Questions tagged [pronunciación]
Normas o consejos de pronunciación. // Rules or advice about pronunciation
60
questions
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How to pronounce the consonants "y" and "ll"?
ENGLISH
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 ...
12
votes
3
answers
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Historical pronunciation of letters "b" and "v"
In another question, a Wikipedia article was quoted saying:
The letters ⟨b⟩ and ⟨v⟩ were originally simply known as be and ve. However, there is no longer any distinction between the sounds of ...
6
votes
6
answers
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Voiceless vs voiced stops / Plosivas sordas vs sonoras
About unaspirated voiceless consonant and voiced consonants.
For example, in pa.pe.pi.po.pu and ba.be.bi.bo.bu, ta.te.ti.to.tu and da.de.di.do.du, ca.co.cu and ga.go.gu, their pronunciations are too ...
45
votes
2
answers
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Why is the "x" in "México" or "Texas" pronounced as the letter "j"?
Even as a native speaker I don't know the reason for this: why is the "x" in México, Texas or Xavier pronounced as the letter "j"?
36
votes
4
answers
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Are there other words in Spanish that can't be written? (like sal-le)
Recently, I learned that there is at least one Spanish word that can be pronounced but not written.
It is the imperative form of 'salirle'. It is pronounced as 'sal-le' and the written form should ...
21
votes
8
answers
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In what ways is the letter “s” (or the /s/ sound) pronounced in Spain?
I’ve heard varying things regarding the varying pronunciations of the “s” sound in Spain. However, no one was willing (or at least, able) to explain these variations to me.
How is the “s” sound ...
17
votes
6
answers
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¿Por qué la diferencia entre s y z/c solo se da en España?
La pronunciación en el centro y el norte de España, como sabemos, pronuncia la "ce" y la "zeta" en forma diferente a la "ese" que es el único sonido que se utiliza para estas tres letras en ...
17
votes
5
answers
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Why is the 'b' and 'v' pronunciation inconsistent?
I've learnt that the v sound in Spanish is pronounced as a "b", however why are some words such as "por favor" and "Revolucion" pronounced as a "v"? Also, is this type of pronunciation Spanish (spoken ...
8
votes
3
answers
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How should I pronounce the Spanish consonant 'd'?
I was taught that Spanish d has two pronunciations: at the beginning of the word it is a hard d; between vowels, it is pronounced /ð/, much like th in English the.
Please look at this sentence:
...
34
votes
11
answers
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Can I learn to roll my R's?
Whenever I try to say words like perro or arroyo, I sound like I'm telling a pirate joke. I can identify the sound I'm supposed to make and I've been told how my tongue is supposed to move, but I can'...
15
votes
8
answers
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Why does Latin America not “lisp” consonants, having learned its Spanish from Spain?
I am referring to the sounds made by the letters ⟨z⟩ and the soft ⟨c⟩ the way they’re said in Spain, like in the Spanish words zorro and cena. (This is the unvoiced dental fricative sound heard at ...
13
votes
2
answers
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Distribution of Spanish speakers regarding 's' and 'c' pronunciation
We know that following groups of syllables
se, si, sa, so, su
ce, ci, za, zo, zu
can be pronunced in 3 different ways:
Context
distinción
seseo
ceceo
"s" + vowel
/s/
/s/
/θ/
"c/z&...
10
votes
2
answers
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Are there any dialects of modern Spanish which preserve a phonemic distinction between b and v?
Are there any dialects of modern Spanish which preserve a phonemic distinction between b and v?
I understand that by the 1600s it was largely gone from Castillian Spanish, but since some other ...
8
votes
1
answer
2k
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Paso de B a U: ¿evolución fonética o falta de ortografía?
A raíz de la pregunta ¿Existe alguna reminiscencia en el español actual de la confusión "u/v" de la Edad Media? y de esta su respuesta, me ha surgido una duda.
Tomemos dos ...
6
votes
3
answers
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Is there a rule for s-aspiration?
I noticed that my Spanish teacher sometimes does not pronunce the letter "s" in some syllables. For example, she says Ih-rael instead of Israel. Or she says "mah" instead of "mas". The thing is, she ...
8
votes
11
answers
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Exception to the Phonetic Rule
As we all know that Spanish is a Phonetic Language, i.e. the way it's written is the way it's pronounced. I am just curious to know if there are any exceptions to this phonetic rule. I mean, when we ...
7
votes
2
answers
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Do Mexicans still pronounce the "x" in any Nahuatl place names the Nahuatl way?
I have yet to find a Nahuatl place name that Mexicans pronounce the original way. Examples:
Mexico
Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmexiko]
Nahuatl pronunciation: [meːˈʃiʔko]
Xochimilco
Spanish ...
6
votes
1
answer
996
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¿Se pronuncia "judo" con la "j" española en alguna parte?
Encuentro en el diccionario lo siguiente:
yudo
Del jap. judo, de jū 'amable', 'discreto' y dō 'camino'.
m. Sistema japonés de lucha, que hoy se practica también como deporte, y que ...
5
votes
2
answers
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If certain words undergo a spelling change from "z" to "c" in order to preserve the soft sound of the "z," is there a "hard z" in Spanish?
I was recently reviewing a page over at Span¡shD!ct and though I had read the following (or something similar) numerous times before, I have never stopped to really think about why the "z" ...
2
votes
4
answers
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¿Es correcto pronunciar "hiede" con una h sonora?
No sé si sea correcto, pero le he escuchado a mucha gente (e inconscientemente es la primera pronunciación que se me ocurre cuando pienso en la palabra) la pronunciación de hiede con una h sonora (...
31
votes
12
answers
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Are there native-born Spanish speakers that can't trill their R's?
ENGLISH
It seems that one of the greatest difficulties some native-English speakers have is learning to trill their R's. Some, it seems, are completely incapable of performing this task.
Is this ...
27
votes
10
answers
9k
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How to pronounce 'C++' in Spanish
I'm doing a presentation in Spanish class, and I'll be mentioning the programming language C++. I'm not sure if it should be pronounced the same way as in English, or if there's a different way to ...
17
votes
5
answers
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¿Por qué razón en España suelen pronunciar los extranjerismos de acuerdo a las reglas del español y no a las reglas del idioma original?
En México y América Central los extranjerismos más recientes suelen pronunciarse de acuerdo a las reglas del idioma original, o más comúnmente aproximaciones o deformaciones de estas acercando la ...
10
votes
1
answer
501
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¿Por qué no existe una palabra escrita «hoder» (en vez de la versión con «j-»)?
Se me ocurre que el verbo e interjección malsonante joder parece ser una excepción a la regla (o más bien, a la ley) que nos dice que cada palabra (que no sea cultismo) que en latín comienza una f‑ + ...
9
votes
4
answers
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Do any dialects of Spanish still pronounce "h"?
In most dialects of Spanish, "h" is a silent letter (except when appearing in the digraph "ch" or loanwords e.g. hámster). Indeed the RAE notes that in standard Spanish it is silent.
But this letter ...
8
votes
2
answers
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Pronunciación letras "d", "b" y "v" entre vocales
Mi lengua nativa es el español y recientemente me percaté que al momento de pronunciar la letra d, como en el caso de
cada, asado, soldado, jugada, nado
y la letra b (o v como fonema b) como en
...
8
votes
4
answers
507
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Pronunciación de la letra uve a final de palabra
Aprovechando que han subido la serie de Evangelion a Netflix España con una nueva traducción y doblaje, es el momento de ir planteando aquí algunas preguntas sobre el idioma que dicha serie me está ...
4
votes
1
answer
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The Castilian Spanish S pronounced as (kind of) Sh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDN_eoPVQdY
Please skip to 3:37 and take a look at how the s at the end of estamos(h) and entendais(h) are little bit different from the English s. It seems like in-...
18
votes
6
answers
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What is the difference between allí and ahí ("there")?
English
What is the difference between allí and ahí? Is there any difference in pronunciation between the two? Are there any contexts where one is correct and one is wrong, or are they completely ...
16
votes
14
answers
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Do any Spanish words exist that aren't pronounced as expected from their spelling?
English is a language that does not have a consistent system for the pronunciation of words with similar spellings (e.g. compare rough with through), this can lead to a situation where it is not ...
15
votes
3
answers
3k
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Audio maps of Spanish dialects?
Apart from vocabulary differences, the Spanish language has an enormous and fascinating diversity in pronunciation and accents. In my country (Argentina) people from the central inland region have a ...
12
votes
2
answers
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¿Cómo se llama la característica que tiene el español, y otros idiomas, por la que las vocales siempre se pronuncian de la misma manera?
Me gustaría saber cómo se llama cuando los sonidos de las vocales escritas suenan siempre de la misma manera al pronunciarlas.
Una vez me topé con la definición, pero esta vez no tuve mucha suerte en ...
11
votes
1
answer
2k
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Pronounce and distinguish "ñi" and "ni"?
I'm new to Spanish and I'm trying to learn pronunciation first.
I listened to a few materials and I'm finding it difficult to distinguish "ñi" and "ni", for example "niñito". And it's even harder to ...
10
votes
1
answer
896
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How are words with "ps" or "pt" pronounced?
Here are a few examples:
psicología
ptosis
Ptolomeo
Interestingly "sicología" is also found in the RAE but most of the time I've seen it written as "psicología".
How are they pronounced?...
10
votes
3
answers
6k
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What accents do not use yeísmo?
Something I've wondered ever since I started learning Spanish about 8 years ago.
One often hears that the sound for "ll" and "y" is merged in "most accents". Wikipedia's IPA for Spanish guide, for ...
8
votes
1
answer
501
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How to hispanicize (rather unknown) German toponyms with umlaut?
If one is interested in proper names in German, like München or Zürich, one easily knows the Spanish translation, and if not, one goes to Wikipedia and finds the translation. But what to do with ...
8
votes
2
answers
474
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Is there a difference in the pronuciation of a single vowel or multiple vowels in a row?
There are several phrases, most of which are easily distinguished by context, that have very similar, if not the exact same pronunciation. The distinction I'm curious about is a single vowel in a ...
7
votes
3
answers
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Pronouncing years in Spanish
In English 1886 would be pronounced "eighteen-eighty six." In Spanish, is there something similar? Or do people outright say:
El año mil ochocientos ochenta y seis
6
votes
2
answers
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cAusa but veAmos (strong, weak vowels)
Could you explain to me why the combinations of two vowels are stressed differently? Are both of these combinations diphthongs?
Thank you
Edit: I found the proper explanation here http://www.learn-...
6
votes
1
answer
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¿Por qué al conjugar "adecuar" la tilde es optativa?
Acabo de encontrarme lo siguiente en un artículo de prensa:
[...] el sistema se adecua a la perfección a las necesidades de los niños e impide que se frustren al no ser capaces de llegar a un ...
6
votes
2
answers
455
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What is the Spanish Homophonic Group?
From the math.stackexchange question: The homophonic group: a mathematical diversion:
By definition, English words have the same pronunciation if their phonetic spellings in the dictionary are the ...
6
votes
1
answer
4k
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México vs Méjico in pronunciation throughout history and countries
Is the country México or Méjico? addresses the spelling of the noun México. However, it does not address the pronunciation. I have heard México pronounced both as if it was written with a "x" (as ...
6
votes
4
answers
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¿Cómo se pronuncia RAE?
En el lenguaje hablado, ¿cómo se pronuncia las siglas RAE (Real Academia Española)? ¿Es con letras separadas, como si fuera una palabra unida, o algo más?
5
votes
2
answers
3k
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Ceceo vs Seseo vs "distinción" - which school to follow?
OK, I know about the differences and I know a little bit about the situation in the Spanish-speaking world.
The thing though is that I'm moving to Spain in a few months (do not know the exact ...
5
votes
1
answer
2k
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Letras "ã õ ũ ẽ" en español antiguo
Hace unas semanas me encontré con un texto antiguo donde ã õ ũ ẽ sustituían a las silabas an on un en. Por ejemplo "ẽtõces" en lugar de "entonces".
No pude encontrar otra vez ese texto.
Quisiera ...
4
votes
1
answer
585
views
¿Cómo se escribe el grito de Chimo Bayo?
Chimo Bayo es un personaje productor de música electrónica que se hizo famoso en los 90 con éxitos como Así me gusta a mí y Bombas.
En el primero de ellos, Chimo introduce el que será su grito más ...
4
votes
1
answer
637
views
El fenómeno de la pérdida del -d- en los participios, ¿puede ocurrir en palabras que no sean participios?
Sé que es común que en el habla uno no use la -d- en la última sílaba de los verbos participios, por ejemplo, que diga 'partío' en lugar de 'partido'.
¿Pero ese fenómeno es posible con palabras que ...
3
votes
3
answers
3k
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¿Qué diferencia había entre la grafía ſ y la s?
En 1741, el abecedario del español se componía de la siguiente forma:
Como se ve, la actual letra s minúscula se escribía entonces usando la grafía ſ. Sin embargo, había casos en los que sí se usaba ...
3
votes
3
answers
399
views
Jumping between pronunciations of "y" in Spanish songs
I've heard a few songs (off the top of my head, A Dios Le Pido) where they pronounce "y" both with a y-sound and an English j-sound at times. In some songs, the different pronunciations occur when ...
3
votes
1
answer
4k
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Is the v in "vino" pronunciated as a b or v? [duplicate]
I am learning Castillian Spanish and have been given different information by 2 people from mainland Spain (Europe).
I understand that the v sounds like a b (also I've heard it described as a soft b) ...