Right at the beginning of our literacy, we are introduced to the alphabet and, most of the time, we start to unravel the universe of reading and writing from the study of vowels and, later, we go to the study of consonants. We learned that the alphabet is officially composed of 26 letters (in 2009, the letters K, W and Y were definitely incorporated into the alphabet of the Portuguese language), as well as we learned that there is not always a great phonetic difference between certain letters... Who has never wondered if a particular word is written with ss, s or ç? Who has never wondered, too, why the c with cedilla not in the alphabet?
Do you know the answer? The truth is that there are many curiosities about the cedilla that you probably don't know yet. How about finding the answer to many of them? Escola Kids will clarify some mysteries about this “letter” that causes so many doubts among Portuguese speakers. Let's find out? Enjoy your reading and good studies!
The cedilla and four mysteries we didn't learn at school!
► 1st Mystery → Is cedilla a letter?
No, cedilla is not a letter and, as it is not a letter, it is not in the official alphabet.
► 2nd Mystery → After all, what is cedilla?
Cedilla is a diacritical sign. Calm down, the word is complicated, but the meaning is not. A diacritical mark serves to differentiate letters or words, that is, in this case, when the letter ç receives the cedilla, it will no longer be read as /c/ to be read with the sound of /s/. Therefore, the ç is nothing more than a phonetic representation.
► 3rd Mystery → Where did the cedilla come from?
The cedilla appeared in the Castilian language in the 16th century from the application of the diminutive suffix -illa (in Portuguese -ilha) to the name of the letter z, therefore, zedilla. That zedilla was placed under the letter c to represent the sound of /s/. Interestingly, the zedilla it is no longer used in Spanish and Spanish, only in Portuguese, French and Catalan.
► 4th Mystery → Why doesn't the c with cedilla appear at the beginning of any word?
Until the 15th or 16th century it was common to use c with cedilla at the beginning of words, however, it was agreed that none The word in the Portuguese language should start with the cedilla, because it is not a letter, but a sign diacritic.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
