The alphabet
Due to recent changes, the composition of the Spanish alphabet today is
more like English and other Romance languages. Because older reference
works used a different system of classification, a few words of explanation
may be helpful.Until 1994, chand ll were considered to be separate letters in the Spanish
alphabet. Consequently, in dictionaries and word lists there were separate
listings for words beginning with each of them, after cand l respectively.
Likewise, this alphabetical order was observed when those letters occurred
within words, with the result that cochawould be listed after all other
words beginning withcoc-, andcallada aftercalzo. In 1994, under inter-
national pressure and the impact of computer sorting programs, the
Association of Academies of Spanish adopted the internationally accepted
standard of alphabetical order, no longer considering chand llto be sepa-
rate letters. However, as a distinctive feature of the language, Spanish still
considers ñto be a separate letter. Dictionaries, therefore, still retain a sepa-
rate listing for the few words beginning with ñ(after those beginning with
n) and this order is preserved when ñoccurs within words (cañabeing listed
after canzonetista).Pronunciation
The only sure way of pronouncing Spanish correctly is to listen closely and
try to imitate native speakers. However, a list of the Spanish letters together
with their usual pronunciation is given in Table 1.1. This is offered as gen-
eral guidance, drawing attention to instances where native speakers of
English commonly make mistakes. Moreover, only the most important dif-
ferences between Peninsular and Latin American Spanish are highlighted.1111
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
12111
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
40
41111 1
Chapter 1