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Beyond Reform: The Orthographic Accord and the Future of the Portuguese Language

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 13; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13608740902738418

1743-9612

José Pedro Zúquete,

Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies

Abstract This article analyses the context, politics and ongoing uproar sparked by the spelling reform of the Portuguese language. It provides a brief history of the reform, and identifies the major themes for and against the orthographic agreement that emerged from the public discussion in Portugal. It discusses the relationship between the Portuguese language and national and transnational identities, as well as the reasons driving the effort to consolidate the geolinguistic and geopolitical space of Lusophonia in globalised times. Keywords: PortugalLanguageNational IdentityLusophoniaGlobalisation Notes [1] Regarding all the countries where Portuguese is the official language, Brazil has the largest number of speakers with 194 million people; Angola has a total population of 17.5; Mozambique 21.8; Portugal 10.7; Guinea-Bissau 1.7; East Timor 1.1; and Cape Verde and São Tomé e Príncipe have approximately 500,000 and 150,000, respectively (see UNFPA Citation2008). [2] ‘Lusophone’ is a term derived from ‘Lusitania’, a former Roman province located where modern Portugal is now situated. The province took its name from an Indo-European pre-Roman tribe: the Lusitanos. [3] See ‘In Portogallo si parlerà “brasiliano”’, Corriere Della Sera, 18 May. [4] See ‘Viva o acordo ortográfico’, Expresso, 1 December. [5] See Terra Portuguesa, no. 1, April–June 2008, p. 5. [6] The blog is available online at: http://emdefesadalinguaportuguesa.blogspot.com/. [7] The blog is available online at: http://www.gopetition.com/online/17740.html/. [8] Cavaco Silva (Citation2008) sees as one of the crucial measures to strengthen the ‘universal value of Lusophonia’ the recognition of Portuguese as an official or even working language in international institutions. [9] For instance, a 2007 EU-Commissioned Study, ‘Effects on the European Economy of Shortages of Foreign Language Skills in Enterprise’, focused on the growing need for other languages, including ‘Russian and German (for eastern Europe), French (Africa) and Spanish (Latin America),’ with no mention of Portuguese. The study is available online at: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleaseAction.do?reference = MEMO/07/79&format = HTML&aged = O&language = EN&guiLanguage = fr. [10] On this connection between universalism and Portugal's national identity see, e.g., the work of the anthropologist Jorge Dias (Citation1985 [1955]). [11] See, e.g., the manifesto of the magazine Nova Águia (Citation2008). The International Lusophone Movement website is available online at: http://movimentolusofono.wordpress.com/.