Spanish Vowels
The key to Spanish pronunciation is in the vowels. Vowel sounds in Spanish are unchanging, as opposed to vowels in English, which can be pronounced all sorts of ways. In Spanish, if you get the vowels right, people will probably understand what you are saying even if your consonants aren't perfect. So, here's a quick review of the five vowel sounds in Spanish:
Try pronouncing the following words, each of which contains all five vowels. Then listen to the audio and practice again:
moor-see-EY-la-goh |
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koh-moon-ee-KAHN-teh |
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meh-tee-koo-LOH-sah |
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reh-poo-DEEAH-doh |
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TRACK 2
Listen to the pronunciation of each vowel and word example. Repeat each after you hear it.
First, the individual vowel sounds:
Now try pronouncing these words. Each one contains all five of the vowel sounds:
Diphthongs
When two vowels are blended into a single sound, a diphthong is created. Diphthongs are most commonly formed by a combination of an open (or strong) vowel —
TRACK 3
Listen to each diphthong and word example on Track 3. Repeat each after you hear it.
ays-LAHR |
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OW-toh |
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RAY-noh |
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ayoo-FOR-ya |
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OY-goh |
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fahr-MAH-cyah |
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SYEY-loh |
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ee-DYOH-mah |
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kwee-DAHR |
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RWEH-dah |
When a vowel combination that would normally form a diphthong is pronounced as two separate vowels, an accent mark is placed over the weaker vowel, as in
Two strong vowels together, a, e, and o, never form a diphthong. Each vowel is pronounced separately and forms a syllable.
Triphthongs
If a diphthong involves two vowels, can you guess how many a triph-thong has? If you said three, you're absolutely right. Triphthongs don't happen often in Spanish, but they do occur on those rare occasions when two vowels are followed by the consonant/vowel
TRACK 4
Listen to the following examples of triphthongs on Track 4. Repeat each one after you hear it.
