service to the learners of Portuguese, to do for them what has been so successfully executed by the academy of Castile. Wherefore he has tried to lay down the following rules of quantity and accent, humbly submitting this first essay to the judgment of the learned, and especially of the academy of Lisbon. RULES. 1. The penultima is generally long, except in words ending in dactyl, in which the anti-penultima is long, as in bárbaro intrépido, which anti-penultima must be accented. Now the penultima being generally long, needs not to be accented. 2. Monosyllables are also generally long, except in the articles o, a, os, as. Hence the difference between a, when a simple article, and ά when a preposition including the article, as a casa the house, á casa to the house, which is a contraction eqivalent to a a. 3. In words ending in the dipthongs ia, ie, io, as labia, especie, labio, the syllable that goes before the first dipthong is to be reputed the penultima, and consequently must be long even without accent. 4. When those fimal syllables ia, ie, io, are not dipthongs, it is indicated by an accent placed on the letter i, as in anatomia and generally so in words ending in a derived from the Greek, except ia in verbs which need no accent, because it is a general rule that it must not be made a dipthong. 5. Dissyllables or words of two syllables, as lia, via, cea, gea, ae, sou, sua, tua, Deos, have the first syllable generally long even without accent. 6. In dipthongs, when the first vowel is not long, as in moéda, ciúme, roim, cadeira, saúde, &c. the second must be accented. 7. Words ending in al, el, il, ol, ul, ar, er, ir, or, ur, az, ez, iz, oz, uz, have the last syllable generally reputed acute, that is to say, that the voice must be raised on it, and it must be clearly sounded and be reputed long, although the penultima should be long and accented as in fácil, difícil, amável, admirável, &c. 8. Words derived from the Latin generally preserve the quantity of their origin, as dissernō from dixerunt, tanta to quanto, from tantus quantus, posso from possum, &c. REMARK. Let it be remarked that the correctness in the quantity and accent is of the greatest importance, not only for the harmony of the language, but even for the meaning of the words, as may be seen in esta pron. this, and esta, verb is, ex esta casa está á sua disposição, this house is at your service. The editor concludes this preface with claiming the indulgence of his readers for the faults and errors that may have escaped his notice. If he has succeeded in being of some service to the students of this country, he candidly declares that he owes it to the kind and generous assistance of his learned protector, Mr. Correa de Serra, minister plenipotentiary of H. M. F. Majesty, the king of Portugal and of the Brazils, to whom this work is dedicated. k NOTICE. As the knowledge of a language cannot be acquired, by the rules that govern it, but necessity requires that the learner should read and translate books well written in the language, and also write exercises prepared for the application of the rules and the principles of the grammar, for which a good Portuguese and English dictionary is indispensable, the editor recommends that of Vieyra as the best; also the exercises on the different parts of speech of the Portuguese language, referring to the rules of Mr. Vieyra's grammar by I. E. Mordente. It being difficult to procure in this country, Portuguese books for reading and translating, the editor of this grammar has it in contemplation to make a collection of extracts selected from the best Portuguese and Spanish works, which he will publish as soon as a sufficient nuinber are subscribed for to warrant him in putting it to press. Subscriptions will be received by the publisher of this grammar, to whom persons that wish this work will forward their names as early as possible. PORTUGUESE AND ENGLISH GRAMMAR. CHAPTER I. LETTERS. THE letters in Portuguese are twenty-six, viz. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, LH, M, N, NH, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, Y, Z. A is expressed by a sound like that of a in the English word, at, fat. B is like the English b in be, betty, &c. C before e and i, is like the c in the English word celebrated; but before a, o, and u, is like the k, ch, like ch in the English word charity. D is like the English d. E is like the English a in the word care. F is like the English f. G before a, o, and u, is like the English g in the word garden, and before e and i, like the English g, in the word generation. H has no sound except when it meets c, as in chaves, which is pronounced like the English words charity, archer. I is equal to the English ee. J has a sound like g before e and i. Las in English. LH sounds like ll in Spanish, and gli in Italian, lia, lie, lio, liu, or as in the French words ailleur, meilleur. M as in English. N as in English. NH like the Spanish n and the English diphthong nia, nie, nio, niu, or as in the French word seigneur. O like the English in the word store. P like the English in the word penny. Q like the English k, and absorbs the u before e and i, as in querer, adquirir; kerer, adkirir. R like the English in the word err, except in the middle of a word, where it is softened, as in para, cara. S as in English in the word preserve, preserver, except it is doubled, as in doutissimo, amasse, when it has the sound of a single s in English, as in the word saint, and in the French word sentir. T like the English in the word tire. U like the English oo in the words poop, wood, would. V like the English in the word observer. X like the English sh in the words she, sheep. Y like the English i in the word visible, and in yes, yet. Z like the English s in the word preserve. Gua sounds as if it were gwa; gue and gui are pronounced as in the English words guest, gift; except in arguir, and compounds when it sounds like argwir. M at the end of a word, and preceded by the letter e, forms in Portuguese a nasal sound, like that of the French words vin, pain, except in the words soem, toem from soar, toar, and some others; and when preceded by a, o, i, it has such a nasal obtuse sound, that can only be learned from a master's mouth. Nat the end of a word, gives a nasal sound to the vowel that precedes it. Ph is pronounced as in English. Qua is pronounced as in the English word quantity. wherefore qual is not like cal. Rr, double r, as in guerra, sounds as rr in English. S between two vowels is pronounced like a z, particularly in words ending in oso, esa, &c. as amoroso mesa. X before a consonant is pronounced like cs, as in the word extençan, and between two vowels, as in exacto, is pronounced like gz. Z at the end of words is pronounced like s, as rapaz, francez, voz, &c. Tittle or Til. The tittle, or little dash, which the Portuguese call til, is set by them over some letters instead of m, as be instead of bem, vē instead of vem, hūa instead of huma, ão, āa. DIPHTHONGS. The meeting of many vowels in one and the same syllable, which we call diphthongs, are the following in the Portuguese language. Aa, as in maçãa, an apple. Io, as in vió, he saw. Oe, as in poem, compóēm; they put, they compose; melóes, melons, &c. Oy, as in boy, an ox; foy, he was, or went. Ou, as in dóu, I give; sóu, I am. Ue, as in azúes, blue. The two vowels in the following words must be plainly and distinctly pronounced. A-i, as in paiz, pa-iz, country; maíz, Indian corn; ra-íz, root. Ea, as in lampre-a, a lamprey. lo, in navi-o, a ship. lu, as in vi-úva, a widow. Oa, as in Lisbó-a, Lisbon; pro-a, a poop. Oe, as in tó-em, so-em, from to-ar, so-ar. Oi, as in ro-im, bad. Oo, as in co-operaçam, co-operation.. |
