Remarks upon Haver, "To Have " Exercise on the Verb "To Have" Conjugation of the Verbs Ser and Estar . Second Regular Conjugation in " ER Conjugation of the Verb Defender Third Regular Conjugation in "IR" Conjugation of the Verb Applaudir XI.-ON VERBS (CONTINUED): IRREGULAR VERRS Conjugation of Caber, Crêr, Dizer, Fazer. Conjugation of Lêr, Poder, Querer, Requerer Conjugation of Saber, Trazer, Valer, Vêr. Conjugation of Conduzir, Ir, Pedir, Rir A GRAMMAR OF THE PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE. PART THE FIRST. CHAPTER I. PRONUNCIATION. Sounds of the Letters in the Alphabet. THE Portuguese Alphabet has twenty-five letters, pronounced approximately in English as follows: Sounds of the Vowels A, E, I, O, U, Y. A. A carries the sound of ah, given to it in the alphabet, into most words: thus casa, house, is pronounced as if written cah-sah. It has, however, a closer sound in the first syllable of such words as capital, capital, which is pronounced as in English. E. E, in the majority of words, has the sound of English a in fate thus pé, foot, and fé, faith, must be pronounced as if written pay, fay. But it has a close sound in such words as rêde, net; parêde, wall; which it is impossible properly to render by a corresponding sound in English. I, Y. These vowels are pronounced like the English e in me; and the words visivel, visible; festivo, festive; and systema, system, would read as if written ve-sé-vel, fes-té-vo, sestá-mah. 0. O is sounded as in the English word home, in such words as dó, compassion, and momo, grimace; and closer in the words redondo, round; fonte, fountain, which should be pronounced as if written ra-dón-do, fón-ta. U. U, pronounced like oo in the alphabet, retains that sound in syllables. Tumulo, grave, and ruma, a heap, should therefore be sounded as if written tóo-moo-lo, róo-mah. Sounds of the Consonants. B. The pronunciation of this letter is nearly the same as in English. C. C, when placed before a, o, u, and the consonants 1, r, has the hard sound of English k; before e and i it has the sound of s. It has also the sibilant sound of s before a, o, and u if marked with a cedilla, thus ç: the words caça, chase, and baço, spleen, must therefore be pronounced as if written cah-sah and bah-so. C before h is sounded like ch in the English words charm, march, though somewhat softer: thus chiste, a jest, and chocho, corrupt, would be sounded very nearly as an Englishman would pronounce them. Where there are two c's the first is hard like k, and the second soft or hard according to the letter which follows it; thus accidente, accident, is pronounced ak-se-dén-te ; and acclamar, to proclaim, is pronounced as if written ak-kla-már. D, F Are pronounced as in English. G. G, like C, when placed before a, o, u, or any of the consonants, is hard: thus, the g in gosto, taste; gordo, fat; and grito, a cry, is pronounced as it would be in English. Before e, i, and y, the g is soft like j. H. This letter, found at the commencement of many words, is nevertheless quite silent. It will be found in combination with the letters C, L, and N, to which the learner is referred. J. J has the same sound as in English. K. Although placed in the alphabet, because used before certain foreign names, this letter is not Portuguese. L. I possesses the same sound as in English. Lh is liquid, having nearly the sound of ly in such words as filho, son, child. It corresponds with the Italian gl, and the Portuguese filho and the Italian figlio are therefore pronounced alike. M. M, when placed before a vowel of which it forms a syllable, is pronounced as in English: thus macho, a male; menino, a child, must be sounded as if written mah-cho, ma-né-no. It is also sounded like English m at the beginning or in the middle of words after a, i, o, u: thus amar, to love; impar, uneven; omnipotente, omnipotent; umbróso, shady, should be pronounced as if written ah-már, im-pár, omne-po-tén-te, oom-brós-so. But when the m is found at the end of words or after the letter e (with few exceptions), it has a nasal sound, familiar enough to those who are acquainted with French, but which has no equivalent in English. N. The rules given above for the pronunciation of Mare equally applicable to the consonant N. |