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Alphabet

Pronunciation & Accent Marks
Diptongos: ie
ue
ia
ua
Hiatos: e-a
o-e
í-a
Hiatus: two vowels in separate syllables
Enlace entre palabras: la_historia
Liaison between words
los_amigos
de_España
Consonantes finales débiles en habla rápida
Final consonant weakening in fast speech
-s often aspirated or dropped; -d→[ð] intervocal
hablado [ablaðo]; estás [ehtah] in casual speech
Distinción vs seseo: c/z pronunciation
Distinción (Spain) vs seseo (Latin America)
Spain: cena [θena]; LatAm: cena [sena]
Spain distinguishes c/z from s; Latin America does not
Voseo: vos hablás
comés
vivís
Voseo: Argentine/Uruguayan vos forms
Entonación: afirmativa vs interrogativa
Intonation: statement vs question
rising at end for yes/no questions
Statements fall; yes/no questions rise at end
El alfabeto completo: 27 letras
Complete alphabet: 27 letters
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n ñ o p q r s t u v w x y z
ñ is the only letter unique to Spanish
Pronunciación regional: s/z/ll/y variación
Regional pronunciation variation
ll=[y] or [ʝ] or [ʃ] depending on region
Argentine ll/y = [ʃ]; Castilian distinction preserved in some areas
Acento diacrítico: sí/si
él/el
tú/tu
Diacritical accents to distinguish words