Presentation of potential phonological difficulties of Slovene speakers while learning Portuguese as a foreign language

Abstract

The phonetics and phonology of the Portuguese language comprise a wide and extensive linguistic field when studying the many different phonological varieties of Portuguese. European and Brazilian Portuguese generally represent the two principal varieties of the language. The purpose of this article is to emphasize the main similarities and differences between the phonological systems of Slovene and European Portuguese, by introducing the vocal and the consonant classifications of both languages, and to anticipate, by analysing individual examples, the most conspicuous differentiations and potential difficulties that Slovene speakers and students of Portuguese as a foreign language could face while learning Portuguese phonology, particularly the phonological system of European Portuguese. The question of phonological difficulties of Portuguese for Slovene speakers and students in terms of assimilating the nasal vowels and diphthongs, for which Slovene students cannot find any analogies within their mother tongue, has been previously discussed and can now only be extended to other phonological peculiarities (mostly related to the European variety of Portuguese) that could potentially be a significant obstacle to overcome while learning, such as the problem of consonants and consonant clusters, the diversity of particular Portuguese phonemes, as well as a distinct tendency of European Portuguese for vocal reductions.