We will begin with the alphabet and pronunciation of Spanish, then simple phrases such as introductions, then the infinitive and present tense.
El alfabeto y la pronunciación
(The Alphabet and Pronunciation)
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Letra Nombre Pronunciación
A a /a/
B be /b/
C ce Hard: /k/
Soft: /θ/
D de /d̪/
E e /e/
F efe /f/
G ge Hard: /ɡ/
Soft: /x/
H hache Silent
I i /i/
J jota /x/
K ka /k/
L ele /l/
M eme /m/
N ene /n/
Ñ eñe /ɲ/
O o /o/
P pe /p/
Q cu /k/
R ere /ɾ/, /r/
S ese /s/
T te /t̪/
U u /u/
V ve /b/
uve
W doble u /w/, /gw/, /b/
doble ve
X equis /ks/, /s/, /x/
Y i griega As a vowel: /i/, /j/
ye As a consonant: /ʝ/
Z zeta /θ/
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Dígrafo Nombre Pronunciación
GU ge u /ɡ/
QU cu u /k/
CH che /tʃ/
LL elle /ʎ/
RR erre /r/
K and W are almost only used in loanwords.
N assimilates in pronunciation to a following consonant.
Multiple rules govern the pronunciation of G, J, C, Q, and Z:
G and C are, much like English, pronounced soft before the front vowels I and E and hard elsewhere.
Z represents the “soft” C sound before the vowels A, O, and U.
Z cannot appear before I and E; only C can.
J represents the “soft” G before the vowels A, O, and U.
Either J or G may appear before I and E; both will be pronounced the same.
GU and QU represent (respectively) the “hard” pronunciations of G and C before the front vowels I and E. GU and QU only appear before the front vowels I and E. (Q only appears in the digraph QU.)
RR and R contrast between vowels to give minimal pairs such as pero /ˈpeɾo/ “but” (with R) and perro /ˈpero/ “dog” (with RR). At the beginning of words and after /l/, /n/, and /s/, R is pronounced /r/; before consonants it can be pronounced as either /r/ or /ɾ/. Elsewhere, R must be pronounced as /ɾ/. /r/ is only spelled RR between vowels.
The pronunciation of L is never “dark.”
Do not aspirate /p t k/. Fully voice /b d ɡ/. Between vowels, /b d ɡ/ are pronounced [β ð ɣ̞].
As a general rule, do not reduce unstressed vowels. However, unstressed I and U become glides [j] and [w] before or after another vowel (e.g., vais [bajs] and hacia [ˈaθja]).
Spanish pronunciation is actually more complicated, as allophony has a large impact on the pronunciation of phonemes. Short of memorizing allophonic rules, one can learn mostly by listening and repeating the pronunciation of words.
El acento prosódico
(Prosodic Stress)
Three rules govern the placement of stress in any Spanish word.
First, if the word ends in a consonant other than /n/ or /s/, the stress falls on the final syllable.
If the word ends in /n/, /s/, or any vowel,
Finally, if the word has any vowel marked with the acute accent mark (á, é, í, ó, ú), the stress falls on the syllable in which that vowel occurs.
El acento ortográfico
(The accent mark)
Other than marking the position of stress in a word, the accent mark can distinguish between two words with otherwise identical pronunciation. For example, el (the masculine singular article) and él (“he”) are distinguished only by the accent mark: both are pronounced /el/.
One also occasionally encounters the dieresis on the U in the digraph GU. This indicates that the U is pronounced [w] rather than silent (e.g., pingüino [piŋˈɡwino] “penguin”)
Los dialectos
(Dialects)
The dialects of Spanish—even within Spain itself—do not all have the exact same pronunciations for several of the above letters.
Many dialects of Spanish do not have this contrast between S and C/Z so both are pronounced /s/. This is known as seseo (from ceceo, “lisp”). In those dialects that do distinguish between S and C/Z, S often is pronounced closer to /s̺/, which gives it a slight “slurred” sound. All words are spelt the same regardless.
In addition, LL has mostly merged with Y so both are pronounced /ʝ/. This is known as yeísmo.
¡Ojo!
(Watch out!)
My personal accent has both seseo and yeísmo, so look out for that.
It also appears that the pronunciation of word-final M varies by dialects. In my own dialect, word-final M is always [n]. (This is not too much of a problem, as most words ending in M are loanwords.)
¡Practiquemos!
(Let’s practice!)
Pronounce the following words:
1. zorro “fox”
2. dar “to give”
3. gato “cat”
4. yo “I”
Transcribe the following words:
15. http://vocaroo.com/i/s1VMyT7agUm1
16. http://vocaroo.com/i/s02Qyy8BgX5X
17. http://vocaroo.com/i/s10StFwcOuoB
Well, that was a lot of information to take in. Feel free to digest this all over a few days. The next lesson will cover basic phrases and simple conversations.[/color]