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Spanish Pronunciation

     Spanish orthography very closely mirrors Spanish pronunciation, much more so than is the case in English. This explains why, in bilingual dictionaries such as this, each English entry must be accompanied by a phonetic representation, while Spanish pronunciation may be presented in synoptic form.

     This synopsis is only meant as an introduction, however. In spite of the clarity of the orthographical system of Spanish, the individual sounds of the language are difficult for adult native speakers of English to pronounce, and this difficulty is compounded by the syllabic structure of the language. For these reasons, readers who wish to perfect their pronunciation of Spanish are strongly advised to seek the help of a competent teacher.

     To say that orthography mirrors pronunciation means that there is a close correlation between letters and sounds. Thus, most Spanish letters correspond to a single sound, or to a single family of closely related sounds, as is the case for all vowels, and the consonants f, l, m, n, p, t, and s. In a few cases a single letter represents two very different sounds, as c, which is pronounced as k before a, o, and u, but th (as in thin, or as s in America) before e or i. Rarely, two letters represent a single sound, as in the case of ch.

     The overarching differences between Spanish and English pronunciation are tenseness of articulation and syllabification within the breath group. Due to the tenseness of their articulation, for example, all Spanish vowels have a clear nondiphthongal character, unlike English long vowels, which tend to be bipartite (e.g., late, pronounced [le^jt]). Syllabification is a problem for English speakers because in Spanish, syllables are formed without respect to word boundaries, such that el hado ‘fate’ and helado ‘ice cream’ are both pronounced as e-la-do, and the phrase tus otras hermanas ‘your other sisters’ is syllabified as tu-so-tra-ser-ma-nas. In fast speech, vowels may combine, as in lo ofendiste ‘you offended him’, pronounced lo-fen-dis-te. Finally, when Spanish consonants occur in clusters, very often the articulation of the second influences that of the first, as when un peso ‘one peso’ is pronounced um-pe-so, and en que ‘in which’ is pronounced e ke, where represents the sound of the letters ng in English.

I. VOWELS

     i as a single vowel always represents a sound similar to the second vowel of police. Examples: hilo, camino, piso. As a part of a diphthong, it sounds like the y of English yes, year. Examples: bien, baile, reina.

     e is similar to the vowel of late ([le^jt]), but without the diphthong. Examples: mesa, hablé, tres.

     a is similar to the vowel of pod. Examples: casa, mala, América. Notably, a is always pronounced this way, even when not stressed. This contrasts with the English tendency to reduce unstressed vowels to schwa ([]), as in America, pronounced in English as [-m-r-k].

     o has a value similar to that of the vowel in Eng. coat [ko^wt], but without the diphthong. Examples: no, modo, amó.

     u has a value similar to that of English oo, as in boot [bu^wt], but without the diphthong. Examples: cura, agudo, uno. Note that the letter u is not pronounced in the syllables qui, que, gui, and gue (unless spelled with dieresis, as in bilingüe). When u occurs in diphthongs such as those of cuida, cuento, deuda, it has the sound of w (as in way).

II. CONSONANTS

     b and v represent the same sounds in Spanish. At the beginning of a breath group or when preceded by the m sound (which may be spelled n), they are both pronounced like English b. Examples: bomba, en vez de, vine, invierno. In other environments, especially between vowels, both letters are pronounced as a very relaxed b, in which the lips do not completely touch and the air is not completely stopped. This sound has no equivalent in English. Examples: haba, uva, la vaca, la banda.

     c represents a k sound before a, o, u, l, and r. However, this sound is not accompanied by a puff of air as it is in Eng. can and coat (compare the c in scan, which is more similar to the Spanish sound). Examples: casa, cosa, cuna, quinto, queso, crudo, aclamar. (Note that, as mentioned above, the vowel u is not pronounced in quinto and queso.) In contrast, when appearing before the vowels e and i, c is pronounced as s in Spanish America and the southwest of Spain, and as th (as in thin) in other parts of Spain (see s for more information).

     ch is no longer considered to be a separate letter in the Spanish alphabet. However, it represents a single sound, which is similar to the English ch in church and cheek. Examples: chato, chaleco, mucho.

      d is phonetically complex in Spanish. In terms of articulation, it is pronounced by the tongue striking the teeth rather than the alveolar ridge as in English. Second, it is represented by two variants. The first of these, which is similar to that of English dame and did, occurs at the beginning of breath groups or after n and l. Examples: donde, falda, conde. In all other situations the letter represents a sound similar to the th of English then. Examples: hado, cuerda, cuadro, usted. This sound tends to be very relaxed, to the point of disappearing in certain environments, such as word-final and intervocalic.

     f is very similar to the English f sound. Examples: faro, elefante, alfalfa.

     g is phonetically complex. Before the vowels e and i, it is pronounced as h in most American dialects, while in northern Spain it is realized like the ch in the German word Bach. Examples: gente, giro. At the beginning of breath groups before the vowels a, o, u, and before the consonants l and r, it is pronounced like the g of English go. Examples: ganga, globo, grada. In all other environments it is pronounced as a very relaxed g. Examples: lago, la goma, agrado.

     h is silent. Examples: hoja, humo, harto.

     j is realized in most American dialects as h, while in northern Spain it is pronounced like the ch in the German word Bach. Examples: jamás, jugo, jota.

     k sounds like Eng. k, but without the accompanying puff of air. Examples: kilo, keroseno.

     l is pronounced forward in the mouth, as the l in leaf, leak, never in the back, as in bell, full. Examples: lado, ala, sol.

     ll is no longer considered to be a separate letter in the Spanish alphabet. However, it does represent a single sound, which differs widely in pronunciation throughout the Spanish-speaking world. In most areas, it is pronounced like the y of Eng. yes, though with greater tension. In extreme northern Spain and in parts of the Andes, it sounds like the lli in Eng. million. In the River Plate area it is pronounced like the g in beige or the sh in ship. Examples: calle, llano, olla.

     m is essentially the same as in English. Examples: madre, mano, cama. However, in final position, as in álbum ‘album’, it is pronounced n.

     n is normally pronounced like Eng. n. Examples: no, mano, hablan. There are exceptions, however. For example, before b, v, p, and m, it is pronounced m, as in en Barcelona, en vez de, un peso, while before k, g, j, ge-, and gi-, it is realized as [], the final sound of Eng. sing, as in anca, tengo, naranja, engendrar.

     ñ is similar to but more tense than the ny of Eng. canyon. Examples: cañón, año, ñato.

     p is like English p except that it is not accompanied by a puff of air, as it is in Eng. pill and papa (compare the p in spot, which is more similar to the Spanish sound). Examples: padre, capa, apuro.

     q combined with u has the sound of k. Examples: queso, aquí, quien.

     r usually represents a sound similar to that of the tt in Eng. kitty, and the dd in ladder. Examples: caro, tren, comer. In contrast, at the beginning of words, and after n, l, s, the letter r is realized as a trill, as in rosa, Enrique, alrededor, Israel. The double letter rr always represents a trill, as in carro, correr, guerrero.

     s is pronounced the same as in standard American English in most parts of Spanish America and in parts of southern Spain. In most of Spain, in contrast, it is realized with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, producing a whistling sound that is also common in southern dialects of American English. Examples: solo, casa, es. In the Caribbean and in coastal Spanish generally, there is a strong tendency to pronounce s in certain environments (usually preconsonantal) as h, or to eliminate it entirely. In these dialects, esta may be pronounced as ehta or eta.

     t differs from English t in two respects: first, it is articulated by the tongue touching the teeth rather than the alveolar ridge, and second, it is not accompanied by a puff of air, as it is in English too and titillate (compare the t in stop, which is more similar to the Spanish sound). Examples: tela, tino, tinta.

     x has a wide range of phonetic realizations. Between vowels, it is usually pronounced ks or gs (but never gz), as in examen, próximo, though in a few words it is pronounced as s, e.g., exacto, auxilio. Before a consonant, x is almost always pronounced s, as in extranjero, experiencia. In many Mexican and Central American words of indigenous origin, x represents h, as in México.

     y varies regionally in its pronunciation. In most areas it is pronounced like the y of Eng. yes, though with greater tension. In the River Plate area it is pronounced like the g in beige or the sh in ship. Examples: yo, ayer.

     z is subject to dialectal variation as well. In most parts of Spain, except the southwest, it is pronounced as the th in Eng. thin, cloth. In southwestern Spain and all of Spanish America, in contrast, it is pronounced s. Examples: zagal, hallazgo, luz.

     Spanish words are normally stressed on the next-to-last syllable when they end in a vowel or the consonants n or s. Examples: mesa, zapato, acontecimiento, hablan, mujeres. Words whose pronunciation does not conform to this rule are considered exceptions, and their stressed syllable is indicated with an accent mark. Examples: lámpara, estómago, género, acá, varón, además.

     Conversely, Spanish words are normally stressed on the final syllable when they end in a consonant other than n or s. Examples: mujer, actualidad, pedal, voraz. Words whose pronunciation does not conform to this rule are considered exceptions, and their stressed syllable is indicated with an accent mark. Examples: nácar, volátil, lápiz.

     For the purposes of stress assignment, diphthongs are considered the same as simple vowels. Thus, arduo and industria are considered to have two and three syllables respectively, with regular stress on the penultimate syllable. However, some sequences of vowels are not considered diphthongs. For example, alegría and continúo are both considered to have four syllables, with the stress mark indicating the absence of a diphthong.

     Until recently certain words received written accents in order to differentiate functions, even though they are pronounced identically (this is still true in certain cases, such as de ‘of’, dé ‘give’). Thus, the orthography esta was assigned to the demonstrative adjective (‘this’, fem.), while the demonstrative pronoun (‘this one’, fem.) was written ésta. This convention is no longer observed by most writers.