PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE LEARNING RESOURCES

ABOUT BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE

Before the arrival of the Portuguese in Brazil in 1500, the Brazilian territory was inhabited by many indigenous nations. During that time, hundreds of languages were spoken in this region, and there still are many indigenous languages spoken in Brazil.

Something very interesting that happened at the start of the colonization of Brazil was the creation of a language called “Brazilian Language” or “General Language,” a mixture between Portuguese and Tupi, a language spoken by the Tupinambás, who were the indigenous peoples who inhabited the coast of Brazil.

This lingua franca was created by the Jesuits with the aim of improving communication and the conversion of indigenous peoples to Catholicism.

The General Language was adopted by colonizers and natives and became the main language spoken in Colonial Brazil for around two centuries. Until, in the middle of the 18th century, the Portuguese Crown prohibited the use of the General Language in Brazil and mandated the use of the Portuguese language.

As a result, the General Language and most of the indigenous languages became practically extinct in Brazil, but the strong influence of these languages on modern Brazilian Portuguese is undeniable.

Many words of indigenous origin were incorporated into Brazilian Portuguese and are widely used in everyday life.

Of course, in addition to the influence of indigenous languages, Brazilian Portuguese was also strongly influenced by African languages. Starting in 1550, African slaves were brought to Brazil to work on the sugarcane plantations and, later, in the gold mines. The significant presence of the Bantu peoples played a fundamental role in shaping the Portuguese language in Brazil, bringing a new musicality, syntactic structure, and introducing hundreds of new words, such as samba, capoeira, berimbau, fofoca, bagunça, moqueca, and many others.

Later, starting in the 19th century, Brazil began receiving immigrants from all over the world. So, naturally, our language was and continues to be influenced every day by immigrants.

With the passing of time, the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil was “Brazilianized.” 

Today our language includes a fascinating range of accents, dialects, and regionalisms that vary considerably from one region to another, thanks to the different linguistic influences that occurred in each place.

Source: History of Brazilian Portuguese