To Taivos: why Portuguese speakers understand everything Spanish speakers say, whereas...?

Question

... not all Spanish speakers understand the things Portuguese speakers say?

Recently I answered a question about languages that were similar (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmggtcNaJoWYsBALmN_5w4fsy6IX?qid=20061124045736AAmg71v&show=7#profile-info-5caa6bb98f036217c4647d1397fb2d14aa), and you said that you had seen "hundreds of conversations between Brazilians and other South Americans that started out in Portuguese/Spanish, but switched to English right away because the Spanish speakers could not understand the Portuguese speakers". Driven by curiosity, I asked at the Spanish forum if they think it's true and why it happens (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnW1fcwq2Ak92oDLyIjsc2Psy6IX?qid=20061126054540AAHmvRG).

As you can see, they said it's true, but none of them was able to tell me why. As a linguistics professor, do you have any idea why does it happen?

If anyone else feels like answering, be my guest.

Gustavo, seu inglês tá 10! Gostei um bocado da explicação!

Answer 1

Spanish tends to be more rigid in its verbal execution, while Portuguese is delivered in a more fluid way. Thus, those used to fluid speech can grasp the rigidity of Spanish. Going from hard to soft, however, is way harder.

Answer 2

Many Spanish speakers claim Italian is easier to understand, while some think Portuguese is easier. The truth is, If an average Spanish speaker pays close attention and makes an effort, they will see that Portuguese is much easier to understand than Italian, as Portuguese shares a lot more words in common with our language than Italian and the grammar is a lot more identical. The only thing that inhibits understanding on the Spanish side is their pronunciation and their nasal sounds which don't exist in Spanish, as Spanish only has five simple sounds and Portuguese has about fourteen or so. This is why Portuguese speakers understand Spanish speakers much better than the other way around.

Answer 3

Hi, I'm Brazilian, therefore I speak Portuguese.
Yes, it is true, the reason, in my opinion, is that Portuguese-speaking people has much more contact with Spanish then the opposite. So we get used to it. When we go to an international website, for example, you may have two options of language ("english" or "spanish"), if you don't know english you always pick Spanish. So Portuguese-speaking people get used with Spanish since kids (at least the ones that have acces to internet, cable TV, etc).
Another reason may be the fact that Spanish pronunciation is much more regular than Portuguese. (By regular I mean that one letter has always one sound). Portuguese is much more regular than English, but not as regular as Spanish. It helps to understand Spanish too.

Ah, você é brasileira e eu com maior dificuldade para escrever em inglês. Mas creio que você me entendeu.

Answer 4

Speaking English only, I'm hardly an expert, but I'd hazard that Spanish pronunciation compared to spelling is more closely related, and in a way simpler. The dz or j (excuse my poor English attempt at orthography) is pronounced in place of d or any of several other constructions, non-stressed o's have a U sound, etc., and I suspect the same one-sidedness wouldn't be found in written communication.