European Portuguese European Portuguese European Portuguese (, ), also known as Lusitanian Portuguese (') and Portuguese of Portugal (') in Brazil, or even “Portuguese Portuguese” refers to the Portuguese language spoken in Portugal. Standard Portuguese pronunciation, the prestige norm based on European Portuguese, is the reference for Portugal, the Portuguese-speaking African countries, East Timor and Macau. The word “European” was chosen to avoid the clash of “Portuguese Portuguese” (“""”) as opposed to Brazilian Portuguese. The language is the same with different accents in many countries. It is a Latin based language, with Gaelic, Germanic, Greek and Arabic influence. It was spoken in
Portuguese language third-most spoken European language in the world in terms of native speakers, and the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also the most spoken language in South America and the second-most spoken in Latin America after Spanish, one of the 10 most spoken languages in Africa and is an official language of the European Union, Mercosur, OAS, ECOWAS and the African Union. When the Romans arrived at the Iberian Peninsula in 216 B.C., they brought the Latin language with them, from which all Romance languages descend. The language was spread by Roman soldiers, settlers, and merchants, who