Are there consistent rules for pronouncing "c" and "g"?

Question

I want to write a software program that will "Americanize" the pronunciation of Spanish text (using Mexican pronunciation) so that it is easier for English speakers learning Spanish to be reminded of how to pronounce the words.

For many letters (b, d, f, etc.) no changes are needed.

For others (vowels, for instance) the equivalent sound is consistent.

But in a couple of cases, the letter can be pronounced differently (c and g).

Here is what I have in mind (remember, Mexican pronunciation of Spanish is what I'm looking for):

a = ah
c = ? (s or k)
e = a
g = ? (g or h)
h = [silent - nothing]
i = ee
j = h
ll = y
ñ = ny
u = oo
q = k
y = ee (if standalone, as in " y ")
z = s

Are there any rules I could build into the software that would enable me to know when "c" is to be pronounced as "s" and when as "k"?

Similary, are there any rules I could build into the software that would enable me to know when "g" is to be pronounced as "g" and when as "h"?

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Some time later, I wrote a programming tip that incorporates some of this knowledge in A Snippet that Transforms Spanish Text into Simple American English Phonetics.

Answer 1

When a C or G is followed by either an I or E, then the pronunciation changes.

Ga - gah

Ge - heh

Gi - hee

Go - goh

Gu - goo

and.. c

Ca - Kah

Ce - Say

Ci - See

Co - Koh

Cu - Koo

This can present a problem when a new Spanish learner is trying to spell.. If you are looking to create the sounds Gay and Ghee, then you will need a u

Gue - Gay

Gui - Ghee

The letter C will require the use of Qu

Que - Kay

Qui - Kee

Additionally, if you want to actually pronounce the u, then you need only put a dieresis as Emilio pointed out in the comments.

Güe - Gooway

Güi - Goowee

and C

Qüe - Kooway

Qüi - Koowee

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In the end, you have a table like this to use as a cheat sheet.

 - Ca = Ca
 - Que = Ke 
 - ( Ce = Se ) <-- same in English
 - Qui = Ki
 - ( Ci = Si ) <-- same in English
 - Co = Co
 - Cu = Cu

 - Ga
 - Gay ( or Güe = Gway ) or ( Ge = Heh )
 - Gui ( or Güi = Gwee ) or ( Gi = He  )
 - Go
 - Gu

Answer 2

When C is followed by A, O or U, the C is pronounced as [k], similar to English k in key [ki].

Example: casa [ˈkasa] (velar) or quiero [ˈkjeɾo] (palatal)

When C is followed by E or I, the C is pronounced as [θ], similar to English th in think [θɪŋk].

Example: cebolla [θeˈβoʎa]

When G is followed by A, O or U, the G is pronounced as [ɣ]. In the beginning of a word or after N the G is pronounced as [g].¹ It's similar to English g in guitar [ɡɪˈtɑr].

Example: pagar [paˈɣar] or gafas [ˈgafas]

When G is followed by E or I, the G is pronounced as [x]. This is identical to the letter J. I don't know an English example but if you're familiar with German, it's similar to the pronunciation of ch in Bach [baχ].

Example: general [xeneˈɾal] or [χeneˈɾal]

If there's a U between G and E or I, respectively, the pronunciation is [g]. The U is not pronounced.

Example: guerra [ˈgera] or guitarra [giˈtara]

If the U should be pronounced as well, it is written Ü. It does not affect the pronunciation of G further and the rules given above are applied.

Example: lingüística [liŋˈgwistika]

Note, in some regions the pronunciation may differ.

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Velar: formed with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate
Palatal: formed with some part of the tongue near or touching the hard palate posterior to the teethridge

¹ Note that [ɣ] and [g] are allophones. The differences is too little to be distinguishable and you can consider them to be phonemically the same. An Example in English would be the t sound in hit, tip and little.

Answer 3

Here's everything presented in a table (/x/ may be realized as [χ], [x] or [h] depending on dialect, and /g/ may be [g] or [ɣ] depending on position).

╭─────╥───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬───────╮
│     ║   A   │   E   │   I   │   O   │   U   │
╞═════╬═══════╪═══════╪═══════╪═══════╪═══════╡
│ J   ║  xa   │  xe   │  xi   │  xo   │  xu   │
│ G   ║  ga   │  xe   │  xi   │  go   │  gu   │
│ GU  ║  gwa  │  ge   │  gi   │  gwo  │  gwu* │
│ GÜ  ║   —   │  gwe  │  gwi  │   —   │   —   │
│     ║       │       │       │       │       │
│ Z   ║ θa/sa │   —⁑  │   —⁑  │ θo/so │ θu/su │
│ C   ║  ka   │ θe/se │ θi/si │  ko   │  ku   │
│ QU  ║   —   │  ke   │  ki   │   —   │   —   │
└─────╨───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘

(*) Hypothetical, I don't know any words in Spanish that have -guu-, but there may be one or two out there.
(⁑) Imported words maintaining their original orthography can use ze, zi, but pronouncing them as ce/ci.

Notice how the E/I columns appear to be shifted down a row, with je/ji being completely redudant in modern Spanish

Answer 4

Pronunciation rules in Spanish are very consistent.

Letter “C” has three different sounds, depending which letter comes next.

1. Before E and I, it sounds SSS, like in Celsius, Civil
2. Before H, sounds like Chalk, Challenge.
3. Before anything else, like K.

Likewise, letter “G” has consistent rules:

1. Before E and I, sounds like Him, Her.
2. Before anything else, like Goat, Gun.

Answer 5

Yes, they are pronounced as follows (for seseo speakers replace the /θ/ with /s/):

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Notes:

** qua, quo only appear in some set Latin phrases and unnativised English loanwords:

• exequatur, nequaquam, quadrivium, quater, sine qua non
• quad, quark, quasar, squash

* gwo, cuo very rare:

• aguosidad, aguoso, ambiguo, antiguo, contiguo, exiguo, languor, pinguosidad, santiguo

* ze, zi very rare, mostly loanwords. The majority have doublets with ce, ci orthography.

Answer 6

It's very simple.

K sounds [like cat] are:

1. Ca = Kah
2. Que = Keh (The U is silent)
3. Qui = Kee (Silent U)
4. Co = Kow
5. Cu = Koo

S sounds [like sun]:

1. Ce = Security
2. Ci = Seal

Th sounds [like thor] [ONLY in spain]:

1. Ce = Theh
2. Ci = Thee

G [like garlic] sounds are:

1. Ga = Gah
2. Gue = Ghe (like Spaghetti)
3. Gui = like GIMP
4. Go = Goh
5. Gu = Goo
6. Güe = Here you do pronounce the U
7. Güi = Here to like in Penguin

And the letter Y is pronounced as J when followed by vowels for example:

1. yuca = Joo-kah
2. cayo = kah-joh

and other cases as EE:

1. Carey = Kah-rey

Note: Someone said that G is pronounced as W, yes, but that's because sometimes spanish speakers hear diptong with U and GU as the same sound, we can hear the difference but when speaking we don't notice that.

1. GÜEVO [incorrect spelling] and HUEVO [correct spelling] can be pronounced both WE and GÜE but the "right" one.

Answer 7

The rules for the pronounciation of C and G are both consistent. When C occurs before I and E, it makes the [s] sound or the [th] sound depending on dialect. ex: "Cero" pronounced "se-roh" or "the-roh". For the [k] sound, you write C i most cases except before I or E where you use Qu instead since using C would create confusion since it represents a different sound in those cases and Qu is always consistent (ex: Queso pronounced "keh-soh"). As to why we don't Qu before A, O or U is probably because, it produces a [kw] sound in those cases instead of a plain [k] sound. For the [kw] sound, you write "Cu" (ex: Cuidado pronounced "cwi-dahdoh").In all other cases, it's pronounced [k], ex: "Claro" pronounced "clah-roh". When it is followed by H, it creates the "ch" sound as in English (ex: Concha pronounced "con-chah"). For the [th] sound, you use C before I and E and Z in all other cases (ex: Zapato pronounced "thahpahtoh" and Cena pronounced "thehnah"). Similarly, G always sounds like a [g] in most cases (ex: Gancho pronounce "gan-choh") except before I and E when it makes the [x] sound (ex:Ecología pronounced "ecoh-lohhia). In those cases, it sounds like a J. Unfortunately, there is no rule when to use G and when to use J. But to make things simpler, we could probably use J only before A, O and U and G for that sound before I and E just like we make a rule for the C vs Qu vs Z distinction. Jincho and Coraje could really be spelled "Gincho" and "Corage" respectively since J before those vowels is redundant. Hope this helps!