Many Brazilians complain about the accents that some words require, but did you know that when they were “created”, the objective was to help? Some may think, "Big help!" However, imagine if the accents didn't exist, how would we know what the correct pronunciation of the words would be?
In Portuguese, unlike what many people imagine, most words do not receive an accent, which is used exactly to demonstrate that that word receives a different pronunciation. Got doubts? Follow the explanation:
- Most words in Portuguese are paroxytone (the stressed syllable is the penultimate) and end in -a, -e, -o, -em, -ens, so paroxytones with these endings do not receive accent, while oxytones (stressed syllable in the last) with the same endings need to receive an accent, exactly to mark the pronunciation, that is, to determine where the syllable is tonic. For the same reason, that is, to define the stressed syllable, all proparoxytone words (stressed syllable in the third to last syllable) receive a graphic accent.
Did you see the importance of the accent? It is fundamental to determine the stressed syllable, but this is not its only function, as it is also used to indicate the way that vowels should be pronounced, ie with an open or closed sound. Therefore, there are two graphic accents in Portuguese, the acute and the circumflex. Today, let's find out a little more about this last accent: the circumflex.
The caret name is difficult, so it is common for teachers to call it the little hat (^). It is used over vowels -a, -e, -o to mark that the vowel pronunciation should be closed. A classic example for defining the difference in pronunciation is the words: grandpa and grandma. When the caret is used, it causes the vowel sound to sound closed. Did you see the difference?
The accentuation rules for words, whose vowels need the caret, are the same, that is, will be defined by tonicity, that is, it is necessary to classify them into oxytones, paroxytones and proparoxytones. You must also pay attention to the changes that have occurred in the new spelling, therefore, also influenced the words that receive the caret.
Here are some words that use the caret. Attention to pronunciation!
Blessing
Health insurance
plot
core
swamp
Chamber
From now on, pay attention to the pronunciation of the carets!
By Mayra Pavan
Graduated in Letters