sequently find it very difficult, when he is able to write Portuguese, to leave them off. It would be requisite to mark such accents in a Pronouncing Dictionary, but useless in a Grammar. How is the student to distinguish between the accents that are really indispensable, and those that were only marked for the sake of pronunciation ? LONDON, SEPTEMBER, 1846. S. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. As the usefulness of the Portuguese Language is so well known to all English merchants who carry on a general trade with the different parts of the known world, it will be needless to use any arguments here to prove it; and I shall refer what I have to say on the copiousness and energy of this language, to the Preface to my English and Portuguese Dictionary. The reader will find, in the First Part of this Grammar, what is material as a foundation of the whole. At the end of the Second Part is a full explanation of the Particles, on which I have bestowed more time and labour, because this subject has been hitherto much neglected, although the principal ornament and elegance, not only of the Portuguese, but of every other language, chiefly consist in the proper arrangement and judicious interspersion of the words. In the Third Part is a larger collection than hitherto published of the terms of trade, war, navigation, &c., which the present intercourse between the nations renders particularly useful. Having found great difficulty in procuring Portuguese books in this country, I have in the Fourth Part given some passages selected from the best Portuguese Authors, which will facilitate the reading of their most eminent writers. A NEW PORTUGUESE GRAMMAR. PART I. CHAPTER I. OF THE PORTUGUESE ALPHABET, AND THE MANNER OF PRONOUNCING EACH SEPARATE LETTER. THE Portuguese alphabet contains twenty-four letters, viz: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J,* L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, Y, Z. The A is expressed by a sound like that of a in the English words at, rat, fat, &c. B is expressed by a sound like that of the be, in the first syllable of the English word Betty. * K has been adopted in the Portuguese alphabet [ever since the first (Barros's) Portuguese Grammar was printed, in 1539] for words of foreign derivation originally written with it; it is expressed by a sound like that of the ca in the English word car, if the r is dropped in the pronunciation; its power is the same as in English.-S. B C is expressed by a sound like that of the first syllable of the English word celebrated. D is expressed by a sound like that of the first syllable of the English word declare. E is expressed by a sound like that which we give to · the English a when we pronounce the word care. F is expressed by the same sound as in English. G is expressed by a sound like that of the first syllable of the English word generation. H is expressed by a sound like that of the English word aghast, if you cut off the two last letters st, and keep the accent on the second a. I is expressed by the sound of ee. J is called j consoante, i. e. the j consonant; it is expressed by the sound of ee, and has the same power as the g before e or i. L, as in English. O has nearly the same sound as in the English word store. P is expressed by a sound like that of pe in the English word penny. Q is expressed by a sound like that of the English k. R is expressed by a sound like that of the English participle erred, if you cut off the last letter d. S, as in English. T is expressed by a sound like that of tha in the English word Thames. U is expressed by a sound like that of oo in the English word poop. V is expressed by a sound like that of oo; they call it also oo consoante, i. e. the v consonant.. |