Portuguese + Spanish the fastest growing western languages

Viri Amaoro   Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:48 am GMT
I'll explain: "continental portuguese" should be considered a distinction within european portuguese.
The Portuguese Republic consists of mainland Portugal and the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores. In the islands people refer to mainland Portugal as "o continente" (the continent):
a) "eu tenho de ir ao continente" ("I must get to the mainland")
b) "(...) os vôos a partir do continente" ("the flights from the mainland")

I supose that's the origin of the misunderstanding. Somehow, somewhere, portuguese people (the only ones aware of this use of the word "continente") started refering to european portuguese as "continental" portuguese. That is an error. The correct use should be european portuguese. Has someone noticed, Brazil and Angola are in (other) continents too.

One final note: the portuguese people NEVER refer to their language as "european portuguese" in everyday use. They talk about "sotaques" (accents). There is a "sotaque do continente" (mainland accent) but this is NEVER refered to as "continental portuguese".
The people of the Portuguese Republic speak portuguese, colloquialy divided between the "mainland accent", the "azorean accent" and the "madeiran accent", this being the "division" between mainland and islands.
Within the mainland we could speak of northern, central, southern, alentejano accents etc, but that is the case of any other country with a not too small territory and population.
mpgaby   Sun Apr 02, 2006 3:29 am GMT
I just came across this dialogue & find it irritating especially the ones that believe or feel that their brazilians self (roots or otherwise) are better than anyone. And no i'm not Portuguese, but if i had to choose it certainly would be to be brazilian.
Let me tell you something chickidees, i am an adult who has lived in many places in the world incuding portugal, brazil among others & the
u.s.a for the last 15 yrs.
Brazilians can't light a match to the portuguese people, they are noble, cultured, classy people who for all intents & purposes open up the world routes to the world so that all of us can be here on this internet today.
I find brazilians irriitating, deceptive, chronic lyers, fakes who spend their all time blaming the portuguese for all their ills which really shows their own incompetence.
The portuguese do not want to be brazilians nor do we need to & they do not which to become brazilians. portuguese people are well educated, well mannered & civil & know how to carry themselves in a very examplatory manner, wherever they go for the most part they are a hard workers who are successful,and are respected, unlike the brazilians that are total loosers who amount to nothing, everywhere they go they just create havoc, disillusion, disrespect, criminality, not paying rent & showing their bad manners by looking down on those that are far better in everyway; no one does a better job of giving themselves a bad name.
They live in portuguese people homes, work for them, ask them for jobs & all the women if they can will line up to marry a portuguese among others, since brazilian men are total losers, braziian woman will trade them in in a heartbeat.. If they were so bad i don't know whey brazilians are always knocking on their door.
And lastly i have yet, to see a portuguese person of any level work for a brazilian person in brazil, portugal or the u.s.a that says volumes in itself.
instead of criticizing you should learn from example as to the successes & then maybe you guys can start moving.
To Portugal and all it's greatness. Viva Portugal forever.
mpgaby   Sun Apr 02, 2006 3:31 am GMT
And another thing, i find brazilian portuguese atrocious, a total destruction of a beautiful language.
Gringo   Sun Apr 02, 2006 3:53 am GMT
Viri Amaoro:
««Somehow, somewhere, portuguese people (the only ones aware of this use of the word "continente") started refering to european portuguese as "continental" portuguese.»»

I do not think it was Portuguese people who started to refer to european Portuguese as continental Portuguese. You also hear people saying Continental English.
Viri Amaoro   Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:13 pm GMT
Two messages:
For mpgaby: you say you're not portuguese but you identify with then, use "we" when talking about the portuguese people and end with viva portugal. If you're not portuguese proper (citizen) might you be a luso-descendente? Are your ancestors portuguese?

For Gringo: I've never heard of "continental" english, especialy considering that England is...an island! Perhaps "continental english" is what islanders off the coast of Maine call to mainland american english?... Please elucidate, thank you!
Gringo   Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:07 am GMT
««I've never heard of "continental" english»»

I have heard it referring to the:
-English spoken, by non natives, in continental Europe, or else where.
-English spoken in Gibraltar.
-English spoken in the USA, Australia…

http://www.rln-east.com/images/pdf/Basic_International%20Communications.pdf
http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/MegaBBS/thread-view.asp?threadid=1919&start=1&posts=7
http://www.bartleby.com/185/pages/page20.html
Marinheiro   Mon Apr 03, 2006 2:09 pm GMT
Brazilian Portuguese is the 16th century Portuguese.
Try to read Camões in the Brazilian accent and in the Lusitanian accent !
Brazilian Portuguese is the correct one !
Marinheiro   Mon Apr 03, 2006 2:13 pm GMT
"Camões falava como qualquer brasileiro", ensina Evanildo Bechara, filólogo e catedrático aposentado de Filologia Românica da UERJ (RJ), dando pistas iniciais para a decifração do mistério. "Os versos de Os Lusíadas, espelho fiel da língua que chegou ao Brasil no século 16, são lidos em voz alta sem artificialidade por qualquer brasileiro porque foram escritos como versos decassílabos", explica Bechara, declamando os famosos versos, pausadamente: "As armas e os barões assinalados..." Já em 1536, a primeira gramática em língua portuguesa, de autoria de Fernão de Oliveira, que define a ossatura do idioma, ensinava: "Nós falamos como homens compassados." Foi esse português, com os fonemas totalmente pronunciados, quase manemolentes, que chegou ao Brasil e se conservou... O português medieval é mais importante para o Brasil. Quando para cá foi transplantado, no século 16, nos deixou mais medievalismos do que em Portugal", ensina. "Sabe-se que uma língua fica mais conservadora quando é transplantada, em comparação a seu país de origem", prossegue. "As festas juninas e os dias da semana seguidos do sufixo `feira' são marcas atuais desses medievalismos transplantados." "Ao fim do século 16 e no início do século 17, o português de Portugal sofreu uma enfatização da sílaba tônica. Para que esse efeito se desse, era necessário `comer' as vogais na pronúncia; isso se deu depois que o português chegou ao Brasil", esclarece Bechara,

http://www.lendorelendo-gabi.com/folclore/cultura_folclore2.htm