Hannah S. answered • 08/06/21
Experienced tutor in Spanish, Portuguese, and ESL
One way to compare linguistic features of two languages is my using phonetics-- the sounds of each language. Languages all have set sounds and rhythms, and they can be compared just by listening! It's interesting that you bring up the example of Russian and Portuguese because many people say that Portuguese sounds like Russian to them, even though they aren't related or mutually intelligible. Strange right?! To discover this connection, you can compare key characteristics such as common vowel and consonant sounds, the force with which certain sounds are pronounced, and rhythm, or the way that words are separated and accentuated in pronunciation.
For one thing, Russian and Portuguese use a lot of sibilant sounds (things like "sh"), and they utilize nearly the exact same sounding vowels. Also, b's, d's and g's are pronounced with a lot of force in both languages-- think of someone saying "babushka". They have similar rhythms, too.
That's just a quick overview, but if you want a more in-depth explanation, check out the video. I find it to be helpful and accurate, from a Portuguese-speaking POV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pik2R46xobA
