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Portuguese Language Question

Kohflot From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Posted (7 years 6 months 3 weeks 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 636 times:

I've wondered for a while now..

In the Portuguese language, when there's an O after an A with a tilde, is the O really pronounced as an N?

For instance, is Sao Paulo (with a tilde over the a in Sao) really pronounced San Paulo?

6 replies: All unread, jump to last

Santosdumont From Brazil, joined Dec 2003, 1201 posts, RR: 4
Reply 1, posted (7 years 6 months 3 weeks 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 630 times:

Quoting Kohflot (Thread starter):
Sao Paulo (with a tilde over the a in Sao) really pronounced San Paulo?

Not exactly. The a with the tilde is pronounced like a nasalized "a" (the "a" sound moved to the back, behind the teeth)

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HiFi From Brazil, joined Apr 2005, 192 posts, RR: 0
Reply 2, posted (7 years 6 months 3 weeks 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 627 times:

nope.
but I wouldn't really know how to show you what the correct pronounciation is. it's a nasal sound, where you pronounce something similar to the 'san' you are referring to, but you add an 'o' sound at the end..

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Santosdumont From Brazil, joined Dec 2003, 1201 posts, RR: 4
Reply 3, posted (7 years 6 months 3 weeks 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 623 times:

Try saying "ow" (as in "now"), but move it to the back, behind the teeth.

"Pursuit Of Truth No Matter Where It Lies" -- Metallica

ScarletHarlot From Canada, joined Jul 2003, 4673 posts, RR: 59
Reply 4, posted (7 years 6 months 3 weeks 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 614 times:

From Mr. Harlot trying to teach me Portuguese, I can almost guarantee you that you will never be able to say it properly unless you learn how very young. Smile

The way I would try to pronounce it is like "sow", as in a pig, but with the "ow" very nasal. Probably isn't quite right but it's the best I can do.

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Kohflot From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 5, posted (7 years 6 months 3 weeks 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 610 times:

This sounds like rolling R's in the Spanish language.. something the rest of us just can't do very easily.. heh

MAH4546 From Sweden, joined Jan 2001, 31119 posts, RR: 74
Reply 6, posted (7 years 6 months 3 weeks 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 601 times:

Quoting ScarletHarlot (Reply 4):
The way I would try to pronounce it is like "sow", as in a pig, but with the "ow" very nasal. Probably isn't quite right but it's the best I can do.

That's how I pronounce it. Portuguese nasilization is very difficult to pronounce, especially when the only difference between two words - like vovï¿½ and vovï¿½ (grandma and grandpa) is a simple matter of open/closed vowel sounds. Nasalization in some other languages - like Hindi - is fairly easy for an English speaker - just pronounce the letter "n" softly after the vowel (like "kursiyaa'n", which means chairs in Hindi). In Portuguese, it gets more complicated than that.

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