Das Erste Deutsche Portugiesischlehrbuch (1778–79)

The author of the first Portuguese grammar published in Germany in 1778–79, Johann Andreas von Junk, was a higher Prussian governmental official serving as an officer in the Portuguese Army. His Portugiesische Grammatik was destined to be used by German military men serving in Portugal; however, it appeared much later than it was originally intended. Junk was no scholar, but a gifted man who knew a number of languages, in particular Latin and the Romance languages, and who made keen observations about them. He shows great pratical knowledge and much talent in suggesting how Portuguese should be pronounced. In his Grammar he supplies a judicious list of essential lexical items, samples of every-day conversation, and a grammatical system largely based on categories derived from Latin. He adds information about Portuguese literature, thus successfully rounding off his 2-volume manual of Portuguese.

L’auteur du premier livre de portugais, apparu en Allemagne en 1778–79, est un administrateur supérieur, qui était officier dans l’armée portugaise et qui avait destiné son livre à l’étude des officiers et soldats de langue allemande. Le livre apparaît seulement plus tard. L’auteur n’est pas un savant mais un homme doué du talent des langues qui observe parfaitement bien. II montre beaucoup de sens pratique en dormant des aides phonétiques, un vocabulaire raisonné, des discours pratiques; en grammaire il suit le Système classique latin; il ajoute encore des renseignements sur la littérature portugaise.