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I've briefly read about Portuñol, which is supposedly a code switching method for Spanish and Portuguese. How does it function, and what sounds are switched? Also, is it an effective method of communications between Spanish and Portuguese speakers?

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This blog site basically says that Portuñol is basically speaking Portuguese with a Spanish accent (on one side) or adding "inho" to Spanish words (on the other). The Rivernese Portuñol is unique in that it's commonly spoken and an actual, standard dialect. – Richard Nov 21 '11 at 16:10
But it's about the usage of Spanish, is it really that off topic? – Eric Di Bari Nov 21 '11 at 16:26
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Good idea on using a meta question to set a precedent for these types of questions. – Eric Di Bari Nov 21 '11 at 16:46
While this is far from a community consensus, I have been swayed to think that these questions are on-topic. (I'll vote to re-open if it closes.) – Richard Nov 21 '11 at 18:06

closed as off topic by Richard, Aarthi Dec 5 '11 at 16:18

Questions on Spanish Language & Usage Stack Exchange are expected to relate to the Spanish language within the scope defined in the FAQ. Consider editing the question or leaving comments for improvement if you believe the question can be reworded to fit within the scope. Read more about closed questions here.

1 Answer

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I always thought Portuñol/Portunhol referred to any mix of Spanish and Portuguese.

I use it myself when talking to Portuguese speakers who don't have English.

Basically I just speak Spanish except:

  • where I happen to know there is a different word in Portuguese (like hablar vs falar)
  • where I know there's a different pronunciation of a same or similar word (like me vs meu)
  • where I happen to know there's a different grammatical structure (like gustar vs gostar)
  • where I know there are equivalent endings for latinate words (like conversación vs conversação)

Of course you can only avoid any embarassing pitfalls like false friends if you know about them. But of course the person being addressed also adjusts how they're listening to allow for such things.

And of course sometimes this isn't enough and you have to hunt for synonyms or circumlocutions, or just give up, smile, and shrug your shoulders (-:

Basically it's not much different to Spanglish except that due to the similarity of the languages the intelligibility and usefulness is orders of magnitude greater.

So basically per my understanding everybody will do this according to their level of understanding of the other language, meaning everybody will speak their own version. (Oh and of course Portuguese speakers will do the opposite.)

If there actually is some official, standard, or formalized Portuñol/Portunhol, I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks to Richard's response on the meta post about whether Portuñol and related topics are within our scope I have learned that there is indeed another Portuñol which actually is its own language, though doesn't have an ISO language code and I assume it hasn't been codified into a standard, but must be the native language of a community. You can read about it in its own Wikipedia article, Riverense Portuñol language.

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Yes, I believe that there are multiple communities. There are around 100,000 native speakers of Riverense Portuñol, although I imagine the learning curve would be almost non-existant for those who already speak both Portuguese and Spanish. – Richard Nov 22 '11 at 16:45
I now have another place I have to visit when I get around to my South America trip (-: – hippietrail Nov 22 '11 at 16:48

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