Vogais (VOWELS)The pronunciation of the Portuguese letters are completely different than English letters, a vowel is a speech sound made by the vocal folds, and it is also a type of letter in the Portuguese alphabet.All the Portuguese words have vowels not just that, every syllable is necessarily has single vowel.To pronounce the vowels correctly, we can divide them into some different kindsThere are vowels and semivowels in Portuguese language. They are 5 letters (A, E, I, O, U)
1- (The mouth is open or slightly ajar. The vowels can be)Orais: oral vowelsWhen the air comes out only through the mouth.ExamplesA – Amor whcih means loveE – Estável whcih means stableI – Idéia whcih means ideiaO – Ontem whcih means yesterdayU – União whcih means unity
Nasais: Nasal vowelswhen the air comes out through the mouth and through the nasal cavitiesExamplesà – Fã whcih means Fan
Ê – Dentes whcih means TeethÎ – Lindo whcih means BeautifulÔ – Bonde whcih means TramÛ – Nunca whcih means Never
Átonas: the unstressed vowelspronounced with less intensity. The letter is unstressed, we can have more than unstressed vowel within aBall = Bola
Tônicas : the stressed vowelspronounced with more intensityThe letter is stressed, we can only have one stressed vowel within a wordCake = Bolo
2- Vowels related to tone
Abertas (open vowels)So the vowels are opened and we pronounce them with an open mouthFor examplesé – Pé whcih means Foot
A – Lata whcih means CanÓ – Pó whcih means Powder
Fechadas (closed vowels)So the vowels are closed and we pronounce them closing our mouthFor examplesé – Més whcih means Month
u – Luta whcih means FightO – Amor whcih means Love
Reduzidas (Reduced vowels)So the vowels are reduced so we pronounce them in an unfinished form
ExamplesO – dedo whcih means FingerE – Ave whcih means BirdE – Gente whcih means People
Semivogais (semivowels)Sometimes, when the vowels (E, I, U) come together, they split the word into 2 syllables, the first vowel is the main vowel and the second one changes to semivowel.examplesU – Sau-dade whcih means To miss
A – história whcih means History – story
E – Série whcih means Series
