The Historical Roots And Connection Between Galician And Portuguese
Author
I get asked one question all the time:
“Is Galician just a mix of Spanish and Portuguese?”
The short answer is no.
Actually, the real story is much more interesting! Galician isn’t a mix of anything. In fact, Galician and Portuguese are sister languages that came from the exact same “mother” language in the Middle Ages.
If you’re learning Galician (or Portuguese, for that matter), understanding this history will make acquiring vocabulary and grammar much easier.
Let’s look at the historical roots and connection between Galician and Portuguese.
Table of Contents:
The common ancestor: Galician-Portuguese
Thousands of years ago, the Romans brought Latin to the Iberian Peninsula (where Spain and Portugal are today).
Over centuries, the Latin spoken by everyday people slowly changed. In the northwestern corner of the peninsula-an area that includes modern-day Galicia and northern Portugal-a new language was born.
Linguists call this language Galician-Portuguese (or Galego-Portugués).
During the Middle Ages (around the 12th to 14th centuries), Galician-Portuguese was practically the only language spoken in this western region. It was also highly prestigious. It was considered the language of poetry and romance across all of the Christian kingdoms in Iberia. Even kings from other regions wrote their poems in Galician-Portuguese.
Why did they split apart?
If they were the same language, why do we call them Galician and Portuguese today?
The answer is politics and borders.
In the 12th century, the County of Portugal declared independence and became its own kingdom, expanding southwards. Meanwhile, Galicia remained part of the Kingdom of Castile (which would eventually become modern-day Spain).
Because a hard political border was drawn between Galicia and Portugal, the people on either side started to lose contact with each other over the centuries.
- Portuguese became the official language of an independent country. It spread around the world during the Age of Discovery to places like Brazil, Angola, and Mozambique.
- Galician stayed within the borders of Spain. It became heavily influenced by Spanish (Castilian) vocabulary and pronunciation, especially because Spanish was forced upon Galicians as the only “official” language for many centuries.
Like two siblings growing up in different households, the languages slowly developed their own unique personalities.
Are Galician and Portuguese mutually intelligible?
Because of their shared roots, Galician and Portuguese are highly mutually intelligible.
This is a linguistic term that simply means speakers of both languages can easily understand each other without having studied the other language.
If a Galician person speaks to a Portuguese person, they can understand about 85% to 90% of what’s being said.
The biggest difference today isn’t the grammar or the vocabulary, but the pronunciation:
- Portuguese has many nasal sounds and “sh” sounds, which makes it sound a bit softer or more closed.
- Galician has lost those nasal sounds and adopted a rhythm and pronunciation that sounds much closer to Spanish.
A quick comparison of Galician and Portuguese
To show you just how closely related these two languages are, take a look at this vocabulary table.
I’ve also included Spanish so you can see how Galician and Portuguese are often much closer to each other than to Spanish!
| English | Galician | Portuguese | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hello / Good morning | Bos días | Bom dia | Buenos días |
| Thank you | Grazas / Graciñas | Obrigado/a | Gracias |
| Window | Fiestra / Xanela | Janela | Ventana |
| Dog | Can | Cão / Cachorro | Perro |
| To speak | Falar | Falar | Hablar |
| Yesterday | Onte | Ontem | Ayer |
As you can see, the root words for Galician and Portuguese are nearly identical.
Even in full sentences, the structure is exactly the same. Here’s how you would say “I like to speak with my friends” in Galician:
Gústame falar cos meus amigos.
And here’s the exact same sentence in Portuguese. Notice how similar it is!
Gosto de falar com os meus amigos.
What does this mean for language learners?
If you’re studying Galician, you have a distinct advantage.
Because of their shared history, learning Galician essentially gives you a “free pass” to understanding Portuguese. Once you master Galician grammar and vocabulary, you’ll be able to read Portuguese books, listen to Brazilian music, and travel to Portugal with almost zero language barrier.
And if you already know some Portuguese (or Spanish), picking up Galician will be incredibly fast.
