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What language is easiest for Spanish Speakers to understand?
I have to agree with Juan, Portuguese is the easiest to understand of all the languages for a Spanish speaker, but in my case Portuguese is still very hard to understand, and has to be spoken slowly for me to be able to understand it at all.
I've heard many songs in Portuguese, and I can scarcely understand what they're saying, except for a phrase here and there.
Since Portuguese has amny silent letters (as compared to spanish which has none*), it can sometimes be difficult to understand what a person is trying to say by a certain word or combination of words, and in my case, where one word ends and the other begins.
I also agree with Juan. I am also a native speaker of Spanish (I'm from Colombia), and I have many, many Portuguese friends. I speak to them in Spanish, and they speak to me in Portuguese. We understand each other perfectly well. But I cannot carry on a conversation with Italians in the same effortless way that I do with Portuguese speakers. Italian vocabulary is less similar to Spanish than Portuguese is. People often say that the Portuguese accent is difficult - I don't agree. Sure, the Portuguese accent is certainly its own, but the closeness of its vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar to Spanish more than compensates for whatever clarity is lost on account of the accent. Furthermore, there is this false notion that European Portuguese is less intelligible to Spanish speakers than Brazilian Portuguese. I know many people from Portugal who speak beautiful and clear sounding Portuguese. It really depends on the education of the person speaking it.
My guess would be Portuguese is the easiest. Some sample words.
Queso (Sp.), Queijo (Port.), Fromage (Fr.), Formaggio (It.), Formatge (Cat.).
Hablar (Sp.), Falar (Port.), Parler (Fr.), Parlare (It.), Parlar (Cat.).
Rodilla (Sp.), Joelho (Port.), Genou (Fr.), Ginocchio (It.), Genoll (Cat.)
Comer (sp.), Comer (Port.), Manger (Fr.), Mangiare (It.), Menjar (Cat.)
Hallar (Sp.), Achar (Port.), Trouver (Fr.), Trovare (It.), Trobar (Cat.)
Pájaro (Sp.), Pássaro (Port.), Oiseau (Fr.), Uccello (it.), Ocell (Cat)
I'm not fluent in Spanish, but I can say that in written form, Portuguese is a lot easier to understand because the vocabulary is closer between Portuguese and Spanish, than it is between Spanish and Italian.
But because of the phonological factor, it's sort of a toss up as to what is more intelligable between Portuguese and Italian. That's just my opinion.
Para mi el alemán es el más fácil de entender. Tambien entiendo el holandés, pero tengo que hacer un poquito de esfuerzo para entenderlo bien.
Nothing to say really, but that message that says I am black is untrue.
In Italian:
Niente da dire, ma il messaggio che dice che sono nera non è vero.
How would it be said in Spanish?
My guess:
Nada de decir, pero el mensaje que dice que soy negra no es cierto.
I'm sure you are all aware the dice [It] is pronounced [dee-cheh] while dice (Sp) is pronounced [dee-seh] or [dee-theh]
How would it be said in Portuguese?
Here is a very good example of how closely related the Portuguese and Spanish languages are. Notice the extensive vocabulary similarity and the slight changes of word order. Apart from those few minor differences, the two paragraphs are, for all intents and purposes, fully intelligible to speakers of both these languages.
(Spanish)
Pero, a pesar de esta variedad de posibilidades que la voz posee, sería muy pobre instrumento de comunicación si no contara más que con ella. La capacidad de expresión del hombre no dispondría de más medios que la de los animales. La voz, sola, es para el hombre apenas una materia informe, que para convertirse en un instrumento perfecto de comunicación debe ser sometida a un cierto tratamiento. Esa manipulación que recibe la voz son las "articulaciones".
(Portuguese)
Porém, apesar desta variedade de possibilidades que a voz possui, seria um instrumento de comunicação muito pobre se não contasse com mais além dela. A capacidade de expressão do homem não disporia de mais meios que a dos animais. A voz, somente, é para o homem apenas uma matéria informe, que para converter-se em um instrumento perfeito de comunicação deve ser submetida a um certo tratamento. Essa manipulação que a voz recebe são as "articulações".
This is a very simple matter:
As a written language, Portuguese is by far the most understandable language for Spanish speakers.
As a spoken language, Italian is the most understandable language for Spanish speakers (among the biggest Romance languages of course).
"This is a very simple matter:
As a written language, Portuguese is by far the most understandable language for Spanish speakers.
As a spoken language, Italian is the most understandable language for Spanish speakers (among the biggest Romance languages of course). "
I agree. That's it in a nutshell.
Sergio and LAA. Would you have us believe that Portuguese is by far the most understandable romance language to Spanish in the written form and not in the spoken?? How is it that you can understand the written and not the spoken?? Accent? Please, I hear horrid Italian accents all the time. No...your logic explains nothing in a nutshell, sorry. I know countless Spanish speakers that will refute your so called logic in a second. I for one do. You speak of Italian as though it were a single uniform language, when in fact there are numerous dialects often unintelligible to one another. It's a fact that most Italians are not fluent in standard Italian. I have witnessed Italians who thought they could converse flawlessly with Spanish speakers only to be very embarrased by their inability to carry on a fluid and meaningful conversation for even the shortest spells. This hardly ever happens with Portuguese speakers, and when it does, it is only because the Portuguese speaker does not even his own language well. Portuguese, Gelego and Spanish are a close linguistic family no matter what is argued to the contrary. The linguistics studies by the experts prove it over and over again. In the universities, Portuguese and Spanish are always grouped together, and there is a very good reason for that.
Juan,
This is just our opinion. Portuguese and Spanish share a closer lexical relationship than Spanish and Italian do, so that when written, we understand a greater share of the words. But because of differences in phonology, these Portuguese words, which are of the same origin as their Spanish equivalents, are not necessarily intelligiable. Italian and Spanish have very close phonetics. Portuguese, has that nasal element, and things of that nature, most likely due to a Celtic phonological influence, just like French.
French and Italian share 89% of the same vocabulary, while Spanish and Italian only share 82% of the same vocabulary. But when spoken, it is much easier for an Italian speaker to understand Spanish, because French's phonology is very distant from Italian, while Spanish is strikingly similar in this respect.
For me Portuguese is the most understable written and spoken as Juan have said
<<How is it that you can understand the written and not the spoken??>>
Really this have sense, for example I can read a good percentage of written French but near to zero the spoken one.
I find southern-speaking Italians to be the most intelligiable. One exception being the "Venetian" dialect spoken in the north, which closely resembles Castilian-spanish.
As seen here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_language
For example, in the south they use words closer to Spanish or Latin:
Capo (=testa, general word) *Latin, caput
Tengo (=ho, general word * Spanish, tengo
etc.
(Spanish)
Pero, a pesar de esta variedad de posibilidades que la voz posee, sería muy pobre instrumento de comunicación si no contara más que con ella. La capacidad de expresión del hombre no dispondría de más medios que la de los animales. La voz, sola, es para el hombre apenas una materia informe, que para convertirse en un instrumento perfecto de comunicación debe ser sometida a un cierto tratamiento. Esa manipulación que recibe la voz son las "articulaciones".
(Portuguese)
Porém, apesar desta variedade de possibilidades que a voz possui, seria um instrumento de comunicação muito pobre se não contasse com mais além dela. A capacidade de expressão do homem não disporia de mais meios que a dos animais. A voz, somente, é para o homem apenas uma matéria informe, que para converter-se em um instrumento perfeito de comunicação deve ser submetida a um certo tratamento. Essa manipulação que a voz recebe são as "articulações".
(Italian)
Ma, nonostante questa varietà di possibilità che la voce ha, sarebbe strumento molto povero della comunicazione se non avesse che il suoi più. La capienza dell'espressione dell'uomo non avrebbe più mezzi che quello degli animali. La voce, singolo, è per l'uomo non appena un aspetto informa, quello da trasformarsi in in uno strumento perfetto della comunicazione esso deve essere messo sotto un determinato trattamento. Quella manipolazione che riceve la voce è “congiunge„.
No matter how different the Portuguese phonology is, it is easier to understand than Italian.
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