Learn the meaning of Porglish
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Intro |
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| Michael: What is Porglish? |
| Ana Clara: And is it commonly used? |
| Michael: At PortuguesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Afonso Araujo is upset and decides to discuss his recent work performance with his neighbor, Mark Lee. He says, |
| "My performance is not the same." |
| Afonso Araujo: A minha performance não é a mesma. |
| Dialogue |
| Afonso Araujo: A minha performance não é a mesma. |
| Mark Lee: Você está estressado demais. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Afonso Araujo: A minha performance não é a mesma. |
| Michael: "My performance is not the same." |
| Mark Lee: Você está estressado demais. |
| Michael: "You're too stressed out." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: There is no doubt that English is currently one of the most used languages worldwide: It is the language of choice in business, travel, and international communication in general. As a result, its influence on other languages, including Portuguese, can be easily seen. This is particularly evident in so-called anglicisms, English vocabulary that has been borrowed for use in other languages. These English words have been borrowed in such a way that speakers often do not realize that they are loanwords: They have naturally become part of everyday language and life. In Portuguese, an example is the word |
| Ana Clara: delivery, |
| Michael: which has retained its original meaning, as in the English phrase "delivery service." A related phrase, which is commonly used when referring to food delivery, is |
| Ana Clara: Temos delivery, |
| Michael: meaning "We have a delivery service." |
| Michael: In addition to anglicisms, Portuguese also has words which have been |
| Ana Clara: aportuguesada, |
| Michael: or adapted to suit the Portuguese language. An example of this is in the word for "sandwich," which in Portuguese is |
| Ana Clara: sanduíche. |
| Michael: Further development of this language interlinking has resulted in what is known as "Porglish" or "Portuglish," which in Portuguese is called, |
| Ana Clara: portinglês. |
| Michael: These terms come from combining "Portuguese and English," or |
| Ana Clara: português e inglês. |
| Michael: As an example of a Porglish word, take |
| Ana Clara: resetar, |
| Michael: meaning "to reset" in English. As before, this word has been adapted into Portuguese; what makes such a word Porglish, however, is that it is still not formally incorporated into the language, so it is unlikely to be listed in most dictionaries. Despite this, you may still cross paths with Porglish words in everyday life, especially when dealing with IT or in situations involving start-up companies. |
| Michael: Let's now take a closer look at the words used in the dialogue. |
| Recall how Afonso Araujo said, "My performance is not the same": |
| Ana Clara: A minha performance não é a mesma. |
| Michael: Here we see an English word that was adopted into Portuguese without modification, an anglicism. As mentioned, these words are so commonly used by native Portuguese speakers to the point of not being recognized as loanwords. Listen again, one more time, slowly: |
| Ana Clara: per-for-man-ce. |
| Michael: Notice that it's pronounced nearly the same as it is in English. Again, this is a perfect example of a word which has been naturally incorporated into the Portuguese language. |
| Michael: Now recall how Mark Lee said, "You're too stressed out": |
| Ana Clara: Você está estressado demais. |
| Michael: In this case, the word "stressed," or |
| Ana Clara: estressado, |
| Michael: in the masculine singular form, was adapted to suit the Portuguese language, or |
| Ana Clara: aportuguesada. |
| Michael: As with other Portuguese adjectives, this word was adapted to change according to the rules of Portuguese grammar. As an adjective, there are variations in both gender (feminine and masculine) and number (singular and plural). Thus, in this case, the feminine singular form is |
| Ana Clara: estressada, |
| Michael: the masculine plural form is |
| Ana Clara: estressados, |
| Michael: and the feminine plural form is |
| Ana Clara: estressadas. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned that English words are incorporated into the Portuguese language in a variety of ways. Some are used exactly as they are in English, others are adapted to suit Portuguese grammar, and others are as of yet still seen as a mixture of English and Portuguese, known as "Porglish" or "Portuglish." |
| Michael: Let's look at some more examples: |
| Ana Clara: Você vai ao happy hour da empresa hoje? |
| Michael: "Are you going to the company's happy hour today?" |
| Here we see another example of an anglicism, "happy hour," which was integrated into the Portuguese language without modification. As a second example, consider the sentence |
| Ana Clara: Vamos fazer um piquenique no sábado. |
| Michael: "We'll have a picnic on Saturday." |
| In this case, the English word "picnic" was adopted into Portuguese as |
| Ana Clara: piquenique. |
| Michael: This is a case in which we say the word was |
| Ana Clara: aportuguesada, |
| Michael: that is, adapted to suit the Portuguese language. Note that these modifications may only be in how the word is written and pronounced, as in our last example, and not necessarily for the purpose of suiting grammatical rules, as we've seen previously. As a third example, take the question |
| Ana Clara: Você pode escanear este documento para mim? |
| Michael: "Can you scan this document for me?" |
| In this example, the verb "scan" has been changed to |
| Ana Clara: escanear. |
| Michael: The added |
| Ana Clara: -AR |
| Michael: ending allows this word to be conjugated as a regular |
| Ana Clara: -AR |
| Michael: ending verb in accordance with the usual rules of Portuguese grammar. Now, as a final example, consider |
| Ana Clara: Como eu faço para atachar este arquivo? |
| Michael: "How do I attach this file?" |
| This is an example of "Porglish" or "Portuglish," a mixture of Portuguese and English which has not yet been formally accepted as part of the language. Consequently, words such as the one we heard for "attach" will not be listed in the majority of dictionaries. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Due to rapid growth in areas such as IT and gaming, many new words originating from the English language are continually adopted into the Portuguese language with or without modifications. This process of incorporating words is so fast and dynamic that there's often not enough time for the words to be formally accepted into the language. As a language learner, if you're interested in these areas, the best way to keep up with new vocabulary is to interact directly with those using the words. Here's an example of the English word "drop" being used as a loanword in Portuguese: |
| Ana Clara: Ah não, dropei um item sem querer! |
| Michael: "Oh no, I accidentally dropped an item!" |
| This term is used in gaming, but it has not yet been formally incorporated into the Portuguese language. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review the sample conversation: Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud, and then listen carefully as Ana Clara models the correct answer. Repeat after her, with the focus on your pronunciation. Are you ready? |
| How do you say, "My performance is not the same." |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: A minha performance não é a mesma. |
| Michael: Did you get it right? Listen again and repeat. Remember to focus on your pronunciation. |
| Ana Clara: A minha performance não é a mesma. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: A minha performance não é a mesma. |
| Michael: Let's move on to the second sentence. How do you say, "You're too stressed out." |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Você está estressado demais. |
| Michael: Did you get it right this time? Listen again and repeat. |
| Ana Clara: Você está estressado demais. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Você está estressado demais. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: The cultural and linguistic interaction between English and Portuguese goes both ways: Did you know that there are Portuguese words that are used in English? Perhaps you have tried an |
| Ana Clara: açai smoothie |
| Michael: or a |
| Ana Clara: guaraná soft drink. |
| Michael: Though Portuguese loanwords can be found in a large range of topics, they are especially common in English related to food and beverages. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Ana Clara: Até a próxima! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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