Dialects of Portugal

The Portuguese of Portugal has many dialects. The most common distinction is between the north and the south. I will identify a few features that distinguish the dialects of Portugal.

In the north of Portugal, the orthographic v is pronounced [b] in word-initial position. This is also the case in Spanish. For example, the word vinho (wine) is pronounced with a word-initial [b] in the north and a word-initial [v] in the south.

The numbers cinco (five) and seis (six) are pronounced with a dental fricative in the north and south of Portugal. In a region north of Lisbon, however, between the north and south, the first segment is an apical alveolar fricative similar to the first segment of sheep in English.

The word chapéu (hat) is pronounced with an affricate in the north and with a fricative in the south. The affricate is the common pronunciation of the combination ch in English, and the fricative is the common pronunciation of the ch in French.

The combination ou is a diphthong in the north and a monophthong in the south. For example, the words couro (leather) and coro (choir) are distinguished in the north but not in the south. In the south both have a mid back rounded tense vowel.

The combination ei is also a diphthong in the north and a monophthong in the south. The result is that leite (milk) is pronounced with the diphthong [eI] in the north and the monophthong [e] in the south. In the area of Lisbon this combination of letters is pronounced with the diphthong of caixa (box). In this case the first component of the diphthong is a low central vowel.

A number of features serve to distinguish the dialects of Portugal. These include the monophthongization of ou and ei in the south and the substitution of [b] for [v] in the north. In the area of Lisbon, ei is a diphthong, but unlike in the north, the first component of the diphthong is a low vowel and not a mid vowel. As is the case with Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese also has a variety of dialects.