Brazil Language Facts: All About Brazilian Portuguese You Need To Know

Brazil, formally the Federative Republic of Brazil (Republika Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese), is a South American republic that covers almost half of the continent's area.

It is the world's fifth-largest country, only being surpassed in size by Russia, Canada, China, and the United States while having a larger land area than the 48 contiguous US states.

Brazil shares more than 9,750 mi (15,691.1 km) of inland borders with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador, including Uruguay to the south, Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia to the southwest, Peru to the west, Colombia to the northwest, and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana to the north.

Brazil has a large irregular triangular shape that runs 2,700 mi (4,345.2 km) from north to south and east to west, encompassing a diverse spectrum of tropical and subtropical environments, including marshes, savannas, plateaus, and low mountains.

Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language in the world and is spoken across most continents in the world. Did you know that European Portuguese is different from the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil?

When it comes to Spanish fluency in Brazil, it is surprisingly familiar as the two languages share almost 90% of the vocabulary. But instead of Spanish, the status of the second language of Brazil can be assigned to English.

After reading about the orthographic agreement between Brazil and Portugal regarding the Portuguese language as well as the Portuguese alphabet, also check out Brazil landmarks facts and Brazil houses facts.

History Of The Brazil Language

The great majority of Brazilians speak Portuguese as their first language, although many foreign terms have entered the national vocabulary. Since its introduction to Brazil in the 16th century, the Portuguese language has experienced significant changes, both in the home country and in its former colony.

Although the two nations' spellings of words have mostly been standardized, their pronunciations, vocabularies, and word meanings have changed so much that some Brazilians may now find it simpler to comprehend Spanish-language films from other Latin American countries than those from Portugal.

New words and expressions have been brought into Brazilian Portuguese by Italians, Germans, Japanese, and Spanish-speaking immigrants, such as the common term tchau ('farewell'), which was adapted from the Italian 'ciao'.

Additional terminology has been introduced as a result of foreign items and technology. Spanish is understood to various degrees by many but not all Brazilians, due to the similarities of the languages. However, it is hardly spoken well by individuals who have not taken specific education in the language, due to the differences in phonology between the two languages.

Top Three Languages Spoken In Brazil

Portuguese is the official language of Brazil. It is also the predominant language in most schools and the media.

It's also utilized for all kinds of business and administration. Brazilian Portuguese has evolved independently, influenced by various European languages such as the Italian language and the German language in the south and southeast, as well as a variety of indigenous languages found across the nation.

As a result, although being mutually intelligible, Brazilian Portuguese differs greatly from European Portuguese and other dialects of Portuguese-speaking regions. These discrepancies have been likened to the disparities between British and American English in phonetics and vocabulary.

Migrant languages are those that were spoken by large groups of migrants that came to Brazil in the early 20th century. The bulk of these languages are of European origins, such as German and Italian, with languages like Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese thrown in for good measure.

The migrant language speaking group accounts for around 2% of the population, with German being the most common language spoken.

In Brazil, German is the second most widely spoken language. In the Brazilian metropolis of São Paulo, languages like German and Japanese have a long history, with newspapers and periodicals produced in German and Japanese as early as the '40s.

Indigenous languages are Brazil's earliest languages, existing long before European languages. Indigenous languages are in danger of extinction owing to declining numbers due to the younger generation's adoption of Portuguese.

However, there is some good news: according to the most recent census, there are 274 languages that are still spoken today. Ticuna, Kaingang, and Kaiwá Guarani are only a few of Brazil's indigenous languages.

The indigenous languages of Brazil are part of the Amerindian language family, with the two largest language groups being Tupi and Marco-Je. The majority of indigenous languages are situated in the Rio Negro area, with Ticuna having the highest number of speakers (35,000), followed by 26,500 Kaiwá Guarini speakers and 22,000 Kaingang speakers.

The Significance Of The Portuguese Language

The orthographic conventions of Brazil and Portugal were largely united with the implementation of the Orthographic Agreement in 1990; however, there are still some small differences. Brazil implemented these adjustments in 2009, whereas Portugal did so in 2012 in Cape Verde, São Paulo, Guinea Bissau.

In addition to Brazil, Portuguese is the official language in nine countries across the world, and the Portuguese language is spoken across all continents in the world. As a matter of fact, out of 100, only five Portuguese speakers live in Portugal. Portuguese speakers in Brazil outnumber the number of speakers in any country in Europe.

In some sections of the country of Brazil, particularly near the Spanish-speaking countries' borders, Brazilians will interact with their neighbors on the other side of the border using a crude mix of Spanish and Portuguese known as Portugal; yet, these Brazilians will continue to speak Portuguese at home.

The language of Timor Leste is also spoken in Brazil. Brazil Portuguese actually came from Latin America.

English In Brazil

Outside of the big cities of Sao Paolo, Brasilia, and Rio de Janeiro, English is not generally spoken in Brazil. English is considered the second most spoken language in Brazil.

English literacy is estimated to be fluent with roughly 5% of the population, with just a tiny percentage of those fully fluent, largely limited to middle-class educated persons and workers at important tourist attractions.

Because the great majority of the locals do not understand English, you will need to communicate via Portuguese and body language.

The best places to look for English speakers in Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro are expensive luxury hotels, where receptionists may speak it; look for youthful individuals under 35; and perhaps in certain larger restaurants, though even here it's hit or miss.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Brazil language facts: all about Brazilian Portuguese then why not take a look at why do roosters crow or ridiculous reptile facts: why do lizards do push ups.