Comparison of Portuguese and Spanish

Portuguese and Spanish, although closely related sister languages, differ in many details of their phonology, grammar, and lexicon. Both are part of a broader group known as West Iberian Romance, which also includes several other languages or dialects with fewer speakers, all of which are mutually intelligible to some degree.

The most obvious differences are in pronunciation. Mutual intelligibility is generally greater for the written languages than for their spoken forms. Compare, for example, the following sentences:

—roughly equivalent to the English proverb "A word to the wise is sufficient," or, a more literal translation, "To a good listener, a few words are enough."

There are also some significant differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese as there are between British and American English or Peninsular and Latin American Spanish. This article notes these differences below only where:

Portuguese and Spanish share a great number of words that are spelled either identically or almost identically (although the pronunciation almost always differs), or which differ sometimes in predictable ways. Consider, for example, the following paragraph, taken from the Gramática esencial del español, by Manuel Seco (Espasa Calpe, 1989), and compare it to the Portuguese rendition below, noting the lexical similarity and the slight changes in word order:

Pero, a pesar de esta variedad de posibilidades que la voz posee, sería un muy pobre instrumento de comunicación si no contara más que con ella. La capacidad de expresión del hombre no dispondría de más medios que la de los animales. La voz, sola, es para el hombre escasamente una materia informe, que para convertirse en un instrumento perfecto de comunicación debe ser sometida a un cierto tratamiento. Esa manipulación que recibe la voz son las "articulaciones".

Mas, apesar da variedade de possibilidades que a voz possui, seria um instrumento de comunicação muito pobre se não se contasse com mais do que ela. A capacidade de expressão do homem não disporia de mais meios que a dos animais. A voz, sozinha, é para o homem apenas uma matéria informe, que para se converter num instrumento perfeito de comunicação deve ser submetida a um certo tratamento. Essa manipulação que a voz recebe são as "articulações".

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