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Jennifer Wylie’s guide to:

LEARNING SPANISH THE

EASY WAY

THIS IS A GUIDE TO ASSIST NEW SPANISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN OBTAINING

CORRECT SPANISH PRONUNCIATION AND ARTICULATION.

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PHONETICS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SPANISH IS FUN!

AND IT’S EASY TO LEARN!

• COUNTRIES 3

•ALPHABET 4

•VOWELS 5

•POINTS OF ARTICULATION8

•CONSONANTS 9

•DIPTHONGS 14

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SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES

MEXICO CUBA PUERTO RICO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SPAIN

BELIZE COSTA RICA EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA

HONDURAS NICARAGUA PANAMA ARGENTINA

VENEZUELA COLOMBIA CHILE BOLIVIA

EQUADOR PARAGUAY PERU URUGUAY

EACH ONE OF THESE SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES HAS A DIFFERENT DIALECT OF SPANISH

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE HAS DIFFERENT DIALECTS TOO; LIKE THE FAMILIAR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRITISH ENGLISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

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THE SPANISH ALPHABET:

A B C CH D E F

G H I J K L

LL M N Ñ O P Q

R RR S T U V

W X Y Z

= ADDITIONAL LETTERS IN THE SPANISH ALPHABET

TOTAL OF 30 LETTERS

Phonetic Classification of SoundsOne of the tasks of the phonetician is to classify

a language’s speech sounds. The first major distinction that can be drawn is the familiar one between consonants and vowels. Unlike English,

the Spanish vowel system is very straightforward and so represents a good

starting point.

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VOWELS•A VOWEL IS A SOUND THAT IS PRODUCED WHEN AIR PASSES FROM THE LUNGS TO THE LARYNX AND LATER THROUGH THE MOUTH WITHOUT ANY AUDIBLE OBSTRUCTION WITH

THE EXCEPTION OF THE VIBRATIONS OF THE VOCAL CORDS.

A: The Spanish “a” is pronounced like the {a} in the word "father.“

E: The Spanish "e" is most often pronounced like the [e] in the word “pen," except that it is shorter and crisper.

I: The Spanish "i" is pronounced like the "ee" in the word "see," except that the sound is shorter.

O: The Spanish "o" is pronounced like the [o] in the word "no," except that the sound is shorter.

U: The Spanish u is pronounced like the "ue" in the word "due," except that the sound is shorter.

SPANISH HAS FIVE VOWELS AND FIVE VOWEL SOUNDS

The five Spanish vowels are represented as “a”, “e”, “I”, “o”, “u”, but the sounds identified with the vowels are represented as [a], [e], [i], [o], [u].

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•The distinctive quality of a vowel is determined by the shape of the mouth during articulation. This in turn is affected first and foremost by the position of the tongue. Although the tip of the tongue will be down behind the lower front teeth for all Spanish vowel sounds, its front, centre or back will arch upwards towards the roof of the mouth. The key determinant is the relative position of the tongue’s highest point, on both the vertical and horizontal axes. Thus a vowel can be classed as a high, mid, or low vowel, on the one hand, and as a front, central or back vowel, on the other.

  Front Central Back

High [i]   [u]

Mid [e]   [o]

Low   [a]  

•Returning now to the classification of vowels in terms of the tongue position, the five vowels of Spanish can be presented schematically in the following ways:

We see then that [i] and [u] are produced with the tongue relatively high in the mouth, [e] and [o] have an intermediate tongue height, and [a] is articulated with a fairly flat tongue. Turning to the horizontal axis, we see that [i] and [e] are produced with the tongue arching forward, [a] is associated with an intermediate position, and [o] and [u] are produced with the tongue bunching backwards.

[i]

[e]

[a]

[o]

[u]

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A vowel may also be specified in terms of whether the lips are

rounded or unrounded during its articulation.

NOTE:APPLY: Take what you have learned about vowels and practice each individual sound. Pay special attention to the form that your mouth takes when each vowel is pronounced correctly.

TRY THIS

EXERCISE: M- I- E- A- O- U

We have just learned that there are three parameters used to describe Spanish vowels:

1) Horizontal position of the tongue

2) Vertical position of the tongue

3) Position of the lips

We have also learned that each of the five Spanish vowels has its own sound:

[a]: as in the word “saw”

[e]: as in the word “net”

[i]: as in the word “feet”

[o]: as in the word “note”

[u]: as in the word “moon”

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Points of Articulation

1. Vocal cords

2. Larynx

3. Epiglottis

4. Very back of the tongue

5. Back of the tongue

6. Front of the tongue

7. Ápice of the tongue

8. Uvular region

9. Velar region

10.Palatal region

11.Alveolar-palatal region

12.Alveolar region

13.Teeth

14.Lips

15.Nasal cavity

16.Oral cavity

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CONSONANTS•In the articulation of a consonant, the airstream through the vocal tract must be obstructed either partially or completely.

There are three parameters used to describe Spanish consonants:1)Point of articulation2)Manner of articulation3)Voicing

•Point of Articulation refers to the principal place where air leaves through the mouth

•Manner of Articulation refers to how the sound is produced and the way in which the airstream is modified as it passes through the vocal tract.

•Voicing refers to whether the vocal cords are vibrating or at rest. A consonant articulated with vibration of the vocal cords is said to voiced, while one articulated with the vocal cords at rest is said to be voiceless

VOICED

/b/ /d/ /g/ /v/

/w/ /j/ /z/

/m/ /n/ /l/ /r/

VOICELESS

/p/ /t/ /k/ /s/

/h/ /f/

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Place of Articulation refers to which articulators are involved in the production of a particular sound.

There are eight places of articulation for Spanish consonants:•1)Bilabial (lips)

•2)Labiodental (lips/teeth)

•3)Interdental

•4)Dental (teeth)

•5)Alveolar

•6)Alveo-palatal

•7)Palatal

•8)Velar

(1)(4)

(2)

(8)

(7)(6)(5)

(3)

Each individual consonant sound

coordinates with a particular place of articulation in the

mouth:[b]- bilabial [n]- alveolar

[ĉ]- alveopalatal [ñ]- palatal

[d]- dental [p]- bilabial

[f]- labiodental [r]- alveolar

[g]- velar [rr]- alveolar

[j]- palatal [s]- alveolar

[k]- velar [t]- dental

[l]- alveolar [w]- bilabial

[ll]- palatal [x]- velar

[m]- bilabial [y]- palatal

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SPANISH CONSONANTS:B- The Spanish [b] and [v] are pronounced exactly alike. These letters have two separate sounds, hard and soft. At the beginning of a word and after "m" or "n", the hard Spanish "b/v" closely resembles the [b] in the word "boy," except that the lips are held tense.

C- The Spanish "c" has two separate sounds, hard and soft. When appearing in the combinations "ca", "co" and "cu", the hard Spanish [c] closely resembles the English [k] sound. When appearing in the combinations "ce" and "ci", the [c] is softer. Spaniards pronounce this like the [z], while Latin Americans pronounce it like the [s].

CH- The Spanish [ch] or [ĉ] is pronounced like the [ch] or [ĉ] in the word "chief.“

D- The Spanish "d" has two separate sounds, hard and soft. At the beginning of a word and after "n" or "l", the hard Spanish “[d] closely resembles the [d] in the word "dog." In other situations (particularly between vowels) the [d] is softer, closely resembling the [th] or [θ] sound in the word "this.“

F- The Spanish [f] is pronounced like the [f] in the word "fire.“

G- The Spanish "g" has three separate sounds: hard, soft and an [h] sound. When it comes before e or i, g takes the English [h] sound as in "hello". In other positions, [g] is hard as in "golf". When g is used in combination with u (gue or gui), the u is silent as in "guest".

H- Like the [h] in the English word "hour” or “honor” the Spanish [h] is always silent.

J- The Spanish [j] is pronounced like the [h] in the word "hot," except that it is "raspier.“

K- The Spanish [k] is pronounced like an English [k] without the puff of air.

L- The Spanish [l] is similar to, but not exactly like the [l] in the word "call.“

LL- The pronunciation of the Spanish [λ] can vary widely from region to region. Most commonly, it is pronounce like the [y] in the word "yes," or like the "lli" in the word "million.“

M- The Spanish [m] is pronounced like the [m] in the word "mob." N- The Spanish [n] is usually pronounced like the [n] in the word "not.“

Ñ- The Spanish [ñ] is pronounced like the "ny" in the word "canyon.“

P- The Spanish [p] is pronounced like the [p] in the English word "spot," except that there is no puff of air.

Q- The Spanish [q] -- which always appears in combination with the letter "u" -- is pronounced like the [k] in the word "kid," but without the puff of air.

R- The Spanish "r" has two separate sounds, depending on whether or not it is the first letter of a word. Neither one of these sounds resembles the English [r] sound. When the "r" is the first letter of the word, it is trilled where the tip of the tongue hits the roof of the mouth more than once. Otherwise, the "r" sounds much like the "dd" of the word "ladder.“

RR- The Spanish [rr] or [r] is a vibrating, or trilling sound where the tip of the tongue hits the roof of the mouth more than one time. The single "r" is also pronounced this way when it is the first letter of a word.

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S- The Spanish [s] is pronounced like the [s] in the word "salt," except that it is a bit shorter.

T- When making the [t] sound in English, the tongue touches the gum ridge behind the upper front teeth. The Spanish [t] is produced quite differently, with the tongue actually touching the back of the front teeth, and without the puff of air that characterizes the English [t].

V- The Spanish [b] and [v] are pronounced exactly alike. These letters have two separate sounds, hard and soft. At the beginning of a word and after "m" or "n", the hard Spanish "b/v" closely resembles the [b] in the word "boy," except that the lips are held tense.

W- In Spanish the [w] is pronounced like the "b/v" when it occurs between vowels.

X- The Spanish "x" has three separate sounds. The first is like the [ks] in the word "talks" (examen). The second is pronounced like the English letter "h" and is reserved for certain proper nouns and words that are derived from them (México, mexicano). The third is pronounced like the English [ch] or [ĉ] and it, too is reserved for certain proper nouns (Xitle, Xela).

Y- The Spanish [y] acts as both a consonant and as a vowel. s a consonant, the Spanish "y" has two common sounds. Depending upon the region, the [y] might sound like the English [y] in the word "yes" or the [j] in the English word "joy.“

Z- The Spanish [z] is pronounced differently in Spain than in Latin America. In Spain, it is pronounced

like the [th] or [θ] in the English word "think." In Latin America, it is pronounced like the letter "s".

APPLY:

Take what you have learned from the information above on consonants and their sounds, and apply it to the exercises on the following page. Identify each Spanish sound

with the accompanying English word and with the picture beside it, then speak each word with

correct pronunciation.12

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Spanish Consonants[B] as in the word “ball”

[C] as in the word “car”

[Ĉ] as in the word “chair”[D] as in the word “dog”[F] as in the word “frog”

[G] as in the word “goat”[H] as in the word “hour”

[J] as in the word “jacket”[K] as in the word “kite”

[L] as in the word “ladder”

[LL] as in the word “yield”[M] as in the word “milk”

[N] as in the word “nails”

[Ñ] as in the word “canyon”

[P] as in the word “plane”

[Q] as in the word “quill”

[R] as in the word “rat”

[RR] as in the word “rose”

[S] as in the word “socks”[T] as in the word “telephone”[V] as in the word “vest”

[W] as in the word “water”[X] as in the word “exam”[Y] as in the word “yarn”[Z] as in the word “zebra”

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DIPTHONGSA dipthong is the combination of two vowels in the same syllable; usually a strong vowel with a weak vowel, and at times two weak vowels

together.

STRONG WEAK

“A”, “E”, “O”

“I”, “U”

Diphthongs occur when an unstressed "i", "u", or "y-ending" appears next to another

vowel in the same syllable. Their vowel sounds do not change, but they blend

together to form a single syllable.

2 TYPES:

Creciente (growing)

Decreciente (decreasing)

weak ≤ strong strong ≥ weak

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CRECIENTE (GROWING) DIPTHONGS

“ia” - One such vowel combination, "ia", is pronounced like the "eo" in the English word "neon," except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter "i", the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.

“ie” -One such vowel combination, "ie", is pronounced somewhat like the English word "yea," except that the sounds are shorter. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter "e", the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.“io” -One such vowel combination, "io", is pronounced like the "eo" in the English word "video," except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter "i", the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.

“ua” -One such vowel combination, "ua", has no real English equivalent, but can be reproduced by combining the "oo" of the word "boot" with the "a" of the word "papa." Be sure to combine these two sounds into a single sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter "u", the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.“ue” -One such vowel combination, "ue", has no real English equivalent, but can be reproduced by combining the "oo" of the word "boot" with the "a" of the word "paper." Be sure to combine these two sounds into a single sound. Note that when there is a diaeresis (umlaut) over the letter "u", the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.“ui” -One such vowel combination, "ui" (or "uy" word ending), is pronounced like the English word "we," except that it is a somewhat shorter sound.“uo” -One such vowel combination, "uo", has no real English equivalent, but can be reproduced by combining the "oo" of the word "boot" with the "o" of the word "note." Be sure to combine these two sounds into a single sound. Note that when there is an accent over the letter "u", as in "dúo," the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.

“iu” –One such vowel combination, “iu”, is pronounced like the “u” in the English word “music”, except that the “i” is pronounced more. One good example of the “iu” in Spanish is in the word “ciudad”.

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DECRECIENTE (DECREASING) DIPTHONGS

“ai” -One such vowel combination, "ai" (or "ay" word ending), is pronounced like the English word "eye," except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter "i", the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.

“ei” -One such vowel combination, "ei" (or "ey" word ending), is pronounced like the "ay" in the English word "say," except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter "i", the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.

“oi” -One such vowel combination, "oi" (or "oy" word ending), is pronounced like the "oy" in the English word "boy," except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter "i", the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.

“au” -One such vowel combination, "au", is pronounced like the "ow" in the English word "owl," except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter "u", the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately.

“eu” -One such vowel combination, "eu", does not have an English equivalent. It sounds like a combination of the "ay" of the word "say" and the "oo" of the word "boot." Note that when there is a written accent over the letter "u", as in the word "transeúnte," the diphthong is "broken" and the two vowels are pronounced separately, such as in the Spanish pronunciation of Europa.“ou” –One such vowel combination, “ou”, is pronounced somewhat like the “o” in the English word “open”, except that there is more [u] tagged on to the “o”.

“ui” –One such vowel combination, “ui”, is pronounced like the “ewy” in the English word “chewy”, where the “ew” sounds like “oo”. In Spanish, this combination of vowels can be easily run together to sound like “we”, such as in the Spanish “muy”.