Why Does Portuguese Sound Like Russian?

To many ears, European Portuguese sounds surprisingly similar to Russian. This might seem odd, given that Portuguese is a Romance language and Russian is Slavic.

So, why do they sound alike despite their different origins?

The answer lies in phonetics. Both languages are stress-timed, meaning they have similar rhythms and vowel reductions. They also share distinct fricative and palatal consonant sounds, contributing to their resemblance from a distance.

Read on.

Note: This resemblance between Portuguese and Slavic languages mainly applies to European Portuguese. Want to know how it compares to Brazilian Portuguese? Check out: European vs. Brazilian Portuguese.

Stress-timed languages 

A key similarity between Portuguese and Slavic languages is that they are both stress-timed languages.

In stress-timed languages, unlike syllable-timed ones, the intervals between stressed syllables remain relatively consistent. To maintain this rhythm, unstressed syllables are shortened, leading to vowel reduction—where vowels are pronounced less distinctly, often with more closed sounds.

In the following examples, stressed syllables are marked in bold, while reduced vowels appear in red. Notice how the e-sounds become almost unrecognizable and how o shifts into a reduced u-sound:

Quero beber sumo
Interessante

Also, since closed vowel sounds become hardly perceptible, vowel reduction leads, in practice, to consonant clusters:

trespassar [tɾɨʃpɐsˈaɾ] 
questionar [kɨʃtjunˈaɾ]
despachar [dɨʃpɐʃˈaɾ]

Last but not least, stress-timed languages share a distinct rhythm and cadence that our ears naturally pick up and recognize.

In summary, vowel reduction, consonant clustering, and a recognizable cadence all stem from the stress-timed nature of both Portuguese and Slavic languages.

Reading tip! Since Portuguese is a stress-timed language, mastering syllable and word stress can significantly improve your pronunciation. To learn more, read this other article: Portuguese Word Stress and Accent Marks.

What About Other Romance Languages

So, why don’t other Romance languages sound Slavic as well? That’s a great question.

One key reason is that most other Romance languages are more syllable-timed than stress-timed. In this regard, languages exist on a continuum with some being more syllable-timed and others more stress-timed.

In dominantly syllable-timed languages, all syllables tend to have a similar duration. Spanish and Italian fall into this category, which is why they don’t resemble Slavic languages as much as European Portuguese does.

Put simply, these languages have a different rhythm and much less vowel reduction.

In fact, many people find Spanish pronunciation easier than Portuguese. This makes sense—more vowel reduction leads to closed vowel sounds, making Portuguese less clearly pronounced. Likewise, Brazilian Portuguese, which is less stress-timed than European Portuguese, is often said to be softer and easier on the ear.

So far, so good. But there’s a twist! Other dominantly stress-timed languages exist—English is one of them. Yet, no one seems to say that Portuguese and English sound alike.

There’s more to this phonological resemblance between Portuguese and Slavic languages.

Learn more about how Portuguese and Spanish compare: How Similar Are Portuguese and Spanish?

Sibilant sounds

Sibilants are consonants that create hissing and hushing sounds. In English, they appear in words like simple, zebra, sheet, measure, chat, and gentle.

These sounds are particularly frequent in Portuguese, Russian, and other Slavic languages, especially postalveolar fricatives (as in she and usual). While the exact fricative sounds differ between Portuguese and Slavic languages, they are quite similar.

Before diving into specific examples, I’ll briefly mention IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). The IPA symbols represent distinct speech sounds, ensuring precise pronunciation.

Now, let’s explore the Portuguese spelling patterns that produce these fricative sounds.

The /ʃ/-sound

The /ʃ/-sound, a voiceless postalveolar consonant (as in she), is omnipresent in Portuguese. Let’s see why.

S-plural

For instance, any word ending with the letter s will render the /ʃ/-sound. And believe me, there are endless s-ending words in Portuguese, not least because Portuguese is an s-plural language.

By an s-plural language, I mean a language where the dominant pattern for forming plurals—just like in English—is adding an -s to the end of a noun.

casa → casas
house → houses

Moreover, in Portuguese the articles, adjectives, and pronouns will conform to the number. Thus, the s-plural will be added to them as well: 

What’s more, even the plural forms of personal pronouns and verb tenses will take s-plural: 

Eu tenho a minha casa → Nós temos as nossas casas
I have my house → We have our houses

Unquestionably, the s-plural makes the /ʃ/-sound pervasive in Portuguese. However, other spelling patterns also contribute to its frequency.

Other /ʃ/-sound spelling patterns

The /ʃ/ sound occurs whenever s precedes a voiceless consonant, as in estou, espera, and escadas (I am, wait, and stairs, respectively).

Additionally, words ending in z, such as perspicaz (astute), also produce this fricative sound.

The digraph ch renders the /ʃ/ sound as well, as seen in chapéu (hat) and acho (I think).

Although the letter x can represent four different consonant sounds, its most common pronunciation is /ʃ/. For example, all words beginning with x, such as xaile (shawl), follow this pattern.

Moreover, x produces the /ʃ/ sound when followed by another consonant, as in extremo (extreme), and often when placed between vowels, as in caixa (box).

estou
perspicaz
chapéu
xaile
extremo

The /ʒ/-sound

The /ʒ/ sound, also known as the voiced postalveolar fricative (as in usual), is prominent in Portuguese. The key difference between /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ is that the latter is voiced—your vocal cords vibrate when producing it.

Several spelling patterns in Portuguese generate the /ʒ/ sound. The letter j always produces this sound, as in janela and queijo (window and cheese, respectively).

You’ll also hear this sound when g is followed by a soft vowel—either e or i—as in gelado and girafa (ice cream and giraffe, respectively).

Lastly, s produces the /ʒ/ sound when it appears before a voiced consonant, as in esbelto, esgoto, and asneira (slim, sewer, and blunder, respectively).

janela
gelado
esbelto

Palatalized consonants

Another pronunciation feature that Portuguese and Slavic languages share is the widespread use of palatalized consonants.

In Portuguese, there are two key palatalized consonant sounds:

• /ɲ/ (palatal nasal), represented by the nh digraph, as in ninho (nest) or lenha (firewood).
• /ʎ/ (palatal lateral approximant), represented by the lh digraph, as in milho (corn) or palhaço (clown).

The /ʎ/ sound does not exist in English, though the y-sound in words like yes or yeast comes close.

ninho
milho

The dark L

The dark L—represented by the IPA symbol /ɫ/—is a velarized L-sound, which is thicker and deeper than the standard L. It is similar to the L-sound in English words like minimal or malware.

This /ɫ/ sound is common in Russian and Polish, just as it is in Portuguese, further contributing to the phonological resemblance between these languages.

In Portuguese, the dark L appears in:

• Word-final positions, as in carnaval (carnival).
• Before consonants, as in cálcio (calcium).

carnaval
cálcio

Nasal vowels and diphthongs

Portuguese stands out among Romance languages due to its abundance of nasal sounds.

Here’s how nasal vowels are formed in Portuguese:

✅ When a vowel precedes “n” or “m”, it becomes nasalized:

• /ã/ in andar (walk)
• /ẽ/ in embora (though)
• /ĩ/ in cinto (belt)
• /õ/ in comprar (buy)
• /ũ/ in cumprimento (salutation)

✅ The tilde (~) over “a” or “o” also creates a nasal sound:

• romã (pomegranate) – nasal vowel
• limão (lemon) – nasal diphthong

andar
romã
limão

Reading tip! Learn more about Portuguese pronunciation in the following article: Portuguese Pronunciation: A Helpful Guide to Portuguese Basic Sounds and Spelling Patterns.