History UsefulNotes / PortugueseLanguage

És, a um tempo, esplendor e sepultura."'' [[note]]"Last flower of Latium, rustic and beautiful, You are, at the same time, splendour and grave."[[/note]]

* LH: a palatized L, it doesn’t really seem to exist in English. It’s pronounced by making an L sound while flatting the tip of the tongue against the palate.

* ele/ela/você[[note]]despite being semantically a second-person singular pronoun, it's grammatically third-person, so verbs agreeing with it are always in the third-person singular[[/note]]: canta, bebe, parte

Gender is a bit harder, but not as much as in some other languages, like [[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage German]]. All nouns are either masculine or feminine, and guessing then might be a bit tricky. As rule of thumb, nouns ending in ''–o'' (like ''braço'', ''arm'') are masculine, and nouns ending in ''–a'' (like ''cadeira'', ''chair'') are feminine. For nouns with other endings, you mostly have to learn by heart. A good trick is to learn the noun with its definite article (''o'' being the masculine article, and ''a'' the feminine), since it always agrees in gender with the noun; so ''a flor'' (the flower) is feminine, and ''o amor'' (love) is masculine. Other words that also agree in grammatical gender with the noun, like adjectives, numerals and adjective pronouns [[note]]pronouns that act as adjectives, it is, accompany, denote and modify nouns[[/note]] can also help to identify a noun's gender; in "Esta atividade é muito divertida" (this activity is very fun), it is possible to know that "atividade" (activity) is a feminine noun because the demonstrative pronoun "esta" (this) and the adjective "divertida" (fun) are also feminine.

Finally, many nouns denoting humans and some animals agree with the person or animal’s sex, so ''menino'' (boy) is masculine and ''menina'' (girl) is feminine, for example. Nevertheless some nouns denoting people and most nouns denoting animal species have fixed genders. The word ''criança'' (child) is always feminine regardless of the child’s sex, and so is the word ''girafa'' (giraffe). Some other nouns have a fixed form regardless of the subject's sex, but show their gender through modifiers in the sentence, like adjectives and articles. So, the word "estudante" (student), can agree in both genders without changing form, but "o estudante" is always masculine, and "a estudante" is always feminine. Also, when a noun denotes a group with masculine and feminine individuals, it takes the masculine gender. So ''os gatos'' means either ''the (male) cats'' or ''the (male and female) cats'', while ''as gatas'' means only ''the (female) cats''.

Gender is a bit harder, but not as much as in some other languages, like [[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage German]]. All nouns are either masculine or feminine, and guessing then might be a bit tricky. As rule of thumb, nouns ending in ''–o'' (like ''braço'', ''arm'') are masculine, and nouns ending in ''–a'' (like ''cadeira'', ''chair'') are feminine. For nouns with other endings, you mostly have to learn by heart. A good trick is to learn the noun with its definite article (''o'' being the masculine article, and ''a'' the feminine), since it always agrees in gender with the noun; so ''a flor'' (the flower) is feminine, and ''o amor'' (love) is masculine.

Finally, many nouns denoting humans and some animals agree with the person or animal’s sex, so ''menino'' (boy) is masculine and ''menina'' (girl) is feminine, for example. Nevertheless some nouns denoting people and most nouns denoting animal species have fixed genders. The word ''criança'' (child) is always feminine regardless of the child’s sex, and so is the word ''girafa'' (giraffe). Also, when a noun denotes a group with masculine and feminine individuals, it takes the masculine gender. So ''os gatos'' means either ''the (male) cats'' or ''the (male and female) cats'', while ''as gatas'' means only ''the (female) cats''.

Fala is very close to Galician (and Portuguese) and probably has its origins with Galician settlers sent in during the Middle Ages to defend the region from the Portuguese to the west and the Moors to the south. It was disputed between the Leonese and the Portuguese during the Middle Ages, it was isolated from the rest of Leon and there were frequent contacts between the region and Portugal. It has some traits from Leonese, but remarkably very little for its region due to its isolation. Some philologists state the language has a strong relationship with the Portuguese-language dialects of the Portuguese municipality of Sabugal. It currently has no official protection, but it is vigorously spoken by the local population.

Another, lesser known but related to the latter, controversy is that of the Fala[[note]]also called Xalimego[[/note]], spoken in Valverde del Fresno (''Valverdi du Fresnu''), Eljas (''As Ellas'') and San Martín de Trevejo (''Sa Martín de Trebellu'')[[note]]inhabitants in Valverde usually call it ''valverdeiru''; those in Eljas, ''lagarteiru''; and, those in Trevejo, ''mañegu''[[/note]], all three towns part of the traditional Leonese region but isolated from the remainder of it and very close to the Portuguese border, and Eonavian[[note]]also known as Galician-Asturian and, for its native speakers, Fala (do not confuse this with the other Fala)[[/note]] spoken in the westernmost part of the Spanish region of Asturias, contiguous with Galicia.

It influenced Papiamento (a creole language spoken in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao with great similarities to Cape Verdean and Guinea-Bissau creoles) and Saramaccan (spoken by the Saramaka tribe - about 90,000 people, 58,000 of which in Suriname -, and has a closely related language in Matawai, a tribe which splintered from the Saramakans after they signed a separate peace deal with the Dutch colonists).

In Portugal, it is currently extinct because of the Inquisition and because it was so similar to Portuguese, so it was absorbed by it. The language survived throughout the world, but is now virtually extinct, only spoken by about 2,000 people in limited liturgical contexts; it was either absorbed into or replaced by Judaeo-Spanish, rather like Judaeo-Aragonese and Judaeo-Catalan.

!Judaeo-Portuguese

An opposing view is that Galician and Portuguese are, indeed, the same language, with Galician forming a third variety of Portuguese, alongside European[[note]]the one spoken in Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking regions, that is[[/note]] and Brazilian Portuguese. This is known as ''reintegracionismo'' ("reintegrationism") or, less commonly, ''Lusismo'' ("Lusism", after the ancient Roman province and pre-Roman people of Lusitania, often stated to be the ancestors of the Portuguese), supported by the ''Associaçom Galega da Língua'' ("Galician Association of the Language", AGAL, which regulates its own standard of Galician), the ''Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa'' ("Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language", AGLP, which defends a standard very close to Portuguese) and Galician nationalist politicians, parties and movements. ''Binormativistas'' base themselves on the example of [[UsefulNotes/NorwegianLanguageStruggle Norwegian]], where ''bokmål'' and ''nynorsk'' are used and taught simultaneously on official contexts, while each person chooses which standard suits them best.

Both ''isolacionistas'' and ''reintegracionistas'' defend different ortographic norms. ''Isolacionistas'' defend the RAG norms, which tend to, well, "isolate" Galician from Portuguese - and make it closer to Spanish. ''Reintegracionistas'' defend a standard closer to Portuguese, and especially to the European variety - i.e., to "reintegrate" Galician into Portuguese. The latter is divided into two factions, which differ on how hard they want to include Galician in Portuguese: AGAL defenders make concessions to regional ideosincracies (seen right in their name, for instance: ''associaçom'' instead of the standard Portuguese ''associação''), while AGLP defenders wish for a pure and simple integration of Galician to Portuguese. ''Binormativismo'' ("binormativism"), defended by AGAL, defends that both norms of Galician can co-exist side by side, with both norms being made equally official

Common understanding has it that Galician and Portuguese are different languages, albeit very closely related and to some degree mutually intelligible, forming part of "Galaico-Portuguese" subfamily of the Ibero-Romance family of languages, which split from a common language (also called "Galaico-Portuguese") during the Middle Ages. This position is known as ''isolacionismo'' ("isolationism") or, more derisively, ''castelhanismo'' ("castillianism", after "Castillian" which is another name for the Spanish language) and is officially accepted by the Spanish goverment, the Galician regional government and the ''Real Academia Galega'' ("Royal Galician Academy", RAG, which is considered the official regulator of the Galician language by the Spanish and Galician governments).

An opposing view is that Galician and Portuguese are, indeed, the same language, with Galician forming a third variety of Portuguese, alongside European[[note]]the one spoken in Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking regions, that is[[/note]] and Brazilian Portuguese. This is known as ''reintegracionismo'' ("reintegrationism") or, less commonly, ''Lusismo'' ("Lusism", after the ancient Roman province and pre-Roman people of Lusitania, often stated to be the ancestors of the Portuguese), supported by the ''Associaçom Galega da Língua'' ("Galician Association of the Language", AGAL, which regulates its own standard of Galician), the ''Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa'' ("Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language", AGLP, which defends a standard very close to Portuguese) and Galician nationalist politicians, parties and movements.

Both ''isolacionistas'' and ''reintegracionistas'' defend different norms. ''Isolacionistas'' defend the RAG norms, which tend to, well, "isolate" Galician from Portuguese - and make it closer to Spanish. ''Reintegracionistas'' defend a standard closer to Portuguese, and especially to the European variety - i.e., to "reintegrate" Galician into Portuguese. The latter is divided into two factions, which differ on how hard they want to include Galician in Portuguese: AGAL defenders make concessions to regional ideosincracies (seen right in their name, for instance: ''associaçom'' instead of the standard Portuguese ''associação''), while AGLP defenders wish for a pure and simple integration of Galician to Portuguese.

Eonavian has influences from both Galician and Asturian[[note]]part of the Astur-Leonese language group, alongside Leonese and Mirandese, the latter spoken in the northeastern-most point of Portugal. Cantabrian and Extremaduran are dialects with influences from both Asturian and Castillian, paralleling Eonavian ''vis-à-vis'' Galician and Asturian[[/note]], the languages which surround the region where it is spoken. It is officially recognised as a separate language[[note]]under the name "Galaico-Asturian"[[/note]] and protected by the Asturias regional government.

There’s actually another diacritic, the diaresis, the two little dots above ''ü''. It was used in the digraphs qu and gu, to mark that the u was to be pronounced. The diaresis has fallen out of use though, so, on the good side it’s one less diacritic. On the bad side, you have to learn every case independently if you want to know when the u is pronounced and when it’s not.

Portuguese also has a second set of treatment pronouns: ''o senhor'', for males, ''a senhora'' for females, and their plural counterparts, ''os senhores'' and ''as senhoras''. Those are more formal than ''você'' and ''vocês'', and are generally used when talking to older people, superiors, and teachers. These pronouns are rather tricky to use though, and some people might even be offended by them, so, in any case, sticking to ''você'' might be the best choice whenever you feel uncertain.

Another interesting trend is using the noun phrase ''a gente'' (literally, the people) with the meaning of ''we''. This is very similar to the way the pronoun ''on'' is often used in French.

Eonavian has influences from both Galician and Asturian[[note]]part of the Astur-Leonese language group, alongside Leonese and Mirandese, the latter spoken in the northeastern-most point of Portugal. Cantabrian and Extremaduran are dialects with influences from both Asturian and Castillian, paralleling Eonavian ''vis-à-vis'' Galician and Asturian[[/note]], the languages which surround the region where it is spoken. It is officially recognised and protected by the Asturias regional government.

The controversy lies on whether both are dialects of Galician (and, thus, Portuguese) or two separate languages inside the Galaico-Portuguese group, alongside Galician and Portuguese. Regarding Fala, its speakers affirm a separate linguistic identity and resist implementing a standard ortography based on Galician. Regarding Eonavian, the dispute is whether it is the northeastern varieties of Galician (with some influence from Astur-Leonese), a language on its own, or a transitional dialect between Galician and Asturian. People in Galicia (along with some linguists in Portugal) believe in the first hypothesis, while people in Asturias believe in either the second or the third (along with a mixed identity for where it is spoken).

An opposing view is that Galician and Portuguese are, indeed, the same language, with Galician forming a third variety of Portuguese, alongside European[[note]]the one spoken in Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking regions, that is[[/note]] and Brazilian Portuguese. This is known as ''Lusismo'' ("Lusism", after the ancient Roman province and pre-Roman people of Lusitania, often stated to be the ancestors of the Portuguese) or ''reintegracionismo'' ("reintegrationism"), supported by the ''Associaçom Galega da Língua'' ("Galician Association of the Language", AGAL, which regulates its own standard of Galician), the ''Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa'' ("Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language", AGLP, which defends a standard very close to Portuguese) and Galician nationalist politicians, parties and movements.

Eonavian has influences from both Galician and Asturian[[note]]part of the Astur-Leonese language group, alongside Cantabrian, Leonese and Mirandese, the latter spoken in the northeastern-most point of Portugal. Extremaduran is a dialect with influences from both Asturian and Castillian, paralleling Eonavian ''vis-à-vis'' Galician and Asturian[[/note]], the languages which surround the region where it is spoken. It is officially recognised and protected by the Asturias regional government.

Eonavian has influences from both Galician and Asturian[[note]]part of the Astur-Leonese language group, alongside Leonese and Mirandese, the latter spoken in the northeastern-most point of Portugal. Cantabrian and Extremaduran are dialects with influences from both Asturian and Castillian, paralleling Eonavian ''vis-à-vis'' Galician and Asturian[[/note]], the languages which surround the region where it is spoken. It is officially recognised and protected by the Asturias regional government.

Eonavian has influences from both Galician and Asturian (part of the Astur-Leonese language group, alongside Leonese and Mirandese, the latter spoken in the northeastern-most point of Portugal), the languages which surround the region where it is spoken. It is officially recognised and protected by the Asturias regional government.

Another, lesser known but related to the latter, controversy is that of the Fala[[note]]also called Xalimego[[/note]], spoken in Valverde del Fresno (Valverdi du Fresnu), Eljas (As Ellas) and San Martín de Trevejo (Sa Martín de Trebellu), all three towns part of the traditional Leonese region but isolated from the remainder of it and very close to the Portuguese border, and Eonavian[[note]]also known as Galician-Asturian and, for its native speakers, Fala (do not confuse this with the other Fala)[[/note]] spoken in the westernmost part of the Spanish region of Asturias, contiguous with Galicia.

Fala is very close to Galician (and Portuguese) and probably has its origins with Galician settlers sent in during the Middle Ages to defend the region from the Portuguese to the west and the Moors to the south. It was disputed between the Leonese and the Portuguese during the Middle Ages, it was isolated from the rest of Leon and there were frequent contacts between the region and Portugal. It has some traits from Leonese, but remarkably very little for its region due to its isolation. It currently has no official protection, but it is vigorously spoken by the local population.

Both ''isolacionistas'' and ''reintegracionistas'' defend different norms. ''Isolacionistas'' defend the RAG norms, which tend to, well, isolate Galician from Portuguese - and make it closer to Spanish. ''Reintegracionistas'' defend a standard closer to Portuguese, and especially to the European variety - i.e., to "reintegrate" Galician into Portuguese. The latter is divided into two factions, which differ on how hard they want to include Galician in Portuguese: AGAL defenders make concessions to regional ideosincracies (seen right in their name, for instance: ''associaçom'' instead of the standard Portuguese ''associação''), while AGLP defenders wish for a pure and simple integration of Galician to Portuguese.