First we will study the sounds of the Portuguese language, which is the most important, and the letters used to represent them.
We can say that there are twelve vowel sounds in Portuguese, and to represent them, we use the five vowels letters: A, E, I, O, U, modifying them using diacritics. They are:
/a/: Open front unrounded vowel. It's represented by the letter A. Ex: "art;" "are"; "part". Â indicates a more closed sound. Ex: nurse.
AMIGO /a.'mi.gʊ/ "(male) friend" CÂMARA "chamber"
The Vowels
We can say that there are twelve vowel sounds in Portuguese, and to represent them, we use the five vowels letters: A, E, I, O, U, modifying them using diacritics. They are:
/a/: Open front unrounded vowel. It's represented by the letter A. Ex: "art;" "are"; "part". Â indicates a more closed sound. Ex: nurse.
AMIGO /a.'mi.gʊ/ "(male) friend" CÂMARA "chamber"
/ã/: nasal vowel. It's represented by à or AN or AM (before P and B or in the end of a word). Ex: "under".
CANTO /'kã.tʊ/ "chant" TALISMÃ /ta.lis.'mã/ "talisman"
/e/: Close-mid front unrounded vowel or "closed e". It's represented by E or Ê. I think there's not this sound in English. It's something like the "a" in "plan", but without nasalization; "bed" in the pronunciation from Australia.
BESTA /'bes.ta/ "beast" MESA /'me.za/ "table" INGLÊS /ĩ.'gles/ "English"
BESTA /'bes.ta/ "beast" MESA /'me.za/ "table" INGLÊS /ĩ.'gles/ "English"
/ɛ/: Open-mid front unrounded vowel or "open e". It's represented by E or É. Ex: "met", "bet", "mare".
ERA /'ɛ.ra/ "age, era" FESTA /'fɛs.ta/ "party" CONVÉS /kõ.'vɛs/ "ship's deck"
/ẽ/: nasal vowel. It's represented by EN and EM (before P and B). Ex: "amber"; "ankle"; "end".
JUMENTO /ʒu.'mẽ.tʊ/ "donkey, neddy" APARTAMENTO /a.par.ta.'mẽ.tʊ/ "apartment"
/i/: Close front unrounded vowel. It's represented by I. Sounds like the name of the letter "e". Ex: "knee" (not long)
IRA /'i.ra/ "ire, wrath, anger" MISTO /'mis.tʊ/ "mixed" GRANIZO /gra.'ni.zʊ/ "hailstone"
IRA /'i.ra/ "ire, wrath, anger" MISTO /'mis.tʊ/ "mixed" GRANIZO /gra.'ni.zʊ/ "hailstone"
/ĩ/: nasal closed vowel. It's represented by IN or IM (before P and B or in the end of a word). Ex: "teen"
LINDO /'lĩ.dʊ/ "beautiful, stunning"
/o/: Close-mid back rounded vowel. It's represented by O or Ô. Ex: "cold", "no".
PESCOÇO /pes.'ko.sʊ/ "neck" AMOR /a.'mor/ "love (substantive, the act of loving)" ÔNIBUS /'õ.ni.bus/ "bus"
PESCOÇO /pes.'ko.sʊ/ "neck" AMOR /a.'mor/ "love (substantive, the act of loving)" ÔNIBUS /'õ.ni.bus/ "bus"
/ɔ/: open-mid back rounded vowel. It's represented by O or Ó. Ex: not, more, ball, troll, orc.
ÓPERA /'ɔ.pe.ra/ "opera" HORA /'ɔ.ra/ "hour, time" CIPÓ /si.'pɔ/ "liana, ivy"
ÓPERA /'ɔ.pe.ra/ "opera" HORA /'ɔ.ra/ "hour, time" CIPÓ /si.'pɔ/ "liana, ivy"
/õ/: nasal vowel. It's represented by Õ or ON or OM (before P and B). Ex: "once"
ONDA /'õ.da/ "wave"
/u/: Close back rounded vowel. It's represented by U. Sounds like "oo". Ex: roof, snooze.
URUBU /u.ru.'bu/ "vulture" NUVEM /'nu.vẽj/ "cloud" TU /'tu/ "thou" CRU /'cru/ "crude, raw, uncooked"
URUBU /u.ru.'bu/ "vulture" NUVEM /'nu.vẽj/ "cloud" TU /'tu/ "thou" CRU /'cru/ "crude, raw, uncooked"
/ũ/: nasal vowel. It's reepresented by UN and UM (before P and B and in the and of a word). Ex: "moon"
BUNDA /'bũ.da/ "ass, butt, hips"
/ʊ/: reduced close rounded vowel. It has the same sound of "u", but in the end of a word and it's represented by the ending "o". This applies to all words ending in "o", unless the ending "o" is stressed.
BRANCO /'brã.kʊ/ "white" PRETO /'pre.tʊ/ "black" AMERICANO /a.me.ri.'ka.nʊ/ "(male) american"
/ɨ/: reduced close unrounded vowel. It has the same sound of "i", but n the end of a word and it's represented by the ending "e". This applies to all words ending in "e", unless the ending "e" is stressed.
BRILHANTE /bri.'ʎã.tʃɨ/ "brilliant, shiny" ROMANCE /ʀo.'mã.sɨ/ "romance, love"
There are also semivowels in Portuguese. However, in our alphabet there aren't the letters "w" nor "y". They are represented by "u" and "i", and sometimes, letter "e". In phonemes they're represented by /w/ and /j/.
ÁREA /'a.rja/ "area" ITÀLIA /i.'ta.lja/ "Italy" ÁUREO /'aw.rjo/ "aureate, golden" QUASE /'kwa.zɨ/ "almost"
Portuguese also has diphthongs, tritongs and hiatuses. The diphtongs can be classified as "crescent" and "decrescent".
The decrescent diphthong occurs when a vowel precedes a semivowel. There are ten decrescent diphtongs in Portuguese:
"AI" /aj/ Ex: PAI /'paj/ "father" BAIXO /'baj.ʃʊ/ "bass; low, short"
"AU" /aw/ Ex: MAU /'maw/ "bad" PAU /'paw/ "stick, wood" MAL /'maw (Brazil's dialect)/ "evil, badly" * the difference between MAU and MAL is that MAU with "u" is the opposite of BOM "good", and it's an adjective, and MAL with "l" is the opposite of BEM "well" and it's a name and also an adverb. However, they sound the same in the dialect of Brazil.
"EI" /ej/ Ex: PEIXE /'pej.ʃɨ/ "fish" LEITE /'lej.tʃɨ/ "milk"
"EU" /ew/ Ex: FEUDO /'few.dʊ/ "feud, manor, feoff" GALILEU /ga.li.'lew/ "Galilean, male form for that who's from Galilee"
"ÉU" /ɛw/ Ex: CÉU /'sɛw/ "sky, heaven" MEL /'mɛw (Brazil's dilect)/ "honey"
"IU" /iw/ Ex: FUNIL /fu.'niw (Brazil's dialect)/"funnel" FRIO /'friw/ "cold, coldness" BRASIL /bra.'ziw/ "Brazil"
"OI" /oj/ Ex: NOITE /'noy.tʃɨ/ "night" LOIRO /'loy.rʊ/ "blond (male)"
"ÓI" /ɔy/ Ex: DÓI /'dɔy/ "(it) hurts, aches" RÓI /ʀɔy/ "(it) gnaws, nibbles"
"OU" /ow/ Ex: OURO /'ow.rʊ/ "gold" SOU /'sow/ "(I) am" BOLSO /'bow.sʊ (Brazil's dialect)/ "pocket"
"UI" /uj/ Ex: CUIDAR / kuj.'dar/ "to care" FUI /'fuj/ "(I) went"
As we have seen in many Brazilian dialects, including the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais (the most important ones!), the "l" is vocalized making the following cases be considered diphthongs: AL, EL, IL, OL, UL.
Nasal Diphtongs
/ãj/ represented by ÃE, as in MÃE /'mãj/ "mother"; PÃES /'pãjs/ plural of "bread": "breads"; ALEMÃES /a.le.'mãjs/ plural of "German": "Germans".
/ẽj/ represented by EM generally at the end of a word, as in GARAGEM /ga.'ra.ʒẽj/ "garage", PAJEM /'pa.ʒẽj/ "pageboy". Other examples: EM /'ẽj/ "in, on, at". In São Paulo is common this diphtong in almost all combinations of "EM" and "EN". Example: TEMPO /'tẽ.pʊ/ "time, hour; weather", in São Paulo is said /'tẽj.pʊ/; MENTE /'mẽ.tʃɨ/ "mind, nous", in São Paulo is /'mẽj.tʃɨ/. What is important is that the "m" is always a mark of nasalization and not a consonant (unless it is before vowel).
/õj/ is represented by ÕE, it's very common in the plural of words with -ÃO /ãw/. The words with -ÃO derived from the Latin words with -ON. The plural of these words in Latin was given by -ONES, so therefore in Portuguese, the plural of -ÃO is -ÕES. In the case of the word PÃO "bread", it is derived from "PANE" in Latin whose plural is "PANES", thence the ending -ÃES in the plural. Ex: CANTÕES /kã.'tõjs/, plural of CANTÃO /kã.'tãw/ "canton, small district"; ALTÕES /aw.'tõjs/, plural of ALTÃO wich is the masculine augmentative of the masculine adjective ALTO /'aw.tʊ/ "tall, high". In the feminine augmentaive it would be "ALTONA" and the plural "ALTONAS". The augmentative serves as a force of expression. ALTÕES means some men, boys or any other group of masculine things that are very tall.
Ex: JOGADORES DE BASQUETE TENDEM A SER ALTÕES "Basketball players tend to be (quite) tall." Some augmentatives become another words. Ex: PORTÃO /por.'tãw/ "gate" (the augmentative of things and objects, even feminine, become masculine) is the augmentative of PORTA /'pɔr.ta/ "door". The plural is PORTÕES /por.'tõjs/ "gates". Remember that in augmentative, the stress falls on the last syllable.
/õw/ represented by OM generally at the end of a word, as in BOM /'bõw/ "good". In the combinations of "OM" and "ON" no matter if the sound is /õw/ or simply /õ/, but in São Paulo is common to add a diphthong in these phonemes. In MONTE "mount" doesn't matter if you say /'mõ.tʃɨ/ or say /'mõw.tʃɨ/, but is more common to say the second way.
Occlusives (or Plosives)
/p/: surd bilabial occlusive, represented by P. PEDRA /'pɛ.dra/ "stone"
/b/: voiced bilabial occlusive, represented by B. BOLA /'bɔ.la/ "ball"
/t/: surd alveolar occlusive, represented by T (before A, O, U and stressed E and I). TARECO /ta.'rɛ.kʊ/ "sweet pancake"
/d/: voiced alveolar occlusive, represented by D (before A, O, U and stressed E and I). DEDO /'de.dʊ/ "finger, toe"
/k/: surd velar occlusive, represented by C (before A, O and U) and QU (before E and I, there aren't letter K in Portuguese alphabet). QUEIJO /'kej.ʒʊ/ "cheese"; CARRO /'ka.ʀʊ/ "car"
/g/: voiced velar occlusive, represented by G (before A, O and U) and GU (before E and I). GAROTO /ga.'ro.tʊ/ "boy"; GAROTA /ga.'ro.ta/ "girl"; GUIA /'gi.a/ "guide"
Fricatives
/f/: surd labiodental fricative, represented by F. FACA /'fa.ka/ "knife"
/v/: voiced labiodental fricative, repressented by V. VACA /'va.ka/ "cow"
/s/: surd alveolar fricative, represented by S (before vowels and before consonants), C (before E and I) and Ç and SS (between two vowels). Ç is derived of the French ending -ce, as in 'espérance' "hope, expectation", wich in Portuguese is "esperança", because it's a feminine substantive. It can be the modern form for the old endind -ência, from Latin -entia. SUJO /'su.ʒʊ/ "dirty"; CENTRO /'sẽ.trʊ/ "center"; FLORENÇA /flo.'rẽ.sa/ "the city of Firenze in Italy"; MISSA /'mi.sa/ "mass, catholic cult".
/z/: voiced alveolar fricative, represented by Z (it doesn't occur before consonants [graphically]) and S between vowels. ASA /'a.za/ "wing"; AZUL /a.'zuw/ "blue (color)"
/ʃ/: surd post-alveolar fricative, represented by X and CH (never SH, but with the same sound). XAMPU /ʃã.'pu/ "shampoo"; XERIFE /ʃe.'ri.fɨ/ "sheriff"; CHUVA /'ʃu.va/ "rain (substantive)". This sound occurs in the S of the speech of Rio de Janeiro, before consonants nd in theend of a word: ESPELHO /eʃ.'pe.ʎʊ/ "mirror"...
/ʒ/: voiced post-alveolar fricative, represented by J and G (before E and I). There's not this sound in English, although it's present in the africate English J /'dʒej/. its the same sound, but without 'd'. Try to say 'sh' voicedly, like 'zh'. This is the sound of J in Portuguese. JANEIRO /ʒa.'nej.rʊ/ "January"; GENTE /'ʒẽ.tʃɨ/ "people, folk"
Portuguese also has diphthongs, tritongs and hiatuses. The diphtongs can be classified as "crescent" and "decrescent".
The decrescent diphthong occurs when a vowel precedes a semivowel. There are ten decrescent diphtongs in Portuguese:
"AI" /aj/ Ex: PAI /'paj/ "father" BAIXO /'baj.ʃʊ/ "bass; low, short"
"AU" /aw/ Ex: MAU /'maw/ "bad" PAU /'paw/ "stick, wood" MAL /'maw (Brazil's dialect)/ "evil, badly" * the difference between MAU and MAL is that MAU with "u" is the opposite of BOM "good", and it's an adjective, and MAL with "l" is the opposite of BEM "well" and it's a name and also an adverb. However, they sound the same in the dialect of Brazil.
"EI" /ej/ Ex: PEIXE /'pej.ʃɨ/ "fish" LEITE /'lej.tʃɨ/ "milk"
"EU" /ew/ Ex: FEUDO /'few.dʊ/ "feud, manor, feoff" GALILEU /ga.li.'lew/ "Galilean, male form for that who's from Galilee"
"ÉU" /ɛw/ Ex: CÉU /'sɛw/ "sky, heaven" MEL /'mɛw (Brazil's dilect)/ "honey"
"IU" /iw/ Ex: FUNIL /fu.'niw (Brazil's dialect)/"funnel" FRIO /'friw/ "cold, coldness" BRASIL /bra.'ziw/ "Brazil"
"OI" /oj/ Ex: NOITE /'noy.tʃɨ/ "night" LOIRO /'loy.rʊ/ "blond (male)"
"ÓI" /ɔy/ Ex: DÓI /'dɔy/ "(it) hurts, aches" RÓI /ʀɔy/ "(it) gnaws, nibbles"
"OU" /ow/ Ex: OURO /'ow.rʊ/ "gold" SOU /'sow/ "(I) am" BOLSO /'bow.sʊ (Brazil's dialect)/ "pocket"
"UI" /uj/ Ex: CUIDAR / kuj.'dar/ "to care" FUI /'fuj/ "(I) went"
As we have seen in many Brazilian dialects, including the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais (the most important ones!), the "l" is vocalized making the following cases be considered diphthongs: AL, EL, IL, OL, UL.
Nasal Diphtongs
/ãj/ represented by ÃE, as in MÃE /'mãj/ "mother"; PÃES /'pãjs/ plural of "bread": "breads"; ALEMÃES /a.le.'mãjs/ plural of "German": "Germans".
/ẽj/ represented by EM generally at the end of a word, as in GARAGEM /ga.'ra.ʒẽj/ "garage", PAJEM /'pa.ʒẽj/ "pageboy". Other examples: EM /'ẽj/ "in, on, at". In São Paulo is common this diphtong in almost all combinations of "EM" and "EN". Example: TEMPO /'tẽ.pʊ/ "time, hour; weather", in São Paulo is said /'tẽj.pʊ/; MENTE /'mẽ.tʃɨ/ "mind, nous", in São Paulo is /'mẽj.tʃɨ/. What is important is that the "m" is always a mark of nasalization and not a consonant (unless it is before vowel).
/õj/ is represented by ÕE, it's very common in the plural of words with -ÃO /ãw/. The words with -ÃO derived from the Latin words with -ON. The plural of these words in Latin was given by -ONES, so therefore in Portuguese, the plural of -ÃO is -ÕES. In the case of the word PÃO "bread", it is derived from "PANE" in Latin whose plural is "PANES", thence the ending -ÃES in the plural. Ex: CANTÕES /kã.'tõjs/, plural of CANTÃO /kã.'tãw/ "canton, small district"; ALTÕES /aw.'tõjs/, plural of ALTÃO wich is the masculine augmentative of the masculine adjective ALTO /'aw.tʊ/ "tall, high". In the feminine augmentaive it would be "ALTONA" and the plural "ALTONAS". The augmentative serves as a force of expression. ALTÕES means some men, boys or any other group of masculine things that are very tall.
Ex: JOGADORES DE BASQUETE TENDEM A SER ALTÕES "Basketball players tend to be (quite) tall." Some augmentatives become another words. Ex: PORTÃO /por.'tãw/ "gate" (the augmentative of things and objects, even feminine, become masculine) is the augmentative of PORTA /'pɔr.ta/ "door". The plural is PORTÕES /por.'tõjs/ "gates". Remember that in augmentative, the stress falls on the last syllable.
/õw/ represented by OM generally at the end of a word, as in BOM /'bõw/ "good". In the combinations of "OM" and "ON" no matter if the sound is /õw/ or simply /õ/, but in São Paulo is common to add a diphthong in these phonemes. In MONTE "mount" doesn't matter if you say /'mõ.tʃɨ/ or say /'mõw.tʃɨ/, but is more common to say the second way.
The Consonants
There are sixteen consonant phonemess in Portuguese. They are:Occlusives (or Plosives)
/p/: surd bilabial occlusive, represented by P. PEDRA /'pɛ.dra/ "stone"
/b/: voiced bilabial occlusive, represented by B. BOLA /'bɔ.la/ "ball"
/t/: surd alveolar occlusive, represented by T (before A, O, U and stressed E and I). TARECO /ta.'rɛ.kʊ/ "sweet pancake"
/d/: voiced alveolar occlusive, represented by D (before A, O, U and stressed E and I). DEDO /'de.dʊ/ "finger, toe"
/k/: surd velar occlusive, represented by C (before A, O and U) and QU (before E and I, there aren't letter K in Portuguese alphabet). QUEIJO /'kej.ʒʊ/ "cheese"; CARRO /'ka.ʀʊ/ "car"
/g/: voiced velar occlusive, represented by G (before A, O and U) and GU (before E and I). GAROTO /ga.'ro.tʊ/ "boy"; GAROTA /ga.'ro.ta/ "girl"; GUIA /'gi.a/ "guide"
Fricatives
/f/: surd labiodental fricative, represented by F. FACA /'fa.ka/ "knife"
/v/: voiced labiodental fricative, repressented by V. VACA /'va.ka/ "cow"
/s/: surd alveolar fricative, represented by S (before vowels and before consonants), C (before E and I) and Ç and SS (between two vowels). Ç is derived of the French ending -ce, as in 'espérance' "hope, expectation", wich in Portuguese is "esperança", because it's a feminine substantive. It can be the modern form for the old endind -ência, from Latin -entia. SUJO /'su.ʒʊ/ "dirty"; CENTRO /'sẽ.trʊ/ "center"; FLORENÇA /flo.'rẽ.sa/ "the city of Firenze in Italy"; MISSA /'mi.sa/ "mass, catholic cult".
/z/: voiced alveolar fricative, represented by Z (it doesn't occur before consonants [graphically]) and S between vowels. ASA /'a.za/ "wing"; AZUL /a.'zuw/ "blue (color)"
/ʃ/: surd post-alveolar fricative, represented by X and CH (never SH, but with the same sound). XAMPU /ʃã.'pu/ "shampoo"; XERIFE /ʃe.'ri.fɨ/ "sheriff"; CHUVA /'ʃu.va/ "rain (substantive)". This sound occurs in the S of the speech of Rio de Janeiro, before consonants nd in theend of a word: ESPELHO /eʃ.'pe.ʎʊ/ "mirror"...
/ʒ/: voiced post-alveolar fricative, represented by J and G (before E and I). There's not this sound in English, although it's present in the africate English J /'dʒej/. its the same sound, but without 'd'. Try to say 'sh' voicedly, like 'zh'. This is the sound of J in Portuguese. JANEIRO /ʒa.'nej.rʊ/ "January"; GENTE /'ʒẽ.tʃɨ/ "people, folk"
Others
/r/: thrilled alveolar. It's represented by R (before vowels; before consonants and at the end of a word in the speech of São Paulo). It doesn't occur in the beginning of a word (at least, in Brazil, it's quite uncommon). MAR /'mar/ "sea"; HORA /'ɔ.ra/ "hour, time"; MORTE /'mɔr.tʃɨ/ "death".
/l/: lateral alveolar. Its represented by L. This sound rarely appears before a consonant, because it's vocalized and become an /-w/. LIVRO /'li.vrʊ/ "book; I free"
/m/: nasal bilabial. It's represented by M. MÚSICA /'mu.zi.ka/ "music"; MELANCIA /me.lã.'si.a/ "watermelon".
/n/: nasal alveolar. It's represented by N. Never occurs in the end of a word in Portuguese. NUCA /'nu.ka/ "nape, hindhead"
/ʀ/: thrilled uvular. It's represent by initial R. It's a little more "hard" than the English "h", grating the throat. RODA /'ʀɔ.da/ "wheel; it rounds"; REI /'ʀej/ "king"; RAINHA /ʀa.'i.ɲa/ "queen"
/X/: surd uvular fricative, the English "H" in "house", "huge". This sound only exists in the speech of Rio de Janeiro, when R are before consonants and in the end of a word: MAR /'maX/ "sea"; MORTE /'mɔX.tʃɨ/ "death".
/ɲ/: nasal palatal. It's like the sound of "N" + "Y", but together in just one phoneme. But the "N" doesn't connect with the "Y" as a consonant, but nasalize the vowel which precede it. In Italian and French, this sound is represented by "gn". In Portuguese is represented by NH. Ex: ALEMANHA "Germany" is /a.le.'mã.ɲa/ or could be represented as /a.le.mã.ja/ or /a.le.man.ya/. Here the "n" just nasalize the "a" and connect "an" to "ya".
/ʎ/: with this sound is the same with "ɲ"; it's like the sound of "L" + "Y" together as just one phoneme. It's represented by LH. ALHO /'a.ʎʊ/ "garlic", it could be didactically represented by /'a.ljʊ/ or /'a.lyʊ/.
/tʃ/: surd alveolar affricate. Same sound of English CH. It's represented by T before toneless E, and before I. TIME /'tʃi.mɨ/ "team"
/dʒ/: voiced alveolar affricate. Same sound of English J. Represented by D before toneless E, and before I.
DIA /'dʒi.a/ "day"
/X/: surd uvular fricative, the English "H" in "house", "huge". This sound only exists in the speech of Rio de Janeiro, when R are before consonants and in the end of a word: MAR /'maX/ "sea"; MORTE /'mɔX.tʃɨ/ "death".
/ɲ/: nasal palatal. It's like the sound of "N" + "Y", but together in just one phoneme. But the "N" doesn't connect with the "Y" as a consonant, but nasalize the vowel which precede it. In Italian and French, this sound is represented by "gn". In Portuguese is represented by NH. Ex: ALEMANHA "Germany" is /a.le.'mã.ɲa/ or could be represented as /a.le.mã.ja/ or /a.le.man.ya/. Here the "n" just nasalize the "a" and connect "an" to "ya".
/ʎ/: with this sound is the same with "ɲ"; it's like the sound of "L" + "Y" together as just one phoneme. It's represented by LH. ALHO /'a.ʎʊ/ "garlic", it could be didactically represented by /'a.ljʊ/ or /'a.lyʊ/.
/tʃ/: surd alveolar affricate. Same sound of English CH. It's represented by T before toneless E, and before I. TIME /'tʃi.mɨ/ "team"
/dʒ/: voiced alveolar affricate. Same sound of English J. Represented by D before toneless E, and before I.
DIA /'dʒi.a/ "day"
/ks/: /k/ + /s/. This sound occurs in Portuguese in words of Latin and foreign origin and is represented by X. Letter X is the enemy of those who are learning Portuguese, because it can have the sound of S, of Z, of KS, of SH... It depends from the origin of the word.
/kw/: it's represented by QU (before A and O) and by QÜ (before E and I). QUANDO /'kwã.dʊ/ "when"
/gw/: represented by GU (before A and O) and by GÜ (before E and I). After the Spelling Reform, in 2006, the diaresis (¨) fell down. GUARDA /'gwar.da/ "guard"; AGÜENTAR (today, it's written AGUENTAR) /a.gwẽ.'tar/ "to bear, endure".
The digraphs XC, SC (before vowels) have the sound of SS.
So the alphabet is this:
Letter Name
A á /'a/
A á /'a/
B bê /'be/
C cê /'se/
D dê /'de/
E ê or é /'e/ or /'ɛ/
F éfe /'ɛ.fɨ/
H agá /a.'ga/
I í /'i/
L éle /'ɛ.lɨ/
M eme /'e.mɨ/
N ene /'e.nɨ/
O ô or ó /'o/ or /'ɔ/
P pê /'pe/
Q quê /'ke/
S ésse /'ɛ.sɨ/
T tê /'te/
U u /'u/
V vê /'ve/
Z zê /'ze/
Despite few differences in pronunciation, whatever pronunciation you choose, you will be understood.
Next lesson: The Substantive, part 1: "Gender Inflexion"
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