2. La pronunciación El sistema fonológico del español (The sound system of Spanish)

3. Las vocales –A has the sound of ah as in father. –E has the sound of a as in late. –I has the sound of e as in beet. –O has the sound of o as in wrote. –U has the sound of oo as in boot.

4. Vowel Combinations A, E, O are strong vowels. U and I are weak vowels. A combination of two strong vowels is pronounced as two syllables. –leer; maestro A combination of weak + strong is a dipthong (one syllable), with greater stress on the strong vowel. –baila; cierra A combination of weak + weak is a dipthong (one syllable), with the stress on the second vowel. –ruido

5. Los diptongos ai;ay like i in side –baile; hay au like ou in sound –causa ei;ey like ey in they –reina, rey eu like may-you without y –deuda oi; oy like oy in boy –oiga; soy i or y before a vowel like y in yes –bien ; apoyo u before a vowel like w in well –fuente; agua

6. Accented weak vowels When a weak vowel carries a written accent mark, the pronunciation is stressed on that vowel. –tío; baúl NOTE: familia historia biología geografía

7. La acentuación If a word ends in a vowel, n or s, the second to the last (penultimate) syllable is stressed. Such words are called palabras graves. –zapato, zapatos, divide, dividen If the word ends in a consonant other than n or s, the last syllable is stressed. Such words are called palabras agudas. –verdad, practicar

8. Breaking rules of accentuation If the word is pronounced contrary to those two rules, an accent mark is written over the vowel that must be stressed. These types of words are called palabras esdrújulas. –tendré; difícil Note: crimen; crímenes

9. More about accent marks All interrogative words have an accent mark. For example: –¿Qué? (What?) –¿Cuándo ? (When?) –¿ Dónde? (Where?) –¿Quién ? (Who?) – ¿Adónde? (To where?)

10. Accent marks are also used to distinguish between words that are spelled the same but that have different meanings. For example: –tú = you (friendly, singular) –tu = your –él = he –el = the (masculine, singluar) –sí = yes –si = if

11. Las consonantes B and V These two letters have the same value in Spanish. At the start of a word or after m and n, they sound like the English b. –bomba; enviar; ambos In all other positions, they sound like a b without touching one’s lips together. –caber; severo

12. C There are two different values for the letter C. C before a, o, u or a consonant sounds like k in keep. –caminar; contar; culebra; acto C before e, i sounds like th in thin or s in same (This is called seseo, and is used in Latin America and parts of Analusia, Spain.) –cinco; hacer NOTE: Both sounds are heard in the following words: acción; sección (Not sh)

13. Ch is no longer a letter in the alphabet, but it is pronounced like a single letter as in the word “church.” –chao; poncho

14. D There are three different values, depending upon the position and context. At the start of a word and after l, n, the letter d sounds like the English d. –dama; aldea, andar Between vowels and after consonants other than l, n, the sound of d is more relaxed, and sounds like the th in this. –pide, pardo As the last letter of a word, the d become further relaxed or altogether omitted. –usted; verdad

15. F F has the sound of f in for. –fama; informe

16. G There are three different values depending on position and context. Before e or i g sounds like a Spanish j, which makes the sound of ch in Bach. –general; gitano At the start of a word and after n, the sound is g like in get. –gloria; tengo In all other positions, the g sounds like g in get, only not as explosive. –haga; agosto

17. gue, gui : The u is silent, except when marked by a diaeresis. –guerra; guitarra; pingüino; antigüedad gua: All letters are sounded. –guapo

18. H H is always silent! –hola (ola) –Hay (ay) –hermano (ermano) –bahía (baía)

19. J J at the beginning of a word or in the middle of a word has a strong gutteral sound, not found in English. It is like the ch in the word Bach. –jota; baraja J at the end of a word is silent. –reloj

20. K K is pronounced like the k in kick, but without the aspiration. –kilómetro

21. L L is pronounced like the l in love. –limón; fácil LL LL is no longer a letter in the alphabet, but it is pronounced like lli in million or like the y in yes. In parts of Latin America and Spain, the ll is pronounced like j in juice. –calle; ella, millón

22. M The letter m is pronounced like the m in made. –madre; caminar

23. N N is pronounced like n in none, except before a written v. –nadie, pan When n comes before a written v, it sounds like m. –enviar ; sin valor

24. Ñ The letter ñ approximates the sound of ni in onion. –niño; ñandú

25. P P sound like the p in put, but without the aspiration. –papá

26. Q Q sounds like the k in kick, without the aspiration. It is always followed by a silent u. –que; quince

27. R R has a single trill, but is pronounced with a stronger trill (rr) at the start of a word (or after l, n, s). –coro; rápido RR RR has a strong trill. –carro; irreal

28. S For the most part s sounds like the s in same. –casa, Isabel Before b, d, g, l, m, n the letter s is often pronounced like s in rose. (a soft z sound) –desde; mismo

29. T Like the t in tame, but without the aspiration. –tanto

30. W The letter w is found in “loan words” from other languages. It can be pronounced as a Spanish b/v, like an English v, or like an English w. –week end

31. X Between vowels, the letter x is usually pronounced like x in tax or like gs in eggs. –examen Before a consonant x is often pronounced like s in same. –extra

32. Y The letter y is normally pronounced like the y in yes. –Yo ; mayo; Loyola In emphatic speech, it is pronounced like the j in jam. In Chile and in Argentina, it is pronounced like the s in leisure.

33. Z The letter z is pronounced like th in thin, but like s in same in Latin America and in parts of Andalucía, Spain. (This is known as seseo.) –zapato; luz

34. A E IO U El burro sabe más que tú.