This post summarises the spelling and pronunciation of Spanish. I discuss below mainly standard Spanish of Spain (Castilian), but point out a few of the differences for Spanish regions and Latin America. Spanish Alphabet The Spanish alphabet includes: 26 letters also used in the English alphabet (though <k> and <w> are rare, used mainly in…… Continue reading Sounds and spelling of Spanish
Tag: Schwa
Schwa, the vowel with no letter of its own
The commonest English vowel has no separate letter to represent it in the English alphabet. The vowel is called ‘schwa’ and is found as, for example, the first vowel in about. Schwa is a mid central unrounded vowel: mid means that the highest part of the tongue is neither high (where it is for /i/…… Continue reading Schwa, the vowel with no letter of its own
Prescribing a proscription
The UK government recently proscribed an Iranian state organisation, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). I was listening the other day to a BBC radio presenter discussing this with a BBC journalist. Both of them repeatedly said prescribe /prɪˈskraɪb/rather than proscribe /proʊˈskraɪb/. When talking slowly and precisely, people might pronounce prescribe as /prɪˈskraɪb/, but when…… Continue reading Prescribing a proscription
Irish spelling and pronunciation
I’ve set myself a challenge of working through textbooks on Welsh (Colloquial Welsh) and Irish (Teach Yourself Irish). I’ll work through the 2 books in parallel. Spotting similarities and differences will help me learn both these Celtic languages more thoroughly and more quickly. I’ve already covered Welsh spelling and pronunciation. Learning Welsh and Irish – Language…… Continue reading Irish spelling and pronunciation
Learning Welsh and Irish
I’ve set myself a challenge of working through textbooks on Welsh (Colloquial Welsh) and Irish (Teach Yourself Irish). I’ll work through the 2 books in parallel. Spotting similarities and differences will help me learn both these Celtic languages more thoroughly and more quickly. I’ve had a copy of Teach Yourself Welsh for about 50…… Continue reading Learning Welsh and Irish
The future of German noun plurals
Native German nouns typically form their plurals with a variety of markers, including vowel changes (‘Umlaut’), -(e)n, -(e) and (-er). The marker -s is used for some words borrowed from other languages and for items such as acronyms, abbreviations and some proper names. Janda (2021) predicts (perhaps surprisingly) that -s will ultimately become the regular…… Continue reading The future of German noun plurals
How mouth shape affects vowel sounds
One way to describe vowels is by how they are produced (articulated)— for example, whether the tongue is raised, and whether the raised part of the tongue is nearer the front of the mouth, or nearer the back of the mouth. Another way to describe vowels is by the nature of the sounds produced—for example,…… Continue reading How mouth shape affects vowel sounds