La pronunciación El sistema fonológico del español (The sound system of Spanish)

Las vocales –A has the sound of ah as in father. –E has the sound of a as in late. –I has the sound of e as in beet. –O has the sound of o as in wrote. –U has the sound of oo as in boot.

Vowel Combinations A, E, O are strong vowels. U and I are weak vowels. A combination of two strong vowels is pronounced as two syllables. –leer; maestro A combination of weak + strong is a dipthong (one syllable), with greater stress on the strong vowel. –baila; cierra A combination of weak + weak is a dipthong (one syllable), with the stress on the second vowel. –ruido

Los diptongos ai;ay like i in side –baile; hay au like ou in sound –causa ei;ey like ey in they –reina, rey eu like may-you without y –deuda oi; oy like oy in boy –oiga; soy i or y before a vowel like y in yes –bien ; apoyo u before a vowel like w in well –fuente; agua

Accented weak vowels When a weak vowel carries a written accent mark, the pronunciation is stressed on that vowel. –tío; baúl NOTE: familia historia biología geografía

La acentuación If a word ends in a vowel, n or s, the second to the last (penultimate) syllable is stressed. Such words are called palabras graves. –zapato, zapatos, divide, dividen If the word ends in a consonant other than n or s, the last syllable is stressed. Such words are called palabras agudas. –verdad, practicar

Breaking rules of accentuation If the word is pronounced contrary to those two rules, an accent mark is written over the vowel that must be stressed. These types of words are called palabras esdrújulas. –tendré; difícil Note: crimen; crímenes

Las consonantes B and V These two letters have the same value in Spanish. At the start of a word or after m and n, they sound like the English b. –bomba; enviar; ambos In all other positions, they sound like a b without touching one’s lips together. –caber; severo

C There are two different values for the letter C. C before a, o, u or a consonant sounds like k in keep. –caminar; contar; culebra; acto C before e, i sounds like th in thin or s in same (This is called seseo, and is used in Latin America and parts of Analusia, Spain.) –cinco; hacer NOTE: Both sounds are heard in the following words: acción; sección (Not sh)

D There are three different values, depending upon the position and context. At the start of a word and after l, n, the letter d sounds like the English d. –dama; aldea, andar Between vowels and after consonants other than l, n, the sound of d is more relaxed, and sounds like the th in this. –pide, pardo As the last letter of a word, the d become further relaxed or altogether omitted. –usted; verdad

F F has the sound of f in for. –fama; informe

G There are three different values depending on position and context. Before e or i g sounds like a Spanish j, which makes the sound of ch in Bach. –general; gitano At the start of a word and after n, the sound is g like in get. –gloria; tengo In all other positions, the g sounds like g in get, only not as explosive. –haga; agosto

gue, gui : The u is silent, except when marked by a diaeresis. –guerra; guitarra; pingüino; antigüedad gua: All letters are sounded. –guapo

H H is always silent! –hola (ola) –Hay (ay) –hermano (ermano) –bahía (baía)

J J at the beginning of a word or in the middle of a word has a strong gutteral sound, not found in English. It is like the ch in the word Bach. –jota; baraja J at the end of a word is silent. –reloj

K K is pronounced like the k in kick, but without the aspiration. –kilómetro

L L is pronounced like the l in love. –limón; fácil LL LL is pronounced like lli in million or like the y in yes. In parts of Latin America and Spain, the ll is pronounced like j in juice. –calle; ella, millón

M The letter m is pronounced like the m in made. –madre; caminar

N N is pronounced like n in none, except before a written v. –nadie, pan When n comes before a written v, it sounds like m. –enviar ; sin valor

Ñ The letter ñ approximates the sound of ni in onion. –niño; ñandú

P P sound like the p in put, but without the aspiration. –papá

Q Q sounds like the k in kick, without the aspiration. It is always followed by a silent u. –que; quince

R R has a single trill, but is pronounced with a stronger trill (rr) at the start of a word (or after l, n, s). –coro; rápido RR RR has a strong trill. –carro; irreal

S For the most part s sounds like the s in same. –casa, Isabel Before b, d, g, l, m, n the letter s is often pronounced like s in rose. (a soft z sound) –desde; mismo

T Like the t in tame, but without the aspiration. –tanto

W The letter w is found in “loan words” from other languages. It can be pronounced as a Spanish b/v, like an English v, or like an English w. –week end

X Between vowels, the letter x is usually pronounced like x in tax or like gs in eggs. –examen Before a consonant x is often pronounced like s in same. –extra

Y The letter y is normally pronounced like the y in yes. –Yo ; mayo; Loyola In emphatic speech, it is pronounced like the j in jam. In Chile and in Argentina, it is pronounced like the s in leisure.

Z The letter z is pronounced like th in thin, but like s in same in Latin America and in parts of Andalusia, Spain. (This is known as seseo.) –zapato; luz

A E IO U El burro sabe más que tú.