OF

PRONUNCIATION AND ORTHOGRAPHY.

CHAPTER I.

PRONUNCIATION.

PRONUNCIATION is the right expression of the sounds of the words of a language.

Words are composed of syllables, and syllables of letters. The letters of the Spanish language are as follow:

F

A B C CH

D E

As the English vowels differ in sound from those of all other nations, the first care of a learner ought to be to apply himself to the true pronunciation of the Spanish vowels, A E I

U

00.

A is pronounced as the English pronounce a in the words that, ask, are; as ama a nurse, amaca a hammock. E is pronounced like e in the following words, benefactor, beneficial.

I is pronounced like ee in the word steel, sleep, steep; as bigamo, a bigamist.

Qis pronounced as in English, except in the following

B

cases. 1st, in all monosyllables when not followed by another vowel, as lo, no, it is close. 2d, it is broad when there is over it an acute accent, as amó he loved, (to distinguish it from amo I love,) temió he feared, subió he went up. 3d, it is long in dóy I give, hóy to-day ; in all other cases it is pronounced as in English. U is pronounced like oo in the words good, cook, cool. Y has no other sound but that of ee. See I.

When two vowels meet together in Spanish words, they must be pronounced distinctly, as acaecer to happen, caer to fall, amâis you love, cantáis you sing, &c. The same rule ought to be observed when ee meet together in the same word, as creer to believe, leer to read. This must be considered as a general rule.

Of Diphthongs.

A diphthong is the meeting of two or more vowels in the same syllable. They are found in Spanish as follow: 1. ia, as dia a day, diácono a deacon, diamante a diamond.

2. iam, as carne fiambre cold meat.

3. ian, as fianza security, fiador he who gives security for another.

4. iar, as liar to tie, estudiar to study.

5. ie, as liebre a bare, miel honey.

6. ien, as bien well, lienzo cloth.

7. io, as navio a large ship, piorno Spanish broom. 8. ion, as porcion a portion, sion water parsnip.

Observe, that all diphthongs cease to be so every time the i is thus accented (t), as amaría I should love, daría I would give, filosofia philosophy, &c.

9. ua, as quarenta forty, quadro a frame. 10. uan, as quando when? quanto how much? 11. ue, as bueno good, cueva a den.

12. uen, as cuenta a reckoning, cincuenta fifty.

Observe, that u after c or q takes the sound of a w,