NOTE Since Spanish spelling attempts to reflect pronunciation, spelling changes often take place in
related words:feliz felices preserving the sound [θ] or [s]
ataca ataque preserving the sound [k]
rige rija preserving the sound [x]
carga cargue preserving the sound [γ]
agua desagüe preserving the sound [γw]16.1.2.2 (p. 66)
1.2 Diphthongs
a, e and o are thought of as ‘strong’ vowels in Spanish, and i (y) and u are thought of as
‘weak’ vowels, or ‘semivowels’. A combination of strong + weak, or weak + strong, forms
a diphthong.The combinations i +u and u +i also form diphthongs: viudo [bjuðo], ruido [rrwiðo].1.3 Syllabification
Syllables in Spanish consist of at least one vowel.A diphthong counts as one vowel for the purposes of syllabification. A non-
diphthongal vowel sequence (‘strong’ vowel +‘strong’ vowel) counts as two syllables:z zeta [θ] (like th in English ‘thin’ – standard
Castilian pronunciation) or [s] (in Latin
America and much of Andalusia).zona [θona] /
[sona](^1) ch and ll were considered to be separate letters in their own right until recently.
(^2) ñ is still considered a separate letter.
a+i aire [ajre]
a+u áureo [awreo]
e+y ley [lej]
e+u Europa [ewropa]
o+y hoy [oj]
o+u not very common, mainly in
abbreviations, e.g. COU, or proper
names, of Galician origin, e.g. Couceiro
[ow]
i+a enviar [embjar]
i+e bien [bjen]
i+o serio [serjo]
u+a Guatemala [watemala]
u+e bueno [bweno]
PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLING 1.2