3.4.7.6.2 ti / te and di / de
The rules for ti and di, in other words with i are very simple. The rules for te and de, with an e are more tricky. The combination of ti or di is always, wheter at the beginning of word, in midst of a word or at the end of a word is pronounced /tsh/ or /dshi/. In this pseudo phonetic transcription t means unvoiced and d means voiced. Concerning the difference between voiced / unvoiced see 3.4.7.3. In the pseudo phonetic transcription /tsh/ stands for unvoiced, because the t is always unvoiced, and /dsh/ for voiced, because the d is always voiced. This is actually the difference between t and d. This pseudo phonetic transcription is often used in grammar books.
Concerning te and de a distinction is to be made. If the words ends in e and the stress is not on the last syllable, it is pronounced i. In this case we have the same situation as if it were ti / di and the pronounciation is the same as in the case of ti / di. At the beginning of a word or in midst of the word however the e is pronounced as an e, similar to the e in ever, in any case not as an i, and therefore te / de is pronounced /te/ and /de/.
| ti / di always pronounced /tshi/ [tʃi] or /dshi/ [dʒi] | |
| divulgar (to diffuse) |  |
| difícil (difficult) | |
| difusão (diffusion) | |
| dica (tipp) | |
| relativo (relative) | |
| instituto (institute) | |
| tio (uncle) | |
| te is pronounced /tshi/ [tʃi] and de is pronounced /dschi/ [dʒi] in stressed final syllable | |
| morte (death) | |
| chocolate (choclate) | |
| forte (strong) | |
| unidade (unit) | |
| grande (big) | |
| de (of / from ) | |
Note: In words like até (until) the last syllable is stressed and therefore the e is pronounced as an e. Furthermore the rule that the e is pronounced as an i in unstressed last syllable is only valid for Brasilian Portuguese.
| te pronounced /te/ and de pronounced /de/ | |
| dedo (finger) | |
| aldeia (village) | |
| devo (I should ) | |
| interno (internally) | |
| categoria (category) | |
| contact privacy statement imprint |
