Letra y sonido

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Letra y sonido

• Español I
• Señor García

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Spanish vowels - vocales

• The Spanish vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are pronounced
  clearly and distinctly.
• a as in father, but with the tongue closer to
  the front of the mouth (Ana, amiga, tarea)
• e as in they, but without the y sound
  (este, eres, noche, excelente)
• i as in machine, but much shorter (isla, día,
  íntimo)
• o as in low, but without the w sound (hola,
  moto, dónde, color)
• u as in rule (fruta, uno, fútbol, música)

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Trabelenguas tongue twisters

• A, e, i, o, u!
• Arbolito del Perú
• Cómo te llamas tú?

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Letter D

• The letter d in Spanish represents two possible
  pronounciations
• At the beginning of a phrase or after an l or
  n it sounds like the d in the English word
  did except with the tip of the tongue closer to
  the back of the teeth.
• Dinero, diez, diccionario, dar, andar, falda

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D part 2

• Anywhere else in the word or phrase (especially
  between vowels) its pronounciation is softened
  and is similar to the th in the English word
  they.
• Modo, cada, estudiar, verdad, calculadora

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Letter H, J, G

• H is always silent (hora, hijo, hospital)
• J represents a sound that has no equivalent in
  English. Its pronounced like the h in the
  English word house but much stronger with the
  back of the tongue near the soft palate (jugar,
  jefe, joven, caja, juego)
• G before the vowels e i has the same
  sound as the letter j as the previous examples
  (gente, general, corregir)

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G contd

• Before the vowels a, o, u the letter is
  pronounced like the g in the English word
  go.(tengo, gusto, mango)
• Between vowels this sound is much softer (haga,
  agua, mucho gusto)
• It is pronounced hard like the g in the word
  get when its followed by ue or ui (guerra,
  llegué, guitarra)

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Letters B, V

• These letters in Spanish represent the same
  sound. That single sound has two possible
  variations.
• At the beginning of a phrase or after an m or
  an n these letters sound like the b in the
  English word bean (biblioteca, bailar, viernes,
  invierno)
• Between vowels after other consonants their
  pronounciation is softened with the lower lip
  slightly forward and not resting against the
  upper teeth ( lobo, uva, Cuba)

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Accents

• One purpose is to tell you which syllable to
  stress
• Words ending in a vowel, n, or s, are stressed on
  the next to the last syllable (examen, hablan,
  discos, toma, quiero)
• Words ending in any consonant besides n or s
  are stressed on the last syllable (animal, feliz,
  Madrid, hablar)
• Exceptions to rules 1 2 get an accent mark over
  the syllable to be stressed (semáforo, lápices,
  rápido, lámpara)
• Some words have an accent mark to tell them apart
  from a similar word
• mi versus mí (my, me) tu versus tú (your, you)
• si versus sí (if, yes)

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Letter R

• The r in Spanish does not sound like the r in
  English. English does have a sound that is
  similar, however. Its the sound made by quickly
  touching the tip of the tongue to the ridge
  behind the upper teeth, as in butter, batter,
  ladder
• At the beginning of a word or after an n or l
  the single r has a trilled or rolled sound. It
  is also trilled at the end of a word
• The double r in Spanish always has a trilled or
  rolled sound

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Example of R

• http//www.uiowa.edu/acadtech/phonetics/
• Click on Spanish, vibrantes, video will pop up
  and you can see and practice along with it

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Letters ll y

• Usually pronounced alike. Their pronunciation in
  many Spanish-speaking countries is similar to the
  y in the English word yes. (yo, yerno, yema,
  llamo, llora, maquillaje)
• The single l in Spanish is pronounced like the
  l in the English word live. Keep the tip of
  the tongue behind the upper teeth when
  pronouncing l (lavarse, levantarse, lo siento)

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Letter C

• The letter c before the vowels e and i is
  pronounced like s as in centro cielo.
• Before the vowels a, o, u it is pronounced like
  k in the English word kitchen. (carne, rico,
  cuchara)
• To spell the k sound of the word kitchen
  before the vowels e i us the letters qu
  (que, saque, quien, queso)
• This pattern is similar to the g j sound
  alike.

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Letter S, Z, C

• The letter S in Spanish in pronounced like the
  s in the English word pass. (camiseta,
  flores, gris, seda)
• In Latin America, the letter Z is also
  pronounced like the s in the English word
  pass (azul, zapatos, zanahoria) However, in
  Spain, the z is pronounced much like the th
  in the English world think
• In Latin America, the letter c before vowels e
  i is also pronounced like an s (dulces,
  calcetines, cinturón)
• In Spain, the letter c before the vowels e
  i is also pronounced like the th in English.

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Letters P, T

• In English we pronounce p, t, k (as in pin, tin,
  and kin) with a puff of air. This puff does not
  happen in Spanish. Practice saying these words
  without releasing that puff of air. (hotel, papa,
  caminata)
• In addition the letter t in Spanish is
  pronounced with the tongue against the upper
  teeth, not against the area immediately above the
  teeth known as the alveolar ridge. (tienda,
  carta, hasta, tanto)

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Vowels contd

• In Spanish the vowels a, e, o are called strong
  vowels and i, u are weak vowels.
• Two strong vowels together are pronounced as
  separate syllables (peor, oeste, rodeo, correo)
• A strong vowel and a weak vowel or two weak
  vowels combine into one syllable called a
  diphthong. When the weak vowel comes first in
  this combination, the i is pronounced like the
  y in yet and the u is pronounced like the w
  in wet. (familia, pie, ciudad, cuando, bueno,
  Europa, fui)
• An accent mark over a weak vowel keeps it from
  combining into one syllable with another vowel
  (tía, día, período)