Publisher Description

Portuguese emerged from vulgar Latin during the course of the third century. Influential in its development were successive invasions by Germanic peoples, Visigoths, and Moors, the latter of whom were finally evicted in the thirteenth century. As a consequence of the newly-independent kingdom's imperial achievements, Portuguese is the national language of Brazil and the official language of several African countries.Maria Helena Mateus andErnesto d'Andrade present a broad description and comparative analysis of the phonetics and phonology of European and Brazilian Portuguese. They begin by introducing the history of Portuguese and itsprincipal varieties. Chapter 2 describes the phonetic characteristics of consonants, vowels, and glides, and Chapter 3 looks at prosodic structure. Chapters 4 and 5 present the general characteristics of Portuguese nominal and verbal systems, the former considering inflectional and the latter derivational processes. Chapter 6 examines stress, main, secondary, and echo, and Chapter 7 describes phonological processes that are not related to the morphological structure of the word, including thepeculiar process of nazalization.The authors deploy current theoretical models to explain the rich variety of Portuguese phonology and interrelated aspects of morphology. This isby far the most comprehensive account of the subject to have appeared in English, and the most up-to-date in any language.

Author Biography

Maria Helena Mateus is Full Professor in the Faculty of Letters at the University of Lisbon. She has studied within the field of linguistics in both Portugal and Brazil, and between 1982 and 1998 gave seminars on Portuguese linguistics in Cape-Verde, Cuba, EUA, France, Germany, Ireland, Macau, Mozambique, and Sweden. Ernesto d'Andrade is Associate Professor of Linguistics in the faculty of Letters at the University of Lisbon. Prior to 1975 he taught in theuniversities of Paris VIII and Paris XIII. He has taught courses and seminars in Cape Verde, Mozambinque, Brazil, and France, and given talks on Phonology, Portuguese linguistics, and Sociolinguistics in,among other countries, Belgium, Brazil, France, Holland, Mozambique, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the USA.

Table of Contents

1: Introduction2: The Phonological System of Portuguese3: Syllable Structure4: Portuguese Morphology: Inflection5: Portuguese Morphology: Derivation6: Word Stress in Portuguese7: Phonological ProcessesReferencesIndex

Review

This is a much appreciated book for those of us who regularly teach a course on the synchronic phonology and morphophonology of Portuguese....The book is divided into clear modules, the data in each section being clearly presented in well-organised tables, always including examples covering each of the possible cases of interest....Mateus and d'Andrade have crafted a very easy to read, well-organised exposition of their favourite analyses quite suitable for a course in the structure of Portuguese phonology. * Phonology *

Long Description

Portuguese emerged from vulgar Latin during the course of the third century. Influential in its development were successive invasions by Germanic peoples, Visigoths, and Moors, the latter of whom were finally evicted in the thirteenth century. As a consequence of the newly-independent kingdom's imperial achievements, Portuguese is the national language of Brazil and the official language of several African countries.Maria Helena Mateus and
Ernesto d'Andrade present a broad description and comparative analysis of the phonetics and phonology of European and Brazilian Portuguese. They begin by introducing the history of Portuguese and its principal varieties. Chapter 2 describes the phonetic characteristics of consonants, vowels, and glides,
and Chapter 3 looks at prosodic structure. Chapters 4 and 5 present the general characteristics of Portuguese nominal and verbal systems, the former considering inflectional and the latter derivational processes. Chapter 6 examines stress, main, secondary, and echo, and Chapter 7 describes phonological processes that are not related to the morphological structure of the word, including the peculiar process of nazalization.The authors deploy current theoretical models to
explain the rich variety of Portuguese phonology and interrelated aspects of morphology. This is by far the most comprehensive account of the subject to have appeared in English, and the most up-to-date in any language.

Review Text

1. Introduction 2. The Phonological System of Portuguese 3. Syllable Structure 4. Portuguese Morphology: Inflection 5. Portuguese Morphology: Derivation 6. Word Stress in Portuguese 7. Phonological Processes References Index

Review Quote

"This is a much appreciated book for those of us who regularly teach a course on the synchronic phonology and morphophonology of Portuguese....The book is divided into clear modules, the data in each section being clearly presented in well-organised tables, always including examples covering each of the possible cases of interest....Mateus and d'Andrade have crafted a very easy to read, well-organised exposition of their favourite analyses quite suitable for a course in the structure of Portuguese phonology."--Phonology ...The Phonology of Portuguese will be of use to those who want an introduction to the basic issues in Portuguese phonology, especially for those who do not read portuguese. Likewise, it will serve as a useful reference since it brings together in one place analysis and discussion of a major phonological phenomena of the language.--Linguist

Feature

The most up-to-date account currently available in any language
Examines Portuguese in relation to the other Romance languages
Compares the phonology and phonetics of European and Brazilian Portuguese

Details