How to pronounce the consonants “y” and “ll”?

Question

I have heard y/ll pronounced in two different ways:

• [j] (like 'y' in "yellow")
• [ʒ] (like 's' in "measure")

Do native speakers use both interchangeably? Or is it pronounced [j] in some regions and [ʒ] in others?

For people learning Spanish, is there one pronunciation that would be preferred over the other?

Answer 1

See the Wikipedia article on yeísmo, which includes maps of the pronunciations. To summarize:

• in some regions, ll /ʎ/ and y /ʝ/ are distinct
• in other regions, ll and y have merged to /ʝ/ ("yeísmo")
• in very few areas, ll and y have merged to /ʎ/ ("lleísmo")

Note that some specific dialects, like Rioplatense, pronounce their merged /ʝ/ as [ʒ] or [ʃ].

Answer 2

The second pronunciation you mention is almost exclusively used in the Argentina / Uruguay region. Any other country in Latin America uses the first pronunciation.

Answer 3

The RAE's Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas explains the pronunciation of ll is:

• The voiced palatal fricative /ʝ/ (e.g. English yeast, close to English j) in the majority of Spanish speaking regions. This pronunciation is identical to the recommended pronunciation for y and this merger is called yeísmo.

• The palatal lateral approximant /ʎ/ (e.g. Portuguese olho) in some zones and among polished speakers.

• The incorrect /li/ (e.g. pronouncing caballo as cabalio) mostly among those who practice yeísmo and artificially try to differentiate the pronunciation of ll.

On the other hand, the consonant pronunciation of y is:

• The voiced palatal fricative /ʝ/ in the majority of Spanish-speaking regions when used as a consonant.
• The palatal lateral approximant /ʎ/ in very few areas where lleísmo occurs.

Rioplatense Spanish pronounces both y and ll as a voiced palato-alveolar sibilant /ʒ/ (e.g. English vision) or voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant /ʃ/ (e.g. English sheep).

I recommend using the voiced palatal fricative /ʝ/ for both y and ll. The RAE accepts yeísmo as proper and its use is widespread.

Answer 4

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. See here.

Answer 5

Here in Guadalajara, Mexico, it's often a combination of the two, but tends toward the [j]/yellow pronunciation. Although there are speakers who make a much harder sound.

And it often depends on the word. The name of the town Saltillo is often pronounced (at least here--don't know how they actually pronounce it in Saltillo) with a harder sound than the words ella or amarillo.

Answer 6

It's definitely a regional thing. I was taught that it sounded like the "Y" in Yellow, but I've noticed that people who learned Spanish in Mexico City, sometimes make it sound more like the "J" in Jello. This is especially true for the word, "Yo". To me that pronunciation sounds pretentious and I avoid it.

In general, "When in Rome..." Listen to the people around you and copy the sound they make. If you are going to a particular region, get a hold of recordings of speakers in that area and listen to them before you go.

My bias is to just use your first option for general learning of Spanish. I don't think you'll be misunderstood even by people who use the second option.

Answer 7

There are a total of 29 letters in the Mexican language. Spanish as taught in most "northerner's" schools is really Castilian Spanish which is spoken mainly in Spain. In Mexican border regions, our "Spanish" is really "Mexican" and therefore castilian taught in schools is useless in Mexico. The single "L" is pronounced as a regular L, the double "ll" is pronounced as the letter "Y" and is actually a separate letter in the Mexican alphabet than the letter "L". Other letters not present in the English alphabet are the double "rr" which is rolled of the tongue, and the "ñ" which is pronounced "enye" comprising the total of 29 letters in the Mexican alphabet. Also, the letter "J" is pronounced as "H", there are no standard "J" sounds in Mexican words just as there are no words using "Y" as in yellow. The letter "Y" is actually the word "and" except as used in the word "playa" which means beach. The "Y" sound is otherwise accomplished using the double "ll".

Answer 8

I speak Spanish Spanish without any regional accent and sometimes I pronounce both sounds exactly the same. Some other times "yo" may actually sound closer to "i + o"

In conclusion, don't worry too much about that, in practice you can pronounce them the same ("llo").

Answer 9

In some regions both letters are pronounced in the same way like 's' in "measure". But the correct use is the first one that you mention in your example.

Answer 10

The correct pronunciation of the ll sound is as for the Italian "gl" group, similar to the 'ly' sound in the middle of the word million. Pronunciation anyway varies in countries such as Argentina and Colombia to the second sound described in the question.

The y sound is mostly similar to the long -ee sound in English and is not directly related nor interchangeable with the ll sound.