Pitfalls in Spanish-Portuguese Homonyms and Cognates

Abstract

While it cannot be denied that a knowledge of Spanish is an invaluable aid in the acquisition of Portuguese, it is likewise true that a previous knowledge of Spanish presents certain pitfalls to the student of Portuguese. The similarity between the vocabularies of the two languages is both an asset and a liability. The beginning student will find that in numerous instances he can translate new Portuguese words by recalling their meaning in Spanish. Similarly, in translating into Portuguese, the Spanish word is often a good guess when in doubt about the Portuguese. Frequently, however, Spanish-Portuguese homonyms have quite different meanings. In some cases the Portuguese cognates differ somewhat in spelling and pronunciation. There are also instances in which the Portuguese words bear no resemblance to their Spanish equivalents. The following lists, composed of common words, illustrate the errors that may arise. LIST I