Let us look at this E in another environment. You remember that Spanish has a lot of words containing the diphthong ie. Most of these (a rough estimate would put the figure at 95 per cent) show up in Portuguese with the open vowel E. Although this change may be annoying to you because of the interference factor, you will find that it is a very useful device to keep in mind, simply because it is applicable to so many words. We are listing just a few of them here.
| Spanish | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| siete | sEte |
| ciego | cEgo |
| piedra | pEdra |
| piel | pElE |
| miel | mEl |
| tierra | tErra |
| pierde | pErde |
| pie | pE |
| fiesta | fEsta |
| diez | dEz |
If Spanish ie is followed by n or m in the same syllable, as in siempre, the vowel in the Portuguese cognate word will most likely be the nasal vowel ẽ. (See page 13.) It will not be the open E.
The other new oral vowel is O, often called 'open' O. Once again we can apply the term 'open' to refer to the fact that there is more space—more of an 'opening'—between tongue and roof-of-mouth for this vowel (the O) than for the O. The O, in turn, is often referred to as 'closed'. The 'closed' O is very similar to the Spanish O.
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