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Articulator Features and Portuguese Vowel Height
Wayne J. Redenbarger
Harvard University Press, 1981
This generative phonological study brings together for the first time an exhaustive treatment of the Portuguese data relating to changes in vowel height and the several descriptive frameworks and distinctive feature systems available for their codification. A detailed acoustic phonetic analysis of the Portuguese vowel data is followed by a review of the history of confusion between secondary and primary tongue-body height. The author then argues for a set of Articulator Features’—an extension of the Chomsky and Halle ‘SPE’ distinctive feature system in which all SPE place-of-articulation features are replaced by strictly binary articulator-based features. This framework is then applied to the previously problematic Portuguese vowel-height data and is shown to be capable of both elegant and explanatory codification of the data. Finally, it is shown that these new explanatory rules render simple certain previous solutions on the basis of which it has been erroneously argued that vowel height in Portuguese is not binary.
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Cartas e Cronicas
Leitura Jornalística
Elisabeth P. Smith and Phillip H. Smith, Editors
Georgetown University Press, 1990

Cartas e Cronicas contains three dozen selections form Brazilian newspapers accompanied by vocabulary lists and comprehension exercises.

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A Contrastive Phonology of Portuguese and English
Milton M. Azevedo
Georgetown University Press, 1981

Compares the sounds, phonology, and prosody of General American English and Southeastern Brazilian Portuguese.

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Iberian Imperialism and Language Evolution in Latin America
Edited by Salikoko S. Mufwene
University of Chicago Press, 2014
As rich as the development of the Spanish and Portuguese languages has been in Latin America, no single book has attempted to chart their complex history. Gathering essays by sociohistorical linguists working across the region, Salikoko S. Mufwene does just that in this book. Exploring the many different contact points between Iberian colonialism and indigenous cultures, the contributors identify the crucial parameters of language evolution that have led to today’s state of linguistic diversity in Latin America.
           
The essays approach language development through an ecological lens, exploring the effects of politics, economics, cultural contact, and natural resources on the indigenization of Spanish and Portuguese in a variety of local settings. They show how languages adapt to new environments, peoples, and practices, and the ramifications of this for the spread of colonial languages, the loss or survival of indigenous ones, and the way hybrid vernaculars get situated in larger political and cultural forces. The result is a sophisticated look at language as a natural phenomenon, one that meets a host of influences with remarkable plasticity.  
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Language and Social Relationship in Brazilian Portuguese
The Pragmatics of Politeness
By Dale April Koike
University of Texas Press, 1992

"Give me the salt" and "Please pass the salt" make the same request, but in a polite situation the first utterance may give offense, while the second may not. How and why such differences in wording and intonation, in a particular context, produce different effects is the concern of pragmatics, the area of linguistics that deals with how speech is used in interaction. In this innovative study of pragmatics in Brazilian Portuguese, Dale Koike analyzes the politeness phenomenon, specifically in the context of speech acts known as "directives."

As acts intended to get someone to do something, directives bring into play a variety of sociocultural factors, depending on the relationship between the participants. Using empirical data obtained through natural language observation and from questionnaires of over one hundred adult native speakers, Koike identifies factors—such as age, education, and gender—that influence the strategies of politeness a given speaker is likely to use in making a directive. This research clarifies the unwritten language rules and assumptions that native speakers intuitively follow in phrasing their directive utterances.

Koike also includes important material on the acquisition of strategies for politeness by children and adult second-language learners, as well as on gender differences in politeness forms. Her research proposes important additions to the theory of speech acts as conceived by Austin and Searle, particularly in the application of deictic organization to account for a hierarchy of pragmatic forms.

Language and Social Relationship in Brazilian Portuguese will be of interest to a wide audience in diverse fields, including linguistics, anthropology, interaction analysis, communications, semantics, sociology, psychology, and education.

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Passive Sentences in English and Portuguese
Milton M. Azevedo
Georgetown University Press, 1980

This study analyzes passive sentences in English and Portuguese which result from a post-semantic transformation applied when a nound, which does not play the semantic role of actor, is chosen as syntactic subject. Choice between a passive and its non-passive or active counterpart reflects differences in the distribution of information in the sentence as regards the relative importance of the latter's constituents for communication. Such distribution is analyzed in terms of Praque school theory, especially that involving the notions of communicative dynamism and the distribution of theme and rheme.

The book concludes with a contrastive analysis of English and Portuguese passive sentence patterns which serves as the basis for observations on the teaching of Portuguese passives to native speakers of English.

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Pois não
Brazilian Portuguese Course for Spanish Speakers, with Basic Reference Grammar
By Antônio Roberto Monteiro Simões
University of Texas Press, 2008

Spanish speakers can learn Brazilian Portuguese much more rapidly than any other language, and thousands of students have used Antônio Simões's text/workbook Com licença: Brazilian Portuguese for Spanish Speakers to make the transition between the two languages. Recognizing the need for a text that incorporates current cultural references and the latest language pedagogy, Simões now offers Pois não: Brazilian Portuguese Course for Spanish Speakers, with Basic Reference Grammar.

Pois não contrasts Portuguese and Spanish, which accomplishes two main goals. It teaches the equivalent of one year of college Portuguese in one semester, three times a week, to Spanish speakers who also have a solid understanding of English. Additionally, the book serves as a basic reference guide to Brazilian Portuguese for the same audience.

Pois não can be used by students in the classroom or by independent learners. Users of the book may focus on the drills alone, concentrate on both the explanations and drills, or use the book as a reference for consultation only. Answers to all of the exercises are included in the book. Audio and video recordings by native Brazilian speakers of dialogues that appear in the book can be downloaded at https://utexas.box.com/v/PoisNaoAudio.

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Portuguese
A Reference Manual
By Sheila R. Ackerlind and Rebecca Jones-Kellogg
University of Texas Press, 2011

An essential, comprehensive guide for all who are interested in learning the Portuguese language and mastering its complexities, Portuguese: A Reference Manual supplements the phonetic and grammatical explanations offered in basic textbooks. While the Manual focuses on Brazilian Portuguese, it incorporates European Portuguese variants and thus provides a more complete description of the language. Accessible to non-linguists and novice language learners, as well as informative for instructors of Portuguese and specialists in other languages, this guide incorporates the Orthographic Accord (in effect since 2009–2010), which attempts to standardize Portuguese orthography.

The Manual reflects the language as it is currently taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels by providing detailed explanations of the sound and writing systems and the grammar of the principal Portuguese dialects. A reference guide rather than a textbook, the Manual also provides extensive verb charts, as well as comparisons of Portuguese with English and Spanish.

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Portuguese Memory Book
A New Approach to Vocabulary Building
By William F. Harrison and Dorothy Winters Welker
University of Texas Press, 1996

Mnemonics is an age-old device for remembering names, numbers, and many other things. The Portuguese Memory Book, by William F. Harrison and Dorothy Welker, makes use of this reliable memory help in a series of mnemonic jingles that are by turns playful, sardonic, touching, and heroic to help both students and independent learners acquire and remember Portuguese vocabulary.

The mnemonic jingles present both the sound of the  Portuguese word (indicated by syllables in underlined boldface type) and its English meaning (given by a word or phrase in boldface type):

noite (f.) night

Don't annoy Chihuahuas in the night.
If you ignore their bark, you'll feel their bite.

This innovative approach to vocabulary building is simple, effective, and entertaining. The authors also include a general pronunciation guide to Brazilian Portuguese, particularly to the Carioca dialect of Rio de Janeiro.

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Working Portuguese for Beginners
, Student's Edition
Monica Rector, Regina Santos, and Marcelo Amorim, with M. Lynne Gerber
Georgetown University Press, 2010

Working Portuguese for Beginners enables English speakers with no prior knowledge of Brazilian Portuguese to develop the basic communication skills and cultural knowledge needed to visit Brazil and to function in a work environment in which Portuguese is spoken. This language program presents not only all the situations and grammar normally covered in an elementary Portuguese textbook but also includes situations set in a business context in every lesson.

Major Features:• Twenty-four lessons, the last four concluding with a special independent project in which the student applies the language to his or her area of professional interest• Clear objectives for acquiring language skills, grammar, and cultural understanding• Lessons cover the important basics normally covered in any beginning Portuguese textbook such as introductions and greetings, counting, making travel plans, taking public transportation, and asking for directions• Lessons cover business tasks such as negotiating a contract, presenting a new product, writing a business memo—all in Brazilian Portuguese• Lessons provide dialogues and vocabulary lists for reading and listening, grammar, cultural reading, and interactive homework• Portuguese-English and English-Portuguese glossaries offer additional help with vocabulary• Course can be combined with affordable online access to self-grading exercises (available through Quia.com, $24.95 per student for 18 months of access)

Student’s Book• Includes MP3 tracks of vocabulary, dialogues, and audio exercises on CD• Lessons are valuable to the classroom student as well as self-directed independent learners

Teacher’s Edition• Includes a CD-ROM with all MP3 tracks of vocabulary, dialogues, and audio exercises found on the student’s disk• CD-ROM also provides quizzes and a midterm, materials for special activities, and approximately 300 supplementary PowerPoint slides for classroom presentation Online teaching features at Quia.com • Instructor-managed class activities and exercises • Monitoring of student progress • Customized grading options online • Students can complete exercises online, submit their answers electronically to their instructor, and receive automatic feedback • Teachers can also use Quia templates to build their own exercises or use exercises developed by other instructors to provide added help for students • Motivated self-directed learners can also access the self-grading online exercises at Quia.com (no instructor feedback will be provided)

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

System Requirements for Student's Edition Textbook Disk• Windows 2000 or later or Mac OS 10.2 or later• DVD-ROM drive on a computer or conventional DVD-ROM with MP3 player• Sound card and speakers or earphones for audio• An MP3 player, such as Windows Media Player or iTunes (available as a free download)

System Requirements for Teacher's Edition Textbook DVD-ROM • Windows 2000 or later (including Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7) or Mac OS 10.2 or later (including OS X 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6)• DVD-ROM drive• Sound card and either speakers or earphones (for MP3 files)• For PCs, Microsoft Word 2000 or later or for Macs, Microsoft Word X or later (for .doc files)• For PCs: PowerPoint 2000 or later (to edit PowerPoint PPT files) or to view PowerPoints only, PowerPoint Viewer 2003 or higher (available as a free download from www.microsoft.com); for Macs: PowerPoint X or later (for PowerPoint files)• An MP3 player, such as Windows Media Player or iTunes (available, respectively, as a free download from www.microsoft.com and www.itunes.com)• For PCs, Adobe Acrobat or Reader 9 or later, or for Macs Adobe Acrobat or Reader 6.0 or later (Adobe Reader is available as a free download from www.adobe.com)

System Requirements for the Online Exercises (Mac and PC)• Computer with Internet access, preferably a high-speed connection• Java-enabled browser: PC: Internet Explorer 6.x or higher, or Firefox 3.x or higherMac: Firefox 3.x or higher, or Safari 3.x or higher• The program QuickTime (available as a free download from http://www.quicktime.com) is needed to play audio• Speakers or headphones to hear audio• Microphone to record answers or responses

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