NEXT STOP: BRAZIL!

A trip around the portuguese-speaking countries

Over a series of articles, L10N Making Translation Invisible will transport you to the Portuguese-speaking world. Find out about the customs and unique characteristics of these countries and (re)discover a universe of diversity and multiculturalism, united by one of the most powerful links imaginable – the Portuguese language!

Guess where we are going!

That’s right… Brazil.

The origin of the name Brazil is linked to a type of wood used in the production of high quality textiles, “Pau-brasil” or Brazilwood, which is commonly found in the region.

However, the country was originally named “Terra de Vera Cruz”, a name chosen by the Portuguese discoverers who arrived in the territory in 1500.

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Not everyone knows this, but the Federal Republic of Brazil:

Is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest country in the world;
Borders 10 countries – all the South American countries, except Chile and Ecuador;
Has 26 states, divided into five different regions;
Currently has around 200 million inhabitants, from different ethnic backgrounds, cultural and religious origins.

Did you know that Brazil changed its currency eight times in just over 50 years before adopting the Real that has been in use since 1994?

Brazilian Portuguese

Brazil is the largest Portuguese-speaking country.

As the country was a colony of Portugal, the entire Brazilian population speaks Portuguese. There is also another language that is considered to be official: LIBRAS – Brazilian Sign Language.

Although Portugal and Brazil share the same language, Brazilian Portuguese has significant differences which have been acquired over time due to Amerindian influence (indigenous tribes) as well influences from other European, African and North American powers.

Interestingly, due to the pronunciation of Brazilian Portuguese, many Brazilians do not understand spoken European Portuguese. Most Portuguese, on the other, do not share this problem.

To better understand this variant of Portuguese, please find some examples below:

European Portuguese	Brazilian Portuguese	Difference
Tu falas português?	Você fala português? ou Tu fala português?	Supression/use of the second person singular pronoun conjugated with the third person plural verb form.
Estou a viajar para o Brasil.	Estou viajando para o Brasil.	Use of the gerund.
Ela chama-se Ana.	Ela se chama Ana.	Use of the reflexive pronoun, with co connection to the verb.
Dia/tirar/dois Fonética "dia"/"tirár"/"doish"	Dia/tirar/dois Fonética "Djia"/"tchirá"/"doiss"	Oral/phonetic reproduction.
Autocarro Rato Imperial/fino Constipação Guarda-redes Agrafador	Ônibus Mouse Chopp Resfriado Goleiro Grampeador	Local vocabulary.

We could write much more and gather many more views and perspectives on the extensive issue of the differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, but we will just leave you with the essential facts.

At L10N, we are specialists in language variants which is why we have a team of native Brazilian linguists, hence the meaning of our name, L10N – Localisation.

Happy chatting (in Portuguese)!