Spanish 1/Linguistic characteristics

Cognates, Borrowed Words, Pronunciation, & Other Rules

Cognates

A cognate is a word in one language that looks similar and has a similar meaning to a word in another language. In Spanish, there are several cognates of English words. Recognizing cognates will help you understand surrounding words in a text even if you don't know what they entirely mean. The following is a list of a few cognates in Spanish to English.

• aire = air
• editor/a = editor
• médico = medical
• policía = police
• dentista = dentist
• similar = similar
• piano = piano

Borrowed Words

Most, if not all languages have at least one borrowed word from another language. Borrowed words also act as cognates. A list of words in English borrowed from Spanish include: rodeo, patata, corral, rancho. The words mean rodeo, potato, corral, and ranch respectively. A list of words in Spanish borrowed from English include: pudín, jersey. The words in respective order mean pudding and jersey.

Pronunciation

One of the easiest things about Spanish is its pronunciation: almost everything is pronounced as it is written. However, there are some exceptions. The following is a list of pronunciation rules in Spanish.

• a is pronounced between the a in the English words palm and trap. It is often approximated as the former by American English speakers and as the latter by British English speakers.
• b is pronounced as an English b. However, in the middle of a word, it is pronounced "softer" and is often approximated as an English v.
• c is pronounced like c in English. Before a, o, or u, it is pronounced like an English k. Before e or i, it is pronounced as an English s in Latin America or as the th in think in Spain.
• ch is pronounced like ch in English.
• d is pronounced like an English d but with the tongue touching the teeth. However, in the middle of a word, it is pronounced "softer" and can be approximated as the English th in this.
• e is pronounced between the ea in the English words steak and meant.
• f is pronounced as f in English.
• g is pronounced like g in English. Before a, o, or u, it is pronounced like a g in the English word galaxy. However, in the middle of a word, it is pronounced "softer". Before e or i, it is pronounced as a Spanish j.
• h, by itself, is never pronounced.
• i is pronounced like i in the English word police.
• j is pronounced similar to the h in English but "harsher." Try using a breathy huff of air from the throat or positioning the tongue higher in the mouth to achieve this sound. This is the same sound as some English speakers' pronunciation of the ch sound in loch or Bach. It is often approximated in English as h.
• k is pronounced like k in English.
• l is pronounced like the English l. If an English speaker pronounces the l's in the word lull differently, then the first l should be taken as an approximation.
• ll is pronounced as the Spanish y by many Spanish speakers. The two sounds are not often distinguished by English speakers.
• m is pronounced like m in English.
• n is pronounced like n in English.
• ñ is pronounced similar to and often approximated as the ny in canyon. Try pronouncing the n and y at the same time to achieve this sound.
• o is pronounced between the oa in the English words goat and broad
• p is pronounced like p in English.
• q is always followed by u in Spanish and is pronounced like an English k. Note that the u is not pronounced here, unlike in English where qu sounds like kw.
• r is pronounced by tapping the tip of the tongue against the gum ridge in the back of the upper teeth. This is the same sound as some English speakers' pronunciation of tt in better. It is often approximated by using the English r.
• rr, called a rolled or trilled r, is pronounced like r but with multiple contacts between the tongue and the top of the mouth—this is often the sound that requires the most practice to get right for English speakers.
• s is pronounced as the s in lesson.
• t is pronounced like t in English.
• u is pronounced similar to the u in rule.
• v is pronounced the same as the Spanish b.
• w is pronounced like the English w.
• x is often pronounced as the Spanish j like in México, but it can also be pronounced like a sequence of k and s as in taxi.
• y is pronounced similar to and often approximated as the y in the English word yet.
• z is pronounced like s in English. Spanish speakers do not distinguish the sounds of the letters z and s as English speakers do.
• ü is pronounced like the English w.
• accents indicate where the stress in a word is. Stressed syllables in Spanish are pronounced slightly more loudly than unstressed syllables. Some words in Spanish are distinguished only by their stress. For example, in the word está, the last syllable is stressed while in the word ésta, the first syllable is stressed.

All letters, except h, are always clearly pronounced in Spanish. "H" is only pronounced in loanwords such as hip hop. There are dialectical differences in the pronunciation of Spanish and two of the most notable are lleismo/yeismo and ceceo/seseo which describe the extent to which ll and y are pronounced the same or whether or not "s" is pronounced with a th-type lisp.

Other Rules

• In Spanish, the adjective typically comes after the noun (unlike in English, where the adjectives typically come first). Most adjectives, like nouns, are classified by gender: masculine nouns and adjectives usually end in o and feminine nouns and adjectives usually end in a. Adjectives that have gender in this course will have the feminine form in parentheses.

• In Spanish, questions and exclamations are denoted by using a question or exclamation mark after and an upside down question or exclamation mark before the sentence. For example, ¿Qué? or ¡Hola!.