Can most Portuguese speak Spanish?
But do the Portuguese speak Spanish? Or do they at least understand? The short answer is no; the Portuguese don’t speak Spanish. The Spanish language is the third most common foreign language in Portugal and spoken, to a certain extent, by 7-10\% of the Portuguese population.
Is Portuguese harder to learn than Spanish?
For most native English speakers, Spanish is slightly easier to learn than Portuguese. This is primarily a matter of access. Since Spanish is spoken by over 400 million people worldwide (compared to just over 200 million for Portuguese), it’s easier to find Spanish resources and media for learning or practising.
Is the nasalization important in the Portuguese language?
Either way, it is an important feature of Portuguese language, as there are many pairs of words that the only audible difference is the nasalization itself. “ñ”, “n”, and “m” are nasal consonants not nasal vowels. Yes. But also, Spanish does have non-phonemic nasal vowels, that speakers do not perceive as nasal.
What are nasal vowels in Portuguese?
Nasal vowels. Nasal vowels are sometimes (but not always) marked by a ~ sign, as in irmã (“sister”), coração (“heart”), nações (“nations”). Nasalization can actually change the meaning of a word: pau (not nasal) means “wood”, but pão (the same vowel sound, but nasal) means “bread”. Although nasals might seem exotic,…
Why do Portuguese vowels come before the N and M sounds?
It’s the same thing in Portuguese — vowels that come before an n or m are always nasal, even if they aren’t marked by a ~ sign: entre (“between”), entender (“to understand”), implicante, eles compram (“they buy”). In these cases, the n or m sound shouldn’t actually be pronounced, it’s just a signal that the preceeding vowel is nasal.
What happens when you nasalize vowels?
When you nasalize vowels, they change their vowel quality a little bit. The one that does this the most, to my ear, is nasal [a]. It changes from a pure open Spanish/Italian aah to more of a closed nasal uhh sound. The best example of this is Copacab a na.