How to Pronounce Capoeira

Capoeira is an African-Brazilian martial art combining elements of dance, acrobatics, music and self-defense techniques. The self-defense aspects are almost hidden within its flowing and graceful dance-like motions. The primary musical instrument heard accompanying capoeiristas is the berimbau, which traces its origins to Angola. Along with the atabaque (drum), the pandeiro (tambourine), and the agogo (cowbells), the berimbau sets the rhythm and pace of each demonstration. Enslaved Africans brought capoeira to Brazil in the 1500’s as a form of self-defense to fight the oppression of their slaveowners. The practice also served as a spiritual, self-empowering, and community-building activity. Once outlawed in 1892 and practiced only in secret, capoeira has been hailed as a national sport in Brazil since the 1930’s and is today practiced by people from many diverse cultures.

Instructions

1. Pronounce the first syllable, as “kah.”

2. Pronounce the second syllable as “pooh.”

3. Pronounce the third syllable as “AYR.”

4. Pronounce the fourth syllable as “dah.”

5. Practice each syllable in succession until you can say “kah-pooh-AYR-dah” smoothly, with emphasis on the third syllable.

Tips & Warnings

• Note that Portuguese (in this case, Brazilian Portuguese) is pronounced very differently from other Latin-derived languages (Spanish or Italian, for example). “Di” is pronounced, “Jee”, and “Ti” sounds like “chee” (especially in the center of a word), but “R” sounds like the English “h” at the beginning of a word, and like the English “rd” when it appears later in a word, before a vowel.

Resources

• Watch a video of a capoeira demonstration.
• Learn more about this martial art and locate schools.