As a Romance language that extended its reach across the globe in the era of exploration, the Portuguese language is spoken in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Currently, it is the fastest-growing language globally with about 215 million native speakers. It has also influenced English and other Western languages although it took in its own share of influences during the Middle Ages.
The origin of the Portuguese language stretches back to the 9th century, when Germanic, Celtic, and Latin languages, under the influence of Arabic and other local and foreign dialects, were spoken by the occupants of the Iberian Peninsula. The primary parent language from which Portuguese evolved is believed to be the Vulgar Latin variant used by inhabitants of the region at the time.
The first literary records of written Portuguese date from the 12th century. Today, a standardized version of the language is spoken officially in Portugal and other nations, such as Mozambique, Angola, and Brazil, among others.
A rich, complex history surrounds the Portuguese language since its creation in the 9th century. Following its use in written records during the 12th century, the language, under the influence of the Celtic, Germanic, and Arabic languages, began a new phase.
However, when the Portuguese empire bloomed through exploration and colonization in the 15th and 16th centuries, the need for a standard form became necessary. This variant would come to be known as Classical Portuguese until further urbanization and modernization occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries, influencing Portugal, its culture, and colonies throughout the world.
It takes 600 hours to learn Portuguese as an English speaker.
There are a few words and phrases that can be learned quickly as in introduction to Portuguese. However, if you need content writing in Portuguese, you might need a professional to help you out!
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Portuguese is believed to be the fastest-growing European language in the world after English. This is due to the constantly growing population of Brazil.
Only 5% of the world’s Portuguese speakers reside in Portugal. The majority reside in Brazil while others are found in other countries in Africa and South America. The city of São Paulo has the highest number of Portuguese speakers in the world.
The longest Portuguese word has 29 letters: anticonstitucionalíssimamente. It means to do something in an unorthodox way.
Portuguese is considered a Romance language, along with French, Italian, and Spanish.
Portuguese is a fairly easy language for English speakers to master due to its origin as a Romance language and thus its similarities to other Romance languages.
One of the major misconceptions surrounding the language is that Portuguese is another variant of Spanish. Both languages trace their origins to the Iberian Peninsula and Vulgar Latin, so naturally, there are similarities between them. However, they are distinct and independent of one another.
Some experts believe that three months is ample time to learn a language. However, since learning speeds differ from person to person, some might need more practice and time to achieve higher fluency.
Portuguese is most closely related to Galician, a language spoken in the northwestern region of Spain. Also, Portuguese has some similarities to other Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian, and French, as they all evolved from Latin.