Language Journey

Vocabulary of the Portuguese Language: Influences and Origins

• Portuguese is a Romance language with a vocabulary mainly derived from Latin.

• Besides Latin, Portuguese has words of Gallaecian, Celtiberian, Germanic, Greek, and Arabic origin.

• The pre-Roman Gallaecian and Celtiberian languages left traces in Portuguese, especially in placenames and rivers.

• The Basque influence in Portuguese, mainly through Spanish, is believed to have entered Portugal because of Basque lineage.

• Portuguese has over 1,500 words of Celtic origin, the second largest component in the language after Latin.

• Germanic languages, such as Suebi and Visigoths, influenced Portuguese vocabulary, especially in toponyms and derivations, such as Aldão, Alderete, and Albergaria-a-Velha.

• There are over 600 Germanic words in Portuguese, with a tendency to increase due to modern influences.

• Germanic names were the most common personal names in Portugal-Galicia during the early and high Middle Ages, surpassing Christian and Roman names in number and popularity.

• The Galicians-Portuguese inherited the Germanic onomastic system from the Suevi, with a person using one name, sometimes a nickname or alias, with no surname, occasionally adding a patronymic.

• Many Germanic names were composite, with the second element usually a noun with the same gender as the bearer.

• Many Germanic names were transmitted to the Suevi with the usual Germanic rules of inheritance, which were variations and alliteration.

• Many Germanic names underwent Western Romance and Galician changes from Latin, such as consonant lenition and palatalization, contributing to a large number of variants in recorded names.Toponymy and Language Influences in Portuguese History

• Many toponyms in northern Portugal, Galicia, western Asturias and other territories were part of the Suebi kingdom.

• The Suebi kingdom influenced several thousand toponyms such as Gondomar, Arganil, Adães e Adufe, Hildis, Tagilde, Tresmonde, Trasmil, Ermesinde and Esposende.

• The Germanic personal names were highly influenced by the Suebi kingdom.

• The Galician-Portuguese Medieval onomastics also included Germanic names.

• Germanic toponymy in Galicia and Portugal is evident.

• Arabic was the elite language during the 8th to mid-13th centuries in Portugal, while the local population continued speaking Western Romance and Mozarabic dialects.

• Portuguese language has borrowed many words from Arabic.

• There is a list of Portuguese words of Arabic origin.

• Portuguese language has also been influenced by languages outside of Europe.

• The Portuguese language has been influenced by African languages due to the slave trade.

• The Portuguese language has also been influenced by Asian languages such as Japanese and Chinese.

• The Portuguese language also has influences from the Tupi language spoken by indigenous Brazilians.