Brazilian Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese (português brasileiro; [poʁtuˈɡe(j)z bɾaziˈleɾu]) is the set of varieties of the Portuguese language native to Brazil. It is spoken by nearly all of the 203 million inhabitants of Brazil, and widely across the Brazilian diaspora, consisting of approximately two million Brazilians who have emigrated to other countries.

Brazilian Portuguese differs, particularly in phonology and prosody, from varieties spoken in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking African countries. In these latter countries, the language tends to have a closer connection to contemporary European Portuguese, influenced by the more recent end of Portuguese colonial rule. This has contributed to a notable difference in the relationship between written, formal language and spoken forms in Brazilian Portuguese. The differences between formal written Portuguese and informal spoken varieties in Brazilian Portuguese have been documented in sociolinguistic studies. Some scholars, including Mario A. Perini, have suggested that these differences might exhibit characteristics of diglossia, though this interpretation remains a subject of debate among linguists. Other researchers argue that such variation aligns with patterns observed in other pluricentric languages and is best understood in the context of Brazil’s educational, political, and linguistic history, including post-independence standardization efforts. Despite this pronounced difference between the spoken varieties, Brazilian and European Portuguese barely differ in formal writing and remain mutually intelligible.

In 1990, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), which included representatives from all countries with Portuguese as the official language, reached an agreement on the reform of the Portuguese orthography to unify the two standards then in use by Brazil on one side and the remaining Portuguese-speaking countries on the other. This spelling reform went into effect in Brazil on 1 January 2009. In Portugal, the reform was signed into law by the President on 21 July 2008 allowing for a six-year adaptation period, during which both orthographies co-existed. All of the CPLP countries have signed the reform. In Brazil, this reform has been in force since January 2016. Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries have since begun using the new orthography.

Regional varieties of Brazilian Portuguese, while remaining mutually intelligible, may diverge from each other in matters such as vowel pronunciation and intonation.