Help:IPA for Spanish

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Spanish language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-es}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation#Entering IPA characters.

In general, Castilian Spanish is used in IPA transcriptions except for some words with /θ/ and /ʎ/:

  • For terms that are more relevant to regions that have undergone yeísmo (so for example, haya and halla are pronounced the same), words spelled with ll can be transcribed with [ʝ]
  • For terms that are more relevant to regions with seseo, (so for example, caza and casa are pronounced the same), words spelled with z and with c (only when it occurs before i or e) can be transcribed with [s]

See Spanish phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Spanish.

Consonants
IPA Examples English approximation
b[1] bestia; embuste; vaca; envidia; fútbol best
β bebé; obtuso; vivir; curva between baby and bevy
d[1] dedo; cuando; aldaba dead
ð diva; arder; admirar this
f fase; café face
ɡ[1] gato; lengua; guerra got
ɣ trigo; amargo; sigue; signo like go, but without completely blocking air flow on the g
ʝ[1][2] ayuno; poyo you
ɟʝ[1][2] cónyuge; abyecto job
k caña; laca; quise; kilo scan
l lino; alhaja; principal lean
ʎ[1][2] llave; pollo million
m[3] madre; comer; campo; anfibio mother
n[3] nido; anillo; anhelo; sin; álbum need
ɲ[3] ñandú; cañón; enyesar canyon
ŋ[3] cinco; venga; conquista sing
p pozo; topo spouse
r[4] rumbo; carro; honra; amor; amor eterno trilled r
ɾ[4] caro; bravo; amor eterno batter (American English)
s[5] saco; espita; xenón sack
θ[5] cereal; encima; zorro; enzima; paz thing
t tamiz; átomo stand
chubasco; acechar choose
v[6] afgano van
x jamón; eje; reloj; general; México[7] Scottish loch
z[6] isla; mismo; deshuesar quiz
Marginal phonemes
IPA Examples English approximation
ʃ[8] show; Rocher; Freixenet shack
ts abertzale; Pátzcuaro cats
Vowels
IPA Examples English approximation
a azahar father
e vehemente set
i dimitir; mío; y see
o boscoso sole
u cucurucho; dúo food
 
Semivowels[9]
IPA Examples English approximation
j aliada; cielo; amplio; ciudad yet
w[10] cuadro; fuego; Huila arduo wine
 
Stress and syllabification
IPA Examples English approximation
ˈ ciudad [θjuˈðað] domain
. o [ˈmi.o] Mayan

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f /b, d, ɡ, ʝ/ are pronounced as the fricatives or approximants [β̞, ð̞, ɣ̞, ʝ̞]; represented here without the undertacks) in all places except after a pausa, after an /n/ or /m/ or, in the case of /d/ and /ʝ/, after an /l/, in which contexts they are stops [b, d, ɡ, ɟʝ], like English b, d, g, j, except that they are fully voiced in all positions unlike their English counterparts. When distinct from /ʝ/, /ʎ/ is realized as an approximant [ʎ] in all positions (Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté 2003:257-8).
  2. ^ a b c Most Spanish speakers no longer distinguish /ʎ/ from /ʝ/; the actual realization depends on dialect, however. See yeísmo and Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:258) for more information.
  3. ^ a b c d The nasal consonants /n, m, ɲ/ only contrast before vowels. Before consonants, they assimilate to the consonant's place of articulation, which is partially reflected in the orthography. The three do not contrast at the end of a word; depending on dialect, the neutralized nasal may appear as [n], [ŋ], or nasalization of the preceding vowel.
  4. ^ a b The rhotic consonants /ɾ/ and /r/ contrast only between vowels. Otherwise, they are in complementary distribution, with [r] occurring word-initially, after /l/, /n/, and /s/, and also represented here as before consonants, and word-finally (positions in which they vary); only [ɾ] is found elsewhere.
  5. ^ a b Northern and Central Spain still distinguish between s (/s/) and soft c or z (/θ/). Almost all other dialects treat the two as identical (which is called seseo) and pronounce them as /s/. There is a small number of speakers, mostly in southern Spain, who pronounce the soft c, z and even s as /θ/, a phenomenon called ceceo. See phonological history of Spanish coronal fricatives and Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:258) for more information.
  6. ^ a b [v] and [z] are allophones of, respectively, /f/ and /s/ before voiced consonants.
  7. ^ The letter x represents /x/ only in certain proper names like Ximena and some placenames in current or former Mexico (Oaxaca, Texas).
  8. ^ /ʃ/ is used only in loanwords and certain proper nouns. It is nonexistent in many dialects, being realized as [] or [s]; e.g. show [tʃou]~[sou].
  9. ^ The semivowels [w] and [j] can be combined with vowels to form rising diphthongs (e.g. cielo, cuadro). Falling diphthongs (e.g. aire, rey, auto) are transcribed with /i/ and /u/.
  10. ^ Some speakers may pronounce word-initial [w] with an epenthetic [ɡ]; e.g. Huila [ˈɡwila]~[ˈwila].

References[edit]

  • Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259 

External links[edit]