# uma and um



## FloMar

Could someone give me the correct pronunciation (in phonetic script if possible) of uma and um?


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## xiskxisk

uma: ˈu.mɐ
um: ˈũ

European Portuguese - Convert Text to IPA Transcription


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## guihenning

Same for Brazil


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## Marcio_Osorio

Same for all the other Portuguese-speaking countries?
O mesmo para os demais países lusófonos?


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## guihenning

Sim


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## gato radioso

I think that is "um" what confuse us a bit as non native speakers, as the sound "m" is softer in Portuguese than in other languages.
I find harder to the ear the "m" the English speakers use:
_David Becka*m* swa*m* in a da*m*._
when speakers completely close their mouth to pronunce that "m"...

Than the Portuguese "m", which many times sounds like an "n" to my ears, or even softer when the sound is linked to the following word.
Eg:
_Marquei u*m* encontro co*m* o doutor.
Que*m* é ela? Não sei, mas é muito divertida. Se*m* ela, a festa era uma maçada total.
_
So although it´s not very difficult, it takes us foreigners some time to get the hang of it.

NB: Anyway it´s just my opinion. I´m not a native speaker in either language, I don´t even speak good Spanish....


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## guihenning

The final m in Portuguese isn't pronounced at all, unlike in English and Spanish. A final 'm' is just there to point out that there is a nasal diphthong, but we don't ever pronounce it.
Same for 'n' between a vowel and a consonant as is "conso*ant*e", for example. N is not pronounced. It's there to nasalize the preceding vowel.


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## FloMar

guihenning said:


> Sim


And is there ever a liaison where the /m/ would be voiced if it were followed by a vowel sound?


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## guihenning

No, no liaison even if the word is followed by a vowel or even another /m/. Between words, or are you talking about a vowel which comes after a 'm' in a single word?


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## FloMar

I meant between words, because in French there is a liaison in for example un homme (although the n in un denotes a nasal sound of the /u/ as in Portuguese) but I just wanted to double check um homem keeps the same pronunciation of each word in isolation.  It's all clear.  Many thanks


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## uchi.m

um homem [uŋ'omej]


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## xiskxisk

ˈũ ˈɔmɐ̃j


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## gato radioso

Do you usually make a difference, between, let´s say:

um (isolated word)
um encontro? (too words linked when speaking)

Or,

Tem
A casa tem duas varandas?


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## uchi.m

Um as an isolated word is pronounced with clenching of the lips whereas the link between um and encontro would sound as a [ŋ]


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## gato radioso

Beyond the fact that a speaker usually links the two words as if they were just one, it´s a subtle difference. If you pay a lot of attention you can make out the difference, but it sounds almost the same. In fact, when natives speak, it causes no problem for foreigners to understand, moreover if the "m" were followed by a consonant sound (tem /tem duas).


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## xiskxisk

gato radioso said:


> Do you usually make a difference, between, let´s say:
> 
> um (isolated word)
> um encontro? (too words linked when speaking)
> 
> Or,
> 
> Tem
> A casa tem duas varandas?



No difference at all.

The m/n at the coda are silent. They are just an orthographic trick to indicate the vowel is nasal.

We just keep it there because it's better than writing with a til, like we have to do when the disappeared nasal consonant was not at the coda, eg. _camiones -> camiões_.

Basically *um encontro* is the same as *ũ ẽcõtro*, and tem is the same as tẽi (and têm the same as tẽiẽi, another orthographic trick).

When pronouncing the _um en_ part there is no consonant at all. Just air flowing through your mouth and nose while your lips go from very round and in the front (like you were whistling but letting the air going trough your nose at the same time) and then they go lower and flat.


Hear this sentence: https://audio00.forvo.com/phrases/mp3/a/a/aafb38f4bd4f50c89d7c1e849fe47958_9095177_133.mp3

It says: _Se a UE está um bocado distante, pelo menos não são eles que têm a culpa.
_
IPA: sj ɐ ˈuˈɛ ʃˈta ˈũ b(u)ˈkad(u) d(ɨ)ʃˈtɐ̃t(ɨ), p(ɨ)ɫu ˈmen(u)ʒ ˈnɐ̃w ˈsɐ̃w ˈeɫ(ɨ)ʃ k(ɨ) ˈtɐ̃jɐ̃j ɐ ˈkuɫpɐ

Notice there's no consonant in _têm a_.


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## FloMar

gato radioso said:


> Do you usually make a difference, between, let´s say:
> 
> um (isolated word)
> um encontro? (too words linked when speaking)
> 
> Or,
> 
> Tem
> A casa tem duas varandas?



For me, tem is pronounced the same in both sentences.  Intuitively, I feel there should be an intrusive sound between um and encontro if there is no liaison as in French.


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## pfaa09

FloMar said:


> Intuitively, I feel there should be an intrusive sound between um and encontro


Not at all.
There's no sound linking or connecting the two words.
The final sound of "tem" it's similar to the final sound of "hein".


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## gato radioso

First of all: thank you for your help!
In fact the only difference that I always could make out between
_um, dois, três...._
and
_um encontro_

is that in the first case I find the sound is a bit longer than in the second case, as speakers say it like a single four-syllable word. That happens in all languages I guess -Spanish, French, English, whatever...- and I bet most natives do it almost without noticing (just to give you an example, I´m sure 99% of Spaniards have never noticed that in the word "dedo", the second "d" is a bit different to the first). So, when "um" is followed by "encontro"  the sound is the same but seems to be a little shorter. I think these kind of things are good to know, as they help you improve your listening skills, but I´m afraid we can easily fall into splitting hairs if we pay TOO much attention to that. In fact, I never had a problem with this when listening to natives.


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## xiskxisk

I'd say *um en*contro sounds almost like a diphthong.

Relativamente à pronúncia do M e N na coda, podem ver aqui que estes não são pronunciados:

Learn European Portuguese Pronunciation - Subtitled Videos

@2:40 - sent*em ir*mãos
@3:20 - b*om ou*vir


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## FloMar

Interessante. Obrigada


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