Consonant Sounds and the European Portuguese Alphabet

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• Thank you for doing this video. The complexities of vowel pronunciation often means this area gets largely overlooked especially the D and T which I have found a little tricky particularly distinguishing between the two in spoken Portuguese. However, I have a question regarding the D. It seems to me that there are 2 pronunciations.. one that brings the tongue to the back of the upper teeth as Joel described; and a second where the tongue comes forward in front of the teeth (almost like sticking your tongue out). I have noticed it particularly in words ending in -ado / -ada and most notably in the expression ‘de nada’ where the first D is touching the back of the upper teeth and for the second D, the tongue comes completely forward. The extent that it is placed forward of the teeth varies from speaker to speaker… sometimes quite considerably. Is this peculiar to the Algarve region; or is the speaker just being particularly sincere in saying ‘you’re welcome’? I would be interested to learn your thoughts. Thank you.

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  • Olá, Michael. Yes, linguists have acknowledged both variations of the D in European Portuguese (harder D and the “Th” hybrid, more plosive vs. more fricative – hope I’m using these terms correctly!). They seem to only validade it between vowels, even though you might occasionally hear it in other spots. This variability is not restricted to the Algarve, but it’s not prevalent everywhere.

    This Learning Note has audio examples of both Ds (‘dedo’ vs. ‘nada’ on the table): Pronunciation Guide for European Portuguese Consonants

    Also, an extra link for everyone’s reference: Voiced dental and alveolar plosives

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• “Lh” is so difficult! I get made fun of every time it comes up in conversation. Any more help on this would be great! (Ps – new member here, you guys are the best! Pps – hugs to Clara)

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• Can you really roll the r like in spanish? That would make it so much easier for me! I speak fluent Spanish and struggle to suddenly to have to pronounce “identical” words, like correr, in a brand new way!

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  • Olá! Yes, double Rs (and Rs at the start of words) can also be pronounced similarly to how Spaniards do it, but it will depend on the regional accent. The further up north you go, the more common it’ll be. In other parts of the country (and in the islands, I think?), it may sound more out of place.

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• Thank you, Joseph, for your very helpful response together with the really useful links. It’s good to know my observations were reasonably accurate but I needed this validation to have the confidence to start emulating it. Also thanks for taking the time to locate the links.

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• Lh is a tough sound! We don’t have anything similar in English. The closest way to approximate it would be to think of it as a cross between an “L” and a “Y” sound, or somewhat similar to the “li” sound in “medallion”. (But if you know any Spanish, it’s much more similar to the “ll” in “paella”.)

  Instead of pronouncing the L and Y sounds individually, try to merge them together and use the body (rather than the tip) of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Then listen to examples of the correct lh pronunciation over and over to try to get yourself closer over time.

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• Definitely could use more help with LH pronunciation. My friends here have no idea how to explain it after they have a good chuckle listening to me try. Even my address, Rua das Maravilhas, is a struggle. Someone told me the air comes around the sides of the tongue, not over it but that hasn’t helped. I heard the closest we get is the word “millions” in English. Help!!

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• Definitely a challenge! Thank you for articulating this beautiful language !

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