8 Amazing Facts About Portuguese Language

Foreign language studies have become popular in India due to globalization. The barriers of language are demolished paving the way for new opportunities. Hence, along with English, Spanish, and Portuguese language studies are becoming popular with more and more people choosing to study them.

The Portuguese are one of the most prominently spoken languages across the globe today. Not only it ranks sixth in terms of popularity worldwide, but there are speakers of the Portuguese language on different continents. Let’s explore 8 amazing facts about it.

It’s spoken officially in nine countries
It is a myth that the language has speakers only in Portugal and Brazil. On the contrary, it is ly spoken in nine countries such as Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste, Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Principe. In addition, it is also officially spoken in the independent territory of Macau situated in China. To know more about it, opt for a Portuguese Language Course in Kolkata

Merely 5% of Portuguese language speakers are found in Portugal
Much to the surprise of the people, Portugal boasts only 5% of the Portuguese speakers, and the majority is based outside the country. Portuguese speakers are spread across different continents of Europe, Asia, and South America.

It’s popularly is growing fast and comes only second to English
With more and more speakers across the globe communicating in the language, its popularity and demand of the language is growing leaps and bounds and has the capacity to become an “international communication language,” as per reports published by UNESCO.

Arabic has a great influence on Portuguese
Since the land of Portugal was invaded by Islamic Moors from North Africa and the Middle East and Spain in the eighth century, a form of Arabic was the official language of the Iberian Peninsula until the Reconquista of the 13th century. Since then Arabic has left a huge impact on the language with several words sourced from the former.

The longest word in the vocabulary comprises 29 letters
Portuguese vocabulary has surpassed English’s “antidisestablishmentarianism” which has 28 letters. The longest word in Portuguese vocabulary is anticonstitucionalíssimamente, which has 29 alphabets. It means “in a very unconstitutional way.” For knowing more about Portuguese words, go for a Portuguese language course in Kolkata.

There are several words borrowed Portuguese words in the English dictionary
Portuguese’s global presence unavoidably resulted in many of its words finding their way into the English language. It includes words like “embarrass” (coming from the Portuguese embaraçar, to tie in knots), “cobra,” and “fetish” (from feitiço, meaning a charm or sorcery).

European and Brazilian Portuguese languages have many dissimilarities
With comparisons between American and British English, which are different yet very similar, Portuguese from Portugal and Portuguese from Brazil also have many differences despite being the same language. The chief disparity is in the application of the second-person pronoun. In Portugal, tu and vós are generally spoken by people, while the Brazilian version excludes the use of tu and vos, and instead uses pronouns like você and vocês.

There are 23 alphabets in the language
It was found that Portuguese comprises 23 alphabets with “K,” “W,” and “Y” getting excluded from the list. K was missing in words such as “kilogram,” and it was replaced by “Qu- which made it kilogram, while “W” and “Y” sounds were missing from words and phrases. Everything changed completely in 2009 because Portuguese-speaking countries around the world got together to sign a new “Orthographic Agreement,” that include “K,” “W,” and “Y in both the variations”

All these amazing facts will surely drive readers to learn more about the Portuguese language and pursue a Portuguese language course in Kolkata. It will help them explore many other interesting facts, words, and origins about it and broaden their horizon and acquire more knowledge.