Appendix:Portuguese nouns

Portuguese nouns have either of two genders (masculine or feminine) and usually inflect in number (singular and plural). Some nouns have a form for masculine and one for feminine, but whether it's considered an inflection is debated.

Number

Metaphony

In some words, the IPA^(key): /o/ of the singular becomes IPA^(key): /ɔ/ in the plural. This phenomenon is called metafonia (metaphony) in Portuguese. Examples:

• olho (“eye”) IPA^(key): /ˈo.ʎu/ → olhos (“eyes”) IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.ʎuʃ/
• porco (“pig”) IPA^(key): /ˈpoɾ.ku/ → porcos (“pigs”) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔɾ.kuʃ/