Know the origin of this sign (yes, it is a sign and not a letter) and how to use it correctly
ORIGIN
The origin of the cedilla begins in 11th century Spain as it was originally an archaic Iberian letter called "Visigothic z".
This sign that was used in Spanish was called "zedilla" and it worked as a diminutive of the letter zeta (the letter z in Spanish) to indicate that this trait corresponded to the sound of the letter S, however, in Portuguese, the cedilla is widely used and It has very specific functions, understand!
CEDILLA IS NOT A LETTER
The cedilla is not a letter, so it is not in the alphabet of the Portuguese language.
The cedilla is a junction of the letter C with the diacritical mark cedilla. In addition to the cedilla, the other diacritical marks in Portuguese are: the acute accent (´), circumflex (^) and the tilde (~), for this reason only the letter C appears in the alphabet.
HOW TO USE THE CEDILLA CORRECTLY?
In Portuguese there are very clear rules regarding the use of the cedilha. Look:
The cedilla should only be used with the vowels a, o, u because, as CE and CI already naturally have the sound of S, it is not necessary to make this distinction.
Examples: açaí, paçoca, açúcar.
The cedilla is also never at the beginning of a word, only in the middle.
Examples: açafrão, açougue, caçula.
OTHER RULES FOR CEDILLA
- The cedilla is also used in diphthongs (meeting of a vowel and a semivowel).
Examples: eleição, louça, perfeição.
- In words derived from verbs from which the ending R is removed:
Conjugar - conjugação
Decorar - decoração
Importar - importação
- In nouns derived from verbs "ter" and "torcer".
Distorcer - distorção
Contorcer - contorção
Reter - retenção
- When a primitive term has a T:
Exceto - exceção
Introspectivo - introspecção
Redator - redação
- In the conjugations of some verbs:
Descer - desço, desça
Merecer - mereço, mereça
Nascer - nasço, nasça
CURIOSITY
In Portuguese, words of African, Arabic and indigenous origin are called cedilla.
Examples: açude, caçula, quiçamba.
Now think with me: see how interesting it is to know that a sign makes such a difference in a language, so I hope this post has helped you! ;)
I am the teacher Audrey Lyra author of the blog and I teach Portuguese to students all over the world :) So if you need to improve your Portuguese more, I can help you!
Access my communication channels that are on this site and schedule your previous interview with me I will be very happy to be able to help you!
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