One of the first things we learned at school was the alphabet (A is for Apple; B is for - what was it?). So we're here and now starting a 'letter a day' pronunciation system. That'll take us neatly to 29 days from now, Friday, November 26 . The letter will appear here every day -except Saturdays and Sundays- until we get to Z. If you like the idea, we can make a Spanish word every day until the entire Real Academia dictionary is exhausted (which gets there first, them or us?) - but no, we might just get involved with Don Quijote, a prestigious well-known organization dedicated to the teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language since 1986. But that's in the future, so let's start at the beginning. That's A: turn the sound on or up, click on the image and follow instructions. Below is some information about the Spanish alphabet. (By the way, we really, really need your comments on this.)
A letter is the graphic representation, or symbol, of the phonemes of a certain language. Phonemes are sets of sounds distinguished by speakers of a particular language.
The Spanish language is derived from ancient Latin and therefore the Spanish alphabet and Latin alphabet have much in common. The Spanish alphabet letters are represented as 29 symbols: A, B, C, CH, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, LL, M, N, Ñ, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z. The grouped letters “CH” and “LL” are considered single letters that represent the Spanish alphabet pronunciation /ĉ/ and /ʎ/. These are called digraphs, two successive letters that represent a single sound.
The letters “K” and “W” are scarce in Spanish and are usually only found in foreign or learned words that have been incorporated into Spanish alphabet in modern times.
The symbol “Ñ” represents the palatal nasal sound /ɲ/ in the Spanish alphabet. This sound, which exists in Romance languages, is represented in other languages with digraphs. This phoneme appears as “nh” in Portuguese, “gn” in French, and “ny” in Catalan.
The “Q” is always accompanied by the “U.” In this combination, the latter is always silent and never pronounced, producing a /K/ sound that is found in “QU + E” and “QU + I” combinations. Examples: qué, quién and queso.
The “C” symbol is associated with two phonemes in Spanish alphabet pronunciation. If the letter is accompanied by A, O or U, the sound is /K/ which is plosive, velar and voiceless. If accompanied by E or I, the sound produced is /θ/ which is fricative, dental and voiceless.
One of the letters in the Spanish alphabet with a unique sound is the “J,” which represents the /X/ phoneme. The sound is phonetically defined as fricative, velar, and voiceless. The “J” is generally accompanied by the A, O or U, but there are some exceptions to this rule such as the word for giraffe: jirafa.
The “G” also graphically represents 2 phonemes in Spanish pronunciation: the /X/ sound if accompanied by the E or I, and the /G/ sound if accompanied by A, O or U. Additionally, if the “G” appears as GUE or GUI, the U is silent and the sounds are pronounced as /GE/ and /GI/.
The vowel system in the Spanish alphabet and Spanish pronunciation is quite simple and straight forward. There are 5 vowels: A, E, I, O and U that always represent the same sounds except for in the exceptions mentioned previously in which the U becomes silent in combination with the G and the Q.
A letter is the graphic representation, or symbol, of the phonemes of a certain language. Phonemes are sets of sounds distinguished by speakers of a particular language.
The Spanish language is derived from ancient Latin and therefore the Spanish alphabet and Latin alphabet have much in common. The Spanish alphabet letters are represented as 29 symbols: A, B, C, CH, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, LL, M, N, Ñ, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z. The grouped letters “CH” and “LL” are considered single letters that represent the Spanish alphabet pronunciation /ĉ/ and /ʎ/. These are called digraphs, two successive letters that represent a single sound.
The letters “K” and “W” are scarce in Spanish and are usually only found in foreign or learned words that have been incorporated into Spanish alphabet in modern times.
The symbol “Ñ” represents the palatal nasal sound /ɲ/ in the Spanish alphabet. This sound, which exists in Romance languages, is represented in other languages with digraphs. This phoneme appears as “nh” in Portuguese, “gn” in French, and “ny” in Catalan.
The “Q” is always accompanied by the “U.” In this combination, the latter is always silent and never pronounced, producing a /K/ sound that is found in “QU + E” and “QU + I” combinations. Examples: qué, quién and queso.
The “C” symbol is associated with two phonemes in Spanish alphabet pronunciation. If the letter is accompanied by A, O or U, the sound is /K/ which is plosive, velar and voiceless. If accompanied by E or I, the sound produced is /θ/ which is fricative, dental and voiceless.
One of the letters in the Spanish alphabet with a unique sound is the “J,” which represents the /X/ phoneme. The sound is phonetically defined as fricative, velar, and voiceless. The “J” is generally accompanied by the A, O or U, but there are some exceptions to this rule such as the word for giraffe: jirafa.
The “G” also graphically represents 2 phonemes in Spanish pronunciation: the /X/ sound if accompanied by the E or I, and the /G/ sound if accompanied by A, O or U. Additionally, if the “G” appears as GUE or GUI, the U is silent and the sounds are pronounced as /GE/ and /GI/.
The vowel system in the Spanish alphabet and Spanish pronunciation is quite simple and straight forward. There are 5 vowels: A, E, I, O and U that always represent the same sounds except for in the exceptions mentioned previously in which the U becomes silent in combination with the G and the Q.
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