The 8th Word of the Month is: PRONOUNCIATION
This word originally appeared
in our Spanish word of the month by email
Homepage: http://www.lingolex.com/spanish.htm
The 8th Word of the Month is: PRONOUNCIATION
This word originally appeared
in our Spanish word of the month by email
Homepage: http://www.lingolex.com/spanish.htm
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Introduction This month we present a text version of our pronunciation guide. One of the best things about learning Spanish is that once you know how to pronounce the sounds of the letters, you will be able to say almost any word that you read. This is not the case for people learning English. Imagine how dificult it is to learn: ought, cough, bough, rough, etc. If you have a sound card, you can hear all the sounds on our web page sound version. Go to: http://lingolex.com/pronounce/. You will need at least a version 4 browser and a reasonably good Internet conection. |
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Vowels
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| a - gato | The Spanish
"a" is a short sharp sound like "hat" in English. More examples: pato - apio - loca |
| e - pelo | The
Spanish "e" is like the "e" in "wet" in English More examples: elegir - éxito - sed |
| i - vino | The
Spanish "i" is like the "ee" in "seen" but
a bit shorter sin - miércoles - idiota |
| o - boca | The
Spanish "o" can have two sounds. When it is at the end of a word
it is like the "o" in note e.g. "pato". When it is before a consonant it is shorter, like "pot" or "cot" e.g. "boda". This difference is very subtle. pato - apio - loca |
| u - fruta | The
Spanish "u" is like the "oo" in "food" Note:
It is silent after "q" and in "gue" and "gui".
The exceptions are marked with a diaeresis: e.g. antigüedad. The "ü"
is not very common. luna - puro - mudo |
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Dipthongs
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| ai/ay - baile | The
Spanish "ai" is like the "i" in "side" aislar - paisaje - vaina - haya |
| au - sauna | The
Spanish "au" is like the "ou" in "sound" causa - pausa - audio - audiencias |
| ei, ey - reina | The
Spanish "ei" and "ey" sound like the "ay"
in say rey - peine - seis |
| eu - europa | The
Spanish "eu" has no English equivalent and is difficult to define.
It is just the sounds of "e" and "u" together a bit
like the "oo" in "soon" but not exactly. It is not very
common. deuda - neutral - reumatismo |
| oi, oy - oiga |
The
Spanish "oi" and "oy" are like the "oy" in
boy. |
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Semi-consonants
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| ie/y - bien | The
Spanish "y" and "ie" have the "y" sound in
"yes". Note that the word "y" meaning "and"
sounds like the Spanish "i". hielo - yerno - yeso - tierno - miedo |
| ue - bueno | The
Spanish "u + vowel" sounds like the "w" in "win".
Note that when "u" is followed by a vowel it normally has the
"w" sound. fuente - huevo - agua - fui - fuimos - cuota |
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Consonants
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| b,v - boda | The
Spanish "b" is almost exactly the same as an English "b".
Note: Both "b" and "v" have the "b" sound
in Spanish. In fact Spanish people can have difficulty with the spelling
and you can somtimes see signs in restaurants, etc. which are misspelled.
bomba - enviar - voy - Córdoba |
| c - casa | The
Spanish "c" has the English "k" sound except when it
comes before "e" and "i". Before "e" and "i" it has a "th" sound as in "thin". academia - con - Ecuador - cola |
| c - Barcelona | The
Spanish "c" has the English "k" sound except when it
comes before "e" and "i". Before "e" and "i" it has a "th" sound as in "thin". sociedad - recibir - receta |
| ch - mucho | The
Spanish "ch" is the same as the "ch" in church. bochorno - champán - champiñón - champú |
| d - duro | The
Spanish "d" is very similar to the English "d" when
it comes at the end of a word it can have a "th" like sound e.g.
Madrid, verdad. del - definir - ciudad - domingo |
| f - familia | The
Spanish "f" is the same as the English "f". freír - difícil - afeitar - foro |
| g - general |
The
Spanish "g" is like the Spanish "j" when it comes
before "i" and "e". The Spanish "j" sounds
like the "ch" in the Scottish "loch". |
| g - gordo | The
Spanish "g" is like the English "g" unless it comes
before "i" and "e". Galicia - golpe - guante - iglesia |
| h - hombre | The
Spanish "h" is always silent. honor - Alhambra - rehacer |
| j - jueves | The
Spanish "j" is a strong guttural sound similar to the "ch"
in the Scottish "loch". jota - jabón - lenguaje - eje |
| k - kilo | The
Spanish "k" is the same as the English "k". It is very
uncommon in Spanish. kilo - kilovatio - kiosco - kiwi |
| l - loco | The
Spanish "l" is the same as the English "l". lobo - lámpara - ladrón |
| ll - calle | The
Spanish "ll" sounds like the "y" in yes. taller - valle - llamar - llover - lleno- Mallorca |
| m - mano | The
Spanish "m" is the same as the English "m". mama - tomar - malo - mixta |
| n - nada | The
Spanish "n" is the same as the English "n". nadar - nadie - no- uno |
| ñ - España | The
Spanish "ñ" is like the "ni" in "onion"
in English. baño - caña - riñón - teñir |
| p - padre | The
Spanish "p" is the same as the "p" in English. pato - apio - lápiz |
| q - quien | The
Spanish "q" is pronounced like the English "k" in "kick". queso - qué - querer - quince |
| r - robar | The
Spanish "r" is a similar to the English "r" but it is
stronger and it sounds like the "r" in a Scottish accent. rabo - radio - mar |
| rr - perro | The
Spanish "rr" does not exist in English. It is a very strong "r"
with a trill. Many English speakers find this sound very difficult to pronounce. puerro - berro - carro - guerra - parra - barrio |
| s - casa | The
Spanish "s" has two sounds. It is pronounced the same as English
except when it comes before b, d, g, l, m, n. saber - sobre - cosas - asunto |
| s - mismo | The
Spanish "s" has two sounds. It is pronounced the same as English
except when it comes before b, d, g, l, m, n. mismo - desde - asno |
| t - tres | The
Spanish "t" is very similar to the "t" in English. In
Spanish the tongue is placed closer to the teeth and there is less aspiration. trigo - tomar- todo - patata |
| x - máximo | The
Spanish "x" is similar to the English pronunciation and it has
a "ks" sound. extra - sexto- exacto - éxito |
| z - zapatos | The
Spanish "z" has the "th" sound in the English thin. zona - cazar - zorro - luz |
There is a pronunciation guide with sound here
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