/Carvalho.pdf |archive-date=2008-03-07 |url-status=live}}</ref>
This Portuguese spoken in Uruguay is also referred by its speakers, depending on the region that they live, as ''Bayano'', ''Riverense'', ''Fronterizo'', ''Brasilero'' or simply ''Portuñol''.

==Mutual comprehension==
The different [[dialect]]s and [[Accent (sociolinguistics)|accent]]s do not block cross-understanding among the educated. Meanwhile, the [[basilect]]s have diverged more. The unity of the language is reflected in the fact that early imported [[sound film]]s were [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbed]] into one version for the entire Portuguese-speaking market. Currently, films not originally in Portuguese (usually [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] productions) are dubbed separately into two accents: one for Portugal and one for Brazil; the accent used for Portugal is also the one used for Portuguese-speaking Africa and Macau, and now even in East Timor, except using regionalisms. When dubbing an African character in cartoons and TV and film productions, Portuguese people usually mimic an Angolan accent, as it is also commonly seen as the African accent of Portuguese. The popularity of ''[[telenovela]]s'' and music familiarizes the speakers with other accents of Portuguese.

[[Prescription and description|Prescription]] and a common cultural and literary tradition, among other factors, have contributed to the formation of a Standard Portuguese, which is the preferred form in formal settings, and is considered indispensable in academic and literary writing, the media, etc. This standard tends to disregard local grammatical, phonetic and lexical peculiarities, and draws certain extra features from the commonly acknowledged [[wiktionary:canon|canon]], preserving (for example) certain verb tenses considered "bookish" or archaic in most other dialects. Portuguese has two official written standards, (i) [[Brazilian Portuguese]] (used chiefly in [[Brazil]]) and (ii) [[European Portuguese]] (used in [[Portugal]] and [[Angola]], [[Cape Verde]], [[East Timor]], [[Guinea-Bissau]], [[Macau]], [[Mozambique]], and [[São Tomé and Príncipe]]). The written standards slightly differ in spelling and vocabulary, and are legally regulated. Unlike the written language, however, there is no spoken-Portuguese official standard, but the European Portuguese reference pronunciation is the educated speech of [[Lisbon]].

== List of dialects ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|  colspan="2" | '''[[European Portuguese]]''' || colspan="2" | '''[[Portuguese language in the Americas|American Portuguese]]''' || '''[[African Portuguese]]''' || '''[[Portuguese language in Asia]] and [[Oceania]]'''
|- 
| '''[[European Portuguese]]''' || Close [[West Iberian languages|WIL]] || '''[[Brazilian Portuguese]]''' || Other countries and contact dialects || ||
|-
|
*Central-Southern
**Alentejano
**Algarvian
**Baixo-Beirão, Alto-Alentejano
**Estremenho
*** Lisboeta
*** Coimbrese
*[[Nortenho|Northern]]
**Alto-Minhoto
**Beirão
**Transmontano 
*Insular
**Azorean 
**Madeiran
||
*[[Galician language|Galician]]
*[[Eonavian]]
*[[Fala language|Fala]]
*[[Barranquenho]]
*[[Mirandese]]
*[[Asturian language|Asturian]]
*[[Leonese language|Leonese]] 
||
*Northeastern group
**[[North coast Portuguese|North Coast]]
**Baiano
**[[Central northeastern Portuguese|Northeastern]] (''nordestino'')
**Recifense
*Central group
**[[Mineiro]]
**Sertanejo
**[[Caipira dialect|Caipira]]
*Rio de Janeiro group
**Fluminense
**Carioca
***Brasiliense
*Southern group
**Paulista (includes ''[[Paulistano dialect|Paulistano]]'')
**Southern (''sulista'')
**[[Florianopolitan dialect|Florianopolitan]]
**[[Gaúcho dialect|Gaúcho]]
*Northern
**Northern (''nortista'')
**Amazon Range
||
*[[Uruguayan Portuguese]]
*[[Portuñol]]/Portunhol
*[[Papiamento]]
||
*[[Angolan Portuguese]]
**Benguelense
**Luandense
**Sulista
*[[Cape Verdean Portuguese]]
*[[Guinean Portuguese]]
*[[Mozambican Portuguese]]
*[[São Tomean Portuguese]]
*[[Annobonese Creole]]
||
*[[Indo-Portuguese creoles]]
*[[East Timorese Portuguese]]
*[[Goan Portuguese]]
*[[Macanese Portuguese]]
*[[Kristang language]]
*[[Macanese Patois]]
|-
|}

== See also ==
*[[Portuguese language#Dialects, accents and varieties|Dialects]]
*[[Portuguese phonology]]
*[[Galician language|Galician]]
*[[Fala language|Fala]]

== Notes ==
According to researcher Felisberto Dias in the article ''Origens do Português Micaelense'',<ref name="auto" /> the dialects from [[Beira Baixa Province|Beira Baixa]] and Northern [[Portalegre District|Portalegre]] (Northern Portalegre dialect is a variety of Beira Baixa dialect to south of Tagus river), Far Western [[Algarve]], [[Madeira Island|Madeira]] and [[São Miguel Island]] descend from the old dialect of Beira Baixa where in the 12th and 13th centuries there was some settlement by people that came mainly from [[Southern France]] ([[Occitan language|Occitan]] speakers) and also some from Northern France ([[Oïl languages]] speakers) that influenced the phonetics of the [[Galician-Portuguese]] dialect that was spoken in this region (very depopulated in the wars between Christians and Muslims). Some place names (toponyms) in Beira Baixa and Northern Alto-Alentejo like Proença-a-Velha, Proença-a-Nova (from Old Occitan name Proença - [[Provence]]), Ródão (from [[Rhodanus]] river), Fratel, Tolosa (from the Occitan name of [[Toulouse]]), Nisa (from Niça, Occitan name of [[Nice]]) testify a Southern France (Occitan) origin of those settlers. Those people came in the background of the [[Christian Reconquest]] (''[[Reconquista]]'') and Repopulation (''Repovoamento'') of frontier regions and were organized and helped by the military orders of the [[Knights Templar]] and [[Knights Hospitaller]] (ancestor of today's [[Order of Malta]]) among others. With the end of [[Christian Reconquest]] in Portugal (1249) speakers of this dialect came to settle in western Algarve.
When, at the beginning of the 14th century, the [[Knights Templar]] were abolished, in Portugal they were replaced by the [[Order of Christ (Portugal)|Order of Christ]] (''[[Ordem de Cristo]]'') and many of their members were the same the only difference being that it started to be a Portuguese Crown military order. 
Later, when [[Madeira]] and [[Azores]] were discovered, [[Order of Christ (Portugal)|Order of Christ]] had an important role in the settlement of the islands. [[Gonçalo Velho Cabral]] (?-before 1500) was a knight of this military order, he was from [[Beira Baixa Province]] ([[Castelo Branco District]]) and had the lordship of several lands in Beira Baixa. He was appointed hereditary landowner responsible for administering Crown lands of São Miguel and Santa Maria islands and commissioned by [[Henry, the Navigator]] (1394-1460) (then Governor of the [[Order of Christ (Portugal)|Order of Christ]]) to settle with people the then unpopulated islands. Many people that went to São Miguel Island came from the lands where he was lord and spoke the ancestor of the dialect of São Miguel island.
Summing Felisberto Dias research, São Miguel island dialect ''(Micaelense'') is the result of the settlement, in the 15th and 16th centuries, of people that were mainly from Beira Baixa and spoke a dialect that was a descendant from a [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]] phonetically influenced [[Galician-Portuguese]] dialect that formed in the Middle Ages (people from other regions of Portugal and outside of Portugal also went to settle but were assimilated by the majority).
Contrary to a very diffused but wrong idea, São Miguel island dialect is not the result of any kind of 15th century French settlement in the island (from which there is no proof).
The other islands in the Azores were largely populated by Portuguese from other regions. A small minority of [[Flemish people|Flemish]] were present in the initial settlement of Central Group islands of the Azores, mostly in [[Faial Island|Faial]], and some also in [[Pico Island|Pico]] and [[São Jorge Island|São Jorge]], but were rapidly surpassed in number and assimilated by the Portuguese settlers some decades after the initial settlement of the islands in the 15th century. Because of that, Flemish (southern dialect of [[Dutch language|Dutch]]) did not phonetically influenced the Portuguese dialects of these islands and on the contrary, Faial island dialect is close to the dialect that is the basis of standard Portuguese.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Cintra |first=Luís F. Lindley |date=1971 |title=Nova proposta de classificação dos dialectos galego-portugueses |url=http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/biblioteca/novaproposta.pdfu |journal=Boletim de Filologia |language=pt |volume=22 |pages=81–116 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102180041/http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/biblioteca/novaproposta.pdfu |archive-date=2006-11-02}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070428101735/http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/mapa02.html Dialects of Portuguese] at the website of the [[Instituto Camões]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070103190627/http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/mapa06.html Audio samples of the dialects of Portugal] at the website of the Instituto Camões
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061028061438/http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/hlp/geografia/mapa07.html Audio samples of the dialects from outside Europe] at the website of the Instituto Camões
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080930002413/http://www.agal-gz.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=15 Audio samples of Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, and Galician] at the website of the Associaçom Galega da Língua
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070613094633/http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/cpp2/index.html A Pronúncia do Português Europeu] at the website of the Instituto Camões
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070623124241/http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/tempolingua/13.html Isoglosses of the main dialects in Portugal] at the website of the Instituto Camões
<!--dead link:* [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:PqQlujkVKbMJ:www.anep.edu.uy/actualidad/srp07032201.pdf+http://www.anep.edu.uy/actualidad/srp07032201.pdf&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=br Portugués del Uruguay y educación bilingüe]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}-->

{{Portuguese dialects and creoles by continent}}
{{Language varieties}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portuguese Dialects}}
[[Category:Portuguese dialects| ]]