BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE PT-BR

The relaxation of regulation barriers on imports of computer science and other products into Brazil, and the increasing importance of Portugal in Europe as a member of the European Community have resulted in an expansion of business relations between these countries and the U.S. As a consequence, the demand for translations from English into Portuguese in the American industrial/commercial environment has increased noticeably during the last few years. Translation companies and professionals are frequently faced with whether it is possible to use the same translation text, or even the same translator, for Brazil and Portugal.

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Not everyone is aware of the fact that the differences between Brazilian (Brazilian Portuguese PTBR) and Continental Portuguese (European Portuguese PTPT) far exceed those existing among the several varieties of English, Spanish, or French. However, language specialists consistently recognize such differences. For instance, unlike the case for other languages, Portuguese-as-a-second-language primers, dictionaries and grammars invariably identify the variety of Portuguese that they contain. Furthermore, prestigious organizations such as the Foreign Service and the Center for Applied Linguistics have different tests to assess each variety of the language. Since Portuguese is the language of some 150 000 000 Brazilians and 10 000 000 Portuguese¹ who understand each other, in general terms, the fact that two linguistic variants exist usually comes as a surprise to those unfamiliar with the field.

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The reasons for the differences are primarily contextual. First, from the beginning, Brazilian Portuguese had an enduring, intimate contact with African and, to a lesser degree, Native American languages unmatched by any British, French, or Spanish colony—a fact which brought changes to the language, especially, but not only, in the lexical area. Second, and more importantly, the rigid colonization policies of Portugal banned the existence of institutions of higher education, local newspapers, or any kind of press in the colonies.

 

Therefore, from the earliest periods of colonization, Brazil lacked some of the most powerful means available to other colonies to slow down the changing processes that languages naturally undergo, i.e. a solidification of the standard norm through local universities and a native press. The absence of universities, newspapers, and printing shops in Brazilian territory was also a deterrent to bringing to Portugal the linguistic changes that were taking place in the colony. Conversely, because universities, newspapers, and printing shops were forbidden in Brazil for more than 300 years, new materials and linguistic changes taking place in Portugal were not largely disseminated among Brazilians. To a higher degree than other European colonial languages vis a vis the mother tongue, Brazilian Portuguese kept some forms that became obsolete in Portugal and more rapidly incorporated others unknown to speakers of continental Portuguese. It was not until the Portuguese Court and Government fled the Napoleonic invasion and temporarily transferred to Rio de Janeiro in the first decade of the XIX century, that universities and a press were finally allowed in Brazil. In comparison, universities were established as early as the 1500s and 1600s for Spanish and English colonies. By the XIX century, Brazilian Portuguese had established traits and tendencies that were considerably different from continental Portuguese. The passage of time and Brazil's independence from Portugal strengthened the new traits in the language.

 

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