Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PRONUNCIATION
CASTILIAN (SPANISH)
Unless there's an accent, words ending in “D”, “L”, “R” or “Z” are
stressed
on the last syl-
lable, all others onthe second last. All
vowels
are pure and short; combinations have predict-
able results.
A
somewhere between the “A” sound of “back” and that of “father”.
E
as in “get”.
I
as in “police”.
O
as in “hot”.
U
as in “rule”.
C
is lisped before “E” and “I”, hard otherwise: “cerca” is pronounced “thairka”.
G
works the same way, a guttural “H” sound (like the “ch” in “loch”) before “E” or “I”, a
hard “G” elsewhere - “gigante” becomes “higante”.
H
is always silent.
J
the same sound as a guttural “G”: “jamón” is pronounced “hamon”.
LL
sounds like an English “Y”: “tortilla” is pronounced “torteeya”.
N
is as in English unless it has a tilde (accent) over it, when it becomes “NY”: “mañana”
sounds like “man-yaana”.
QU
is pronounced like an English “K”.
R
is rolled, “RR” doubly so.
V
sounds more like “B”, “vino” becoming “beano”.
X
has an “S” sound before consonants, normal “X” before vowels.
Z
is the same as a soft “C”, so “cerveza” becomes “thairbaitha”.
CATALAN
With Catalan, don't be tempted to use the few rules of Spanish pronunciation you may know
-inparticularthesoftSpanish“Z”and“C”don'tapply,sounlikeintherestofSpainthecity
is not “Barthelona” but “Barcelona”, as in English.
A
as in “hat” if stressed, as in “alone” when unstressed.
E
varies, but usually as in “get”.
I
as in “police”.
IG
sounds like the “tch” in the English scratch; “lleig” (ugly) is pronounced “yeah-tch”.
O
a round full sound, when stressed, otherwise like a soft “U” sound.
