Spanish phonology
This article is about the phonology of the Spanish language. It deals with current phonology and phonetics as well as with historical developments thereof, including geographical variants (for details, see the articles on History of the Spanish language and Spanish dialects and varieties).
Spanish has many allophones, so it is important here to distinguish phonemes (written in slashes / /) and corresponding allophones (written in brackets [ ]).
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||||
| Stop | p b | t d | tʃ | ɟʝ | k g | ||
| Fricative | f | θ | s | x | |||
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Tap | ɾ | ||||||
| Lateral | l | ʎ | |||||
| Phoneme | Major Allophones | Spelling | Distribution and quality of allophones |
| /p/ | voiceless bilabial plosive | "p" (pipa) | |
| /b/ | [b], voiced bilabial plosive [β], voiced bilabial approximant |
"b" (burro) or "v" (vaca) | [b] appears initially (in some accents) and after nasals (bomba, envidia), [β] elsewhere (nube, la bodega). In rapid speech, [β] can replace [b] in the initial position. After /l/, there is variation among speakers (el burro can be either [elˈburo] or [elˈβuro]). |
| /t/ | voiceless dental plosive | "t" (tomate) | The Spanish [t̪] is an unaspirated denti-alveolar plosive.[2] |
| /d/ | [d̪], voiced dental plosive [ð], voiced dental approximant |
"d" (dedo) | [d̪] appears initially, after nasals (donde), and after /l/ (maldito), [ð] elsewhere (nido, la deuda). In most or all of Spain and the Caribbean it is usually omitted in the endings -ado and -ados, in Southern Spain also in the endings -ada and -adas (manadas: [maˈnaːs]), and less frequently in endings -ido and -idos. In Venezuela it is omitted in intervocalic position in a final syllable: peludo is pronounced as [peˈl̪uo]. In Latin America and Spain it is often omitted in final position: usted = [usˈt̪e] or [usˈt̪eð]. In Madrid this phoneme may undergo devoicing in final position, merging with /θ/. |
| /k/ | voiceless velar plosive | "c" (casa), "qu" (queso), "k" (kiosko) | |
| /g/ | [g], voiced velar plosive [ɣ], voiced velar approximant |
"g" (gato), "gu" (guerra). | [g] appears after nasals (ganga), and, very frequently but not always, at the beginning (gato), where /ɣ/ is also used, though it is less common. [ɣ] occurs elsewhere (lago, la garganta). After /l/, there is variation among speakers (el gato can be either [el ˈgat̪o] or [el ˈɣat̪o]). |
| Fricatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| /s/ | [s], voiceless alveolar fricative [ɹ], alveolar approximant [h], voiceless glottal fricative |
"s" (sapo) | In Northern/Central Spain and Antioquia, Colombia it is apicoalveolar; in Southern Spain and most of Latin America it is lamino-alveolar (often called "dental") [s].
[s] may become the approximant [ɹ] before a rhotic (israelita: [iɹraeˈlit̪a]). In many places it debuccalizes to [h] in final position (niños), or before another consonant (fósforo) - in other words, the change occurs in the coda position in a syllable. In the Colombian Caribe gemination may occur before /k/ or /f/ consonants (pescado: [peˈkːaðo] or [peˈkːao], fósforo: [ˈfofːoro]). Before voiced consonants, /s/ is sometimes lightly voiced or a fully voiced [z] (desde). From an autosegmental point of view, the /s/ phoneme in Madrid is defined only by its voiceless and fricative features. This means that the point of articulation is not defined and is determined from the sounds following it in the word or sentence. Thus in Madrid the following realizations are found: /peskado/ → [pexkao] and /fosforo/ → [fofːoro]). In parts of southern Spain, the only feature defined for /s/ appears to be voiceless; it may lose its oral articulation entirely to become [h]) or even a geminate with the following consonant ([oβihpo] or [oβipːo] from /obispo/ 'bishop'). |
| /θ/ | voiceless interdental fricative | "z" (zorro) or "c" (cielo) | This phoneme is used only in central and northern Spain. In the Castilian dialect it is used in all positions; in the transitional Andalusian-Castilian dialects (such as Madrid, La Mancha, and Extremadura) only in prevocalic positions, except in formal speech. The main realization is [θ̟]. Like /s/, it has a slightly voiced allophone [θ̟̬] before voiced consonants, as in juzgado [xuθ̟̬ˈɣaðo]; note this voiced allophone (which is a tense interdental fricative) is not the same sound as the [ð] allophone of "d" (which is a dental approximant). In other dialects, this phoneme is not used and merges with /s/. |
| /f/ | voiceless labiodental fricative | "f" (faro) | The main realization is a voiceless [f], but before voiced consonants it may become voiced [v], as in afgano. |
| /x/ | [x], voiceless velar fricative [h], voiceless glottal fricative |
"j" (jarro), "g" (general). | In parts of Latin America and southern Spain it is [h]. In parts of South America and Southern Spain it is dropped in final position (/relox/: [relo]) |
| /ʝ/ | /ʝ/, voiced palatal fricative [ʒ], voiced postalveolar fricative [j], voiced palatal approximant [ʃ], voiceless postalveolar fricative |
"y" (yo, yerro, yerba); See also /ʎ/ below | Initially and after /n/ it is realised as an affricate [ɟʝ].
In Argentina and Uruguay it is realized as [ʒ], [ʤ] or [ʃ]. In the dialect spoken in New Mexico [j] is a common realization. |
| Affricates | |||
| /ʧ/ | /ʧ/, voiceless postalveolar affricate [ʨ], voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate |
"ch" (chino). In words of English origin it may be spelled "sh": show = [ʧow] | Castilian Spanish has laminal/dorsal affricate realizations in the alveolo-palatal to pre-palatal area ([ʨ], [ʨ̠], [c̟͡ç]); plosive variants ([t̠ʲ], [c̟]) can be recognized as allophones but it is seldom pronounced solely as a plosive. In contrast, other dialects have apical domed palato-alveolar realizations, either affricate [ʧ] or fricative [ʃ]. |
| Nasals | |||
| There are three nasal phonemes in most varieties of Spanish, with up to five allophones. The phonemes are fully contrastive only before vowels (e.g. the minimal trio como, cono, and coño). In pre-consonantal position, a nasal sound will be pronounced homorganically with the following consonant (nasal place assimilation). (Orthographically, the nasal sound is m before b and p, and n elsewhere.) In final position, the nasal will generally be pronounced as /n/. In these positions, the nasal is underspecified, having no place specification, and is considered an archiphoneme. | |||
| /m/ | bilabial nasal | "m" (mano, amar) | /m/ is contrastive with the other nasals only before vowels. Before consonants or word-finally, the [m] sound is part of the /N/ archiphoneme.
Phonetically, [m] occurs as a realization of the archiphoneme before another /m/ (inmerecido, un mono), /p/ (compadre, un perro), /b/ (spelled either "v", as in envolver, or "b", as in un burro). |
| /n/ | alveolar nasal | "n" (noche, anterior), "m" (álbum: [ˈalbun]; réquiem: [ˈrekjen]). | /n/ is considered the most neutral of the nasals and is the "neutral" realization of the archiphoneme (it occurs in final position, where no assimilation changes the place. Phonologically, it is contrastive with the other nasals only before vowels.
Other archiphonemic allophones are listed here. [ŋ] occurs before /k/ (blanco, un queso) and /g/ (angustia, un gato); [ɱ] before /f/ (enfermo, un faro); [n̪] before /t/ (entrar, internacional) and /d/ (onda, agenda). |
| /ɲ/ | palatal nasal | "ñ" (niño) | This phoneme has been lost in some parts of Latin America, where /ɲ/ has dissolved into a sequence [nj] or palatalized [nʲ]: mañana: [maˈnjanʲa] or /maˈnʲana/. /nj/. Elsewhere, the distinction is maintained and speakers can distinguish minimal pairs (e.g., huraño vs. uranio, Ñetas vs. nietas, año vs. hahnio, de moños vs. demonios).
Phonetically, [ɲ] occurs before /ʝ/ (cónyuge, un yeso) as part of the nasal archiphoneme. |
| Laterals | |||
| /l/ | alveolar lateral approximant | "l" (largo). | |
| /ʎ/ | /ʎ/, palatal lateral approximant /ʝ/, voiced palatal fricative |
"ll" (lluvia). | While /ʎ/ exists in a formal or careful delivery, this phoneme is dying out in present-day Spanish most often merging with /ʝ/ (or the various realizations of the phoneme spelled <y>, see above). This phenomenon is referred to as yeísmo. /ʎ/ survives mainly in areas of bilingualism with Catalan, Quechua, Guaraní or other languages that have this phoneme in their inventories. This is the case in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and, especially, Paraguay. It also survives in isolated places such as Chiloé, in Chile, and in non-bilingual regions, mostly rural areas, of northern and central Spain (including some rural areas in the south: parts of Murcia and isolated areas around Seville, Huelva and the Canary islands). In the Philippines, it is invariably pronounced [ʎ], regardless of ethnolinguistic affiliation. Note that, /ʎ/ contrasts with the sequence /lj/, which in Spanish is spelled "li" before a vowel, even distinguishing a few minimal pairs (e.g., ello vs. helio, hallado vs. aliado). |
| Rhotics | |||
| Similar to the case of nasals, the two rhotic sounds of Spanish are in complementary distribution except between vowels (viz. minimal pairs caro vs. carro, pero vs. perro). | |||
| /ɾ/ | alveolar tap | "r" (loro, abrazar). | The alveolar tap is the neutral realization for the /R/ archiphoneme. It occurs word-finally and before and after most consonants. Exceptions are given below as environments where [r] occurs.
In Chile, in colloquial speech, /ɾ/ is totally assimilated to produce gemination before /t/ (carta: [ˈkat̪ːa]), /n/ (carne: [ˈkanːe]) and /l/ (perla: [ˈpelːa]). In the Colombian Caribe, it produces gemination before almost every consonant (barco: [ˈbakːo], árbol: [ˈabːol], arde: [ˈad̪ːe], etc.), and is replaced by [ʔ] in final position (saber: [saˈβeʔ]). In Cuba and Puerto Rico this realization is replaced by [l] (puerco: [ˈpwelko]). |
| /r/ | alveolar trill | "rr" (cerro) | Phonologically the trill is distinctive only between vowels. Phonetically, it is the realization of the /R/ archiphoneme in initial position (ratón: [raˈt̪on]), after /n/ (enredo: [enˈreðo]), /l/ (alrededor: [alreðeˈðor]), or /s/ (israelita: [iɹraeˈlit̪a], see /s/ above).
The apparent distinction between the two allophones after /b/ is actually due to a distinction of syllabification, and the difference in sound is due to the different realization of the rhotic archiphoneme used in initial and in intra-cluster positions. After b, the r is pronounced with a trill only in the verbs subrayar and subrogar (the syllabification of which is sub-ra-yar and sub-ro-gar, because they are formed with the prefix sub- + rayar and rogar), as well as in their derived words. In some parts of Latin America, mainly in Ecuador and northern Argentina, it is pronounced similarly to [ʒ] (arriba: [aˈʒiβa]). |
Vowels and semivowels
| Phoneme | Sound | Spelling | Allophones |
| Vowels | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | open central unrounded vowel | "a", "á" | The main realization is [ä]). In Andalusia, final /as/ becomes [ɑ]. |
| /e/ | close-mid front unrounded vowel | "e", "é" | The main realization is [e̞]. In Andalucia final /es/ becomes [ɛ]. |
| /i/ | close front unrounded vowel | "i", "í"; "y" | The main realization is [i]. See also /j/ below. In Andalucia final /is/ becomes [ɪ]. |
| /o/ | close-mid back rounded vowel | "o", "ó" | The main realization is [o̞]. In Andalucia final /os/ becomes [ɔ]. |
| /u/ | close back rounded vowel | "u", "ú", "ü" | The main realization is [u]. See also /w/ below. In Andalusia, final /us/ becomes [ʊ]. |
| Semivowels and/or Semiconsonants | |||
| /j/ | palatal approximant | "y" (muy), "i" (pieza, hierba, hierro) | It can be considered an allophone of /i/ in the syllable onset; mi amigo: [mjaˈmiɰo], pierna: [ˈpjerna] |
| /w/ | labio-velar approximant | "u" (cuatro, guardia), "ü" (agüero), but destruir: /destruˈir/, not /desˈtrwir/. | It can be considered an allophone of /u/ in the syllable onset; tu amigo: [t̪waˈmiɰo], cuanto: /ˈkwant̪o/. |
Stress
Stress falls on the penultimate syllable unless the word ends in a liquid or -z, in which case it falls on the ultimate syllable. Exceptions are marked orthographically with an accent mark over the vowel (i.e, comunicación, Lázaro).[citation needed]
Notes
References
- Template:Harvard reference
- Robert M. Hammond (2001). The Sounds of Spanish: Analysis and Application. Somerville, Massachusetts: Cascadilla Press. ISBN 1-57473-018-5.
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See also
- Template:Es icon How to use IPA characters properly when transcribing Spanish texts, link to the Spanish Wikipedia where you can also find some sound samples
- Spanish dialects and varieties
- History of the Spanish language
- List of phonetics topics