Problem
The first thing I do when researching a new country is look at the map. What do those names mean? How will I remember them?
Answer
I try to translate some of the place names. Placenames will help me learn the language as I will see them every time I look at the map.
I had always thought that the words Portugal and Oporto and Port wine has something to do with Port or gate.
Here's what Wikipedia says:
Etymology[edit]
The word Portugal derives from the Roman-Celtic place name Portus Cale[29]. Cala or Cailleah was the name of a Celtic god and also the name of an early settlement located at the mouth of the Douro River (present-day Vila Nova de Gaia) which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the north of what is now Portugal. Some French scholars believe it may have come from 'Portus Gallus'[30], the port of the Gauls or Celts. Around 200 BC, the Romans took the Iberian Peninsula from the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War, and in the process conquered Cale and renamed it Portus Cale (Port of Cale). During the Middle Ages, the region around Portus Cale became known by the Suebi and Visigoths as Portucale. The name Portucale evolved into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries, and by the 9th century, that term was used extensively to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and Minho, the Minho flowing along what would become the northern Portugal-Spain border. By the 11th and 12th centuries, Portugale was already referred to as Portugal.
castelo - castle
do - of
English - Portuguese
castle - castello
of - do
...................
English _ Portuguese
river - rio
gate - portão
hotel - hotel
restaurant - restaurante
street - rua
entrance - etnrada
exit - sáida
pull - puxar
push -empurrar
open - aberto (remember open to you Albert)
closed - fechados
welcome - bem vinda
hill - colina (Colin is on the hill with Ina)
mountain - montanha (Like Montana but with an h ha ha!)
bay - baía
harbour - Porto (Porto the seaside city has a harbour)
street - rua
avenue - avenida
motorway - autoestrada
no entry - entrada proibida
danger - perigo (peri(l) i(f) (you) go)
entrance fee - taxa de entrada (tax of entry)
free - livre
PORTUGUESE- English
rio - river
portão - gate
hotel - hotel
restaurante -restaurant
rua - street (like the French rue - you'll rue the day you took this street, ah!)
Entrada - entrance
Saída - exit
puxar - pull
empurrar - push
aberto - open
fechadas - closed
bem vinda - welcome
Colina - hill (both words contain the letters l and i)
montanha - mountain (both words contain the letter mo.nta
baía - bay
Porto - harbour
rua - street
Avenida - avenue
autoestrada - motorway
Entrada proibida - no entry (entry prohibited - silent h, like the French can't say h)
perigo - danger
taxa de entrada
livre - free
Bon voyage (that's French but we say it in English) - Boa viagem!
You've learned 26 words, more if you count the double words in Portuguese. Bettert han ten isn't! But ten sounds easy. We have done well today.
Useful wbsites:
https://www.visitportugal.com/en
http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/homepage
http://visitbrasil.com/en/
https://www.duolingo.com/course/pt/en/Learn-Portuguese-Online
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker, learner and teacher of English and other languages.I have several more posts on learning Portuguese and visiting Madeira. This week's winning post is the one on the marvellous meal at Osteria Modigliani, with over a thousand readers from Italy. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.
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