Spanish pronunciation: Soften, but not too much!
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- Опубліковано 18 бер 2021
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In this channel I make videos on topics in Spanish language and linguistics. Mostly phonetics and phonology, but also dialectology, sociolinguistics, and historical linguistics. Many of my videos come from questions asked by viewers in the comment section.
Spanish language
Spanish pronunciation
Spanish phonetics
Spanish phonology
Spanish dialects
Simply the best Spanish pronunciation channel imo.
I'm so happy you like my channel.
true especially that assibilated rr video
I'm a native spanish speaker trying to learn English pronunciation and this video has been super helpful!
I'm so glad you found the video helpful.
Me pasó igual
I am a native spanish, studying hispanic philology, and I really enjoy watching your videos. It is very interesting to observe how spanish is taught in other countries, and also your videos about spanish dialects in South America are very useful as well as interesting.
Many thanks!!
Thank you for your kind comments. Philology was my favorite subject. I took one course in Spanish philology and one in Romance philology.
@@tenminutespanishThats great! what career did you do?
@@antoniofraguadols4195 My undergraduate degree was Spanish translation & interpretation. Then I did a master's degree in Structural Spanish Language. Are you undergraduate or graduate?
I am an undergraduate, studying "Español: lengua y literatura" (what years ago was called philology) at Universidad Complutense.
I learned to pronounce these consonants properly just from immersion, but I never noticed this phenomenon with the release of air from the lips!
Well, I'm happy you learned something new from the video!
WOW okay yeah I'm in the camp of "caught on that some are soften but don't know which" -- I had no idea how to explain it and I haven't heard people talk about it so it was really just something I was imitating from close listening practice. This is sooo so helpful.
I'm really happy you found this helpful.
This video was amazing! As a student of Spanish it helps me to see the language using international phonetic scripts with explanations. It is especially helpful because languages like English and Spanish share a similar written alphabet and interpret the symbols phonetically differently. On an unrelated note, I was surprised that you described the Spanish language as softer sounding than English based on the differences between certain consonant sounds. I do find that our English plosives and fricatives are stronger than the muddled "p" "g" "t" etc of Spanish but to my English ear Spanish sounds quite strong, sharp, pingy and even shrill at times due to its rigid vowel structure, nasality, trilled r and somewhat staccato rhythm.
Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you liked the video.
I also theorize that, at least here in the US, many English speakers mix up the Spanish “ch” sound with the French one. Hearing words like champagne and chateau, they'll for example accidentally pronounce the name surname Chávez like “Shávez”.
Some rural areas in Chile & Andalucía do just that
depends on the dialect tbh. the dialect i'm learning has that phenomenon, but "regular" spanish tends to typically use /tS/ instead of /S/
I wondered something similar re Italian speakers. I know (thanks, Sopranos!) that words like capicola can evolve into "gabagool" in at least some dialects. Suggesting softer p's and much softer c's.
New band name: "Interdental Fricative and the Approximants!" (IFA)
Nerd
@@Hallandfan847
"nerd with a guitar"
get it right if you're going to troll.
I've been looking for a channel like this for quite a long time. Thank you so much for your creative and helpful content. You're an excellent teacher btw.
Thank you! I'm so happy you like my content.
This whole channel has helped me immeasurably. Gracias por tu trabajo.
I'm so happy that you've found my videos useful.
Great Spanish language material with precise instruction
Oops. Thanks for letting me know.
Muchas gracias maestro!
De nada, amigo. Me alegro mucho de que te haya gustado.
That made perfect sense to my brain. Thank you!
I'm really glad you liked it.
As a native Spanish speaker watching for curiosity, I finally noticed how English "p" is different from spanish p. Wow
I have an issue with some of the terminology in this video.
2:31 In linguistics, plosives and stops are synonymous terms. The term you're looking for to describe English stops is that they're "aspirated" (in word-initial and stressed-syllable-initial positions)
2:36 Occlusives and Obstruents are different from stops/plosives. Occlusive includes affricates and nasals, while obstruents include fricatives and affricates but not nasals.
Thanks for the corrections. I studied phonetics in Spanish with a native Spanish speaking professor. Neither he nor the texts we read used the words "stops" or "plosives". He used the words "oclusivas" and "obstruyentes", although I may be misinterpreting how they were used.
@@tenminutespanish I don't know the particulars of the Spanish forms, but I just want to make sure the information that people take from the video doesn't mislead them into disagreeing with information they'd find elsewhere.
The term "tonic vowel" and "atonic vowel" in the other video isn't really used in English but doesn't mislead people so while I'd avoid it, it's not wrong. This video however directly conflicts so please be careful with directly translating terminology especially from linguistics.
what an amazing video! felicitaciones profe!
saludos desde chile
Thank you! Gracias, amigo.
I still don't know how Ten Minute Spanish doesn't have more subs and views. Una lástima
Thank you so much for the compliment. I think I have low subs and views for a couple reasons: 1) Only a small percentage of students are interested in this level of detail in pronunciation. Most are content if they pronounce well enough to make themselves understood, and they don't care whether they sound particularly native-like. And that is their prerogative. Everyone gets to have their own priorities, and I have no right to make everyone else value what I value. 2) I don't put out videos often enough. I would need to make a couple videos a week for the UA-cam algorithms to recommend my videos to a lot of new viewers.
It's cool, though. I don't mind. I have a lot of hobbies and I maintain this channel simply because I enjoy it. If even one person enjoys my most recent video, that's enough for me to want to make the next one.
@@tenminutespanish How did you learn so much about Spanish phonology?
@@austino5069 When I was a grad student in Spanish, many many moons ago, my areas of interest were phonetics/phonology and dialectology/sociolinguistics. I selected all of my elective courses in those areas. What is your background and interest in Spanish?
@@tenminutespanish Simply a student interested in speaking eloquently
@@austino5069 High school? University? How many classes have you taken?
I feel like the spanish “ch” is often realized more as a alveopalatal affricate [tɕ]
You're doing the lords work TMS.
Te Amo
Thank you! I'm glad you liked the video.
Soap operas.
I'm so relieved that you choose the black board background but your browser seems to be light themed? 😂
Hi! Thanks for the amazing content! I have a question regarding the difference between the English b, d, g and Spanish b, d, g at the beginning of an utterance. Is the latter softer? I.e. is the latter a voiced stop and the former a voiced plosive or are both voiced stops? Is the difference between English p and b only voicedness or also aspiration?
Spanish occlusive b,d,g are softer than English b,d,g but not by much. I couldn't tell you about the exact difference between English p and b. English isn't my specialty. But it seems that it is both voicedness and plosivity.
@@tenminutespanish Thank you very much for a fast answer!
I had been learning Spanish for around 8 years and still didn't pronounce b, d, and g as approximates. I didn't learn the correct pronunciation until I literally took a class in university on Spanish linguistics. It wasn't taught in any other class, despite its importance in making you sound more native.
Aunque usted puede haber cubierto esto antes, formar el último r de un infinitivo me da problemas. Me parece muy difícil. ¿Debe ser suave o definitivamente pronunciado? Quizás mi pregunta es cómo pronunciar una sola r después de una vocal.
Sus vídeos me han hecho mucho más consciente de lo que está haciendo mi boca cuando hablo. A veces demasiado consciente.
Gracias por su excelente trabajo.
Thanks for your kind words. I'm very happy you've found my videos useful. Word-final r is normally a simple flap. But it may be pronounced as a trill when speaking emphatically. Also, it may be trilled when speaking in an oratorical style.
i once asked you a question about merging words in spoken spanish , for example "para hablar" and how it sounded more like "parablar", you referred me to your "spanish has no glottal stops" video, which helped me understand a little bit, but there are still some things that are very difficult for me to understand. For example, I heard a speaker say "aunque sea un poquito" but it sounded more like "anque sem poquito". Other than just practicing my listening skills, are there any common patterns in fast speech that i should learn to help myself understand these seemingly random reductions of sounds better and more consistently? I've watched most videos on your channel, but some of what people say in spanish doesn't sound how i would expect even when i know how consonants and vowels are meant to be pronounced.
I, personally, have never heard a native reduce the vowels e, a, and u (from "sea un") all the way down to just an e ("sem"). So, I can't explain why that phrase would have sounded that way to you.
The fact that Spanish has no glottal stop means that Spanish pronunciation rules apply across word boundaries. So adjacent vowels form diphthongs and hiatuses reduce to diphthongs, similar vowels merge, etc. But none of this is random. It's simply Spanish pronunciation rules applying across word boundaries.
@@tenminutespanish do you have any videos of elision/enlace on your channel so that i can get a better understanding of it? i think this is the concept that has been confusing me. I have been getting confused because i often hear 2 strong vowels get turned into a single diphthong in speech while your video about diphthongs would lead me to believe otherwise. Can you help clear up my confusion?
@@thecaf8985 Two strong vowels side-by-side often reduce to diphthongs in Spanish. This is true both in the middle of words and at word boundaries (when one word ends with a strong vowel and the next word starts with a strong vowel).
I made a video on hiatuses for newbies, and since it was for newbies, I didn't delve into the topic of reducing hiatuses to diphthongs. I have briefly mentioned in some of my videos that hiatuses often reduce to diphthongs, but I haven't gone into it in any video.
There is no hard and fast rule for reducing two strong vowels to a diphthong, because it is done with differing frequency and to different degrees in different dialects. It is also done differently by people of different socioeconomic and educational level. It is also done differently by the same speaker depending on how quickly he is speaking.
In general terms, when vowels come together at word boundaries:
1. Similar vowels merge. So a phrase like, "Va a hacer," would be pronounced [ba:aser], where a:a is a slightly elongated [a] sound. This is universal. All native dialects everywhere do this. Native English speakers would pronounce this [ba ʔa ʔaser], with a couple of glottal stops. It is incorrect to break up similar vowels with glottal stops in Spanish.
2. A strong vowel and a weak vowel form a diphthong. So "la idea" would be pronounced [lai.ðe.a]. Three syllables. Native English speakers would pronounce this as [la ʔi.ðe.a] with 4 syllables and with a glottal stop between the words.
3. Two strong vowels form a hiatus, which is two syllables. But hiatuses variably reduce to diphthongs. This is too complicated to explain here. There are lengthy studies on this topic that don't completely cover it. As I said, it's done differently depending on the phonetic context of the phrase, by different dialects, by different sociolects, and by the same speaker depending on how fast he's talking.
I'm considering making a video on this topic, but I haven't made one yet.
@@tenminutespanish ok thank you very much for this explication, the third piece of info that you gave cleared up my curiousity and now I understand why I hear so many of the things that a hear from native speakers. If you do decide to make a video about it, I would deeply appreciate it and you will be helping me bring my spanish pronunciation to a whole other level. Your videos are of the highest quality and if it were not for you I dont think I would be continuing my journey of learning spanish, Thank you again for keeping me in touch with this beautiful language and keep up the amazing work you are doing.
@@thecaf8985 I'm very happy you've found this discussion helpful. I think I'll make my next video on this subject, probably in a couple of weeks.
Thank you so much for these videos! Pronunciation is very important to me, so I'm glad to have found your videos!
I'm personally having a lot of trouble with the "-dad" in words like "ciudad" (I say it like "thyudad" since I'm studying Castilian Spanish, which I find so uncomfortable to say because it just doesn't sound *right* to me, even though I know I'm supposed to soften the "d" sounds) and the "r" sound at the end of words like "comer" (as well as the trilled r in ... anything). As someone who has the unfortunate combination of being both a perfectionist and very impatient, those two in particular make speaking very frustrating for me
I'm so happy that you're finding my videos useful.
Try saying ziudaz (/z/ like in /zapato/ , /cerilla/, or /th/ in /think/). Here in Madrid almost everyone pronounces it that way (as well as in Madrid, we pronounce /Madriz/). Final /d/ usually is pronounced like /z/
Your /z/ is different from ours, so maybe is more useful writting It like this: /thiudath/
A lot of Spaniards just say " ciudá" , when there is not a vowel following . In Madrid they may say " ciudaz " , and in Barcelona " ciudat " . I tend to say " ciudad " when talking fomally and carwfully and " ciudá" when more relaxed .
I find it a lot of fun to see how different native speakers struggle with a language ^^ I'm a French and never had problem with this softening thing but damn were the R, D and B/V a struggle x)
As a native English speaker, I have learnt to pronounce French r correctly, but it’s not easy, particularly in Chartres and Rouen.
@@joshadams8761 ok, I was about to comment I didn’t know Chartres and Rouen had a special prononciation of R… I’m so tired 🤣
@@Superibis. “Rouen” is difficult because the r is at the beginning. “Chartres” and “Sartres” are difficult because they have two rs. An easier r is the one in “Versailles”.
For the ''ch'' sound in Spanish do you start with your tongue on the back of your front teeth (like for the ''t'' sound)? Or is ''ch'' pronounced in the same place as in English?
Standard Spanish ch is articulated exactly the same as English ch, but it is softer and less plosive. There are also regional variations of Spanish ch that are articulated differently.
Hola yigos.
Perfect! LOL
You're a gem
Thank you!
Can you talk about different ways of pronouncing /ch/ in spanish
Because I hear spanish speakears say it differently from a country to another
Like aLOT of spaniards pronounce it like /ts/
I have relatives who are native spanish speakers and they pronounce it like a regular /sh/
The three pronunciations I mention in this video are the only ones I'm aware of. Sorry
Vaya! Puedes enséñame español para hablar como un nativo ?;))
In Canarian Spanish, ch is often indeed pronounced as /dʒ/. "Mudʒadʒos".
Interesting. I had no idea.
I am having such problems trying to understand the different between /b/ and /β/ it sounds exactly the same to me.
ezdoy a vogalizar dodo gue digo, graziaz bor du ayuda
Vandázdigo!
I am native of spanish and arabic. And english is way. Wayyyy more easier than my languages.
The United States is the second largest Spanish speaking nation in the world. The blend of English and Spanish is very obvious. Native speakers pronounce the English V. The double L is a Y. Speaking Spanish in the US is different than in Mexico.
Your English accent is very General American. I’m curious where you grew up.
Would you believe Bangalore?
@@tenminutespanish Absolutely. That would explain the absence of regional features. In addition to being a language nerd, I am a climate nerd and am aware that Bangalore has a delightful climate.
Alguien para practicar inglés-español y viceversa?
Do spanish speakers round their lips when they pronounce "ch"? English speakers round their lips when they pronounce "ch", "j", "sh", and "zh".
I haven't really thought about it, but I don't think they do. I'll have to pay attention to that in the future.
Hi! We don't round our lips
Only before an rounded vowel , o or u .
Interesting. A second language, meaning bilingual, must be started very young. Pre adolescent. Not to worry. An accent wouldn't stop you from being understood. And that's the goal. As long as you are understood, you accomplished your goal. Most people speak with an accent who are not native speakers. No problem. Once said
..oh your accent is so sexy..
For us Mandarin speaker, voiceless plosives without puff of the air have no difference from voiced ones, except that voices ones tend to have a lower tone (and yes that's how we got eight Modern Chinese tones from four Middle Chinese tones by losing the distinction of voicing). Thus for us the only way not to mix the pairs is exclusively pronounce voiced ones as approximates regardless of position. I wonder if Spanish speakers can understand that if I speak that way.
Also for Mandarin speaker, lleismo with moderate erre sibilant is easier to acquire. I wonder if that accent could be understood by speakers outside Latin America.