SPANISH		ALPHABET	PRONUNCIATION	GUIDE
                                        h3p://spanishpronto.com/spanishpronto/spanishbasics.html#pronunciaEon
                                        PRONUNCIATION/ALPHABET		PronunciaEon	similar	to	English	except	as	noted.
                                        a	"ah"                       															                            			j	"h"                                                  r	quick	trill
                                        b                            													                		k                                                      rr	almost	purred
                                        c                            												                 			l                                                     s	"s"	(never	"z")
                                        ch                                                        			ll		"y"	in	Mexico                                     t
                                        d																																		m                                                                                	u			"ooh"
                                        e	as	day	or	den	                           	              			n                                                     v
                                        f			ñ	"ny"w
                                        g	"h"	before	e	&	i										                             			o	"oh"						                                           x	someEmes	"h"
                                        h	silent!                                                 			p                                                     y		"ee"
                                        i	"ee"        																													               																			q                                                    z			"s"
                                                                     																													
                                        "E,"	when	it	is	at	the	end	of	a	syllable,	is	pronounced	like	the	ay	in	the	English	word	day	(as	are	
                                        all	the	e's	in	the	Spanish	words	de,	e-le-fan-te,	and	bue-no);	otherwise,	it	is	pronounced	like	the	
                                        e	in	the	English	word	den	(as	are	the	e's	in	the	Spanish	words	sien-to,	es-tá,	and	bien).	If	in	
                                        doubt,	look	up	the	word	in	the	Spanish	side	of	your	dicEonary	to	see	how	it	is	divided	into	
                                        syllables.	(The	American	Heritage	Spanish	DicEonary	provides	syllabicaEon	of	every	word,	
                                        though	most	other	dicEonaries	do	not.	On	the	quesEon	of	words	containing	"tl,"	the	AH	gets	it	
                                        wrong,	choosing	"At-lán-E-co"	for	example	(the	way	it	would	be	pronounced	in	most	of	Spain,	
                                        except	the	Canary	Islands)	instead	of	"A-tlán-E-co"	as	it	would	be	pronounced	in	the	LaEn	
                                        American	Spanish	the	AH	emphasizes.)
                                        Emphasis	is	on	the	syllable	with	a	wri3en	accent.	If	there	is	no	wri3en	accent,	then	the	emphasis	
                                        is	on	the	next-to-last	syllable	in	words	ending	in	s,	n,	or	any	vowel,	and	on	the	last	syllable	in	
                                        words	ending	in	any	other	consonant.	To	remember	that	"s"	and	"n"	are	the	only	final	
                                        consonants	that	do	not	force	the	word	(in	the	absence	of	any	wri3en	accent)	to	be	emphasized	
                                        on	the	last	syllable,	it	may	help	to	realize	that	these	are	the	final	consonants	most	o_en	used	in	
                                        conjugaEng	verbs	and	that,	for	example,	"HA-blo,"	"HA-blas,"	"HA-bla,"	and	"HA-blan"	are	all	
                                        accented	on	the	next-to-the-last	syllable.	In	contrast,	here	are	some	consonant-final	words	(but	
                                        not	-s	or	-n	words,	of	course)	that	have	spoken	emphasis	on	the	final	syllable:	sa-LUD	(health),	
         re-LOJ	(clock),	al-gua-CIL	(sheriff),	mu-JER	(woman),	ha-BLAR	(to	talk),	and	ju-DIT	(Judith).
         Diphthongs/Triphthongs	When	two	or	three	vowels	occur	together,	any	unaccented	i	or	y	is	
         pronounced	like	the	y	in	"yes,"	and	any	unaccented	u	is	pronounced	like	an	English	w.	
         (For	example,	Buenos	días.	=	BWAY-nohs	DEE-ahs.	(Good	morning.),	and	Adiós	=	ah-DYOHS	
         (Goodbye.))
         Regional	differences	(Spanish,	like	English,	has	many	regional	accents,	each	with	slightly	different	
         pronunciaEons	and	a	slightly	different	vocabulary,	but	someone	from	one	region	can	sEll	
         understand	someone	from	another,	at	least	most	of	the	Eme!):
         The	so_	c	(before	e	and	i)	and	the	z	are	prounounced	as	"s"	in	southern	Spain	and	in	LaEn	
         America,	but	as	"th"	in	most	of	Spain.	
         The	double	l	is	pronounced	in	most	of	Spain	as	the	lli	in	million,	and	varies	by	locaEon	in	LaEn	
         America	from	"y"	to	"j,"	"zh,"	or	"sh."	
         The	y	is	pronounced	"ee"	when	it	is	a	vowel,	but	when	followed	by	a	vowel	(that	is,	when	the	y	is	
         a	consonant)	it	is	pronounced	in	many	countries	like	the	English	"y,"	and	in	some	countries	like	
         "j,"	"zh,"	or	"sh."