the_spanish_alphabet.ppt

7/29/2019 The_Spanish_alphabet.ppt

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(El alfabeto espaol)


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Like the a in father, but shorter

ms

Examples:

pasanadamaana

casaencantada

Note: In this presentation, all vowels will be circled.


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The Spanish b is similar to the English b wheninitial (pronounced at the beginning of a phrase) or

after the letters m or n.

Bailo con Mara. el medio ambiente

It is softer, allowing some air to pass through the lips,when intervocalic (located between vowels).

No bailo bien. Iberia.

Hablan bien. un banco

Note: Also see v.


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The Spanish c has two distinct sounds,depending on its environment, that is, how itis located with respect to certain vowels. The

next slide provides more details.


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In Spain, the c beforee or i is pronounced th

. . . before thefollowing threevowels

. . . before the followingtwo vowels

Unlike the English ksound, the hard Spanish

c is not aspirated, thatis, no air is expelledwhen it is pronounced.


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Until 1994, ch was a separate letter in Spanish,and words that began with this letter were found ina separate ch section in the dictionary after thesection containing words beginning with c. It is

pronounced like the English ch.

charro chimichanga

muchacho chica


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The Spanish d is similar to the English d but ispronounced with the tongue farther forward against theupper teeth. When initial or after the letters n or l, it isharder;

Daniel es mi hermano. andar

Buena idea! nada

when intervocalic, it is a bit softer, much likethe voiced th sound in the English word they.


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Like the e in they, but without the y glide

es

tres

mesa

deporte

interesante

Mxico


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The Spanish f is essentially identicalto the English f.

Fernandotelfono

flanfrente


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The Spanish g has three distinct sounds,depending on its environment. The next twoslides provide more details.


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. . . before the following threevowels at the beginning of a

phrase or after the letter n.

In other cases, such as whenintervocalic, the g is softer,

somewhat like the g in sugar,before these three vowels.


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. . . before the following twovowels


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The h is always completely silent.

ospitalh olhalcootelhablo espaol.H


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Like the ee in teeth or the i in machine,but shorter

mi

nio

libro

tmido

inteligente

rico


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The j is pronounced in all cases like thesoft g, that is, much like an h in English. Insome areas, particularly Spain, the jota is

pronounced more crisply, with a somewhatharsh or guttural sound.

Jos

hijo

jarra

atajo


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The k is a letter borrowed from Greek andis found only in words borrowed from otherlanguages. The k is not aspirated in Spanish.

kilogramo karate whisky


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The l is pronounced with the tip of the

tongue against the alveolar ridge as in English;however, the tongue is held straight rather thanslightly curled.

alveolar ridge

loteraLalo

azul


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Until 1994, ll, like ch, was a separate letterin Spanish, and words that began with this letterwere listed separately in the dictionary. See the

next slide for more information.


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The ll is pronounced like the English y.

calle = cayeIn Spain, it was formerly pronounced as ly, and

some conservative, older speakers still use thispronunciation.

calle = calye


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The m is pronounced essentially like itsEnglish counterpart.

mamamor

molemensaje


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The n is pronounced very much like itsEnglish counterpart.

nada

Nora

Elena

mquina

Before the consonants b, p, and v, the nis pronounced like an m.

un beso un vaso un perro


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After the changes to the Spanish alphabet in1994, the is the one letter that still does notappear in the English alphabet. It is pronouncedlike the ni combination in the word onion.

nio

maana

ao

bao


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Like the o in hope, but without the glide

monoperro

yono


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The p is unlike the English p in that the latter isaspirated, that is, a puff of air is expelled after thelips separate. In Spanish, we hold back the air,avoiding the pop that is heard in English.

Pablo

pap

pata

ropa


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The q is always followed by u, as in English,

except for a few foreign words such as Iraq,although this word can also be spelled Irak, since thesound of q is essentially identical to that of k.Like the p and [k] sounds, the q is not aspirated.

queso

pequeo

quilate

quien


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The intervocalic,embedded (that is,non-word-initial) rinvolves a single tapof the tongue against

the alveolar ridge.The result is a soundmuch like the dd inthe name Eddie.

Eddie

arena

pero

Mara


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(A single letter previous to 1994)

With the rr, or doubler, the tongue is

positioned just as with thesingle r, except that it isheld there briefly andallowed to flap, creatingthe rolling effect.

perro

barrioderrota

Note: The single r is rolled more like the rr after l and n.

alrededor

en realidad

rosaWhen initial, the r is rolled exactly like the rr. rubio


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The s is essentially like the English s in mostof the Spanish-speaking world.

s

peso

casa

sabroso


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The t is similar to the English t except that it is,

again, more dental. The tongue is brought forwardagainst the upper teeth much as with the d. Likethe p and [k] sounds, the t is not aspirated.

tTito

tamalpatata


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Like the u in the name Lulu, but shorterThe important thing to remember about the u is that it has no initialy sound as in English. When we pronounce the word union, for

instance, we actually say yunion. Leave the y sound off in Spanish.

unin

inusual

universidad

comunidad


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In all environments, the v is identical inpronunciation to the b.

Voy contigo

Eva

envidia

lavar


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Since the b and the v sound exactly alike, we oftendistinguish between them by one of the following methods.


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The w is a letter borrowed from English and is foundonly in words borrowed from other languages.

whisky wlter wter (closet)


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The x is pretty much as in English.

examen exacto auxilio

However, in words derived from indigenous languages, it islike a j when intervocalic . . .

Mxico mixe. . . and like an s when initial.

Xochimilco


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The y, when word-final, acts as a semivowel, that is, it hasa sound similar to the vowel i.

Voy

ya

rey

rayo

When word-initial or intervocalic, it functions as a consonantand sounds like the y in English.


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The z has two distinct sounds, dependingon geography. The next slide provides more

details.


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In the Americas

In Spain

In all cases

In all cases


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