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moquinn

Nov 28, 2006, 1:15 PM

Post #1 of 6 (2293 views)

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pronunciation of the spanish letter ''a''

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Hi.I'm new to the forum,so sorry if this has been asked already,but I was under the impression that the letter a in spanish is ALWAYS pronounced like the a in the word call.no exceptions....yet,on another site that I'm studying spanish on,all of the sound files pronounce the a sound like the a in apple.This is incorrect,right?
Thanx in advance,
mike.

esperanza

Nov 28, 2006, 7:55 PM

Post #2 of 6 (2278 views)

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Re: [moquinn] pronunciation of the spanish letter ''a''

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The 'a' in Spanish is not pronounced like the 'a' in 'call' or 'apple'.

It's pronounced like the 'a' in 'father' or 'ah'.

Manzana....mahn-ZAH-nah (apple)
Gato..........GAH-toe (cat)
Ambulancia..ahm-buh-LAHN-see-ah (ambulance)
Alto............AHL-toe (stop, tall)

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Judy in Ags

Nov 29, 2006, 7:13 AM

Post #3 of 6 (2270 views)

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Re: [esperanza] pronunciation of the spanish letter ''a''

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A true proof of the fact that the a as in apple does not exist here is trying to get a Mexican to use that vowel in an English word. They rarely hear it or understand how to form that vowel. They also don't know the sound of a in call. Have them try to say "caw" and see what happens.

Taking a class in phonetics (not phonics) is a great help in learning Spanish, or any other language. It certainly is a help for Mexicans learning English since English has more than twice the vowels sounds that Spanish has.

(This post was edited by Judy in Ags on Nov 29, 2006, 7:18 AM)

moquinn

Nov 29, 2006, 11:22 AM

Post #4 of 6 (2252 views)

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Re: [moquinn] pronunciation of the spanish letter ''a''

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Thanks everyone.I'm far enough along that I have my pronunciation downpat,but I really wanted expert opinions.I posted on the forum of the site in question about the
error,but not surprisingly,never recieved a reply.Oh well,at least it was a free site...but this kind of misinformation is ridiculous.I can understand the occasional typo,but this was supposedly 2 native speakers.Anyway,gracias a todos para ayudarme.
saludos,
mike.
ps I think I'll spring for the paid membership here.Everyone seems super nice without attitude.Thanks again.And the word call was just a bad example on my part...I was thinking of the soft a as in ah.Nice to know that spanish is rigid that way.Learning english must be i pita.

jerezano

Nov 29, 2006, 4:37 PM

Post #5 of 6 (2238 views)

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Re: [moquinn] pronunciation of the spanish letter ''a''

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Hello moquinn:

Just a word of warning. Don't get carried away with this "rigidity" of Spanish pronunciation. At least here in México.

You will run into problems with the e (or eeee as in me as we say in English) The letter e in the alphabet is pronounced as in the word Hey! or the hay we feed our cows. But in everyday pronunciation in a word you will find that it is usually eh as in men or Benjamin. Then too we run into the y which varies all over the place from the soft y in yes to the J in Jesse. And of course the letter y in the alphabet and when used as the word and, y is eeeee as in me. Etc.

While rules are rules, actualities are actualities.

Good luck with your classes. Come back and talk to us whenever you have a question.

And yes, IMHO a membership to www.mexconnect.com is well worth having.

Adiós. jerezano.

Ed and Fran

Nov 29, 2006, 5:52 PM

Post #6 of 6 (2232 views)

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Re: [moquinn] pronunciation of the spanish letter ''a''

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I think I'll spring for the paid membership here.Everyone seems super nice without attitude.

Don't worry. It's just a trick to suck you in. We only act this nice in the free forum. Once you're on the hook for the membership we'll jump all over you.............

Regards

Ed & Fran