Portuguese (Português)
Portuguese is a Romance language spoken by about 191 million people in Portugal, Brazil and 33 other countries including Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Belgium, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, China, Congo, France, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Malawi and Mozambique.
The common ancestor of Portuguese and Galician first appeared in writing in legal documents and poetry in the late 12th century. The two languages began to grow apart in the 14th century. By the 16th century, Portuguese probably sounded very much as it does today. Writers and scholars deliberately adopted Latin forms of words and archaic spellings to emphasis the differences between Portuguese and Spanish.
A reformed Portuguese orthography (nova ortografia), in which words were spelled more in accordance with their pronunciation, was adopted is Portugal in 1916. A slightly modified form was adopted in Brazil in 1943 and revised in 1970.
Portuguese is a Romance language spoken by about 191 million people in Portugal, Brazil and 33 other countries including Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Belgium, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, China, Congo, France, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Malawi and Mozambique.
The common ancestor of Portuguese and Galician first appeared in writing in legal documents and poetry in the late 12th century. The two languages began to grow apart in the 14th century. By the 16th century, Portuguese probably sounded very much as it does today. Writers and scholars deliberately adopted Latin forms of words and archaic spellings to emphasis the differences between Portuguese and Spanish.
A reformed Portuguese orthography (nova ortografia), in which words were spelled more in accordance with their pronunciation, was adopted is Portugal in 1916. A slightly modified form was adopted in Brazil in 1943 and revised in 1970.