Vowel reduction
the unstressed vowel collapse
Unstressed "e" and "o" often reduce to near-schwa sounds in Brazilian Portuguese. This is why written Portuguese sounds different from spoken Brazilian.
phonologybeginner-criticalvowels
SOUNDS LAB
Brazilian Portuguese sounds, taught visually and aurally.
The Sounds Lab covers vowel reduction, nasal vowels, the "lh" and "nh" sounds, rhythm, and prosody. Learners must hear before they trust pronunciation.
Nasal vowels
ã, em, im, om, um
Brazilian Portuguese has five nasal vowel sounds. They occur before "m" and "n", and in words ending in "-ão". They give the language its distinctive resonance.
phonologybeginner-criticalnasals
Brazilian rhythm
syllable-timed, not stress-timed
Brazilian Portuguese is syllable-timed, giving it a flowing, even cadence unlike English. This rhythm is what makes it sound "musical" to foreign ears.
prosodyrhythmintermediate