Portuguese is an Indo-European language derived from Latin and belongs to the romance languages language family. Its origins are in the Western Iberian Peninsula, where Romans first introduced Latin as a language. Vulgar Latin, a nonstandard form of Latin, became the main language on the Peninsula. This language than developed into Galician-Portuguese language in the area on the Atlantic coast. These languages then divided into Galician and Portuguese branches after Galicia joined Spain. In the 14th and 16th centuries, Portuguese spread to Asia, Africa, and The Americas. In Asia and Africa, it was largely used as a common language for trade. The spread of Portuguese to the Americas lead to the development of the Brazilian Portuguese I am currently learning.
In terms of its history, I understand Portuguese to be a language of commerce and colonialization. It was widespread at one time, influencing the development of many other languages, but is currently mainly spoken in Brazil and Portugal. It is the 8th most spoken language in the world.
Portuguese phonology particularly changed over time from Galician-Portuguese phonology to Modern Portuguese, and Contemporary Portuguese. Galician-Portuguese had a 7 oral vowel system and Modern and Contemporary Portuguese both have an 8 oral vowel system. However, in certain areas of Africa and Europe, a 9th oral vowel has developed as well.
Linguists track changes in Portuguese like this through texts from each time period. With Portuguese, they are able to specifically use the development of the language in different geographic areas to see what words and rules are common amongst all of them to get a better sense of sustained aspects of Portuguese throughout its history.
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