LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

     Did you know that in some places Spaniards are occasionally teased for pronouncing /θ/ instead of /s/? It is curious, because that very distinction can actually enhance clarity.      Consider this: if I say me voy a cazar , pronouncing ka θ ar rather than casar , there is no doubt about my intention. If, on the contrary, I say me voy a casar , I may well be congratulated and asked about the bride.      In varieties of Spanish where both words are pronounced the same, context usually resolves the ambiguity—but the phonetic distinction available in standard Peninsular Spanish removes it altogether.      Language, after all, is a tool for communication, and every feature that contributes to clarity deserves some appreciation. This is not “lisping” (a different phenomenon altogether), but simply one way—among others—of giving the language its full expressive range.

  Pronouncing the  ll sound  as y, saying "cabayo"  instead of  caballo , or "yeno" instead of lleno , is called "yeísmo."  It is widespread in large areas of Spain and the Americas,  and it is practically universal among young people. I am not young, but I have been "yeísta" all my life and I make no phonetical distinction between pollo and poyo . This is a phonetical loss, of course, and a pity because it makes comprehension difficult. Cayó and calló ; rallar and rayar ; nos hayamos and nos hallamos , for example, are pronounced the same way by "yeistas." It is accepted, nevertheless, in educated Spanish. 

  I have mentioned already that the Spanish /d/ is fricative or soft, to the point that often it is only a mere "pinch", a "touch" of the tongue against the upper teeth. The English occlusive /d/ is there to be heard, strong and proud. The Spanish /d/ (dedo, dado, diada) is often a whisper of a /d/. This is very evident in the past participles of the first conjugation: "hablado, preparado, lavado, pintado" where we cannot be sure whether we heard the /d/ or not. This is acceptable, educated Spanish. However, the /d/ in the past participles of the second and third conjugation (ending in -er and -ir), the /d/ must be heard, however softly. "Comío, recibío, vivío, habío, traío", are not accepted in educated circles. Never phonetically omit the /d/ in these participles lest you be labeled as uncouth, low-class, and hoi polloi.  

People mistakenly believe that Spanish is easy and pronounced as it is written. Nothing farther from the truth. It has complicated grammar  and complex phonetics which graphemes cannot always reflect. The final /d/ in educated everyday conversation is often silent and we write "libertad" but pronounce it /libertá/ just as we spell majesty "majestad" but say /majestá/. "Amabilidad" ends up as "amabilidá" and "cordialidad" /cordialidá/ and pay no heed to those who might tell you otherwise. I refer you, as usual, to Tomás Navarro Tomás, "Manual de pronunciación española". And likewise, the /j/ of "reloj" is lost, and we say /reló/. Those who say /reloh/ are mockingly called "redichos". In the plural "relojes" the /j/ is pronounced. 

You may recall my partiality to Tomás Navarro Tomás 's (1884-1979) Manual de pronunciación española , (1918), a copy of which (1972) is in my modest library. Common sense and clarity dominate this work, which, I believe, is the best in Spanish phonetics and pronunciation. Let me pick out a few quotations which, I hope, will prompt you to dive into this book: "... tratándose de personas cultas, las diferencias fonéticas entre castellanos y andaluces o hispanoamericanos son mucho menores que entre las clases populares." "... una fórmula pueril, que consiste en creer que la lengua española se pronuncia como se escribe." "... la pronunciación correcta rechaza todo vulgarismo provinciano y toda forma local..." "Sabido es que la lengua española presenta importantes diferencias de pronunciación, no sólo entre los diversos países en que se habla, sino entre las regiones de un mismo país, y frecuentemente entre las comarcas y lugares de una misma región....

A self-appointed phonetician on Instagram, a few weeks ago,  endeavored to teach Spanish speakers the sound of /th/ as in think, thigh, or thwart. He pointed out that this sound does not exist in Spanish. The phonetician, obviously, does not differentiate  casar and cazar , serrar and cerrar, coser and cocer.  I do, along with many others. My point is that when comparing languages, we must be true to the two of them. The sound of /th/ in think does exist in Spanish in cazar . True enough that the point of articulation is a bit different: the English sound is interdental and the Spanish sound is dental. And here, once again, I must paraphrase Ortega y Gasset: The horizon of our language is not the horizon of language. And once again I must warn you: beware of unqualified native speakers pontificating on the language they speak. 

  Why do people insist that Spanish is written as it is spoken? Naturally, no language is written as it is spoken, but Spanish has this "good" reputation that lures many to study it. Fake linguistic news, naturally. From the written "dos mujeres" you may hear many different spoken versions. "Yo he hablado" might have many different spoken possibilities. The spoken language (the real language) varies according to the speaker´s country, region, education, and even I.Q. The written language will not vary, but will not reflect the speaker´s origin. And besides, let´s not forget that language does not make pauses between words: andaspeakerwillalwaysrattleonlikethis, whereas in writing we must separate words. The sentence "Roberto se va a cazar" might have different sounds that are condensed in the graphemes, which might confuse the listener. Give the matter some thought!

For those of us who "ceceamos" (pronounce the za, ce, ci, zo, zu, as the /th/ in think), the difference in sound between "me voy a casar" and "me voy a cazar" is clear. Not so for those who "sesean", from Andalusia, Canary Islands, some other parts of Spain, and South America. Of course, if the guy says "me voy a casar" and he is wearing a tuxedo and a black tie, the meaning is clear. If, however, he is carrying a rifle and says "me voy a cazar", the meaning is also clear. But I do not have to see a tuxedo or a gun to know what he is going to do.  This is neither good nor bad. It´s just a phonetical fact and you either take it or leave it. But I will never misspell: vosear / vocear serrar / cerrar casar / cazar coser / cocer segar / cegar casa / caza sien / cien sima / cima So, watch out when writing; the error is easy to spot and limns a faulty education. The "ceceantes" are a dying breed, with only about 5 million ...

Castile is a rough, dry and sweltering land in summer and freezing cold in winter, full of castles. Its language may be a reflection of the character of its dwellers, and yet  some of the sounds are mellow, soft and sweet. Like the /t/ and the /d/:  Place the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth, softly, so softly that the point of the tongue will almost touch the upper teeth, but not quite, when we speak words like "DEDO", "DADO", "TODO", "DATO". Often, the /d/ is so soft that it disappears: "HABLADO", "LIBERTAD"... Listen to native speakers, and then copy them.

  Of course, written letters are always silent until we speak them, but as Spanish is "easy" to pronounce (so people think, search me why!) it is believed that there are no "catches" to the sounds of Castilian. Did you know that in Madrid, Madrid is pronounced "Madrí" with no "d" sound? And worse still, many madrileños will say "Madriz", with the Peninsular "z", like "think." Listen to any version of the Mexican Agustin Lara´s  musical composition "Madrid," a chotis.  Did you know that many people forget the sound of "j" in reloj (reló)? And yet they will pronounce it in the plural, "relojes."  Did you know that the sound of pleasure, measure, treasure exists in Argentinian Spanish: Yo, pollo, whereas in other localities is is a plain sound like "io, poio"? Did you know that Spanish does not have a "v" sound as in vase, vet, and that "baca" and "vaca...

The way I see it, if you place the tip of your tongue at the very same point where you place it to pronounce the English /t/ of "tent" you will have won half the battle. Let the tip of the tongue rest there. Now let air flow over it... it will trill. Practice pushing air over the tongue to force it to move and vibrate. The tongue will reverberate several times... and there you have the Spanish /r/. After having tracticed this trilling for a while, you should try to tackle words with this sound. Practice makes perfect, and do not get into the actual words unless you command the vibration. Then practice: perro, porro, rato, Rita, arroba, rorro, rana... go whole hog and exagerate the sound. The soft sound of the /r/ you achieve by letting the tongue vibrate only once: hermano, artista, oro, loro, arte... Then practice both: morro, moro / foro, forro / coro, corro / jara, jarra / caro / carro Remember that my PHONÉTICA INGLESA compares both languages, the sounds of Eng...