1. La Pronunciación: U na guía al abecedario y los acentos

2. The Spanish alphabet is very similar to the alphabets of most European languages. According to Real Academia Española, which is considered the arbiter of what's official Spanish, the following letters make up the Spanish alphabet: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z In other words, the Spanish alphabet, with 27 letters, is the same as the English alphabet with the addition of the ñ. The following chart shows the capital letters along with name of each letter: A: a (ah) B: be C: ce D: de E: e (eh) F: efe G: ge H: hache I: i (ee) M: eme N ene Ñ: eñe O: o (oh) P: pe Q: cu R: ere S: ese T: te U: u (oo) V: uve W: uve doble X: equis Y: ye Z: zeta J : jota K: ka L: ele

3. Changes to the Alphabet It may interest you to know that as recently as 2010, the Spanish alphabet, as recognized by the RAE, included two other letters, ch and ll, which were considered separate letters. They continue to have distinctive pronunciations (just as do "ch" and "sh" in English). There also have been other changes over the years in the Spanish alphabet as well as disagreements over what's included: ·The W (sometimes referred to as doble ve) and K, which exist almost exclusively in words of foreign origin, such as kilowatt, haven't always been considered part of the alphabet. ·Some authorities once considred the RR (erre doble), which isn't pronounced the same as R, as as a separate letter. ·For many years, when ch was considered a separate letter, it would affect alphabetization, so that the word achatar would be listed after acordar in dictionaries. But the alphabetization rules were changed long before ch was dropped as a letter, so that Spanish dictionaires long have alphabetized words as they were in English (except that the ñ came after the n). ·The y used to be known as the y griega ("Greek y") to distinguish it from the i or i latina ("Latin i"). You'll still hear that name used and likely will for years to come.

4. Pronunciación de Consonantes Wh ile many of the Spanish consonants have sounds that are similar to those in English, many are distinctly different. These are listed below. One thing to keep in mind about Spanish consonants is that they're generally softer and somewhat less distinct than their English equivalents (the most notable exceptions are the r and rr). Although their vowel sounds may be distinct, some hispanohablantes may sound to the untrained ear like they're mumbling. ·C, at least in most of Latin America, is pronounced like the "c" in "cereal" when it comes before an e or an i, and like the "c" in "car" when it is other positions. Examples: complacer, hacer, ácido, carro, acabar, crimen. Note: Although you will be understood if you use the Latin American pronunciation, in parts of Spain the c sounds like the "th" in "thin" when it comes before an e or i. ·D generally is pronounced somewhat like the "d" in "diet," although often the tongue touches the bottom of the teeth instead of the top. But when d comes between vowels, it has a much softer sound, kind of like the "th" in "that." Examples: derecho, helado, diablo.

5. ·G is pronounced much like the English "g" in "go," although softer, except when it precedes an i or e. In those cases, it is pronounced like the Spanish j. Examples: gordo, gritar, gigante, mágico. ·H is always silent. Examples: hermano, hacer, deshacer. ·J (and the g when before an e or i) can be difficult, as its sound, that of the German ch, is absent in English except for a few foreign words where it is sometimes retained, as in the final sound of loch or the initial sound of Channukah. The sound is sometimes described as a heavily aspirated "h," made by expelling air between the back of the tongue and the soft palate. If you can't pronounce it well, you'll be understood by using the "h" sound of "house," but it's worthwhile to work on the correct pronunciation. Examples: garaje, juego, jardín. ·L is always pronounced like the first "l" in "little," never like the second one. Examples: los, helado, pastel. ·LL is usually pronounced like the "y" in "yellow." There are some regional variations, however. In parts of Spain it has the sound of the "ll" in "million," and in parts of Argentina it has the "zh" sound of "azure." Examples: llama, calle, Hermosillo.

6. ·N usually has the sound of the "n" in "nice." If it is followed by a b, v, f or p, it has the sound of "m" in "empathy." Examples: no, en, en vez de, andar. ·Ñ is pronounced like the "ny" in "canyon." Examples: ñoño, cañón, campaña. ·R and RR are formed by a flap of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, or a trill. ·X varies in sound, depending on the origin of the word. It is often pronounced like the "x" in "example" or "exit," but it also may be pronounced like the s or the Spanish j. In words of Mayan origin it can even have the English "sh" sound. Examples: éxito, experiencia, México, Xela. ·Z generally sounds like the "s" in "simple." In Spain it is often pronounced like the "th" in "thin." Examples: zeta, zorro, vez.

7. Umlauts Th e umlaut (or dieresis) is used above the u when the u is sounded in the combinations of güi or güe. Without the umlaut, known as la diéresis or la crema in Spanish, the u would be silent, serving only to indicate that the g is pronounced as a hard g rather than similar to the j. Among the words with umlauts are vergüenza, shame; cigüeña, stork or crank; pingüino, penguin; and agüero, prediction.

8. B vs. V Th e most important thing to remember about pronouncing the Spanish b and v is that in standard Spanish they are pronounced exactly alike. Although English makes a clear distinction in how the two letters are pronounced, Spanish does not. The sound of the letters varies, however, depending on the sounds around them. Most of the time, the b and v are what are called voiced fricatives — in this case, a sound somewhat like the English "v" but with the two lips touching instead of the lower lip and upper teeth. Think of it something like the English "b" but quite a bit softer. When the b or v comes at the beginning of a word or phrase, that is, when spoken after a pause, the sound becomes more like the English "b." This also holds true when the b or v comes after an n or m (which in that case both have a sound similar to the English "m"). However, the Spanish b or v sound in such cases is not as explosive as the English sound; in other words, it is softer. Because the v and b sound alike, spelling problems with these two letters are very common among native Spanish speakers. And a few words — one of them being ceviche or cebiche, a type of seafood dish — can be spelled with either letter.

9. Accents Kn owing how letters are pronounced is only one aspect of learning Spanish pronunciation. Another key aspect is knowing which syllable should be stressed. Fortunately, in Spanish the rules for stress (also known as accent) are straightforward. In fact, there are only three basic rules that cover nearly every word: ·If a word ends in a vowel, n or s, the stress is on the penultimate (next to last) syllable. For example, toro, computadora, joven and zapatos all have their accent on the next-to-last syllable. Most words fit this category. ·Words that end in other letters have the stress on the last syllable. For example, hotel, hablar, madador and virtud all have the accent on the final syllable. ·If a word isn't pronounced according to the above two rules, an accent is placed over the vowel of the syllable that gets the stress. For example, común, lápiz, médico, inglés, and ojalá all have the stress on the indicated syllable. The only exceptions to the above words are some words of foreign origin, generally words adopted from English, that retain their original spelling and pronunciation. For example, sandwich is usually spelled without an accent over the initial a, even though the stress is as in English. Similarly, personal names and place names of foreign origin usually are written without accents (unless accents are used in the originating language).

10. You should be aware that sometimes accent marks are used only to distinguish two similar words, and they don't affect pronunciation (because the marks are already on a syllable that is being stressed). For example, el and él are both pronounced the same way, even though they have quite different meanings. Similarly, some words, such as que and quien, use accent marks when they appear in questions, but usually not otherwise. Accents that don't affect pronunciation are known as orthographic accents.

11. Vowels Th e vowels in Spanish can be classified as either weak or strong, and the classification can determine when combinations of two or more vowels are considered to form a separate syllable. The strong vowels of Spanish — sometimes known as open vowels — are a, e and o. The weak vowels — sometimes known as closed vowels or semivowels — are i and u. Y often serves as a weak vowel as well, functioning in the same way as i. The basic rule of vowel combinations and syllables is that two strong vowels cannot be in the same syllable, so that when two strong vowels are next to each other, they are considered to belong to separate syllables. But other combinations — such as a strong and a weak vowel or two weak vowels — are considered to form a single syllable.

12. Dipthongs Wh en a strong and a weak vowel or two weak vowels combine to form a single syllable, they form what is known as a diphthong. An example of a diphthong is the ai combination in baile. The ai combination here sounds much like the English word "eye." Another example is the ui combination in fui, which to the English speaker sounds much like "fwee." If you need to stress the weak vowel in a dipthong, an accent is used, such as in the word día or actúa