Spanish Pronunciation Guide

• Vowels   Consonants

Spanglish – Spanish orthography for English

Unlike English vowels, each of the 5 Spanish vowels has only one basic sound.

(The English equivalents in italics are only approximations)
 
 

V	English	Sp	Comment
a	ah want	casa	*ah and *want use a long a:, the same sound is clipped in *casa English speakers tend to pronounce this word cah-suh instead of cah-sah
e	let elbow	bebe	Almost the same as English with a slight tendency toward the sound in *they
i	bikini,  ski, sing gazibo	si	Spanish has no short i sound as in bit.  [bit] would be pronounced [beet] in Spanish.  English has numerous French,  Latin [amino] and Norse [ski] loan words that have this sound. Spanish makes no distinct between *bit and *beet
o	cost or ought	loco	[two sounds awe and owe] The British pronunciation of *more is mawr In Spanish, owe is used at the end of a syllable, otherwise closer to awe Either sound is very clipped in Spanish, not drawn out asin *awe.
u	flu, guru	luta	In spanish [tool] would be spelled [tul] as in *tulip and [rule] would be spelled [rul] as in *ruby.

 

The short u as in hook and the schwa u as in up are not found in Spanish.  The closest approximations are shown below.

Spanglish usually refers to the use of English loan words in Spanish usually with orthographic correction:  beef steak = bifstek
Here it refers to using Spanish orthographic conventions with English.  Orthographies are not language specific.
The pronunciation "beef steak" should be written bifstek in the Spanish orthography.
 

Engish	Spanish [Spanglish]	Comment
hoop	hup	as in guru
hook	huk	as in huka
huck	hak /hahk/	as in sofa
hawk, walk	hok, wok	as in wok
haul, all, awl	hol, ol, ol	as in cost, lost
hole whole elbow	houl houl elbo	haw-ool
silo buy low	sailo bai lo	silo would be see-low
beau, gazibo	bo gazibo	same as bow but clipped
sailor	seilor	seh-ee-lor
hack /haek/	hak /ha:k/	/ae/ sound unavailable
lew eggo	luego	In Sp. ue sounds like way

haul would be pronounced haa-ool using the Saxon alphabet. That is not how we pronounce
the word today but it is close.  haol might be a little closer and frees up the au for the sound in
saur kraut.   krae-oot rhymes with out and howl..

if wi want tu spel da wey wi spik d'en a fyew chenjez nid tu bi meid in d' wey wi wrait.
they dont hav tu bi d' particular chanjez faund in this pasij.  Ther ar meny olternativz.
Most americanz du not know hwat alfabetical speling wd bi laik.
It wd bi just laik the pronunciation gaid in d' dicSneri.
The diacritics can bi remuvd tu meik it simplr.  This wd asociat ich letr with twu saundz.

hu wot wer wen wai    hwu hwot hwer hwen hwai   whu what wher when whai - someone though wh looked better than hw.  Ignored the phonics.
hu uot uer uen hwai - this works but it looks very funny.

iz ther a wey tu wrait english foneticaly?  Yes, ther ar a variety ov weiz and moast ar iqualy consistent.  Som ar hardr tu ri'd    it yur bits   iit yur biits.
I waz traying tu faind a consistent wey tu drop the dabl vowelz from belou the loo.     below the lao     broak bro'k  smoak
wi simply du not niid mor than twu orthografic options per optnz pr pronunciation.   tia chia or tsia in portuguese.  geese=guese?
mispronunciation is rampant.     a.t a't

bi.t the bit
hi hi.t da bol
d'a bol a.ut ov d'a bo'l     o  a.wt
 

CONSONANTES  ( CONSONANTS )

Some consonants is Spanish are different from their English counterparts. Others vary within the Spanish-speaking world itself.

At the beginning of a breath group and after m or n, b and v are pronounced like the English b in boy

Buenos dias veinte un buen vino

In most other positions, and particularly between vowels, b and v are pronounced with the lips slightly open, allowing air to pass through them.

Favor una vista bonita octubre

c In Spanish America, c before e or i has the English s sound as in sister. The same rule generally applies in English [city, cent] but there are exceptions

Cero cincuenta trece

In most regions of Spain c before e or i is pronounced with a th sound as in thanks.

Cero cincuenta trece

Before a, o, u, or a consonant, c has the English k sound as in cat

catorce clase criminal

d  In Spanish the letter d has two sounds. At the beginning of a breath group, and after n or l, d has a pronunciation similar to the English d in door.

Dos diez banda

In most other positions, particularly between vowels and at the end of a word, d has a slight th sound as in this or brother.

Adios una discoteca libertad

gBefore e or i, g has the English h sound as in help

generoso   inteligente mágico

In other positions (except between vowels, where it is slightly softened) g is hard as in goat

gracias   gusto  amigo

In the combinations gue and gui, the u is silent as in guest.

Guitarra   guía  guerra

Whit the addition of the dieresis (¨), the u is pronounced

pingüino bilingüe

h  Not pronounced, silent as in honest

hotel hospital  alcohol

jApproximates the pronounced h sound of English as in help

jueves junio ejercicio

ll    Double l approximates the English y sound as in yes.

Llama   millónamarillo

ñ  Is similar to the ny sound in canyon

mañanacañónmontaña

qOccurs only in the combinations que and qui, which have a silent u. The combination quis pronounced as a k.

Quechiquitaquince

rIf not initial, the single r approximates the sound of tt as in Betty likes butter better or ddas in Eddy

trecepiratapopular

rrHas a trilled sound as in mimicking a mortorcycle; inital r has the same sound

perrocarrorifle

zIn Spanish America, z is pronounced the same as s. The English z sound is never used in Spanish

Diez Arizonazafiro

In most regions of Spain, z is pronounced with a th sound as in thanks.

DiezArizonazafiro