LaS.Gr
B3195s
Bassett, Ralph Emerson
Spanish pronunciation
adapted to copious oral
exercises.
PRESENTED TO
THE LIBRARY
BY
PROFESSOR MILTON A. BUCHANAN
OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF ITALIAN AND SPANISH
1906-1946
Spanish Pronunciation
ADAPTED TO COPIOUS
ORAL EXERCISES
BY
RALPH E. BASSETT
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY
THE ABINGDON PRESS
CINCINNATI, OHIO
PANISH PRONl r fATION
I'. I.. Hassan Lrmersity of Cincinnati
n Press, Cincinnati, Ohio
- 2.5 cents
A ". : the language in speech
no special phonetic
<:-. for oral drill according to a carefully
I ified U:--//n rve as a forerunner to the
:,rinf.ipl; that a gCKxi pronunciation is
key ( '< -ff'-'iv l: : . jdirncnts should be acquired in-
lli/il/ly, !.. -'in.iti' tniniri^, l/'-fon- the grammar is regularly
LO.S.Q
Spanish Pronunciation
ADAPTED TO COPIOUS
ORAL EXERCISES
BY
RALPH E: BASSETT
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
7.
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY
THE ABINGDON PRESS
CINCINNATI. OHIO
Copyright, 1914, by
RALPH EMERSON BASSETT
Preface
The present volume is an outcome of the author's experience that a
good pronunciation is the corner-stone of all effective foreign language
study, and that its acquisition is the first stage prescribed in this study.
It is the prime factor in any proficiency worthy of the name. There
can be no genuine progress with lasting results until after the elements
of pronunciation have been fixed clearly and unmistakably at the very
outset, to the end that subsequent grammar study with its copious dem-
onstration exercises be pursued with undivided attention. Words and
inflections leave no clear impression on the learner's mind and fail to
become fixed in his memory when disguised in his study experience by
boggled or mutilated speech sounds. As long as the learner is hampered
by such a handicap the ground he may cover in the grammar is virtually
valueless as a measure of actual progress. On the other hand, once he
vitalizes his study processes by forming reputable habits of pronuncia-
tion he has conquered half the task toward mastery of the language.
It follows, then, that the pronunciation of a new language is a sub-
ject important enough to deserve some special preoccupation far too
important to be left for the learner to pick up or to stumble into along
with the study of the grammar, or to be dismissed in a few perfunctory,
carefully guarded directions that only disconcert and mystify him.
Few people are able to do more than one thing at a time and do it well:
to expect of the beginner an intelligent grasp of language sounds and
forms at the same time is to defeat any practical results in either line
and, at best, to provoke only fatal habits of superficiality.
There is no more ruinous fallacy than the notion that a bad pronunciation does
not matter, that significant distinctions of sound are negligible. The fact that Spanish
pronunciation is less perplexing than that of other modern languages is no excuse
whatever for condoning in it careless, slovenly habits on the theory, apparently, that
a boggling, bungling pronunciation does little harm in the simpler language, altho
iii
IV
Preface
such laxness could never be tolerated in a language of really difficult pronunciation,
such as French or English. Rather, habits of precision in all details are quite as much
needed by the simpler language in order to counteract the insiduous temptation to
carelessness, on the learner's part, because of the fewer obstacles to be overcome. The
question at issue is the businesslike proposition of getting the utmost out of superior
natural advantages such as Spanish offers in its nearly phonetic spelling instead of
making them the excuse for neglect and waste.
We conceive, therefore, that the more profitable arrangement is to
postpone grammar until the learner can pronounce intelligibly and
consciously so what he is trying to learn: time thus spent at the outset
is richly repaid in the end by the sense of confidence the learner early
acquires, by freedom from the sense of permanent structural weakness
in his knowledge that a poor pronunciation always leaves behind it.
The present volume is offered as an agency to this end, serving as an
introductory preparation for the study of grammar proper, setting forth
the main sounds of the language in terms as simple as is consistent with
precision of definition, and fixing each sound by means of abundant
ORAL exercises as an indispensable factor in an accomplishment whose
very essence lies in the cooperation of the living voice. The volume
takes a broad and comprehensive view of its task, and touches upon
everything of practical importance concerning the sounds and signs of
the language, written and printed as well as spoken.
In the furtherance of his purpose, the author has held in view the
needs of his special constituency of learners untrained in phonetic science
and easily distracted by a multiplicity of fine-spun distinctions set be-
fore them as the first claim on their attention, or by overscrupulous
vagueness that provides nothing tangible to work upon. Holding a
strictly practical purpose in view, he frankly disavows any affectation
of being "scientific" in a sense that would defeat this purpose by be-
wildering and discouraging the average beginner rather than helping
him. On the theory that a workable, intelligible pronunciation is far
better than none at all, and is the only one accessible to the mass of
beginners, he has not hesitated to compare Spanish sounds with the
nearest English equivalents possible avoiding all controversy as to the
practical merits of this policy, which speaks for itself as the only com-
mon sense solution of a thorny question. Its final, solution will never
be possible without the cooperation of mechanical agencies for repro-
ducing the example of the living voice in a genuine language laboratory.
Preface v
Pending the realization of this ideal, our instrumentalities are neces-
sarily crude and imperfect, depending much on the learner's spontaneous
cooperation. Deliberate, careful ORAL practice in preparing the les-
son examples is the vital principle of the subject matter. Yet a certain
amount of writing has been combined with lesson preparation as an
auxiliary to stimulate and focus attention on a given topic, and at the
same time to furnish the teacher with a dependable clue often the only
one readily attainable that the ground of the lesson has been covered.
In the author's own experience, the practical benefits of this writing
drill are incontrovertible.
In a subject so fluid and shifting as the speech of a living language the question of pronunciation
standards is always liable to give occasion for divided opinions and expert controversy. The trouble is
at a minimum in English and French, whose standard of good usage is fairly uniform, since all educated
people speak the same dialect and give unquestioning allegiance to it as their orthodox speech represent-
ative. But where as in Italian, to some extent in German, and above all in Spanish lack of long political
and cultural centralization in the past has allowed an outlying circle of educated dialects to flourish, the
question of a normal orthodox standard of usage must obviously become, now and then, a perplexing one
to decide. In such cases it is rash to assume dogmatic authority.
Any doctrine of a pronunciation standard must contain an element of approximation based on an
average of conditions. For even the pronunciation of the educated is never absolutely uniform, even in
those idioms where the authority of good usage is strongest. In cases of recognized variations the learner
must select one standard and stick to it. When with time this is fixed in his speech habits he is in a posi-
tion to adapt himself to significant variations as occasion arises. In this spirit the author has been guided
where good usage is elastic or unsettled along the course that appealed to his judgment as the safest
one to follow.
In respect to the vowels, the author has followed the traditional course of recognizing but one invari-
able sound to each of the five letters, leaving out of account the question of their modifications. It seems
well assured that the five vowel letters have various minor shades of pronunciation, but to what degree
and under what fixed conditions of occurrence has been a matter of considerable controversy, which should
be ruled out of an elementary manual. To debate their unsettled claims in a work of practical pedagogics
would be far more likely to clog progress than to clear it. For example cf. the following opposed author-
ities
F. Araujo (Estudios de fonetica castellana, 1894) and
F. M. Josselyn (Etudes de Phonelique espagnole, 1907)
question the regularity and uniformity of vowel changes. BUT
M. A. Colton (La Phonelique caslillane, 1909)
asserts such changes and presents a plausible treatise in support of his conclusions, while confessing
hat the subject is beset with perplexities and uncertainties.
R. E. BASSETT
Measures
The vital subject matter of this volume, considered as indispensable
to the learner's training, is distributed over nine topical lessons suitable
for as many class lessons of college grade, and proportionately sub-
divided for younger pupils. A tenth lesson (including ^ 29 as part of
review matter) is recommended for an efficiency examination based
chiefly on oral and dictation tests from selected word examples of aver-
age length.
Each lesson closes with a " Question Syllabus" serving as an analy-
sis of the subject matter and construed with much minuteness of phrase-
ology for the sake of fostering some degree of definiteness and precision
in the answers sought for. But only the essential facts of the lesson
are thus queried, and the learner should be held responsible for these
only except in so far as the teacher chooses to modify them. Each
Syllabus thus affords a lesson program for the learner to follow and be
guided by in harmony with the Directions of page 1.
In the class, however, where limited time often shrinks the desired
fulness of drill opportunities, the oral exercise of the lesson is the prime
consideration and should be given first attention after the necessary
preliminaries are disposed of. The questions from the corresponding
syllabus are helpful, as time may then or later permit, in stirring up the
subject and bringing out its salient features as a body of systematic
knowledge in theory and practice. But only learners of good aptitudes
and habits of industry can ordinarily be relied upon to furnish this com-
prehensive test at the outset of a given lesson. Here the stress must be
put on oral exercise supplemented by frequent dictation tests, which
(even tho brief) afford valuable drill and an unmistakable measure of
progress.
The Appendix comprises a variety of supplementary matter properly
coming within the comprehensive scope of the volume out of due regard
for unity of the subject presented. It therefore serves primarily for
reference or for lesson assignment later in the course as the teacher's
judgment may suggest.
vi
Contents
PAGES
DIRECTIONS 1
EXPLANATORY SIGNS 2-3
LESSON I (If 1-3 ) VOWELS 4-11
II (If 4-6 ) DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS . 12-18
III (1J7-8 ) SOFT AND HARD C 19-27
IV ([9 ) SOFT AND HARD G 28-33
V (If 10-12) b-v; ch, h; d 34-39
VI (If 13-14) 11; n; ng 40-44
VII (T 1H8) {J;?.^ J; 53 ..... 45-52
VIII (*[ 19-24) SYLLABICATION 53-61
IX (^25-28) ACCENTUATION 62-73
PERMUTATION (If 29) 74-77
ALPHABET (If 30) 78
APPENDIX (If 29-35) ( CAPITALIZATION (If 31-33) . . . 79-81
PUNCTUATION (1J34) 81-83
POPULARISMS (If 35) 83-84
vn
DIRECTIONS
1. LEARN paragraphs numbered (*[ 1, ^[ 2, ^[3, etc.) and lettered
( (a), (b), (c), etc.). They comprise matter of primary importance for the
learner's progress, to be studied (not merely run over or glanced at) and
closely compared with the accompanying examples.
Rem. Considered in its broadest sense, "grammar" means unity and sequence in the pursuit of
language study. Hence a concern for grammatical principles is indispensable in order to classify and
coordinate the successive steps of language study into an educational process lifted above amateurish-
ness and guesswork.
Accompanying examples are not less indispensable for visualizing rules that would often seem
meaningless or insignificant without them. The examples are therefore vitally related to the learner's
study habits, in behalf of which they are made exceptionally full so as to constitute a fitting introduction
into the Exercises proper.
To skip the examples as superfluous or incidental whether in pronunciation or syntax means
speedily to choke up the path to normal progress, or at best to make it slow and wasteful.
2. READ Remarks (Rem.) printed in this form. They give directions, and call
attention to precautions which the learner is expected to read carefully and apply to his
study methods (which, without them, are likely to remain incomplete and defective).
3. CONSULT Remarks (Rem.), printed in this form, whenever referred to. They
contain grammatical matter supplementary to that of the numbered and lettered par-
agraphs, and are intended to round out the treatment of the topic they deal with. They
are expected to serve primarily as reference sources for the exercises (usually by means
of foot-note numbers) to explain a subordinate point therein that deserves such notice,
but lies outside the prescribed subject matter.
They are therefore not to be memorized as a part of the lesson containing the main
paragraphs to which they are appended, but to be reserved for careful consultation
whenever reference is made to them through the exercises.
4. Remarks in fine print are discretionary. They contain explanatory comments along with a
variety of philological matter chiefly scraps of historical and comparative grammar suggested by the
main topic as coming within the scope of the progressive inquiring learner on points he is most likely to
ask questions about, especially if he have some acquaintance with Latin and French or German. But
being outside the regular study matter they are left to his initiative or may be used by the teacher as a
source of summary reference for this or that question bearing on the points they specifically deal with.
5. WRITTEN EXERCISES. Use standard writing paper of business-letter size
(11 x 8K in.), one side ruled, with top and left-hand margins laid off. Write on one
(ruled) side only, in ink, leaving side margin free for the reader's marks or corrections.
Midway in the top margin inscribe the source (i. e. title of text-book) and number of
the exercise to be written.
Do not crowd the manuscript (i. e. follow the ruled lines), and take as many sheets
as needed.
Set word lists and conjugation forms as nearly as possible in parallel columns cor-
responding to the order of the text.
Begin each whole sentence on a new line, starting at the margin.
When the exercise manuscript is finished, sort and number the sheets of paper,
fold once lengthwise, and on the outside sheet endorse at the upper end with the triple
identification of writer (reverse order), course, and date, e. g. (note minor details)
Blank, A. B.
Span. 1 Sec. I
Mon., Oct. 1, 19
EXPLANATORY SIGNS ( 0, [],<>, ==, - Italics, " )
For securing conciseness and convenience of arrangement, the follow-
ing graphic devices are used throughout this work in a systematic fashion,
namely
1. Parentheses ( ) mean that matter so enclosed is explanatory in a restrictive
sense, e. g. "hard g (as in 'go')." meter 'to put (inside) ' means 'to put' in the sense
that applies to ' inside'.
(a). In composition, English words so enclosed are NOT to be translated into
Spanish, e. g. 'My father is (a) lawyer' i. e. the Spanish equivalent does not take the
indefinite article.
2. Brackets [ ] mean that matter so enclosed is explanatory' in a correlated func-
tion supplementary to the main one with which it is coupled, e. g. o[b]scuro means
that the word may read oscuro or obscuro. ' [man]-servant ' may be read as ' servant '
or 'man-servant', the former definition here implying and including the latter.
-[c]ion means that both -cion and -ion behave the same way as endings, almorzar
'to [eat] breakfast' means 'to breakfast' or 'to eat breakfast', llevar 'to take [away]'
means 'to take away' or 'to take' in the correlated sense of 'away'.
(a). In composition, English words so enclosed are whether appropriate or
not to English idiom to be translated into Spanish, whose idiom requires or
prefers their corresponding use, e. g. '[the] Mr. Suarez says [that] he can't come'. 'In
[the] spring and [in the] summer'.
Rem. Bracketted matter in both the Spanish and English counterparts of a definition points out
derivative definitions coordinated with each other, e. g. [re]nacer 'to be born [again]' means nacer 'to-
be born' and renacer 'to be born again'.
3. Angular Brackets ( ) mean that matter so enclosed is an alternative word
or form to the one that precedes, the sign being virtually equivalent to OR or AND
introducing the enclosed matter, e. g: otro(a) reads otro (masculine) or otra (femi-
nine), according to requirements, al<\por el) contrario means that the term may read
either al contrario or por el contrario. bajar 'to go (come) down' means bajar
'to go down' and 'to come down'.
Rem. Angular bracketted matter in both the Spanish and the English counterparts of a definition
points out corresponding supplementary elements coordinated with each other, e. g. acabo(acababa)
de hablar 'I have (had) just spoken' means acabo de hablar 'I have just spoken' and acababa de
hablar 'I had just spoken'.
4. The (set-off) Sign of Equality ( = ) means when connecting a Spanish word
or phrase with the corresponding English that the former has an indefinite or figu-
rative language that is transmitted freely or idiomatically rather than by a literal
translation (the force of which, however, the learner should take the trouble to acquaint
himself with whenever he has the means at his disposal), e. g. Bunolero, a tus bu-
nuelos = 'Cobbler, stick to your last' (while the literal meaning is ' Fritterfrycr, to
your fritters').
5. The Hyphen ( - ) connecting English separable words in the composition
(Ex. C) shows that the parts so united are to be considered in Spanish as a single word
or inflectional unit, and to be treated accordingly, e. g. 'I-have' means that the cor-
responding Spanish is to be considered as one word (tengo), but 'I have' (i. e. sepa-
rated) would be understood as calling for the separate factors of pronoun and verb
(yo tengo); 'uncle-and-aunt' is expressed by one word (tios). Similarly, ' I-am-
2
going' and ' he-is-called ' refer to one inflectional unit each (voy and se llama, respect-
ively); while 'to-look-for', 'to-look-at', ' to-listen-to ' mean that 'for', 'at', and 'to'
have here no independent prepositional existence in Spanish, as they have in English,
but are a part of the primary verb idea (as buscar, mirar, and escuchar, respectively).
Rem. 2. A set-off intervening word is outside of the combination connected, e. g. ' What are- you
-looking-for ?' means 'you' is to be separately expressed.
Rem. 2. A hyphened word or series of words depending on the key word of the expression is to be
treated as a negligeable modifyer of the main word in question (which is usually a verb subject or object
that includes its modifiers), e. g. Corrige Vd. los-errores-que-senala-el-maestro-en-sus-temas? Here
the hyphened words form the grammatical object, of which the boldface element is the only one to be
taken into consideration, e. g. in the pronoun correlative of the reply (i. e. Los corrijo).
6. Italics set off matter in English for emphasis or distinctiveness, or for con-
trast with correlated boldface matter in Spanish.
In composition (Exercises C), the italicized member of a hyphened English series
names the word to be sought for in the general vocabulary as the key to the
meaning of the whole expression, e. g. 'uncle-a.nd-a.unt' means "cf. uncle" in the vocab-
ulary, where the necessary data will be found. Similarly 'We-are- not -afraid' refers
to 'afraid', ' I-am-going-down ' points to 'go', ' He-is-go'mg-to-bed' refers to 'bed', 'A-
great-deal-ol ' to 'deal', etc.
7. The curved sign ~" connecting Spanish words (e. g. me^equivoco) or syllables
thereof (e. g. le^e, mo hoso) calls attention to the need of word or syllable linking in
pronunciation (^ 23 2, 1f 24).
PRONUNCIATION
SOUNDS AND SIGNS ,
Remark. The virtue of the following exercises lies in ORAL PRACTICE.
Little is accomplished by merely reading them to one's self, nothing whatever by only
looking at them (which is all that silent reading is apt to amount to). The prime ob-
ject of oral practice is to fix the habit of perfect team work, as it were, between the
voice organs and the will, so that the former will accustom themselves to respond
readily to the latter, in the same way that music practice aims at realizing a like coop-
eration between the eye that reads the notes and the voice or hand that executes. To
attempt to study pronunciation without oral practice is as irrational as to seek to
acquire technique in music by merely learning to read notes, or dexterity in any craft
or art (c. g. fencing) by merely looking on.
In getting a new sound the beginner's first duty is to learn to isolate it, detaching
it from the sound that precedes and the one that follows in the same word, and keeping
it unchanged under all conditions of occurrence. To this end he is expected to practice
the examples ALOUD slowly, carefully, distinctly repeating the operation for each
one until confidence is acquired. Only through patient practice in thus training the
ear and the speech organs to work smoothly together can the learner ever succeed in
recognizing with certainty a given sound he hears, and in making his own recognizable.
Until he accomplishes this much in the task of pronunciation his future grammar
study will be robbed of all vitality and stability.
Vowels
LESSON I (If 1-3)
SIMPLE VOWELS (monophthongs)
If 1 : Introductory (Sounds, Alphabet, Spelling)
If 2: Vowels (in general)
1f 3: Simple Vowels (Monophthongs)
1. Introductory. 1. Sounds. The Spanish language has, in
its standard usage, 46 clearly defined units of speech sound 1 23 vowel
units 2 and 23 consonant units, nearly all of which are current in English,
as well, and can be standardized 3 in terms of English equivalents.
2. Alphabet. Spanish sounds are expressed graphically 4 by an al-
phabet of 30 characters or letters, which comprise the 26 simple letters
of the English alphabet, together with 4 compound letters ch, 11, n 5 ,
and rr considered as simple and inseparable alphabetic characters for
the sounds they represent.
3. Spelling. Spanish spelling is virtually phonetic: i. e. Spanish
words are, for the most part, spelled and written as pronounced, inas-
much as each letter or letter combination to a given sound always rep-
resents this sound unchanged.
Rem. 1. Spanish shares the peculiarity of all the Romanic languages in having
a more vigorous tongue, lip, and jaw action than is the case in English, producing an
abrupt, jerky, disconnected ("staccato") movement. The English speaking learner
should, then, aim at extreme fullness and clearness of utterance particularly of
vowels , with the syllables sharply marked off. To counteract the opposite tend-
ency in his own language he can well afford to stress these features, even to the point
of apparent exaggeration. In such a matter, overdoing is infinitely preferable to
underdoing: the latter is worthless in its results, while the former merely emphasizes
an indispensable characteristic, which in time will properly tone itself down. From
the outset, the most scrupulous habits of thoroughness and carefulness in matters of
pronunciation should be cultivated by the learner and insisted on by the teacher.
Rem. 2. Of the 26 English characters common to Spanish, all are standard save k and w, which
arc met but rarely in naturalized words of foreign origin (English and German), e. g. dock, moka,
Berwick, Weyler. Hence the active Spanish alphabet may be said to consist of 28 letters, rejecting k and
1 A speech sound is a vocal unit not capable of subdivision without loss of its identity. It may be
a primitive (e. g. a, b) or a compound of two or more primitive (as ai, ch, iei) so closely fused together as
to be inseparable save by phonetic analysis. 2 I. e. 5 simple vowels (monophthongs) and 18 com-
pounds (14 dipthongs and 4 triphthongs). 3 /. c. sufficiently for all practical purposes.
4 "Graphically," i. e. by written or printed signs. 5 Named "n with lil'de (")" or "soft n."
4
<[ 2 Vowels
w although both are needed in a complete type-setting outfit for printing foreign names that may occur
descriptively (e. g. coke, pick-nick, Haifai, Windsor, (Washington).
Rem. 3. The language is unphonetic in respect to the following alphabetic characters: blended
sound of b and v (H 10 1); American soft c (If 8 1. II) likes (1)18 Rem. 1); (silent) h (If 11 2); front-
vowel j for g (^ 9 la); a few standard examples of final y for i ( c 5 lib), and a few fluctuating examples
of xfor j (If 9 Rem. 7).
Rem. 4. By "dearly defined" (If 1 1) is meant those sounds that the untrained ear can and must
learn to recognize. Phonetic experts claim many finer distinctions than those set forth in the following
lessons, but most of them have not. as yet, emerged from the fog of learned controversy. Besides, to
insist upon them here, as a prerequisite of elementary instruction, would result in fatally clogging all
progress.
Rem. 5. A systematic study of Spanish pronunciation is composed of the following indispensable
elements, in the order taken up here:
(full vowel diphthongs (t 5 I)
(diphthongs (* 4-5)
( vowels (1 2-3?) (semi-vowel diphthongs (If 5 II)
(1). Letter sounds (triphthongs (If 6)
(H2-18) ( consonants (If 7-18)
' Syllabication (1 19-24): i. e. letter sounds grouped into syllables
I Accentuation (If 25-27) : i. e. word identity determined by syllable stress
(a). The language has three diacritic 1 signs, considered as organic
elements in the spelling and writing of the letters over which they are
found : the (acute) accent mark ' (occurring over vowels only) ; the
dieresis 2 " (occurring only over u, as ii) ; and the til'de ' (occurring
only over n, as ii).
Rem. 6. Hence, being written above the letters with which associated, Spanish diacritic signs are all
5M/ifrscript, as distinguished from subscript, or written below the letter (e. g. the French cedilla, c). of
which last there are no examples in modern Spanish.
^ 2. A Vowel is a voice sound having a resonant continuable tone:
i. e. a sound not broken or checked in its passage (as is the case with a
consonant), like the cries of birds and (brute) animals.
Rem. 1. The different vowels represent tone modifications produced by the tongue and lips accord-
ing as these cooperate, from different positions, to obstruct or facilitate, in varying degrees, the free out-
ward passage of the vocalized breath (cf. Rem. 4).
(a). Vowel sounds are classified as simple (monophthongs, e. g. 0)
and compound (diphthongs, e. g. I[=eye], (Eng.) u[==yoti], and triph-
thongs) .
Rem. 2. The distinguishing mark of a simple vowel, as contrasted with a com-
pound, is one even, uniform sound (e. g. of a note in singing), free from the final diph-
thong feature of so-called "vanish," c. g. ' Oh sa-ey, Joh-oc, take ca-ere and don't get
si-ick.'
This " vanish " is so marked a trait of English monosyllables especially in drawled
or deliberate utterance as to make the (stressed) vowels thereof tend to become virtual
diphthongs (i. e. compound vowels).
It is a tendency to be shunned in the Romanic languages, whose jerky staccato
movement (If 1 Rem. 1) affords, besides, a helpful agency toward minimizing such
a blemish.
Rem. 3. The study of Spanish vowel sounds is best undertaken by correlating
them in the following standard phonetic order:
i e a o u
1 " Diacrit' ic [al] " = distinguishing, distinctive; in its broadest sense, as here, it is said of any mark
or sign so employed. 2 Pronounce dl-er'e-sis.
.
- :
- .
-
- :
. '
i ,.,/! ... :
1
.iii
. ii. i
It
if . > i
M
^llt|V<-. I .HI - i ...MII Ii i. i. . .' ".i in. I ,!i-
: . ; . .1 .noiilli
-rr. < *-.>n\r*l.^ Jti
-
.5. Vj>i>>i *v
S?
.'^ -\\
k
te-
~tf> fj?-|X^Ji\S ^r--tV-AN^ Ws-'-Ih^V 1 ^-Sl V>
- --^-
-.^-
-,^i\-<
-> 'rVtX ' VVr A W>
< NX
8 Lesson I ^ 3 3-5
1 3. a = a in 'car-pet' or 'fa-ther' 1 (with tongue lying flat and mouth
wide open, as in yawning) :
a da la cal sal las 2 mas 2 tras 2 mar par a-la al-
ma al-ta a-ma ar-ca ar-pa ca-ble ca-ma ca-pa ca-ra
ca-sa 2 da-ma fa-ma ga-na gra-na la-na man-ta ma-ta
pa-la pa-pa pa-ta pla-ta plan-ta sa-la san-ta ta-pa
5 tram-pa al-pa-ca al-fal-fa a-mar-ga A-ma-ta ba-na-na ba-
ta-ta cam-pa-na Ca-ra-cas 2 ca-ram-ba cas 2 -ca-da gar-gan-ta
pa-ga-na pa-ta-ta se-ma-na al-par-ga-ta a-na-gra-ma a-pa-
ra-to ar-ga-ma-sa 2 ca-bal-ga-ta Ca-la-tra-va ca-la-ve-ra ca-
ma-ra-da ca-ta-ra-ta ga-ra-ba-to a-mal-ga-ma-ra ca-la-ve-ra-
10 da es-ca-pa-ra-te ex-tra-va-gan-te la se-ma-na pa-sa 2 -da San-ta
Mar-ga-ri-ta in-de-ter-mi-na-ble a-ni-ma San-ta Bar-ba-ra ca-
ma-ra lam-pa-ra Ma-la-ga mas 2 -ca-ra ga-la-pa-go Al-can-ta-
ra pa-ra-bo-la a-ca ma-ma pa-pa pa-pal pa-pel ca-nal
ca-pi-tal ca-ta-lan char 3 -la-tan ga-na-pan na-da mas 2 San-
15 ta Fe el ca-mi-no re 4 -al el ca-nal de Pa-na-ma a-mar can-tar
ha 5 -blar pa-sar am-pa-rar Tra-fal-gar.
Rem. 7. a is orally the strongest and most sonorous of the vowels, since its flat tongue position
and the wide open mouth offer the least obstruction to the outward passage of the column of air.
Rem. 8. For double a (aa) cf. [ 23 2.
4. O = o in 'nor[mal],' 'north[-ward]," or 'por-poise' (with lips well
rounded and mouth passage well open).
1 lo no col sol con don flor por dos 2 tos 2 cO-co
co-mo co-ro co-sa 2 ca-so 2 cor-so 2 fon-do lo-co mo-do
mo-no mo-ro o-ro o-tro plo-mo po-co so-lo so-plo so-
to to-mo ton-to do-ble no-ble ro 4 -ble co-bre po-bre
5 sO-bre Al-fon-so 2 co-lo-co co-lo-no co-ro-na do-no-so mo-
men-to mo-ro-so 2 no-so-tros 2 por-te-ro pro-vo-co Ro 4 -dri-go
so-bri-no som-bre-ro so-no-ro vo-so-tros 2 do-lo-ro-so 2 o-lo-ro-
so 2 ma-ri-ne-ro de o-tro mo-do lo-co-mo-to-ra pe-ca-mi-no-so 2
co-mo-do f6s' J -fo-ro pro-lo-go fo-to-gra-fo mo-no-lo-go te-6-
I0lo-go ca-lor co-lor do-lor bo-ton cor-don mon-ton al-
go-don Cris-t6-bal Co-Ion .
Rem. 9. For double o (oo) cf. f 23 2.
5. U oo in 'cool-ness' or u in 'r/*l-ing' (uttered broad and full,
with lips tensely rounded or puckered up, as in whistling, so as to leave
a diminished mouth passage) :
1 Considered as the intermediate sound between a in 'tack' and a in 'talk'. 2 With hitting s.
3 With ch as in 'chin'. 4 With strongly trilled initial r. 5 With silent h.
3 5 Vowels 9
i
Rem. 10. AVOID English u (as in 'pure'), which like English i is not a simple
vowel sound at all, but a diphthong (= Spanish iu).
Rem. 11. When as often happens i and u are the vowels of adjoining syllables
(e. g. in tri-bu, pul-pi-to, dis-pu-ta) cultivate ease and readiness in shifting the
lip position from the one extreme of the vowel scale to the other (i. e. from
extreme retraction to extreme puckering-up cf. ^ 2 R. 3). Only by prompt and decided
lip cooperation, in each extreme, is the corresponding Spanish vowel effectively pro-
duced.
su tu un Sur Bur-gos 1 bus^to Cu-ba cil-bre cu-bro 1
cul-pa cul-to cum-ple cu-na cu-ra cur-so cur-va du-ro
fru-ta fu-mo gus-to lum-bre lu-na lu-nes 1 lus^tre lu-
to mu-cho 2 mu-la mun-do mu-ro mus'-go plu-ma pun-
to pu-ro rum 3 -bo sli-mo tri-bu tu-bo tum-ba u-no
u-na u-va vul-go a-dul-to a-gu-do al-gu-no as-tu-to a- 5
sun^to con-duc-ta cor-du-ra cos-tum-bre cos l -tu-ra cul-ti-
vo cul-tu-ra dis-pu-ta em-bus l -te es'-pu-ma fac-tu-ra fi-
gu-ra for-tu-na fu-tu-ro i-liis-tre in-sul-to le-gum-bre lo-
cu-ra mi-nu-to mo-lus-co os-cu-ro oc-tu-bre pin-tu-ra
pro-fun-do pu-pi-lo pu-pi-tre se-gun-do se-gu-ro sus^pi-ro 10
tor-tu-ra tu-mul-to u-su l -ra vo-lu-men com-bus-ti-ble cu-
cu-ru-cho 2 es-cul-tu-ra im-por-tu-no in-du-da-ble ins-tru-men-
to mo-nu-men-to mu-che 2 -dum-bre pro-duc-ti-vo se-pul-tu-ra
su-cu-len-to sus-ti-tu-to tur-bu-len-to u-ni-for-me im-per-tur-
ba-ble in-du-bi-ta-ble ma-nu-fac-tu-ra Pe-ru su-til us-ted 15
fru-gal na-tu-ral Por-tu-gal su-cur-sal 1 tri-bu-nal sul-tan
al-gun be-tun co-mun se-giin cu-brir cum-plir dis-cu-tir
su-cum-bir con-duc-tor i-nun-dar mur-mu-rar pro-cu-rar mu-
su^-man cal-cu-los 1 cre-du-lo cu-mu-lo fa-bu-la lu-gu-bre
lu-pu-lo mus-cu-lo mu-si^ca nu-me-ro pul-pi-to pur-pu-ra20
ru 3 -bri-ca rus 3 -ti-co sub-di-to ul-ti-mo u-vu-la val-vu-la
ar-ti-cu-lo cre-pus^cu-lo dis-ci 4 -pu-lo es-cru-pu-lo es-pi-ri-tu
es-tu-pi-do man-di-bu-la mi-niis^cu-la o-pus'-cu-lo pe-nin-su-
la ri 3 -di-cu-lo so-nam-bu-lo ve-hi 5 -cu-lo ver-si-cu-lo ves-ti-
bu-lo es-pec-ta-cu-lo si-mul-ta-ne-o se-gun su gus-to in-ver-na- 25
cu-lo 6 el ma-nus-cri-to 6 .
Rem. 12. u is orally the weakest (i. e. least sonorous) of the vowels, since the tongue
humping in the rear of the mouth (H 2 Rem. 3) offers the maximum degree of obstruc-
tion to the column of breath in its passage outward, i stands in next degree, its front
position giving it a slight advantage over u in respect to sonority.
1 With hissing s. 2 With ch as in ' e/rin 1 . 3 With strongly trilled initial r. 4 With
soft-c (as c in 'city' or th in 'thin ') . 5 With silent h. 6 Illustrating all the vowels.
10 Lesson I If 3 6
These facts explain the phonetic rating of i and u as "weak" vowels relative to
a, e, and o as "strong" vowels a distinction that is vital to the consideration of diph-
thongs and triphthongs (If 4-6).
Rem. 13. u is inorganic (i. e. silent) in gui, gue, and qui, que serving in these
combinations merely as a spelling tag to give notice that in them gu stands for hard-gr
(as in 'go', 'guess'), and qu for hard-c (= k, as in 'etigwet'), e. g. gui-a) (~ghi'-a),
pa-gue (= pa'-ghe}; Qui-to (= ki'-to), du-que (= du'-ke).
Rem. 14. u is always iworganic in qu, but in a few examples it is organic in gui
and gue (i. e. pronounced with its independent value so as to produce gwi, gwe). When
it is so pronounced it is written with the dieresis () as gui, giie (the two adjacent
vowels forming a diphthong), e. g. ar-giiir ar-gui-mos ar-giii a-giie-ro.
6. y as vowel = y in 'boy' = Spanish i, which is so written (y) as
follows :
As the conjunction 'and': e. g. ca-sos 1 y co-sas 1 pla-ta y O-ro.
As word final 2 : e.g. doy soy ley rey 3 es-toy.
Rem. 15. For y as semi-vowel cf. U 5 2 (a); and as consonant, *[ 18 4.
Rem. 16. The above vowel values are common to all the Romanic tongues. But in certain of
them notably in French and Italian several of the vowels, most distinctively e and o, require each a
subdivision according as the lip and tongue position is: (1) more tense, with a narrower channel for the
air passage in its exit, thus producing a sound called "close" (e. g. in the above example for e, and o in
'bro-ker') ; or (2) more relaxed, with a freer passage for the column of air in its exit, thus producing a sound
called "open" (e. g. in 'met' and in the above example for o).
A corresponding distinction for "close" and "open" vowels is claimed also for Spanish, but it oper-
ates to a degree much less clearly marked than it does in French and Italian and is of much less im-
portance to the learner. To insist upon such a distinction here would involve a multiplicity of rules and
checks (often more or less hypothetical) that would commit more mischief than accomplish good be-
cause of distracting the learner's attention from vital distinctions.
The values or qualities of the vowels given in the preceding pages are the usual or normal ones on
which the learner is dependent for his first steps forward. But it is well to be aware of the fact (as an
explanation of what might, at times, seem inconsistencies to the discerning ear) that each of the vowels
may have somewhat the following range (in roughly approximate English values) :
a from ' fat ' to ' far'.
e from " close " in ' mate ' to " open " in ' met '.
i from " close " in ' meet ' to " open " in ' rnit '.
from " close " in ' note ' to "open " in ' not '.
u from " close " in ' pool ' to " open " in ' pll '.
In respect to e, i, u, the "close" quality prevails when they are stressed (tonic), the more "open"
is discernible when they are in unstressed (atonic) syllables, (e. g. me-te, vi-vi, tu-mul-to). But, even
here, the Spanish "open" quality is less marked than the above English equivalents, and for the sake of
establishing vital distinctions to be insisted on as a prerequisite to any progress whatever, the teacher
may consider it as negligible.
In respet to o, the distinction between the "close" and "open" varieties is more clearly discern-
ible, the stressed syllable in -p having the standard "open" quality above prescribed, while the un-
stressed syllables are more noticeably "close" (e. g. co-co, po-co, fon-do, co-lo-no) a coordination that
the teacher may even insist on to advantage.
Rem. 17. Having observed how unlike the Spanish and English vowel characters
are in their respective pronunciation, always refer to or identify the Spanish char-
acters (as for spelling purposes) by their own names (i. e. their phonetic values)
rather than by their utterly misleading English names. For example, Spanish i
means (English) ee only and always. To spell it or refer to it as == (English) eye is to
indulge in a stupid trustification that fatally clogs progress with blundersomc cross
associations.
QUESTION SYLLABUS 4
(^f 1 l) How many (clearly defined) units of speech sound has Spanish?
How many are vowels and how many consonants?
1 With hissing s. 2 Replacing i, by a conventionality of Castilian spelling, as the second
member of a final diphthong (H 5 2b). .< With strongly trilled initial r. 4 In recitations, an
answer, in order to convey clear and definite impressions of lesson facts, should comprise as far as is
practicable, a complete proposition that includes the terms of the question, e. g. QUES: How many
units of speech sound has Spanish? ANS: Spanish has 46 units of speech sound.. But in written
examinations, where time is the all important consideration, the utmost brevity of reply is to be expected.
Syllabus I n
To what extent do they compare, in general, with English
sounds?
(1f 1 2 ) How many characters comprise the Spanish alphabet?
Does it contain all the letters of the English alphabet (how
many)? How many others?
Name the Spanish alphabetic characters in excess of English.
What kind of characters are they considered?
(Ifl 3 ) To what degree is Spanish spelling "phonetic" (i. e. what is
meant by this term)?
(^[1 R. 1 ) In learning to pronounce Spanish what caution should the learner heed?
(^f la ) How many diacritic signs are there in Spanish?
What are they and over what letters only do they occur?
(If 2 ) Define a vowel. Distinguish from a consonant.
What cries illustrate vowel sounds?
(1f2a ) Classify vowel sounds.
(1J2R. 2 ) What is the distinguishing mark (tone) of a simple vowel?
What caution is to be observed in learning Spanish vowel sounds?
(1f3 R. 1 ) In the pronunciation exercises what caution is to be observed
I. In respect to syllable utterance?
II. In respect to syllable stress (and where)
(1f 3 1 ) Describe the sound of the Spanish vowel (written i) (qualified).
(p. 7 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(If 3 2 ) Describe the sound of the Spanish vowel (written) e (qualified).
(p. 7 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(If 3 3 ) Describe the sound of the Spanish vowel (written) a (qualified).
(p. 8 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(If 3 4 ) Describe the sound of the Spanish vowel (written) o (qualified).
(p. 8 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(If 3 5 ) Describe the sound of the Spanish vowel (written) u (qualified).
(1f3R. 10) What English sound is to be avoided in Spanish u?
(1J3R. 11) What caution when Spanish i and u occur in adjoining syllables?
(p. 9 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
) Describe the sound of the Spanish (written) y as vowel?
When is it so written (i. e. as y instead of i)?
EXAMPLES: Pe-dro y Pa-blo; cor-du-ra y lo-cu-ra; car-tas y
car-tas; ri-cos y po-bres.
R. 17) How should Spanish vowels be referred to or identified?
. 3-4) Why are the five simple vowels placed in the above phonetic order?
that is to say
What are the "front" and "back" vowels, and by what consideration are
they determined as such?
What is meant by "retracted" and "round" vowels?
What correspondence is there between the two sets of terms?
LESSON II 4-
nirn PHONC.S \\n TKIIMI THMV is
* I: Diphthongs (properties) ' 5 Diphthongs (divisions)
' (> I
' 4. A Diphthong i- .1 letter roinliination I'har.u lei i.vd l>y t\\o
fundamental properties ot' st rnet lire and Stress, namelx
1. Structure. \ diphthong is the union or mer^ini; of T\\ O
\ o\\el> into <>;;< syllahlt- v i- i'. pt'oi ion need a.- .in unbroken >oiind set|iieih e
J. Strrss. \ diphthong has 1 ; A1.1 l\i. ! or I\1 X IV'' >tre--, one
\o\\el 1'einu distinetlv einphasi/ed, orallx , at the expense ot the othei.
uli't.iti.-n.-i K-.ul ii|> t.> tin- l.'IKnum. ihpluliKiiK l>'tin.ilii'ti:
Spanish \o\\el- are divided. oralK . into t \\ o ele.nl> detnu-d
v;ioiip>. aeeordiii;^, to their ditlerent deuiee> ot >onotit\ or >tren;;th, \i
STROM , a. c-. o) and \\ 1 \K i. u
\ >pani>h diphthong eonsist> o! one strong and one \\eak \o\\el.
or .'t the tuo \\eak ones, in either order. l>nt \\ith the -tie al\\a\- on
the stronu \o\\el or the MVOIH! ot the \\i\ik ones.
I 1 ihthonga aR .'. >m\i-, tun; link l-l\Mfti \.-u. N .nul . .Miscn.ints. liol.liu. i.'ii i>t
tin- liiL;lii'st ini|x<it.ii\v < in ill' .'I S|>.vnisli i>ioiunu-i.itu>n .nul .--prlluii;. At tin- .-.inn- tmir. tlu' >un-
pluitx oi tin- Sp.ini-.li \, '\\i-l st>iiiiil>. Aith tlu-n pluMH-tu ,-pi-lluK-. in.ik.i-s tin- Mil'ir. t inn- i'l tin-
II \ ,! l!s k
* 5. Spanish Diphthongs are 11 in nnn\l>er. o \\ith initial
stroii- \o\\i-i t, t'onn itulM \o\\el diphthongs (those ot '/<;//; /.^ stn-
and S \\ith initial \\eak \o\\el to lorin semi-\ owel diphthongs (those oi
Stress 9 ), naineK
STRON" WEAK STRONG
(first) U^l>
| . .' " . K 1 ' .\ \Vitli
" .* K
\1
.s 1-2 Diphthong* i <
I'fin I ' .|i.iin -.li -:|""llmi: !> for vov (lip l.muri.iyr |a ffrr frfitn "Itfl- 1
i " .llplil II..MI- I HO rri rf. P. u I '
in: <;p. roc, floor. wwl, lrt<>, \ifiitl, r ,< i...ii,., y*f li tfP, Ifl*
'!.'!. ' I.M .,! ,[> i ii-iiiyli. It'll lirilm rliphl limit! : q| nil. lint II,. m
lik. Ifw Ming,
1. VowH Diplil lion^s 'i. c. (li|liilion^'i willi I'AI.IJNfi
arc as follows:
I', i.i I. I'roiuiiiiK < < Ic-.irly :uul fully, with .!< nl-<l dlphi lioni> nln-noi
ill' voi< c fallitiK f'lrrihlv on tin- Htn^HWfl clcincnf of lh- diphthong vowrls;. I hit; <li|ih-
thftn^ Ktrcss i not to lie ronfuseH with I he sylUihir Btfcnn (hpro iflflinitrfl provision. illy,
in cxampU'M of two or more yllnMc, by thr boldface vowrlH ' K-m. 1).
both (liphihon^r ;md tyllabic tr<'wt coincide f thr formrr in Kfi f)ff untnintrikahly (<\
:l-r-, flain^irt:). I5ut when I hey rlo not BO coin< iflf thr diphthong Bfr^ss nrc
becomcH Hcconrlary to th; syllabic tre, and to this pxtent ift rclativ-ly impaired in
its distinctnt-BB (e. K- nu-ro-rn, pa-trV/), although by no means parting with its individ-
uality in the word's sequence of sounds.
ai fff. '/,' '\>\'i\y') 1 . an (d, 'd(wn uwn'/
Ci 'c I. '1^,' CM
Oi (cf, '1)0/1', 'rfl/n'; 1 . [ou rli.Hcarfl 7 !
ORA(. ;md WBITINC KxBRClsfcs: Of thcwc and the tuceeiwive exarnplrs of J,eucwn fF,
write down nJirertionn, Sec. 5) every other word, imitating the- hyphened aylbbirutifn.
ai ai n- l.ai Ic rai-^o cai-K&is liaiN ai-ta nai p- I
trai-dor irai-K f ' trai-gais vai-na al-rai-rlf II < ai-ro irif)-
sai'-cr) i>'> lai ii.i pro-Hai^-co K;ii' tniiu rlo *ai-ne-te trdi-ga-me.
an .mil au-la au-ra auto au-tor can rial rjin-to
clans-tro fan-na fan , io flan io fran r|.- f ,an la l.an-ra
I. HI rel [)an-Ha 3 ran 1 rial Au-gUs-to an rru-ti-tar au-tnen-to5
an-ro ra au-scn'-te a-plan r|c a-plau-iO 3 ' ans'-ti-co can-te-
la rau-tl-vr> natj-fra-K" nau-sc 8 -a nan-ti-co plan J ! Me
res 4 -tan-rar hi'-dr&u li-co.
ci pei-ru: [n-i-nar plei-tc; rei'-nr* n-i'-nar vein-te
irt-in-ta a-fei-te a-foi-f,ar r|r- lei-N- r|- lei-tar pl<-i-tf-ar. 10
Cii: fen rlo ncn-trr> ncn-tral ren 1 ma l.n-ro-pa rcu 4 -m4-
ti-co 9cu-d6-rii-mo te-ra-p6u-ti-co tran-v.eun s -te.
oi oi-go hoi-na Moi-s&i 3 ' toi-co
2. Semi-V'r>wel Diphthongs (\. c. fli[>hfhorig.s
corre i^onrl to ilu- I',riK r lisli ty- anrl ^-sounds, in the fr<llr>wing vowel com-
i ! "vanish" (*! J R 2). 2 Diphthong o I* of n^ pra> tu,il va
i i k (am) that a rare one to th* learner'* Tcp^rlrTwr)- boo a kind of
j+. 4 With trongjy trilM initial r. 5 With nilent h. * For
14 Lesson II 5 2
I. H/-SERIES II. F-SERIES
ui (cf. 'we Sir')
iC (cf. >aSir')
ue (cf. 'wake-mi')
ia (cf. '^ard-man')
ua (cf. 'wa-ter')
io (cf. 'yeo-man')
uo (cf. 'woe-fiil')
iu (cf. >HSir')
I. W-SERIES
iui: Luis 1 fui 1 a-tri-buir a-tri-bui in-fluir in-flui cui-ta
rui 2 -do rui 2 -na gra-tui-to cui-dar cui-da-do rui 2 -nar.
ue: cruel fue fue-go pues 3 des-pues 3 pues 3 -to bue-no
cuen-to cue-ro duer-men mues 3 -tra mue-vo nue-ve nue-
vo pue-do prue-bo sue-lo rue 2 -go true-no con-sue 3 -lo
5 e-cues 3 -tre es 3 -cue-la pue-ril Sa-muel te-nue a-cues 3 -ta
fre-cuen-te fre-cuen-tar re 2 -cuer-do Bue-nos 3 Ai-res 3 .
ua: cual cuan-do cua-tro gua-po guar-da sua-ve a-
dua-na a-cua-ti-co ac-tual gra-dual ma-nual Pas 3 -cual
ha 4 -bi-tual in-di-vi-dual in-te-lec-tual con-ti-nuar a-gua le-
10 gua tre-gua es 3 -ta-tua guar-dar.
uo : cuo-ta a-cuo-so 3 tor-tuo-so 3 fra-guo cons 3 -pi-cuo con-
ti-guo i-ni-cuo su-per-fluo.
II. F-SERIES
ie: pie piel fiel bien sien Die-go dien-te fies 3 -ta
15 hie 4 -lo nie-go nie-ve pien-so pier-de siem-pre sie-te
tiem-po vier-nes 3 con-fie-sa des-pier-ta en-tien-do co-mien-
do vi-vien-do co-mie-ron vi-vie-ron co-mie-se 3 vi-vie-ra
se-rie in-tem-pe-rie buen tiem-po.
ia: criar fiar liar cam-biar lim-piar a-gra-viar es 3 -tu-
20diar fa-mi-liar pe-cu-liar re 2 -me-diar cor-dial Es 3 -co-rial
ma-te-rial fiam-bres 3 pia-no aus-tria-co es 3 -tu-dian-te es 3 -
tu-dian-do Gua-dia-no in-dia-no pa-triar-ca San-tia-go a-ria
Aus-tria fu-ria pa-tria fa-mi-lia ma-te-ria.
iO: dio Dios rio 2 vio co-mio vi-vio brio-so 3 cu-rio-so 3
25 fu-rio-so 3 ga-vio-ta i-dio-ma pa-trio-ta mis-te-rio-so 3 pe-rio-
di-co cues-tion o-pi-nion ex-te-rior in-te-rior su-pe-rior
1 =Lwees. fwee, etc, 2 With strongly trilled initial r. 3 With hissing s. 4 With silent h.
If 5 a Diphthongs 15
dia-rio in-dio lim-pio pa-tio pre-vio pro-pio a-gra-vio
bre-via-rio mis-te-rio re'-me-dio an-ti-cua-rio es-ta-tua-rio.
iU: triun-fo viu-do o-riun-do in-ter-viu.
Rem. 3. The diphthongs ue and ie are very numerous. They characteristically occur in syllables
bearing the accent (i. e. tonic) stress, and as will be seen hereinafter (Chs. viii-ix) are a vital inflectional
feature of a large class of semi-irregular verbs and their derivatives.
Rem. 4. Some semi-vowel diphthongs (viz. ia, ua, and ui) are of two kinds: "true" and "false."
The former are inseparable under all conditions. But the latter (as "false" diphthongs) are etymological! y
bisyllabic, being composed of separable diphthong elements brought together merely by the coincidence
of location and in normal pronunciation merged together as true diphthongs.
The distinction between "true" and "false" bears chiefly on the (theoretic) syllabication of certain
verbs (If 143 2, 158 and a few compound words (e. g. boqui abierto 'open-mouthed', cari^acontecido
'long-faced', cuelli erguido 'stiff-necked'). But it does not affect the practical diphthong value of the
combinations in question, according as the learner meets them under all conditions when they are not
"dissolved" by the accent mark ('[22 a).
Rem. 5. The w and y sounds are so prominent in the scheme of Romanic pronunciation that
their nature in their Spanish functions should be well understood. Just where to determine their exact
place in phonetics is as yet a matter of controversy. But it can be safely said that they stand on border
ground between vowels and consonants, sharing the properties of each. They are to be regarded as among
the connecting links (^ 7 Rem. 2) between vowels and consonants, and in this capacity they may be des-
ignated either semi-vowels or semi-consonants, according to occasion. In the former capacity that of
semi-vowels (and the more usual one) they are coupled with a preceding consonant in the same syllable,
thus having primarily a vowel-diphthong function (i. e. combined with consonant plus i or u cf. examp'es
abovel. As semi-consonants they serve by themselves to introduce the consonant element of the syllable
of which they form a part, connecting it directly with the adjacent syllabic vowel cf. examples of y-
and hu- in (a), below.
Rem. 6. For the accent mark in the monosyllabic combinations of the above examples (e. g. fui)
cf. 1 27 R. 4.
(a). The letters i and u, introducing diphthongs of rising stress^are
not admitted, in writing, as word initial or intervocalic: in these locations
they are consonantized in spelling as y- and hu-, respectively, because
considered as having primarily a consonant function 2 (but remaining the
same in pronunciation) :
WITH INITIAL Y-DIPHTHONG (y-)
ye : ye 3 -gua yen 3 -do yes 4 -ca a-yer 3 o-ye 3 cre-yen-do ere- 1
ye-ra cre-ye-se 4 le-yen-da pro-yec-til pro-yec-to con-clu-
yen-do con-clu-ye-ra con-clu-ye-se 4 .
ya: ya a-ya Go-ya ha 5 -ya pla-ya ra'-ya va-ya a-ta-
la-ya e-po-pe-ya Gua-ya-na.
yo: yo a-yo ba-yo cu-yo hu^-yo ma-yo po-yo ra^yo
su-yo tu-yo des 4 -ma-yo cons-tru-yo la-ca-yo Pe-la-yo
ple-be-yo ba-yo-ne-ta hu 5 -yo ma-yor cons-tru-yo.
yu: yu-go yun-ta Yu-ca-tan a-yu-da a-yu-na Lo-yo-la
ma-yus-cu-la. 10
WITH INITIAL JF-DIPHTHONG (hu 5 -)
hue 5 : hue-co huel-ga huer-ta hue-vo huer-fa-no al-de-
hue-la pa-ri-hue-la 6 Ca-yo Hue-so 4 .
hua 5 : hua-cal.
1 With strongly trilled initial r. 2 As in ';yard', 'law-yer', (R. 5). 3 Instead of t'egua,
tendo, a-er, o-e, etc. 4 With hissing s (as in 'see'). 5 With silent h. 6 'Key West 1 .
16 Lesson II ^j 5 b-c
Rem. 7. The above requirement (of If 5 a) explains a spelling peculiarity (11144 2)
of certain verbs whose infinitive stem ends in a vowel, namely-
some half dozen verbs of II conjugation (e. g. le-er) AND
an irregular class (V) of III conjugation (e. g. hw-ir).
The inflectional diphthongs -io and -ie- (of preterite group and present parti-
ciple) being peculiar to the II-III conjugations, they necessarily stand directly after
the stem vowel and hence produce the condition of unaccented intervocalic -i-: which
thus reverts to its consonant function (R. 5) and is spelled -yo and -ye- (e. g. le-yo
hu-ye-ron).
Rem. 8. From the above examples it will appear that hu- is rare, with its few examples mostly
in hue-. On the other hand, examples in y- are common enough as a characteristic spelling feature of
the language.
Rem. 9. The principle of (a), above, does not affect certain words in hie-, of which the h forms
an organic part of the word's etymology, e. g. hielo (Lat. gelu) 'ice', hierba (Lat. herba) 'grass', hierro
(Lat. ferrum) 'iron'. But such words are pronounced (and sometimes written): yelo, yerba, yerro (thus
identical in form and pronunciation with yerro 'error').
(b). Whenever the diphthongs containing the second element -i
(i. e. ai, ei, oi, and ui) occur as WORD FINAL, a peculiarity of Cas-
tilian 1 usage requires the -i to be consonantized in spelling as -y (thus
producing -ay, -ey, -oy, and -uy).
The following are the only practicable examples:
ay: fray guay hay 3 .
ey: dey grey ley rey 4 ca-rey.
Oy: doy hoy 3 soy voy Al-coy bo-coy con-voy es-toy.
uy 2 : muy Ruy 4 .
Rem. 10. Also medially, -oy occurs, by convention, in the diminutive arroy-uelo 'brooklet' by
the influence of its primitive arro-yo. Otherwise we should expect arroi-ftuelo (by t 5a).
Rem. 11. The above substitution of y for word-final (i. e. vowel) i (and also when standing alone
If 3 6) seems an unwarranted violation of consistency in the spelling usages of the language. Such a
feeling has taken hold of South American Spanish, where extensively (and quite generally in the Pacific
states) vowel i is kept unchanged when word-final or alone (= 'and'). Thus Castilian hay, ley, rey,
doy, hoy, soy, voy, convoy, estoy, muy. y ('and') are written and printed hat, lei, ret, doi, hoi, soi,
voi, convoi, estoi. mui, i (e. g. cosas i casos, cordura i locura).
Rem. 12. The above substitution of y for word-final (i. e. vowel) i is explainable by a pedantic
concern for the rules of accentuation and pluralization: in the first case, to keep the rule of final stress
visually intact for consonant-ending words (cf. ^f 26 2) ; in the second, to anticipate the consonant function
of the final i of the singular when, in the plural, it loses its vowel character and becomes the initial con-
sonant of the pluralizing syllable (e. g. ley, pi. le-yes cf. If 41 2). But there are less than half a dozen
words of either category to which this special spelling frill can be attached.
Rem. 13. -ui (i. e. accented) is a verb ending (Class V), and has the accent mark by force of imi-
tation, since it is subject to the uniform usage of a standard verb inflection in (accented) -i (T 27 R. 4),
e. g. fui hui conclui.
(c). Two adjacent strong vowels (a, e, o), or any vowel (usually
strong) adjacent to an accented weak vowel (i or u), do NOT form
diphthongs, and hence are separated in deliberate pronunciation (as
they must be in syllabication) :
Rem. 14. When the weak vowel thus takes the syllabic stress at the expense of
the adjacent strong vowe-1, it is written with the accent mark so as to show graphically
that it is not part of a diphthong (^ 22 a).
a-G: fa-e-na ma-es-tro sa-e-ta ca-er tra-er Ra J -fa-el.
a-O: ca-os Bil-ba-o ca-o-ba sa-ra-o ba-ca-la-o ca-ra-ba-o.
1 As distinguished from South American Spanish cf. R. 11. 2 For examples spelled in -ui
(i. e. with accent mark) cf. R. 13. 3 With silent h. 4 With strongly trilled initial r.
Triphthongs 17
e-3: al-de-a be-a-to i-de-a ma-re-a pe-le-a ta-re-a te-a-
tro a-sam^ble-a Do-ro-te-a le-al re 2 -al de-an cre-ar em-
ple-ar me-ne-ar pe-le-ar li-ne-a ti-foi-de-a.
e-O: fe-o re 2 -o a-se^o a-te-o Ma-te-o pa-se l -o re 2 -cre-o
sor-te-o tro-fe-o si-la-be-o ti-ro-te-o le-6n pe-6n pe-or 5
le-O-na me-te-o-ro Pi-ri-ne-os 1 au-re-o cra-ne-o ins-tan-ta-
ne-o mo-men- ta-ne-o.
O-3: bo-a pro-a Bal-bo-a ca-no-a Lis^bo-a.
O-e: o-es-te po-e-ma po-e-ta No-e he 3 -ro-e.
a-l: ca-i Ca-in pa-is Si-na-i ca-i-do tra-i-do pa-ra-i-so 1 10
Val-pa-ra-i-so 1 .
a-u: a-un ba-ul Sa-ul E-sa^u.
e-i: cre-i-do le-i-do cre-i-ble re 2 -i son-re-i-mos al-de-i-ta
pa-se-i-to.
o-i: o-is 1 o-i-do he 3 -ro-i-na he s -ro-ls 1 -mo e-go-is^mo. 15
l-a: di-a cri-a ti-a vi-a Ma-ri-a So-fi-a a-le-gri-a a-ve-
ri-a bio-gra-fi-a li-bre-ri-a sim-pa-ti-a te-o-ri-a ton-te-ri-a
tro-pe-li-a fi-lo-so-fi-a sa-bi-du-ri-a.
|-e 4 : cri-e en-vi-e va-ri-e.
l-o: bri-o fri-o li-o mi-o pi-o ti-o bal-di-o en~vi-o20
has 3 -ti-o na-vi-o som-bri-o tar-di-o al-be-dri-o a-mo-ri-o
pe-ri-o-do.
U-a: gru-a pu-a con-ti-nu-a e-fec-tu-a.
U-e 4 : con-ti-nu-e e-fec-tu-e.
U-i: flu-i-do Tu-y. U-o: du-o con-ti-nu-o e-fec-tu-o.
i-|: fri-i-si-mo pi-i-si-mo ti-i-to.
Rem. 15. But in normal discourse, adjacent vowels are smoothly linked together
without noticeable break (1J24).
116. Triphthongs. A triphthong is the union or merging of
THREE vowels pronounced in one syllable, with both rising and falling
stress.
(a). The middle element, or apex, of the combination is one of the
strong vowels (a, e, o), flanked by weak ones (i or u).
(b). There are but four practical triphthongs 5 : iai, iei, uai, uei:
iai: es-tu-diais 1 en-viais 1 uai: a-ve-ri-guais 1 con-ti-nuais l .
iei: es-tu-dieis 1 en-vieis 1 uei: a-ve-ri-gueis 1 con-ti-nueis l .
Rem. 1. The triphthong thus combines the leading features of both classes of
diphthongs (f5 1-2).
Rem. 2. In harmony with Castilian usage (^[52 b), there are a few triphthong
examples that illustrate the graphic change of the final triphthong element i to y, e. g.
buey 'ox', El Paraguay, El Uraguay.
1 With hissing s. 2 With strongly trilled initial r. 3 With silent h. 4 Occurring only in the
present subjunctive of certain I conjugation verbs (f 178 2). 5 Being present tense inflections of I con-
jugation verbs with infinitive diphthong endings, e. g. estudiar 'to study 1 , averiguar 'to verify' (1J 178 1).
18 Lesson II
QUESTION SYLLABUS
(Tf 4 ) Name the two fundamental properties that characterize a
Spanish diphthong.
(1f4 1 ) What, in general, is the nature of its structure?
(Tf 4 2 ) What kind of stress does it have?
(1[ 4 2a ) Classify Spanish vowels in respect to diphthong formation.
(1[42b ) Explain the kinds of vowels that compose a Spanish diph-
thong; their order; the stress.
(^[5 ) What is the total number of Spanish diphthongs?
How are they classified?
(1f5 R. 2 ) What caution is to be observed in pronouncing Spanish diphthongs?
(1[5 1 ) Pronounce the diphthongs of falling stress. Write.
(p. 13 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(1(5 2 ) To which English sounds do the diphthongs with rising
stress correspond?
(If 5 2.1 ) Pronounce the w-series of diphthongs with rising stress. Write.
(p. 14 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(^f 5 2.1 1) Pronounce the y-series of diphthongs with rising stress. Write.
(p. 14 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(If 5 a ) When are i- and U-, introducing diphthongs of rising stress,
not admitted in writing?
What changes of spelling do they then undergo? Why?
(p. 15 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(1f5 b ) What diphthongs contain i as the second element?
When these occur as word final, what is the Castilian peculi-
arity in the way of writing this -i?
(p. 16 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(1f5 c ) What adjacent vowels do NOT form diphthongs?
What then happens to them in deliberate pronunciation?
(If 5 R. 14) How is the weak vowel written when stressed adjacent to a strong vowel?
Why?
(.16-17) EXERCISE DRILL.
) Define a triphthong in respect to the number of the vowels
it contains and the character of the stress.
a ) What is the vowel arrangement?
b ) What are the only practicable triphthongs?
Consonants
LESSON III (H7-8)
SOFT- and HARD-C
17: Consonants (introductory) j J[ | g>;
1f 7. A Consonant is an alphabetic voice sound without resonance
or sonority by itself (i. e. the sound is broken or checked in its exit by
the closeness and tenseness of its passageway).
Rem. 1. Note that a pure consonant is barely audible, its alphabetic sonority
being borrowed from the vowel sound coupled with it in utterance, e. g. b =- (alpha-
betically) 'bee, k = ' kay' , s -- 'ess', etc.
Rem. 2. Although a consonant is a more tense, obstructed sound than a vowel, there is no sharply
denned boundary line between the two groups. Rather, they are connected by a neutral zone where
certain consonants (e. g. l-r, nt-n, w-y) may. on occasion, assume a vowel or semi-consonant character
(e. g. cf. / as vowel in 'pick/e', r as vowel in 'center', n as vowel in 'cottow'.
Rem. 3. Consonants have the following triple classification:
(1). According to the mouth agencies that cooperate most actively with the tongue
in producing them, the consonants are divided into: LABIALS, i. e. those in which
the cooperation of the lips is the most prominent; DENTALS, i. e. those made by the
action of the tongue on or against the front teeth; PALATALS, i. c. those made by the
action of the tongue against the roof of the mouth all with a number of compounds
and subdivisions.
(2). According to the tenseness or closeness of their passageway, the consonants
are divided into: STOPS 1 , involving a brief but complete cutting off of the breath in
its passage (e. g. p, b); CONTINUANTS 2 , marked by a rustling or friction of the
breath through a nearly closed passage (e. g. /, v); LIQUIDS (/, r) 3 , marked by their
smooth flowing sound and their pliancy for coalescing in pronunciation with a pre-
ceding stop or continuant (e. g. bl, pr); and NASALS 4 (m, n, ng), marked by an ac-
companying resonance in the passages of the nose.
(3). According as they are made with simple unvocalized breath, or with the
breath vocalized (i. e. made sonant in the larynx) the consonants are divided into
VOICELESS and VOICED] (e. g. p and b, respectively).
1 Also called "mutes", "checks", "explosives". 2 Also called "fricatives", "spirants", and
(with doubtful propriety) "sibilants". 3m and n are sometimes included, but they are more accu-
rately to be considered as belonging to the separate class of NASALS.
4 /. e. NASAL CONSONANTS (= a consonant m or n intonated by a nasal vowel resonance, e. g.
'man') as distinguished from NASAL VOWELS, where m or n coalesce with a following vowel into a pure
vowel sound. The nasal vowel differs from the non-nasal (called "oral") vowel by having its resonance
in the nasal cavities rather than in the mouth cavity. Distinct nasality does not belong to normal Eng-
lish utterance, which is free from pure nasal vowels, and stamps even a strong consonant nasality as in-
dividual or provincial trait ("Yankee"). But the nasal vowels are a notable feature of French and Por-
tugese. They are heard also in Spanish, where they are spreading, but as yet in an ill denned realm that
has not been clearly marked out or sanctioned by the orthodox standard. 5 Also called "surd".
6 Also called "sonant".
19
20
Lesson III
Rem. 4. The 23 Spanish consonant sounds are set forth in the following table
according to the triple division explained in Rem. 3, above. For c and z cf. th or s
(column of continuants); Spanish h being silent is not considered; for q cf. k; as x = k
plus 5 it is not set down as a simple sound.
STOPS
CONTINUANTS
LIQUIDS
NASALS
VOICELESS
VOICED
VOICELESS
VOICED
bi-labial
labio-
dental
linguo-
dental
front-
palatal
mid-
palatal
back j
palatal /
aspirate
p (in pop)
fb(iM0m
\b (in bob) J
m (in mat
n (in gnat)
n (in
union)
\ ng (in
( sing)
f (in /at)
Ih (in thin)
s 3 (in see)
v (in rat)
th (in this)
1 (in lap)
i rr
11 (in
( mi//ion)
t (in tot)
ch 1 (inc/zin).
d (in dod)
k (in cot)
g" (in got)
jota* (Cast.)
jota
(Sp. Am.)
<
Rem. .S. With but one notable exception (soft g and j), all the Spanish consonant sounds have sat-
isfactory English counterparts to serve as intelligible comparison or points of departure. Each sound is
represented by a single invariable consonant character (or equivalent digraph) save four: Soft and hard c,
and soft and hard g. As the language uses these sounds the most widely of all, its scheme of consonant
pronunciation may be said to look to them as the logical starting point in the subject.
The rules for writing and recognizing the c- and g-sounds prescribe certain characters according as
they precede FRONT (i, e) or BACK (a, o, u) vowels (T 2 Rem. 3). These shifting characters, although
managed in a thoroughly systematic fashion, seem puzzling to many beginners, all of whom will benefit
from the utmost practice in them. Their sounds are therefore taken up at the outset (^8-9, below),
so that their frequent occurrence in the word examples of the remaining characters may furnish cons-
tant drill matter for review. Such a method is favored, also, by the remarkable parallelism presented in
the management of the c and g sounds.
Rein. 6. Each of the consonant pairs, soft-c (c-z) and soft-g- (g-j), has two pronunciation standards
corresponding to two great speech areas, here denominated Castilian (because characteristic of the
Castilian mother idiom) and Spanish-American (because characteristic of the New World or colonial
idiom), as denned under 1' 8-').
One of the two standards should be adopted in the class at the outset and adhered to consistently
as the usage of the class. Which one, is necessarily left to the judgment of the teacher, who doubtless will
be guided in his choice by practical considerations as to the one that is most appropriate to the condi-
tions surrounding him. The question of sentiment or of imagined prestige of the one over the other, does
not properly enter into the question as a factor of any weight in the decision. The Spanish-American
standard of the above sounds is the only one heard over a linguistic empire many times larger than the
home country, and has thoroughly vindicated its right of citizenship in its own domain as the language
of culture as well as of practical life where, indeed, the Castilian standard would often seem affected
or pedantic.
Rem. 7. From the above divergence in a couple of sounds (with other variations that may be subse-
quently noted) let not the learner jump to the rmielusion (as he often does) that there is any substantial
difference between the two great bodies of the Spanish speaking world the standard Castilian Spanish
and the standard colonial or American Spanish. The two are as much the same as the leading branches
of English, with no more striking divergence in general than may be said to exist between "British" Eng-
lish E,nd "American" (or Australian) English as representative standard speech groups of the idiom com-
mon to the English speaking race.
1 Cf. U 11 R. 1. 2 More back-palatal than k, as a thoughtful comparison on one's self will
make clear. 3 For the voiced variety (in 'rose') cf. * 18 R. 4. 4 Produced further back than
the k or hard g, since it is velar, i. e. coming from the region of the soft palate (velum).
H8i Soft-c 21
H 8. Soft- and Hard-c. They are expressed graphically 1 by
means of the following characters: C, z, qu.
1. Soft-c 2 . It has two geographical standards, namely-
I. Castilian 3 : linguo-dental voiceless continuant 4 , (e. g. th in 'thin).
II. Span.Am'n 3 : front-palatal voiceless continuant 4 (= hissing s).
The sound is spelled by two different consonants, C and z: by the
former (c) before the front 5 vowels (i, e) ; and by the latter (z) before
the back 5 vowels (a, o, u), and after any vowel (i. e. when soft-c is
syllabically final) :
GRAPHIC PRONOUNCED
INITIAL: ci Ce za zo zu ast. = thi the th* tho thu
I (Sp.Am.) = si se sa so su
_ j (Cast. ) = ith Qth ath oth uth
FINAL: -iz -ez -az -oz -uz , )o A
I (Sp.Am.) = iss ess ass. oss uss
Rem. 1. Which means that EVERY occurrence of Spanish soft-c must begin
or end one of the ten pairs of combinations above.
Rem. 2. In adopting the Spanish-American standard, AVOID English voiced z
as (in 'rose'), a sound that has no recognized standing in Spanish.
Rem. 3. Avoid an unconscious imitation of English sh (in 'push') in the Spanish
cognate ending -cial and -cion (= '-tion'), which are so important as to bespeak
special caution in such matter.
ORAL 6 and WRITING EXERCISES: Of the following examples of soft-c, write down (Di-
rections, Sec. 5) the number of full 7 printed lines specified in each group:
SYLLABICALLY INITIAL
Ci (write 6 alternating lines) : ci-ma ci-ta cin-ta Si-ci-lia to- 1
ci-no ve-ci-no en-ci-na me-di-ci-na in-de-ci-so do-mi-ci-lio
a-pa-ci-ble in-de-ci-ble in-ven-ci-ble i-ras-ci-ble Dul-ci-ne-a
de-cir lu-cir do-cil fa-cil di-fi-cil im-be-cil ro-ci-o va-
ci-o An-da-lu-ci-a de-ci-mo dis s -ci-pu-lo prin-ci-pe par-ti-ci-
pe li-ci-to so-li-ci-to cie-go cie-lo cien-to cier-to ciu- 5
dad an-cia-no a-pre-cia-ble in-sa 8 -cia-ble se-di-cio-so 8 mar-
cial par-cial so-cial e-sen 8 -cial es 8 -pe-cial i-ni-cial im-par-
cial ar-ti-fi-cial su-per-fi-cial na-cio-nal ra-cio-nal por-cion
trai-cion A-sun-ci6n o-ra-cion a-cep-ta-cion a-pre-cia-cion
a-so 8 -cia-cion de-pre-cia-cion pro-nun-cia-cion va-ci-la-cion K)
1 Cf. P. 2 fn. 1. 2 Called the zeta sound (from 'the alphabetic name of the letter z, which
having no other value than that of soft-c is the most distinct representative of the series. 3 For a
comparison between the two standards and their respective claims cf. If 7 R. 6-7 4 *!> 7 R. 4.
5 *!, 2 R. 2. 6 In dictation exercises the confusion of hissing 8 with American zeta may be avoided
by the policy of pronouncing twice a word containing both, the second time with Castilian ztla so as to
isolate its American variety from Spanish s. 7 /. e. not counting the short first one. 8 With hissing s.
22 Lesson III
a-lu-ci-na-cion e-man-ci-pa-cion pre-ci-pi-ta-cion cien-cia Fran-
cia la-cio Mur-cia O-cio pre-cio so-cio ru 3 -cio su-cio Sue-
cia vi-cio A-li-cia a-nlln-cio au-dien-cia de-li-cias 1 es^pa-
cio des l -pa-cio dis-tan-cia do-len-cia e-sen'-cia es^pe-cie
5Ga-li-cia Ho 2 -ra-cio in-di-cio li-cen-cia ma-li-cia mi-li-cia
no-ti-cia o-fi-cio pa-la-cio pa-cien-cia Pa-tri-cio po-ten-cia
pro-vin-cia pru-den-cia sen-ten-cia ser-vi-cio si-len-cio su-
pli-cio sus^tan-cia Va-len-cia Ve-ne-cia vio-len-cia vue-
cen-cia a-bun-dan-cia ar-ti-fi-cio a-sis^ten-cia be-ne-fi-cio de-
10 pen-den-cia e-mi-nen-cia im-pa-cien-cia im-por-tan-cia ma-le-
fi-cio na-ta-li-cio pe-ni-ten-cia per-sis^ten-cia pre-ci-pi-cio su-
per-fi-cie in-de-pen-den-cia.
CO (write 3 alternating lines) : ce-ra a-cei-te do-ce-na es^ce-
na de-cen-te ma-ce-ta in-cen-dio ter-ce-ro Cer-van-tes 1
15 Bar-ce-lo-na Ce-ni-cien-ta in-ce-sar^-te ne-ce-sa^rio sa-cer-do-
te cin-cel fran-ces 1 na-cer ven-cer me-re-cer o-fre-cer pa-
re-cer ne-ce-si'-tar bron-ce do-ce dul-ce hi' 2 -ce lan-ce lin-
ce on-ce Pon-ce ro 3 -ce tran-ce tre-ce en-la-ce en-ton-
ces 1 c6m 4 -pli-ce in-di-ce a-pen-di-ce ar-ti-fi-ce li-ce-o ce-
20 ta-ce-o et ce-te-ra o-ce-a-no as^cen-den-cia des^cen-den-cia
i-no-cen-cia pro-ce-den-cia sa-cer-do-cio tras^cen-den-cia a-do-
les^cen-cia be-ne-fi-cen-cia con-va-les^cen-cia un in-ven-ci-ble
ma-le-fi-cio la mi-li-cia na-cio-nal de la pro-vin-cia las pe-ti-cio-
nes 1 in-ce-san^tes 1 de los 1 ve-ci-nos 1 .
25 Z a (write 2 alternating lines) : zar-za za-pa-to man-za-na a-zar
lan-zar re 3 -zar al-mor-zar em-pe-zar re 3 -a-li-zar fuer-za Mu-
za Pan-za pla-za ra 3 -za Sui-za ta-za ma-le-za ma-tan-
za mos^ta-za pe-re-za po-bre-za pro-e-zas l tris l -te-za a-
me-na-za es^pe-ran-za na-tu-ra-le-za.
30 ZO (write 2 alternating lines) : zo-na zon-zo zo-zo-bra a-zor a-
zo-tes 1 a-zo-te-a ar-zo-bis-po bu-zon ra 3 -zon sa-zon ar-
ma-z6n A-ma-zO-nas 1 for-zo-so 1 pe-re-zo-so 1 hcr-ri-zon-te po-
li-zon-te bo-zo bra-zo hi 2 -zo la-zo lien-zo ma-zo mo-zo
po-zo ri 3 -zo a-bra-zo al-muer-zo es^fuer-zo Lo-ren-zo mes 1 -
35 ti-zo pe-da-zo plo-mi-zo.
ZU (write 1 line) : zu-mo zu-ta-no a-zul a-zu-fre dul-zu-ra
for-zu-do zar-zue-la an-zue-lo pe-dre-zue-la por-te-zue-la Va-
len-zue-la Ve-ne-zue-la.
1 With hissing s. 2 With silent h. 3 With strongly trilled initial r. 4 Hard-c.
^[82 Hard-c 23
SYLLABICALLY FINAL (z)
(write 4 alternating lines] : diez pez tez vez faz haz 1 paz
hoz 1 voz luz nuez bar-niz lom-briz ma-tiz na-riz ma-
iz ra 2 -iz per-diz ta-miz ta-piz la-piz a-pren-diz Be-a-
triz em-pe-ra-triz ins-ti-tu-triz Nar-va-ez au-daz dis-fraz
te-naz a-troz ve-loz an-da-luz a-ves-truz lez-na Io-bez-no5
o-sez 3 -no re 2 -buz-no.
MISCELLANEOUS SOFT-C: zur-cir lu-ci-dez cer-viz ce-ni-zas 3 cer-
ve-za ma-ci-zo a-zu-ce-na ci-vi-li-za-cion. Diez cen-ta-vos 3 .
Fuer-za mo-triz. El la-piz a-zul. U-na voz dul-ce. La voz de la
na-tu-ra-le-za. La flo-re-ci-ta a-zul. Em-pe-zar a re 2 -a-li-zar las 3 10
es 3 -pe-ran-zas 3 . Po-bre-za no es vi-le-za. U-na luz de ma-tiz a-zu-
la-do. Al-za-ron los 3 bra-zos 3 ha^cia el cie-lo. Em-pe-z6 a re 2 -zar u-
na o-ra-cion en voz al-ta. A-zo-tar un for-zu-do mo-zo pe-re-zo-so 1 .
2. Hard-c. It is a back-palatal voiceless stop 4 English k or
hard c, e. g. in 'kick', 'cake', 'coke'.
The sound is spelled by two consonant characters, qu 5 and c: the
former (qu) before the front vowels (i, e), the latter (c) before the
back vowels (a, o, u) and the consonants:
GRAPHIC PRONOUNCED
qui
que
ca
Co
cu
6 cl
Cr
C-c 7
c-n
c-t
= ki ke ka ko ku
Rem. 4. Which means that EVERY occurrence of Spanish hard-c must be rep-
resented by one of the above combinations.
Rem. 5. AVOID any u>-diphthong sequence in the fe-sound represented by qu,
especially in those words that have English cognates with qu sounded like qw (in
'queen'), e. g. marques 'marquess', e-qui-va-len-te 'egttivalent', i-ni-quidad 'inigwity',
re-qui-si-to 'regwisite', so-li-lo-quio 'solilogwy'.
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES: Of the following examples of hard-c, write down (as
heretofore) the number of full 8 printed lines specified in each group:
qui (write 4 alternating lines): qui-cio quin-ce quin-to qui-ni- 1
na A-qui-les 3 e-qui-po es-qui-la es-qui-na fras 3 -qui-to mes 3 -
qui-no mez-qui-ta mos 3 -qui-to po-qui-to Ma-ri-qui-ta ad-
qui-ri-do e-qui-li-brio ex-qui-si-to re 2 -qui-si 3 -to e-qui-va-len-te
Tur-qui-a a-nar-qui-a mo-nar-qui-a li-qui-do ma-qui-na se-
qui-to qui-tar qui-za a-do-quin al-qui-ler i-ni-qui-dad quien 5
1 With silent h. 2 With strongly trilled initial r. 3 With hissing s. 4 T 7 R. 4.
5 /. e. with inorganic u (^ 3 R. 13). 6 In practice, the only consonant combinations with c.
7 Of which the second c is always soft. 8 /. e. not counting the short first one.
24 Lesson III H 8 2
quie-ro quie-to cual-quie-ra iz-quier-do quien-quie-ra a-quies 1 -
cen-cia An-tio-quia co-lo-quio ob-se-quio re 2 -li-quia so-li-lo-
quio.
quo (write 4 alternating lines: que que-ma que-so 1 du-que-sa 1
Ses^que-la or-ques^ta sa-que-o fla-que-za ri 2 -que-za pa-que-
te zo-que-te es^que-le-ta e-ti-que-ta fal-dri-que-ra ne-o-yor-
qui-no ni-quel Ve-laz-quez que-brar que-dar que-mar que-
rer que-ma-zon bos-que di-que du-que par-que pi-que
por-que pul-que to-que true-que a-ta-que em-bar-que em-
lOpa-que En-ri-que es^to-que pe-ni-que re 2 -pi-que ta-bi-que
a-lam-bi-que Al-bu-quer-que al-ma-na-que a-quel mar-ques
rus 2 -ti-quez bus-que pe-que pi-que sa-que to-que a-ta-
que co-lo-que ex-pli-que su-pli-que <i 3 Que quie-re us-ted? qui-
qui-ri-qui ti-quis-mi-quis tri-qui-tra-que.
Rem. 6. Hard-c before back vowels and consonants offers no perplexity, inasmuch
as it is equally "hard" (= k) in both languages. The following lists present a few
miscellaneous examples of soft-c along with hard mostly words of contrasted or two-
fold illustration in sound and spelling.
15 ca (write 4 alternating lines) : Ca-diz ca-liz ca-sa 1 ca-za ca-
so 1 cal-za cal-cio car-eel pes^ca fras j -ca cer-ca mos^ca
cau-ce cau-sa a-ca-cia al-ca-zar al-can-ce a-zu-car ca-
ca-o ca-be-za ca-ci-que can-sar^-cio ca-ren-cia ca-ri-cia
cas^que-te cas-ti-zo ca-be-ce-ra -ca-la-ba-za ca-la-bo-zo car-
20ni-ce-ro cas 1 -qui-va-no e-fi-ca-cia viz-ca-i-no ca-ri-ca-tu-ra
ca-paz ca-pa-taz e-fi-caz al-can-zar cal-ce-tin can-ta-triz
ci-ca-triz pre-cau-cion a-cer-car a-ci-ca-lar ca-na-li-za-cion e-
qui-vo-ca-ci6n ca-li-fi-ca-ti-vo bus-car pe-car sa-car to-car
a-ta-car ex-pli-car su-pli-car cas-ca-ra.
25 CO (write 4 alternating lines) : coz pre-coz co-co lo-co pO-co
cas'-co co-ci-na co-di-cia co-mer-cio con-duz-co co-noz-co pa-
rez-co con-fian-za con-cien-cia cons-tan-cia coin-ci-den-cia
com-pc-ten-cia Es^co-cia Fran-cis^co ho 4 -ci-co al-cor-no-que
al-ba-ri-cO-que ci-ni-co com-pli-ce rne-ca-ni-co pa-ci-fi-co e-
30qui-vo-co co-dor-niz co-rne-zon co-ra-zon co-lo-car co-men-
zar con-cep-tuar co-cer co-no-cer con-du-cir con-tu-maz a-
ca-de-mi-co rne-ca-ni-co e-co-no-mi-co es-co-ces co-lo-ca-cion
con-ci-lia-cion co-lo-ni-za-cion.
1 With hiwing s. 2 With strongly trilled initial r. 3 For i cf. 131 2. 4 With
silent h.
If 8 2 Hard-c 25
CU (write 2 alternating lines) : cuz cu-ra cur-so cul-tu-ra cum-
plir cal-cu-lo cir-culo do-cu-men-to cir-cun-lo-quio cir-cun-
lo-cu-cion cir-cuns-tan-cia cui-ta cui-da-do cuen-ta cuer-po
a-cuer-do e-cues^tre es^cue-la fre-cuen-te pes l -cue-zo con-
se-cuen-cia e-lo-cuen-cia cua-tro lo-cuaz cua-ren-ta a-cua- 5
rio es^cua-dra re 2 -ni-cua-que cuo-ta.
Rem. 7. Distinguish between front qu with its inorganic u (f 3 Rem. 13) and
cu with its organic u in the jfe-plus-w-diphthong series (H 5 2) cui, cue, cua, cuo, e. g.
contrast gt/i-ta with cui-ta, es-que-la with es-cue-la.
cl : cli-ma cle-men-cia cle-ri-cal cla-vo cla-ro cla-si l -co
mez-cla te-cla clo-que-o club.
CT: cri-ti-co sa-cri-fi-cio cre-cer a-cre a-cre-cen-tar cre-
pus l -cu-lo de-mo-cra-cia a-ris^to-cra-cia cro-ni-co cruz cru-
ce-ro cru-de-za cru-zar cru-ci-fi-car. 10
C-C 3 : ac-ce-so 1 fac-cio-so 1 dic-cio-na-rio ac-cion Iec-ci6n a-
flic-cion co-lec-cion cons l -truc-ci6n ins l -truc-cion di-rec-cion
e-lec-ci6n ins^pec-cion pro-tec-cion cir-cuns-pec-cion pre-di-
lec-cion. C-n: tec-ni-co.
C-t: ac-to cac-to pac-to doc-to a-cue-duc-to ar-qui-tec-to 15
Oc-ta-vo vic-to-ria prac-ti-ca tac-ti-ca di-dac-ti-co e-lec-tri-
co doc-tri-na ac-triz di-rec-triz con-duc-tor es-pec-ta-cu-lo.
Rem. 8. The k element in such combinations as cc and ct is contrary to the spirit of the language,
and is freely discarded from the popular speech, e. g. a(c)ceso, efe(c)to, O(c)tubre, O(c)tavio, vi(c)toria.
This stage of development has been reached in a number of words now accepted as standard, e. g. a-
cento, catara-ta, conje-tura, contra-to, deli-to, difun-to, distin-to, distri-to, pun-to, pun-tual, pun-tillo,
obje-to, suje-to, san-to, su-ceso, su-cesion, tra-tado. But modern pedantry has restored the hard c to
several popular reductions once current with Cervantes and his age, e. g. dicion to diccion, dotor to doc-
tor, efeto to efecto, le-i-cion to leccion, letor to lector, retor to rector, vitoria to victoria; while for 'respect,'
usage compromises between respeto as noun and respecto as preposition (in con rcspcclo de 'as for.
concerning')-
MISCELLANEOUS SOFT- AND HARD-C: za-qui-za-mi ar-ca-bu-za-zo
La co-ci-na na-cio-nal. Tre-ce cen-ta-vos 1 de a-zu-car. El o-ce-a-
no Pa-ci-fi-co. Co-mer-cio y cien-cia so-cial. Co-ra-zo-nes l fe-li-ces 1 . 20
La ce-le-bre pla-za de Zo-co-do-ver. Cir-cuns-tan-cias 1 tec-ni-cas 1
que no quie-ro ex-pli-car. Zur-cir los 1 cal-ce-ti-nes 1 . Sa-car fuer-
zas 1 de fla-que-za. Es^par-cie-ron ce-ni-zas 1 so-bre sus 1 ca-be-zas l .
Un no-vi-cio en el o-fi-cio de coci-ne-ro. Se cru-zo de bra-zos 1 y
mo-vio cua-tro^o cin-co ve-ces 1 la ca-be-za. La ci-vi-li-za-cion ne- 25
ce-si-ta con fre-cuen-cia los 1 ser-vi-cios 1 de la cien-cia. El doc-to
a-ca-de-mi-co pu-bli-co U-na e-di-cion cri-ti-ca con in-tro-duc-cion.
Al-can-z6 la vic-to-ria por la fuer-za de su in-ven-ci-ble bra-zo.
1 With hiiiing s. 2 With strongly trilled initial r. 3 The second element of c-c o.
only before i or e, and hence is always "soft", (p. 23, fn. 7).
26 Lesson III 11 8 3
Quien qui-ta la o-ca-sion 1 , qui-ta el pe-ca-do. Com-pla-cien-do-se 1
en a-quel pro-yec-to, se de-di-c6 a bus l -car si-tio en que~e-di-fi-car
U-na ca-sa 1 , pa-ra lo cual corn-pro un cam-po, y pll-so 1 los 1 pla-nes 1
al cui-da-do de un ar-qui-tec-to.
3. NOTES on c, z, and qu. From the above examples it follows:
(a). C as an alphabetic character has TWO sounds: soft before
the front vowels (i, e), and hard before the back vowels (a, o, u).
Hence the need of a special character (qu) to represent front hard-
en, and another (z) to represent back soft-c, so as to get a complete
series of consonant characters for soft- and hard-c in the vowel scale:
SOFT: ci ce za zo zu HARD: qui que ca co cu
(b). qu is a digraph 2 (Spanish q occurring ONLY in combination
with silent inorganic u) serving to represent the hard-C sound before i
and e only.
Rem. 9. qu as the spelling of the fe-sound before i and e is thus standardized in Spanish, while it is
virtually non-existent in English (save for a few examples of foreign source and spelling, e. g. French
'etiguet', 'bouquet', and Spanish 'mosgwito').
The English graphic fe-sound equivalent to the Spanish digraph qu is ch in cognate words, e. g.
a-narquia 'anarc/iy', monarquia ' monarchy', arquitecto 'architect'.
(c). k, as a letter doing duty for the Spanish hard-C, is found in
only a few words, and those foreign in source and form, e. g. kap-pa, ki 3 -
lo-[gra-mo], kios 3 -co, cok, dock, mo-ka, pick-nick.
Rem. 10. Syllabically, final hard-c is not proper to Spanish (as final soft-c is), and is met only in
foreign words where k does service (as in the above examples), or in words of artificial formation (e. g.
c-c, c-t), which are unnatural to the language (R. 8).
(d). z has ALWAYS the same (voiceless) sound, either Castilian
"lisp" or Spanish-American " hi 55 (ing) " NOT English z and graph-
ically represents this sound ("lisp" or "hiss") before the back vowels
(as C does before the front ones).
Rem. 11. Spanish medial z in its voiceless capacity has a tendency in normal unconscious dis-
course to become voiced (i. e. = th in 'this' or z in 'zone' for Castilian or Spanish- American, respectively)
before a voiced consonant, e. g. in Guzman, juzgar, bizcocho, lloviznar. But in careful, deliberate utter-
ance the regular voiceless type sound reappears. Cf. parrallel tendency with s (^ 18 Rem. 4),
Rem. 12. The Spanish character z having the soft-c sound exclusively, it possesses an undisturbed
monopoly of representing this function before a, o, u, to which it is virtually restricted. Established
usage has correspondingly invested the letter c with the same office before i and e, without allowing z to
encroach on its boundaries. There are but few examples of z displacing c before i and o, and these are
appropriate to the circumstances, e. g. zeta (alphabetic name of z), ziszas 'zigzag', zipizape 'rumpus',
z-c-izana 'tares'.
Rem. 13. Note the ending -ez (as the Latin ablative in -is = - 'from among the [family (people) of
the] ') of proper nouns with antepenultimate stress as a characteristic Spanish patronymic (= ' -son')
e. g. Dominguez, Jimenez (= 'Simons(onl'), Estebanez (= 'Stephens[on]'), Gomez, Gonzalez, Gutierrez,
Hernandez. Lopez, Martinez ( Martins[on]), Nunez, Perez (= 'Pierce', 'Pierson', Peters[on]'), Rodri-
guez, Sanchez. Tellez, Velazquez.
Rem. 14. What is here termed the Spanish-American standard of soft-c is peculiar to parts of Spain
also, notably Andulusia (whence some think it spread to the new world through the Andalusian capital,
Seville, the chief Spanish shipping port during the colonizing period). Its identity with hissing s accounts
1 With hissing s. 2 A "dl'graph" is a combination of two letters vowels or consonants rep-
resenting one sound, e. g in English, 'load', 'llnn'\ in German, Lt'ed, Bac/i. In English the digraphs
represent a vast quantity of "improper" diphthongs ( c 5 R. 1). In Spanish, the digraph applies to con-
sonants only, in the following combinations, ch (H 11 1), gu(i-e-) (119 2), 11 H 13 1), qu (11 8 2), rr
(H 17 2), and the digraph sign n (originally nn [ 13 2). 3 Also naturalized in qu- as qui-lo, quios-co.
Syllabus III 27
for an elastic border line between these characters (soft-c and s) over which they may shift their places
occasionally in the spelling of the same word according as this reflects one or the other geographical in-
fluence, or a confusion-j-cf. e. g c(s)inglar 'to sail', s(s}ahumerio 'smoke' (of incense), parduz<i>co
'grayish', osez(s}no 'cub', senador 'senator' and cenador 'one who sups' (play on words in Guzman de
Alfarache, South of Spain), sin decir chuz(s)ni muz(s) 'to keep mum'.
Also. cf. the following s-z versification in a stanza of popular Andalasion verse:
El clavel que tii me diste
El dia de la Ascension
No fue clavel. sino clavo
Quo clavo mi corazon
Rem. 15. For examples of hard-c after the nasal ng (e. g. banco) cf. " 14.
QUESTION SYLLABUS
(If 7 ) What kind of a voice sound is a consonant (why)?
(If 7 R. 3 ) Has a pure consonant sound any marked sonority ?
How does it get its alphabetic sonority ?
(Tf8 ) What are the characters that graphically express Spanish
soft- and hard-c?
(If 8 1 ) What are the geographical standards of soft-c?
What is each one like (e. g. in English equivalents) ?
By what two consonants is it spelled? When?
Pronounce soft-c in the vowel scale Write.
(If 8 R. 2 ) In the Spanish-American standard of z what must be avoided?
(If 8 R. 3 ) What Spanish cognate endings with soft-c bespeak special caution?
(p. 21 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(<f 8 2 ) What is hard Spanish-c like (e. g. in English equivalents)?
By what two consonant characters is it spelled? When?
Pronounce hard-c in the vowel scale. Write.
(t 8 R. 5 ) In pronouncing Spanish cognates like marques, equivalente, ini-
quidad, etc., what is to be avoided?
(11 8 R. 7 ) Compare the pronunciation of qui-ta and cui-ta, es-que-la, and es-
cue-la.
(p. 23 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(^f8 3a ) How many sounds has Spanish c as an alphabetic character?
Write them in the vowel scale and pronounce, showing how
other consonant devices are needed for a complete expres-
sion of Spanish c sounds?
(Tf 8 3b ) What kind of a character is qu called?
What is the nature of the u?
To what service is the (digraph) qu limited?
Has Spanish q any other alphabetic office (i. e. by itself)?
3c ) To what extend does the letter k do duty for Spanish hard-c?
3d ) What sound does Spanish z always represent?
To what service is it limited?
LESSON IV (If 9)
SOFT- and HARD-G
H 9 (1) : Soft-fir (g, j) 11 9 (2) : Hard-g- (g[u])
If 9. Soft- and Hard-g*. They are expressed graphically by
means of the following characters: g, j, gu.
1. Soft-^ 1 . It has two geographical standards 2 , namely
I. Castilian: "guttural" 3 = German ch (in nach).
II. Span.Am'n: "aspirate" = STRONG English h.
Rem. 1. Owing to the weakness of the English h the Castilian jota is to be ad-
vocated for class instruction in order to afford an unmistakable standard for learners
who even prefer the Spanish-American soft-c. Otherwise, reliance on English anal-
ogy ordinarily ends in the learner's not acquiring any distinct sound at all.
The sound is spelled by two different consonants, g and j : ordinarily
the former with the front vowels (i, e), the latter with the back vowels
(a, o, u) :-
GRAPHIC PRONOUNCED
o-i P-P ia in in J ( Cast - ) = (Ger.) 4 ch-i ch-e ch-a ch-o ch-u
ja Jo J | ( Sp . Am .) = ( Eng .) h i he ha ho hu
Rem. 2. Which means that EVERY occurrence of Spanish soft-g must begin one
of the five pairs of combinations above.
Rem. 3. The back palatal continuant or "guttural" is the only Spanish sound
quite without an English equivalent. It is a rapid vibration or flapping of the humped-
up back of the tongue against the hard palate, as is unconsciously done in clearing the
roof of the mouth from an obstruction.
Rem. 4. In practising Spanish soft-g (jota) AVOID hard-c (k) and English soft-g
(which careless beginners are prone to substitute).
Hard-c (k) is a single complete stop (whereas Castilian jota vibrates by a quick
succession of stops).
English soft-g (in 'gem', 'jest', 'joke', 'junk') has no equivalent in Spanish. But
the respective counterparts of soft-g' in the two languages occur in a great number of
cognates (e. g. Jorge 'George', Juan 'John', digestion 'digestion', religion 'religion'),
where the temptation to vitiate the Spanish sound by its English counterpart is all
the more strongly to be resisted.
1 called the jnta-sound, from the alphabetic- name of the letter j (which, having no other value than
that of soft -gr, is the most distinct representative of the series. 2 ^1 7 R. 6. 3 So termed here
out of regard to the convenience of wide-spread usage, the more precise designation being back palatal
continuant (^ 7 R. 4). 4 German analogy here works at a disadvantage because German ch, as gut-
tural, is not initial.
28
H 9 1 Sof t-g 29
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES: Of the following examples of soft-gr, write down (as
heretofore cf. Les. I) the number of full printed lines specified in each group:
gj (write 4 alternating lines) : Gil gi-ro gi-ta-no gi-ral-da Gi- 1
bral-tar gim-nas^ti-co E-gip-to le-gi-ble re 2 -gis-tro ru 2 -gi-
do si-gi-lo vi-gi-lia fu-gi-ti-vo re 2 -gi-mien-to vi-gi-lan-cia
in-te-H-gi-ble mu-gir re 2 -gir ru 2 -gir a-fli-gir di-ri-gir e-le-
gir o-ri-gi-nal o-ri-gi-nar a-gi-ta-cion le-gis-la-cion i-ma-gi- 5
na-cion a-gil fra-gil Bel-gi-ca 16-gi-co ma-gi-co pa-gi-na
tra-gi-co e-ner-gi-co le-gi-ti-mo e-ner-gi-a a-no-lo-gi-a an-to-
lo-gi-a mi-to-lo-gi-a so-cio-lo-gi-a te-o-lo-gi-a ar-que-o-lo-gi-a
e-ti-mo-lo-gi-a mi-ne-ra-lo-gi-a me-te-o-ro-lo-gi-a ci-ru-gi-a co-
le-gio con-ta-gio e-fi-gie e-lo-gio li-ti-gio nos-tal-gia pre- 10
sa'-gio pro-di-gio re 2 -fu-gio su-fra-gio ves-ti-gio pri-vi-le-gio
sa-cri-le-gio sor-ti-le-gio le-gion re 2 -gion re 2 -li-gion pro-di-
gio-so 1 reMi-gio-so 1 El ma-gi-co pro-di-gio-so.
ge (write 4 lines) : ge-nio ge-ne-ro ge-ne-sis 1 ges-to ge-me-los 1
ge-ren-cia Ger-tru-dis 1 ge-o-lo-gi-a ge-ne-o-io-gi-a ge-o-me-tri-a 15
ge-mir gen-til ge-ne-ral ge-ne-ra-cion gen-te a-gen-te
ur-gen-te sar-gen-to in-te-li-gen-te a-gen-cia ur-gen-cia H-ge-
ro tra-ge-dia a-po-ge-o Ar-gen-ti-na di-li-gen-cia ger-men
mar-gen i-ma-gen o-ri-gen di-ges-tion su-ges-ti6n ve-ge-ta-
cion exa-ge-ra-cion su-ge-rir ve-ge-tal co-ger pro-te-ger 20
al-ge-bra Dio-ge-nes 1 in-di-ge-na oxi-ge-no ni-tro-ge-no quin-
cua-ge-si^mo.
ja (write 4 lines): ja-ez ja-mas 1 ja-mon jar-din jaz-min
Ja-cin-to jau-la Jai-me hi 3 -ja ce-ja que-ja te-ja ver-
ja ca-ja fa-ja pa-ja bru-ja sor-ti-ja o-re-ja o-ve-ja pa- 25
re-ja al-ha 3 -ja mor-ta-ja na-va-ja ven-ta-ja al-for-jas 1
pa-ja-ro o-ja-la mo-ja-do e-no-ja-do A-le-jan-dro car-ca-ja-
da ci-ru-ja-no ma-ja-de-ro via-jan-te se-me-jan-te con-ce-
jal de-jar fi-jar mo-jar que-jar via-jar di-bu-jar e-no-
jar re 2 -fle-jar tra-ba-jar. 30
JO (write 4 lines): Jor-ge jo-ven jo-ya jo-vial jor-nal di-jo
fi-jo hi 3 -jo vie-jo le-jos 1 ma-jo Ta-jo tra-jo o-jo co-jo
flo-jo ro 2 -jo flu-jo lu-jo pu-jo cor-ti-jo Mon-ti-jo pro-
li-jo com-ple-jo co-ne-jo con-se'-jo es^pe-jo pcr-ple-jo a-
ta-jo tra-ba-jo an-to-jo des ! -pe-jo a-zu-le-jo e-no-jo car- 35
tu-jo con-du-jo di-bu-jo Qui-jo-te me-jor Gi-j6n tra-ba-jo.
1 With hissing s. 2 With strongly trilled initial r. 3 With silent h.
30 Lesson IV If 9 1
JU (write 1 line): ju-lio ju-nio Ju-no jun-ta jus^to Ju-de-a
jus^ti-cia jui-cio juez jue-ves Juan Ju-pi-ter bru-ju-la
sub-jun-ti-vo per-ju-di-cial.
(a). In the spelling of a number of words modern usage prescribes
j instead of front g:
Iji, je (write 4 lines'): ji-ne-te Ji-me-nez ^ ji-ca-ra ji-pi-ja-pa
ca-jis-ta cru-jir Me-ji-co me-ji-ca-no pro-ji-mo bu-ji-a le-
ji-a he 2 -re-ji-a a-po-ple-ji-a je-fe Je-rez Je-ru-saMen a-je-
drez a-je-no e-je-cu-cion e-je-cu-ti-vo e-jem-plo e-jer-cer e-
5jer-ci-cio e-jer-ci-tar e-jer-ci-to en-ro-je-cer en-ve-je-cer flo-je-
dad ma-jes-tad ob-je-cion te-je-dor men-sa-je-ro pa-sa^je-
ro via-je-ro pe-re-jil di-je e-je tra-je via-je con-du-je
con-ser^je he 2 -re-je men-sa-je mu-jer te-jer.
-a-je 3 : ar-bi-tra-je bre-ba-je e-qui-pa-je her' 2 -ba-je ho 2 -me-na-
10 je li-na-je pa-sa^je pe-la-je per-so-na-je plu-ma-je.
MISCELLANEOUS IN SOFT-^: A-gen-te via-jan-te. 4 Ca-da o-ve-
ja con su pa-re-ja. Un tra-je de via-je. Jar-din zo-o-16-gi-co. El
pe-la-je del pa-ja-ro. 5 Xo hay 2 a-ta-jo sin tra-ba-jo. Pa-to-lo-gi-a
qui-rur-gi-ca. Lec-cio-nes 1 de ge-o-gra-fi-a ge-ne-ral. E-jer-ci-cios 1
15 de al-ge-bra y ge-o-me-tri-a. Con-se-jos 1 hi-gie-ni-cos 1 pa-ra la di-
ges-tion. El jo-ven y el vie- jo se que-jan del tra-ba-jo. La gen-te
e-li-ge u-na jun-ta de con-ce-ja-les 1 .
Rem. 5. There is no rule for prescribing this front j instead of g in spelling save
in the ending -je, where it has become established as standard.
Rem. 6. Extensively throughout South America (and quite uniformly in the Pacific states) j alone
is used in writing the sott-g, thus displacing entirely the need of g as the front jota consonant, e. g. jeneral,
jenio, orijinal, recojer, etimolojico, estudios lingiiisticos i etnolojicos ('5 Rem. 11).
Rem. 7. In the earlier language this jofa-sound was extensively spelled by x (especially in words of
Latin and Arabic origin), and this x will be seen in the older texts. But it now survives only in a few-
historical surnames, and in some geographical names of old and new Spain whence it tends to make place
for j and g, e. g.
dixe etc. to dije (cf. decir). Alpux(j)arras (mt. range of south Spain),
-duxe etc. to -duje (cf. -ducir). p ua d'* |. (cit i es o f south Spain),
traxo to trajo (cf. traer). Lox<j)a j
texedor to tejedor 'weaver'. Mex(j)ico (name of Indian origin),
executoria to eje- 'patent of nobility'. Oaxaca (town in Mexico),
exemplar to ejemplar 'exemplary'. Palafox (historical Spanish name).
ox(j)te ni mox(j)te (to keep) 'mum'. Quix(j>ote (Spanish romance).
(also o.ste ni moste). Texas (name of Indian origin),
xinete to jinete 'horseman'. V (;>L-niI (river of south Spain),
carcax to carcaj 'quiver'. A J ("Sherry").
almoradux to -duj 'sweet marjoram'. X"ico (.town 01 Mexico).
Ximena (Span, mediaeval heroine cf. French C/iimene).
Ximenez (distinguished Castilian family of 16th-17th cents. but the modern surname is Jimenez).
Rem. 8. Students of Spanish who already know German 'and are accustomed to the English y value
of the German j. should take care not to vitiate their Spanish j by German alanogy, as often happens
unconsciously by force of a> -quired habit or by carelessness in noting vital distinctions, namely.
German j = Spanish j/-diphthong.
Spanish j = German ch.
Rem. 9. A plausible difference is claimed between the back jota (ja. jo. ju) and the front (.gl, ge).
But whether it is a distinguishable factor in practical phonetics has not yet been made clear.
1 With hissing 8. 2 With silent h. 3 Corresponding mostly to English collective '-age'.
4 Prov. = 'Keep to your station in life'. 5 Prov. = 'No gains without pains'.
C 92 Hard-g 31
2. Hard-g\ It is a back-palatal voiced stop 1 English hard-g, as
in 'geese', 'gag, 'go'.
The sound is spelled by two consonant characters, gu 2 and g: the
former gu) before the front vowels (i, e) 3 , the latter (g) before the back
vowels (a, o. u) and the consonants:
gui gue ga go gu
4 gl gr g-m gn
Rem. 10. Which means that EVERY occurrence of Spanish ha.rd-g must be
represented by one of the above combinations.
Rem. 11. AVOID giving any zw-diphthong sequence to the ha.rd-g sound repre-
sented by front gu, an unwarranted blunder common with careless beginners. Spanish
gu before i and e is as much of an unmodified hard g as English gu in 'gwess', "guide',
'plagwe', 'roguish'.
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES: Of the following examples of hard-g', write down (as
heretofore) the number of full printed lines specified in each group:
gui (write 2 ): gui-a gui-ja gui-= guin-do gui-ne-a 1
se-guir se-gui-mos 5 a-gui-nal-do a-mi-gui-to Gui-puz-co-a
gui-ri-gui-ri-gay al-guien si-guien-te si-guio plu-guie-ra.
gue (write lines): gue-rra* 5 dro-gue-ro hor 7 -mi-gue-ra ju-gue-te
jue- dad va-gue-dad car-gue pa-gue plie-gue si-gue 5
a-zo-gue ma-guey Mi-guel em-bria-guez lo-bre-guez por-tu-
gues 5 Ro-dri-guez car-gue pa-gue a-pa-gue cas-ti-gue en-
tre-gue o-bli-gue.
Rem. 12. g before back vowels and consonants offers no peripexity, as h is then
equally lt hard" in both languages.
ga (wri ga-na ga-nan-< gar-ban
gan-ta ga-zu-za gi-gan-te ba-ga-je al-ga-za-ra le-ga-jo e- 10
le-gan-da car-gar ju-gar juz-gar lu-gar pa-gar a-pa-gar
cas 5 -ti-gar en-tre-gar o-bli-gar cir-cum-na-ve-ga-cion.
gO (write 3 lines) : gO-ce go-zo goz-ne Gon-za-lez
al-go-don jer-gon gor-je-o A-ra-g6n a-gos 5 -to ne-go-cio si-
na-go-ga ne-go-cia-cion Se-go-via re-go-ci-jo Za-ra-go-za pe- 15
da-go-gi-a al-go cai-go car-go fue-go gal-go jue-go
la-go lue-go mus 3 -go oi-go pa-go trai-go tri-go a-mi-
cas 5 -ti-go em-bar-go hi 7 -dal-go e-ne-mi-go no-viaz-go
1 *y 7 R. 4. 11. e. with inorganic u (.* 3 R. 13). 3 Emjliah spelling affords no unmiatak-
1531 for hard g before i and e. since the =""" character is both soft (.e. g. 'giant', 'ginger") and hard
(e. g. 'ijiddy', 'girl', 'giggle'). Sach a sign character might be provided by k (combined with g aa gk).
; :e in recognized English spelling is exceptional before the front Towels (e. g. 'gAerfciu') and
the back ones (e. g. 'ghastly', 'ghost'. 'gAool'l. 4 In practice, the only syllabic
^uions with 4. 5 With hiiring a. 6 rr = strongly trilled r. 7 With ii>-nt h.
32 Lesson IV
ca-ta-lo-go co-di-go dia-lo-go cle-ri-go pro-lo-go es-to-ma-go.
'No hay 2 me-jor es^pe-jo que^el a-mi-go vie-jo.
gU (write): gus-to giHsa 3 -no dis 3 -gus-to a-gu-do a-gu-ja al-
gu-no le-gum-bre se-gun-do se-gu-ro.
5 gl : gla-cial glo-ria re 4 -gla si-glo ne-gli-gen-cia e-glo-ga.
gl*: gra-cia des 3 -gra-cia sa-gra-do Gre-cia grie-go graz-nar
ti-gre lo-gro ma-gro ne-gro a-gri-co-la a-gri-cul-tu-ra ge-
o-gra-fi-a.
g-m: dog-ma dog-ma-ti-co. gn (INITIAL): gno-mo.
lOg-n (MEDIAL): dig-no sig-no be-nig-no de-sig 3 -no Ig-na-cio
ig-no-ran-cia ig-no-rar mag-na-ni-mo diag-nos 3 -ti-co mag-ne-
ti-co mag-ni-fi-co re 4 -pug-nan-cia in-ex-pug-na-ble.
Rem. 13. As with c-c and c-t (^[ 8 Rem. 8), so with g-n the first element (g) is avoided in popular
speech, either dropping out or combining with the following n into n, e. g. (pop.) indi(g)no.
A few examples have won the sanction of usage, e. g. pro(g)nostico, si(g)no 'destiny'.
(a). Distinguish between front gu, with its inorganic* u (as in above
examples) and gu with its organic? u in the g plus zv-diphthong series
ISgiii, giie, gua, guo noting the significance of the dieresis 7 as the sign
of this organic u before i and e:
ar-giiir ar-gui-mos 3 am-bi-giii-dad an-ti-giie-dad a-giie-ro des -
a-giie gre-giies 3 -cos 3 guan-te gua-po guar-ni-cion gua-ya-
ba Gua-ya-quil Gua-dal-qui-vir a-gua le-gua tre-gua i-
20gual al-gua-cil am-bi-guo an-ti-guo fra-guo a-ve-ri-guo.
Rem. 14. In the popular speech of parts of Spain, and extensively in Spanish America, this g of
diphthongal gua tends to disappear, e. g. a(g)ua, (g)uapa, (G)uadalajara, (G)uadalupe.
Similarly, even with non-diphthongal agu, e. g. a(g)uja, a(g)ujero, a(g)ur (which last takes another
evolutionary step to the more current abur).
Rem. 15. In archaic, provincial, or illiterate style, giie often occurs for hue (e. g. in giievo for huevo
"egg 1 , in gueso for hueso 'bone'), for hue (e. g. in giieno for bueno 'good', in agiielo for abuelo 'grandfa-
father'), and for vue (e. g. in giielvo for vuelvo 'I return').
3. NOTES on g, j, and gU. From the above examples it follows:
(a), g as an alphabetic character has TWO sounds: soft before the
front vowels (i, e), and hard before the back vowels (a, o, u).
Hence the need of a special character (gu) to represent front hard-g',
25 and another (j) to represent back soh-g, so as to get a complete series of
consonant characters for soft- and hard-g" in the vowel scale:
SOFT: gi ge ja jo ju HARD: gui giie ga go gu
(b). Front gu is a digraph 8 serving to represent the hard-g" sound
before i and e only.
30 (c). j has ALWAYS the same sound, either Castilian "guttural"
(palatal) or Spanish-American "aspirate." It graphically represents
this sound before the back vowels and sometimes shares with g the
same office before the front vowels.
1 Prov. = 'Trust an old friend's criticisms'. 2 With silent h. 3 With hissing s. 4 With
strongly trilled initial r. 5 H 3 R. 13. 6^3 R. 14. 7 If 1 (a). 8 P. 26, fn. 2.
Syllabus IV 33
Rem. 16. Final soft-g (-j) is rare, technically having a jota-sound that may be pronounced but tends
to become silent, e. g. reloj (also written relo) 'timepiece', boj 'boxwood', cambuj (a kind of) 'child's
cap', troj (a kind of) 'fruit storeroom'.
Final hard-sr is non-existent barring a few examples in g-m, g-n (p. 32), which are of learned origin
and phonetically unnatural to the language.
Rem. 17. For examples of soft- and hard-g 1 after the nasal ng (e. g. an-gel, len-gua) cf. *f 14.
QUESTION SYLLABUS
(^[9 ) What are the characters that graphically express Spanish
soft- and hard-g;*
(1f 9 1 ) What are the geographical standards of soft-g?
How may each one be termed?
By what two consonants is it spelled? When?
Pronounce soft-g in the vowel scale. Write.
(^[ 9 R. 4 ) In practising Spanish soft-gr, what two English sounds are to be avoided?
(p. 29 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
f 9 la ) Is j restricted to back vowels only in representing Spanish
soft-g 1 ?
(p. 30 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(If 9 2 ) What is Spanish hard-g like (e. g. in English equivalents)?
By what two consonants characters is it spelled? When?
Pronounce hard-g in the vowel scale. Write.
(H 9 R. 11) In pronouncing front gu- what is to be avoided?
(p. 31 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(Tf 9 2a ) Pronounce hard-g vowel scale with organic front- vowel U.
Write.
(p. 32 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(Tf 9 3a ) How many sounds has Spanish g as an alphabetic character?
Write them in the vowel scale and pronounce, showing how
other consonant devices are needed for a complete expres-
sion of Spanish g sounds.
(If 9 3b ) What kind of a character is front gu called (corresponding
to back g) ?
What is the nature of this u?
To what service is the digraph (i. e. front gu) limited?
(1f 9 3c ) What sound does Spanish j always represent?
How is its service distributed?
LESSON V (1J10-12)
1[10:b-v 1|ll:ch,h 1fl2:d
1110. b and V. They have two pronunciation standards, namely
1. General (i. e. the practice of the Spanish-spealtng masses and
peculiar to the spirit of the language) : in this, b and v blend into vir-
tually one and the same sound, considered as a lax bi-labial continuant 1
with the lips barely touching 2 :
bi be ba bo bu
vi ve va vo vu
Rem. 1. AVOID English w, which, being s semi- vowel, is without lip contact.
2. Academic (i. e. mostly peculiar to cultivated speech): in this,
b and v are distinct from each other, as in English, the former (b) be-
coming a bi-labial stop 1 , the latter (v) a labio-dental continuant 1 :
bi be ba bo bu vi ve va vo vu
Rem. 2. The learner's choice between standards (1) and (2) cannot be prescribed here, either being
acceptable. Standard (1) has the obvious advantage of a prior claim, but the learner's progress should
not be held back by a fruitless attempt to acquire it at the outset. Moreover, fluctuations of usage be-
tween the two standards are common enough, even in the same individual at different times.
Rem. 3. The first standard being one of the few exceptions to the general phonetic character of
Spanish spelling, the learner who hears it has no resource save memory and practice to distinguish
between b and v in spelling.
ORAL EXERCISE
lb: bi-ci-cle-ta bi-go-te bien be-so Ba-da-joz ba-jo ba-li-
ja ban-de-ja bar-ba-ro bar-be-ro bar-niz bas 3 -ta bo-ga
bos 3 -que Bor-bon bos 3 -que-jo bul-to bui-tre bue-no blan-
do bre-ga bro-ma bru-to a-be-ja a-bo-ga-do a-bue-lo
5cor-ba-ta dia-blo do-ble go-bier-no Ha-ba-na or-fe-bre Pa-
blo sa-ba-na Sa-bo-ya so-be-ra-no ta-ber-na Al-ba Cor-
do-ba Cris-to-bal Es-te-ban ba-ba bar-ba bom-ba bo-bo
ca-bo glo-bo li-bro lo-bo na-bo ra 4 -bo se-bo sa-bio pro-
bar be-ber de-ber sa-ber con-ce-bir es-cri-bir re 4 -ci-bir.
10 V: vi-ga vi-no ve-la ve-na vein-te va-no vo-to vul-go
vul-gar val-vu-la ve-ci-no ven-ta-j;i be-ne-vo-lo vi-vir vol-
1 1j 7 R.4. 2 Unlike English 6, where there is pressure of the lower lips and teeth. 3 With
hissing s. 4 With strongly trilled initial r.
34
b-v
35
ver bra-vo cla-vo pa-vo u-va vi-vo vo-ti-vo a-gra-vio
Ve-su-vio mo-vil tro-va-dor vas-co Viz-ca-ya ven-tu-ra.
Rem. 4. From this close identity of b and v many Spanish words have acquired in their spelling a
b that corresponds to a v in their Latin etymology or in their foreign cognates, e. g.
bigpte (dim) wga cibdad (Old Span, for Habana 'Havana'
balija 'valise' mod. ciudad) (Lat) Pablo 'Pa.u(v)\ us) '
barniz 'rarnish' ciziitatem probar 'to prooue'
boda (Lat) rota concebir ' to conceive ' recibir ' to receive '
boga 'rogue' corbata 'cravat.' sabana 'safanna'
bulto (Lat) roltus Cordoba 'Cordona' Saboya 'Saroy'
buitre 'culture' diablo 'dewl' soberano 'sot'ereign*
abogada 'adrocate' Esteban 'Steph(v)en' taberna 'tawrn'
abuelo (Lat) amolus gobernar 'to govern' trabajo ' travel '
Alba 'Alva' guyaba 'guara.' (cf. Fr. travail)
But etymologically the b is often derived from Latin p, e. g.
abeja (Lat) apicula soberano (Lat) superanus
concebir (Lat) concipere trabajo (Lat) tripalium (3-pale)
saber (Lat) saere
Rem. 5. In other examples, the relations of b and v are the reverse of the above (Rem. 4), e. g.
maravilla (Lat) miraMia trovador 'troufeadour' viga (Lat) Mga
[auto]m6vil '[autoJmoMle' vasco[ngado] 'Basque' Viscaya ' Biscay '
nivel (Lat) li&ellum
Rem. 6. On occasion, the initial b-v blended sound whether spelled b or v may be = English 6,
namely:
(1) either from the emphasis of initial location or of exclamation (where the sonant b-stop has an
obvious advantage over the less sonant f-continuant), e. g. ibarbarp!. ibruto!, ibasta! 'enough!', ibien!
'capital!', ivaya! (=&aya) 'there!', iverdad! ( fterdad) 'indeed!', ivillano! (=6illano) 'villain!', ivival
( = iiva) ' hurrah [for] ! ' ;
(2) or, from the law of phonetic conservation of energy acting unconsciously along the lines of least
resistance, palatal n of a preposition or prefix (e. g. con, en, in. sin) and a following b or v (coming to-
gether as -nb- or -nv-) exert a mutual bi-labializing influence that results phonetically in -mb-, the n of
the atonic prefix weakening in favor of its more emphatic neighbor (to which the syllable stress gives a
superior advantage), which, in turn, has its lax bi-labial quality strengthened by the m-labializing influ-
ence of its new ally, e. g. con bolsa (= com-fol-sa) 'with purse', cpnvidar (= conz-6idar) 'to invite',
en boca ( = ew-froca) 'in [the] mouth', enviar ( = ew-Mar) 'to send', en verda[d] ( = em-6erda(d]) 'in
truth', en vano ( = e?n-6ano) 'in vain', invertir ( = im-6ertir) 'to invert', sin ventura ( = sim-6entura)
'luckless', envite ( = em-bite and sometimes so written) 'stake' (challenge). For further examples cf.
any full vocabulary under conv-, env-, inv-.
When graphic m precedes b, within a word, it exerts on the b the same strengthening influence as
occurs under (2), above (where graphic n is reduced to phonetic m), e. g. ambiente 'air', ambos 'both',
bamboleo 'tottering', bambii 'bamboo', cambiar 'to exchange', icaramba! 'indeed!'.
Rem. 7. Another example of the law of phonetic simplification illustrated particularly in popular
usage is afforded by the tendency of graphic b to weaken phonetically into its voiceless counterpart p,
especially before another voiceless consonant (t, k, s), as in the prefixes abs-, obs-, obt-, subt-, e. g. (b
p) abs-tener (= aps-) 'to abstain', ab-soluto ( = ap-) 'absolute', ob-sequio ( = op-) 'favor', ob-tener
( = op-) ' to obtain ', sub-terraneo ( = sup-) ' underground '.
On the same economy principal, this b tends to drop out altogether from pronunciation ^and often
from writing, as well when it is twofold weakened by two adjoining voiceless consonants, as in the pre-
fix combinations obs-c-, obs-t-, subs-cr, subs-t-, e. g. (b silent, and optional in writing) o[b]s-curo 'dark',
no o[b]s-tante 'notwithstanding', su[b]s-crito 'subscribed', su[b]s-tancia 'substance', su[b]s-traer 'to sub-
tract', su[6]s-tituto 'assistant' (where the loss of b has become standardized).
In respect to the prefix su(6), Spanish early reduced Latin sub to so. which in the sense of debajo
de 'under' appears in several old prepositional formulas (e. g. so pretexto de) and often as verb prefix
(so or su), e. g. someter 'to submit', socaver 'to undermine', sumiso 'sM&missive', suponer 'to suppose'.
Rem. 8. The free phonetic movement in the development of Italian early accomplished the com-
plete elision, in Italian, of what corresponded originally to this Spanish b in prefixes (Rem. 7), both in
spelling as well as in pronunciation, e. g. above (Rem. 7), astenere, assoluto, ossequio, oftenere, so/terraneo.
Rem. 9. The native Spanish b-v sound is the least satisfactory of any in the language to determine
with practical definiteness in a body of precept, since theory and practice seem to be Lrreconcilial
variance. The weight of common repute, joined to admittedly general usage in Old and Xew World
Spanish, is cast in favor of standard (1) of t 10. i. e. b and v are considered as having the same sound,
especially when medial. But the Spnaish Royal Academy the highest organized authority on the national
idiom has long prescribed standard (2) as the one that "ought" to be used, while admitting that in the
greater part of Spain it is not so used. In deference to such authority this artificial distinction not
properly Castilian has a certain vogue among the more exclusive'y cultured classes and their imit.
But social and political authority alone cannot check the well established course of language develo;
least of all, reverse popular usage in a matter so deep-rooted in time as to have been the butt of a l.ai in
joke well nigh two thousand years ago, when Spanish traits of provincialism in speech and taste were hit
off in Rome by the pun that, to the Spaniard, vivere ('to live') meant the same as ttHtere ('to drink 'i a
pun still kept alive in the occasional substitution of vividor and bebedor (e. g. debajo de mala capa suele
haber un buen bebedor(vividor).
36 Lesson V 1111 l
Rem. 10. As evidence of this early tendency to blend the two letters b and v into one sound, but
admitting the two characters in nap-hazard fashion without any clear consciousness of a special place
for each, we have many Spanish words, now established in b and v, that interchange these letters in their
root words or in their foreign cognates (cf. Rem. 4-5). But the clearest testimony of this confusion of the
graphic sign brought down to modern times is afforded by the example of the dramatist Calderon (17th
century), who upset the present established order of b's and v's as recklessly as the jokesmith's untrained
Englishman is made to do with his h's: rhyming sabe and ave, fugitiva and derriba; writing indifferently
va and 6a, vano and ftano, ver and 6er, frolver, en&olver, and enfcolfeer; and leaving abundant specimens
like i/ien, vello, imlgo, z>anar, tube and after, con&encer, profcidencia, etc. (cf. Morel- Fatio's ed. of El
mdgico prodigioso).
Even at the present day such confused interchanges are common among the illiterate, and are oc-
casionally met in print as the fluctuating spelling of proper names, e. g. B(V)ivar (name of the national
hero, the Cid), Brav(6)o Murillo (prominent politician of middle 19th century), La familia de Alv(6)areda
(well known novel of Fernan Caballero), Esteb(i;)anez (19th century writer). Internal evidence is also
afforded by puns that play on the identity of b and v, e. g. cf. the following sallies: "What's the differ-
ence whether we write vino 'wine' with a b or with a v? Will it be any the less wine?" (Larra). He
frotado con b, pues con v no he podido, tal estaban as listas electorales (Alarcon). Cf. also: una ballena
with una (sc. cuba) va llena, and albarda with Alvar da (sc. palos), where the play of b on v forms the
joke of a well known story (Trueba, La ballena del Manzanares).
Rem. 11. For giie instead of bue or vue cf. t 9 Rem. 16.
IF 11. ch, h.
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES. As heretofore (cf. Les. I), write down all the following
examples of ch and h, (except MISCELLANEOUS) :
1. ch is a digraph 1 = English ch in 'cAeek', 'church', etc:
chi che cha cho chu
Rem. 1. Defined with more precision, ch is a voiceless compound = I plus sh (French ch), in which
the elements have become as thoroughly merged as those that make up the compound vowels known as
diphthongs.
IChi: chi-co Chi-le Chi-na ar-chi-vo co-chi-no ca-pu-chi-no.
Che: che-que co-che-ro ma-che-te o-chen-ta pu-che-ro
co-se 2 -che-ro ran 3 -che-ro trin-che-ra cu-chi-che-o co-che chin-
che le-che no-che par-che San-chez es-tu-che a-za-ba-che
5 ca-chi-va-ches 2 troche-mo-che.
Cha: chan-za char-la chas 2 -co chas 2 -qui-do a-cha-que cu-
cha-ra chi-cha-ro char-lar e-char fe-char man-char plan-
char a-ce-char es-cu-char bro-cha col-cha con-cha fa-cha
fe-cha fle-cha fi-cha lan-cha lu-cha man-cha tru-cha co-
10se 2 -cha es 2 -car-cha mu-cha-cha sal-chi-cha sos 2 -pe-cha.
Cho: cho-que cho-za cho-car Chon-chi-ta an-cho bi-cho
cin-cho cau-cho cor-cho cho-cho di-cho gan-cho le-cho
ma-cho mu-cho o-cho pe-cho ran 3 -cho San-cho te-cho
tre-cho biz-co-cho ca-pri-cho car-tu-cho de-re-cho des 2 -pa-
15 cho des 2 -pe-cho es 2 -tre-cho ga-ba-cho gaz-pa-cho mu-cha-
cho per-tre-cho pro-ve-cho.
Chu: chu-lo Chu-cha ca-chu-pm chu-zo chu-par ca-chu-cha.
MISCELLANEOUS: He 4 di-cho. An-cho y de-re-cho. Di-cha fe-cha.
Mu-chas 2 sal-chi-chas 2 . U-na co-chi-na con le-cho-nes 2 . San-cho ha 4
20 di-cho mu-cho. Un ca-pri-cho de mu-chas 2 mu-cha-chas 2 .
1 Cf. p. 26. fn. 2. 2 With hissing a. 3 With strongly trilled initial r. 4 With silent h.
1112 h, d 37
Rem. 2. Final ch is not Castilian. But as peculiar to Catalan with value of k the foreign student of
Spanish meets it often in proper names, geographic and patronymic, in Mediterranean Spain from Barce-
lona to Valencia, e. g. Montjuich (Barcelona citadel), del Bosch, Leon Roch (leading character of a well-
known novel of Galdos), Escrich (writer).
2. h is always silent 1 . Its position is mostly word initial:
hi he ha ho hu
hi-go hi-lo hi-to hin-char hi-dal-go hi-gue-ra a-hi mo- 1
hi-no he-lar he-rir he-chi-zo her-ma-no her-mo-so 2 he-
chi-ce-ro hay ha-cha has 2 -ta ha-go ha-blar ha-cer ha-
ri-na al-ha-ja bu-har-da Chi-hua-hua ho-gar hom-bre
hom-bro hon-ra ho-ra ho-gue-ra hor-mi-gue-ra bu-ho hu- 5
cha hu-mo hur-to hue-vo hue-ro.
MISCELLANEOUS: Ha he-cho. Hom-bre hon-ra-do. 3 Don-de no hay
ha-ri-na, to-do es 2 mo-hi-na. 4 Del di-cho al he-cho hay gran tre-cho.
Rem. 3. Guard against pronouncing English h in cognate Spanish words, e. g.
him-no hi-dro-ge-no he-ro-i-na Ho-ra-cio
hi-gie-ne hi-per-bo-la he-roi-co hos-pi-tal
his-to-ria hi-po-te-sis ha-bi-to hu-ma-no
his-to-ri-co he-ro-e ha-bi-tual hu-ra-can
Rem. 4. A slight aspiration is sometimes heard for the h of hue (If 5 2), but the student is safe in
disregarding it.
Rem. 5. In the Romanic languages h is an orthographic aristocrat, doing no work but levying
quit-rent tribute by virtue of ill defined shadowy claims handed down from a remote and obscure past.
Hence, its existence is more ornamental than useful to show etymology as its coat of arms and thus
proclaim its mediaeval origin. Its pretensions are quite at variance with modern businesslike methods.
But thus far it has successfully stood off reforming attacks directed against its privileges.
Rem. 6. For giie instead of hue cf. If 9, Rem. 16.
Rem. 7. For the effect of intervocalic h on syllabication cf. f t 22 (b).
^[ 12. d. It has one, or two, sounds, namely-
1. When word initial (or medial syllable initial after a closed' 3 syllable) :
it is a voiced stop 6 as in English, but rather softer, being more dental
than English d 7 , since the tip of the tongue should touch the back of
the upper teeth:
INITIAL: di- de- da- do- du-
di di-go Die-go de de-bo de-bil des 2 -de con-de dar
da-ba dra-ma dos 2 doy don-de cal-do dan-do man-do
par-do du-que clul-ce du-ro.
2. Intervocalic 8 and word final: it may be = d (1). But, more
usually, it is interdental (as in position of English th], approximating
voiced th (in 'do-//ns', 'soothe').
INTERVOCALIC: -di -de -da -do -du
FINAL: -id -ed -ad -ud
1 I. e. when not united with c to form the digraph ch. 2 With hissing s. 3 Prov. =
"When poverty comes at the door, love flies out of the window." 4 Prov. == 'It's a long way from
saying to doing'. 5 A "closed" syllable is one that ends in a consonant (e. g. en-ton-ces 'then').
6 1 7 R. 4. 7 Which is front palatal. 8 /. e. beginning a syllable preceded by an open one (the
reverse of the medial location of d (1) ).
38 Lesson V ^ 12 2
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES: As heretofore, write down alternating lines of the
following examples of intervocalic and final d (1[ 12 2):
1 INTERVOCALIC : po-di-a da-di-va me-di-co me-dio na-die o-
dio re^me-dio ca-da deu-da du-da mo-da na-da Pe-re-
da sa-li-da co-do da-do de-do lo-do mo-do ni-do nu-
do pra-do pue-do to-do a-ma-do 2 de-cha-do co-mi-do 2
5vi-vi-do 2 con-da-do cui-da-do es 3 -ta-do hu-me-do ma-ri-do
pe-ca-do sen-ti-do sol-da-do so-ni-do To-le-do u-ni-do a-
ten-di-do co-lo-ra-do co-me-di-do de-ci-di-do en-fa-da-do trai-
dor cor-ta-dor E-cua-dor fun-da-dor mo-ra-dor sal-va-dor
de-vas-ta-dor en-re-da-dor en-ten-de-dor fas-ci-na-dor pre-di-
lOca-dor Es 3 -ta-dos 3 U-ni-dos 3 E-duar-do ma-du-ro in-di-vi-duo.
Rem. 1. Intervocalic d in union with (rolled) r may also have this interdental
sound, e. g. cua-dro ma-dre pa-dre po-dre podra cua-dra-do.
FINAL: Cid lid vid ar-did as 3 -pid Ma-drid vi-vid 4 red 1
sed co-med 4 ces 3 -ped mer-ced pa-red us 3 -ted bon-dad
ciu-dad 5 mi-tad pa-gad 4 ver-dad ca-ri-dad ne-ce-si-dad en-
fer-me-dad e-lec-tri-ci-dad u-ni-ver-si-dad a-mis-tad di-fi-cul-
15 tad fa-cul-tad li-ber-tad ma-jes-tad vo-lun-tad sud la-
ud a-ta-ud sa-lud vir-tud gra-ti-tud ju-ven-tud mag-ni-
tud mul-ti-tud.
Rem. 2. Final d is very common from its occurrence in the numerous family of feminine endings
-dad, -tad, -tud (cf. exs. If 153).
Rem. 3. In ad or a-d plus vowel, where a[d] is felt to be a living prefix, the d has the initial value
of If 12 I.e. g. ad-aptar, a-delantar, a-demas, a-dios, a-divinar, a-donde, ad-optar, ad-orar.
Otherwise, when the a is not a prefix, interdental d (If 12 2) prevails, e. g. adalid, aduana. Or it
tends to prevail when an original prefix becomes so worn as to have lost its force, e. g. a-de-cuado (ad +
aequatus), a-deman (ad + manus), a-derezo (ad + directus), a-dorno (ad + ornro).
Rem. 4. In ad plus consonant, the d may have the interdental sound of f 12 2, e. g. ad-jetivo, ad-
mirador, ad-vertir, ad-versidad.
Rem. 5. The suppression of d is common under certain conditions chiefly as follows:
(1.) Apocope of final d in careless, offhand utterance, e. g. Madri(d), uste(d). verda(d); and
syncope of intervocalic d in the ending -ado of (I conj.) past participles and nouns formed therefrom, e. g.
lCuida(J)o! 'Look out!' colora(<f)o, peca(d)o, Pra(d)o; cf. also Pe(</)ro. But higado 'liver'.
(2). In illiterate usage the syncope of d in (1) is generalized between identical vowels, which, in
utterance, then coalesce into one, e. g. ca(<i)a, na(d)a, desampara(tOa, to(i/)o.
This last peculiarity even extends to d between different vowels, e. g. barre(<f)ura 'sweepings',
cali((i)a(J), pesa(J)umbre 'affliction', vi(t/)a (in exclamation por vta de. . . 'By. . . !')
Rem. 6. Intervocalic and final d is a consonant of weak resisting power, becoming easily disinte-
grated into the interdental (th) and then lost. This was a fate common to the Latin d. Its operation in
the modern language (Rem. 5) is checked only by the preserving influence of education.
1 With strongly initial trilled r. 2 Past participle types of I. II. Ill conjugations, respectively.
3 With hissing 8. 4 Familiar-imperative plural types of I (pagad), II (corned) and III (vivid) con-
jugations. 5 Distinguish between soft and hard c in ClU-dad ' city ' and CUI-da-do ' care'.
Syllabus V 39
QUESTION SYLLABUS
(If 10 ) How many pronunciation standards has Spanish b and V?
(f 10 1-2 ) Explain how the two letters figure in each standard.
(p. 34 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(If 11 1 ) What kind of character is Spanish ch?
What does it sound like (in English equivalents) ?
Pronounce it in the vowel scale. Write.
(p. 36 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(1F 11 2 ) What does Spanish h sound like?
Where mostly is its location (i. e; medial or word initial)?
Pronounce the vowel scale with initial h. Write.
(p. 37 ) EXAMPLE DRILL (including Rem. 3).
(If 12 1 ) When Spanish d is word initial what does it sound like in
English?
Pronounce initial d in vowel scale. Write.
(p. 37 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(If 12 2 ) What other sound may Spanish d have, and where?
Pronounce it thus in the vowel scale. Write.
(p. 38 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
LESSON VI (1113-14)
If 13: 11 and n 1 H 14: Nasal ng
If 13. II and fl. They represent complex sounds practically equiva-
lent to their respective simple letters (1 and n) plus ^/-diphthong; but
more linguo-dental than in English, the tip of the tongue pressing
against the lower teeth.
They display the following parallelism:
1. 11. It is a digraph (p. 26, fn. 2) = English li in 'bata^on' and
'postilion', or Hi in 'brilliant', 'million', 'William'.
Hi lie Ha llo llu = lyi lye lya lyo lyu
Rem. 1. The most common occurrence of 11 is intervocalic. Take care, in delib-
erate utterance, to link the pronunciation exclusively with the syllable to which
the sound properly belongs, without allowing the sound as happens correspond-
ingly in English to be anticipated in the preceding syllable, e. g. English 'batalion',
'postilion', 'bii//i'ant', 'million', meda//ion' are pronounced batal'yon, postifyon,
bril'yant, mil'yon, medal'yon. But their Spanish counterparts are pronounced sylla-
bically, as written, namely: ba-ta-116n', pos-ti-116n', bri-llan'-te, mi-116n', me-da-
llon'.
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES: Write down every other word or line as follows
(except MISCELLANEOUS) :
i Hi a-lli bu-llir ga-lli-na pe-lliz-co a-pe-lli-do bu-lli-cio-so.
He: lie-go lle-vo lie-gar lle-var ca-lle va-lle fue-lle mue-
lle ta-lle Te-llez ba-lle-na be-lle-za bi-lle-te ca-lle-ja fu-
lle-ro ga-lle-go Gui-ller-mo mo-lle-ra pe-lle-jo ban-de-rri-
5lle-ro ba-ra-ti-lle-ro ca-ba-lle-ro ca-lle-jue-la cor-di-lle-ra ga-
lli-ne-ro ta-ller ba-chi-ller can-ci-ller em-be-lle-cer.
Ha: lla-ma lla-mo llan-to lla-ve lla-mar qui-lla si-lla vi-
lla An-ti-llas 2 ar-ci-lla as 2 -ti-lla ca-pi-lla Cas-ti-lla cos 2 -
qui-llas 2 cos- 2 ti-lla cua-dri-lla ga-vi-lla me-ji-lla man-ci-lla
lOo-ri-lla pas 2 -ti-lla pa-ti-lla po-li-lla ro 3 -di-lla se-mi-lla Se-
vi-lla tor-ti-lla va-ri-lla ban-de-ri-ll.a man-te-qui-lla ma-ra-
vi-lla vai-ni-lla e-lla hue-lla me-lla a-que-lla bo-te-lla don-
ce-lla es 2 -tre-lla gro-se 2 -lla que-re-lla ma-lla ta-lla a-ga-
llas 2 ba-ta-lla me-da-lla pan-ta-lla to-a-lla va-sa 2 -lla ce-
1 May be most conveniently referred to as "n-with-til'de." 2 With hissing s. 3 With
strongly trilled initial r.
40
If 13 11 41
bo-lla bu-lla gru-lla pu-lla bri-llan-te Ca-lla-o ca-lla-do l
folla-je ga-llar-do ha-llaz-go cas-te-lla-no Ma-ga-lla-nes 1 San-
ti-lla-na Va-lla-do-licl a-lla ca-llar co-liar chi-llar fa-liar
ha-llar se-llar si-liar ta-llar tri-llar de-go-llar dcs^co-llar
es^ta-llar ma-gu-llar a-cri-bi-llar a-tro-pe-llar ca-pe-llan ba- 5
ta-lla-dor la pa-ti-lla de la me-ji-lla.
Ho: llo-ro llo-rar llo-ver llo-viz-na bri-llo gri-llo pi-llo
tri-llo a-ni-llo bol-siMlo cau-di-llo cas^ti-llo ce-pi-llo col-
mi-llo cu-chi-llo chi-qui-llo la-dri-llo mar-ti-llo Mu-ri-llo
o-vi-llo pos^ti-llo to-bi-llo to-rni-llo a-ma-ri-llo La-za-ri-llo 10
e-llo se-llo cue-llo a-que-llo ca-be-llo ca-me-llo des l -te-llo
ca-llo fa-llo ga-llo ca-ba-llo bo-llo po-llo ro 2 -llo am-po-
llo me-O-llo a-u-llo ca-pu-llo mur-mu-llo or-gu-llo be-llo-
ta Ma-llor-ca so-llo-zo U-llo-a cos'-qui-llo-so 1 or-gu-llo-so l
quis^qui-llo-so 1 ma-ra-vi-llo-so 1 mi-lion ba-ta-llon me-da-llon 15
pa-be-llon hu-mi-lla-cion.
II U llu-via pi-llue-lo po-llue-lo.
MISCELLANEOUS: Es-tre-lla bri-llan-te. Or-gu-llo hu-mi-lla-do. Un
ban-de-ri-lle-ro de la cua-dri-lla. No hay vi-lla sin su ma-ra-vi-lla.
E-lla es 1 bri-llan-te y be-lla. 3 Cuan-do la ga-lli-na can-ta, el ga-llo ca- 20
lla. 4 En Cas-ti-lla el ca-ba-llo lle-va la si-lla. El chi-qui-llo chi-
lla y bu-lla. La don-ce-lla de-go-116 un po-llo en el ga-lli-ne-ro.
Rem. 2. To guard against misleading English analogy in the matter of double
consonants (e. g. 'par'aWd'), observe in the above examples how Spanish 11 being
an inseparable character (1f 1 2) is indivisible in writing (e. g. note above examples
of syllable division at the end of lines).
Rem. 3. -i-llo is a diminutive suffix (= 'little') of quite common occurrence,
e. g. calorci-llo, espeji-llo, hombreci-llo, pobreci-llo.
Rem. 4. In parts of Spain (notably Andalusia), and quite generally in Spanish America, 11 becomes
softened to y-consonant, replacing Castilian 11 altogether as standard pronunciation, e. g. lleno is pro-
nounced ye-no, calle = ca-ye, caba-llo = caba-yo, torti-lla = tortiya, a-lli = a-yi, e-lla = e-ya, ha-lla =
ha-ya (and hence == haya of haber).
This reduction of 11 to y marks a trait peculiar to the genius of the language and is already so wide-
spread as to bid fair some day to be recognized as standard. Some teaching authorities already hold that
it should be taught as the only practical Spanish-American variety of the Castilian 11, with claims to
standard recognition quite as good as those allowed to American soft c.
Rem. 5. The sound of I + y-diphthong (often refeired to as the "liquid /") is a conspicuous factor
in the scheme of Romanic pronunciation. The Spanish varieties, II and y (Rem. 4), represent the extremes
the sound has taken among its neighbors, 11 being the Castilian counterpart of Italian g/i (e. g. fig/io 'son'),
and y of French ill ("1 mouille", e. g. feui/fage 'foliage').
2. n is the Spanish digraph 5 sign for nn English ni in 'onion',
'opim'on', 'union':
ni fie na no nu - ny\ nye nya. nyu
IWith hissing s. 2 With strongly trilled initial r. 3 Prov. 'When the hen crows the
rooster keeps silent'. 4 Prov = : 'In Castile, the father is the head of the family
burden of it) '. 5 Cf. p. 26. fn. 2.
42 Lesson VI 11132
Rem. 6. n occurs intervocalic only virtually so, since it is found word initial in
but few words (and these unlikely in the learner's experience). The same for 11 (Rem.
1) take care, in deliberate utterance, to link the pronunciation exclusively with
the syllable to which the sound properly belongs, without allowing the sound
as happens correspondingly in English to be anticipated in the preceding syllable,
e. g. English 'canyon' and 'pinion' are pronounced can'yon and pin'yon. But their
Spanish spelling counterparts are pronounced syllabically, as written, ca-non' and
pi-non'.
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES: Write down every other word as follows (except
MISCELLANEOUS) :
Ifii: a-nil al-ba-nil he^nir bru-fiir gru-nir re 2 -nir te-nir
a-fii-cos 3 al-fe-ni-que com-pa-ni-a.
fie: mu-ne-ca cas 3 -ta-ne-ta com-pa-ne-ro ni-fiez Nu-nez pe-
que-fiez ni-ne-ri-a.
5 ha : ni-na pi-na ti-na vi-na bre-fia gre-na le-na pe-na
se-na due-na ci-giie-na ca-na ma-na sa-na ca-ba-na cas 3 -
ta-na en-tra-nas 3 Es 3 -pa-na ha-za-na ma-ra-na mon-ta-fia
pa-tra-na do-na pon-zo-na u-na cu-na Ca-ta-lu-na cu-
fia-do ma-na-na en-se-nan-za pu-fial se-nal ba-nar so-
10 fiar en-se-nar.
fiO: gui-no ni-no ca-ri-no ce-no due-no sue-no pe-que-no
ha-la-giie-no lu-ga-re-no ma-dri-le-no a-no ba-no ca-no da-
no pa-no cas 3 -ta-no es 3 -ca-no ,ta-ma-no mo-no gaz-mo-no
Lo-gro-no ma-dro-no o-to-no cu-no pu-no se-nor se-fio-
15 ra se-no-ri-ta es-pa-nol es-pa-no-la bu-no-le-ro des 3 -de-no-
so 3 so-no-lien-to ca-non sa-ba-n6n.
nu: bu-nue-lo pa-nue-lo cas-ta-nue-la.
MISCELLANEOUS: Se-nor y due-no mi-o. Com-pa-ni-a ma-dri-le-na.
El due-iio de la ca-ba-na. 4 Bu-no-le-ro, a tus 3 bu-nue-los 3 .
Rem. 7. A distinction is claimed between n and n + y-diphthong, but it is scarcely distinguishable
to the unpracticed ear. Even to the native, it fluctuates in a few examples, e. g. pergeno (preferred) and
pergem'o 'looks', Alemania (preferred) and Alemana 'Germany', Antonio and Tofio, union.
Rem. 8. Like "liquid I" (Rem. 5), this n-y-sound ("liquid n") is a conspicuous factor in the scheme
of Romanic pronunciation, being represented in Italian and French by gn (cf. e. g. English 'sign', Spanish
sena, Italian segna. French signe).
Students of Spanish already accustomed to this French and Italian gn should note, therefore, that
Spanish gn is NOT "liquid" (i. e. inseparable), but is divided syllabically into its letters as g-n, of which
each one is pronounced separately, e. g. benig-no 'mild', desig-no 'design', dig-no 'worthy', etc. (cf.
192 g-n).
Rem. 9. Since n = nn, it was originally written double, and in such form is to be found in the early
texts of the language. Later, the second n came to be left out and its former presence indicated by a
superscript bar over the first n. This bar then evolved into a curved sign called "til'de", from Latin
tit(u)liim (with metathesis of ( ( = d) and 1) in its primary sense of 'label', 'mark', specifically applied m
Spanish to this diacritic use the secondary sense of Latin titulum as 'title' being supplied in Spanish
by titulo, a word of later (and artificial) formation from the same source.
1 Silent h. 2 With strongly trilled initial r. 3 With hiing s. 4 Prov. = "Cobbler,
stick to your last" (lit. 'Fritter-fryer, mind your fritters').
1fl4
43
es 1 -
con- 5
rin 3 -
sin-
mon-
H14. ng (nasal) sound. It is = English nasal ng in 'banfcer' ( =
bawg'ker), 'finger' (= fiwg'ger), 'hungry' (= huwg'gry), replacing the
sound of n in the combinations n plus hard-c, n plus g (soft and hard),
n plus w(y) diphthong, namely:
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES : Write down every other word as follows (except Rem) :
1. n(g) plus hard-c: an-cla 2 aun 2 -que ban 2 -co blan' 2 -co cin- 1
co cine Cuen-ca fin-ca flan-co fran-co man-co nun-ca
ron 3 -co yun-que zan-ca a-hin-co a-ren-que ban-que-ro
ban-que-te cin-cuen-ta con-quis^ta en-car-go es^tan-que
tan-co pa-lan-ca pa-len-que po-den-co tran-qui-lo
trin-can-te in-qui-li-no Sa-la-man-ca quin-que ren^-cor
con yan-qui in-quie-tud tran-qui-li-dad in-qui-si^cion
co-pe pe-dun-cu-lo me-lan-co-li-co.
2. n(g) plus soft-g: an-gel Gan-jes 1 gran-ja lon-ja
ja mon-je al-fan-je a-jen-jo es^fin-je es^pon-ja fa-lan-je 10
jen-gi-bre li-son'-ja na-ran-ja be-ren-ge-na E-van-ge-lio ca-
non-ji-a ex-tran-je-ro fin-gir man-jar A-ran-juez Ben-ja-
min lon-gi-tucl ren 3 -gi-fe-ro.
3- n(g) plus hard-g 1 : den-gues 1 fan-go grin-go len-gua man-go
pin-giie pon-go ran 3 -go san-gre ten-go \ en-go an-gus^tia 15
a-ren-ga do-min-go fan-dan-go len-gua-je nin-gu-no po-tin-
gue un-guen-to pa-lan-ga-na san-gui-na-rio in-gles 1 ren 3 -
glon dis^tin-guir ex-tin-guir sin-gu-lar trian-gu-lar G6n-go-ra
lan-gui-do ex-tran-je-ro lin-giiis l -ti-co em-pin-go-ro-ta-do.
4. n(g) plus C>{ J>)-diphthong : un hue-co (= ung-gwe-co) al-gii 20
hue-vo nin-gun yu-go sin yun-que con-yu-ge sin hue-so 1 .
Rem. Hence, the nasal ng is present in any of the above combinations of which
the n belongs to any initial syllable as prefix or preposition, etc. (e. g. an-, con-, con,
en-, in-, sin, un (indef. art.)), examples of which are very numerous, e. g.
an-gos-to
con que-so 1
en-con-trar
in-ge-nio
sin juez
an-gui-la
con-que-rir
en-cuen-tro
in-ge-nie-ro
un quc'-bra-do
an-gu-lo
con-tin-gen-cias 1
cn-ga-nar
in-ge-nui-dad
un cam-po
con-cluir
en que
cn-ga-no
in-gre-so l
un cuen-to
con-cur-so
en ca-ja
en-jam-bre
in-gra-to
un gui-so
con-go-ja
en-ca-je
en-ju-to
in-ger-to
un ga-llo
con-gre-so
en ca-sa
in-can-sa-ble
in-ju-ria
un gol-pe
con gus-to
en ca-mi-no
in-cau-to
in-jus-to
un guan-te
con-je-tu-ra
en-can-tar
in-cle-men-cia
in-quie-to
un gi-ro
con-ju-ga-cion
en-can-to
in-co-mo-do
Don Juan
un ge-ne-ral
con-jun-to
en-ca-re-cer
in-crc-i-ble
sin ca-sa
un jar-din
con que
en-car-gar
in-cul-to
sin gui-a
un jo-vcn
1 With hi.s.sing s.
trilled initial r.
2 I. e. pronounce ang -da, aung'-que, bang'-co, etc.
3 With strongly
44 Lesson VI
QUESTION SYLLABUS
(If 13 ) Are Spanish 11 and n (n with til'de) simple sounds?
What are they equivalent to in respect to formation?
What is the tongue-tip location?
(H 13 1 ) What kind of character is 11?
What (approximate) English sound is it equivalent to?
(If 13 R. 1) What precaution is to be used?
Pronounce 11 in the vowel scale. Write.
(p. 40 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(H 13 2 ) What kind of character is n (n with til'de) i. e. of what
letters is it the graphic sign?
What (approximate) English sound is it equivalent to?
(If 13 R. 6) What precaution is to be used?
Pronounce n in the vowel scale. Write.
(p. 42 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(If 14 ) What is the English equivalent of Spanish n^-sound?
In what combinations does this sound take the place of the
primitive w-sound?
(p. 43 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
LESSON VII (1J15-18)
HIS: f, m, p. 1J17: r, rr.
H16: 1, n, t. HIS: s, w, x, y.
H15. f, ITI, p. As in English:
Fe-li-pe fin-je no fi-jar-se en el fos^fo-ro. Mi ma-ma; mi mis-mo
mo-do; mi muy ma-la mu-la. Por pa-pa; ca-pi-lla pu-bli-ca en
Pa-la-cio.
Rem. 1. The language does not favor final m, which is found only in foreign loan words (e. g. album,
memorandum). In cognate English and Spanish words the final m of the former usually corresponds to
n in the latter, e. g.
betun 'betum(en) ' nin-fa 'nymph'
Adan 'Adam' Colon 'Colum(bus) ' presun-cion 'presum(p)tion'
Asun-cion 'Assum(p)tion' haren 'harem' ron 'r(h)um'
Beltran ' Bertram' interin 'interim' San-son 'Sam-son'
Belen 'Be(th)le(h)em' Jerusalen 'Jerusalem' Serafin 'Seraphim'
Rem. 2. For English mm corresponding to Spanish nm cf. If 16 Rem. 4.
Rem. 3. In the following words p is usually silent and may be optional in writing:
psicologia 'psychology' .septimo 'seventh' su[b]scripto 'subscribed
[pjseudonimo 'pseudonym' septiembre 'September'
H 16. I, n, t. As in English, but more decided (especially when
final in word or in medial syllable), the quality tending to be more
linguo-dental (i. e. formed by the tip of the tongue against the upper
teeth), whereas the corresponding English letters are front-palatal:
1. 1: li le la lo lu
il el al ol ul
li-bro lim-pio le ley la la-bio li-la lo-bo !o-do lu- 1
jo lum-bre Gil 3 mil vil su-til del cruel fiel la miel
la sal el al-ma la fal-ta el sal-to el al-cal-de al-fal-fa col
el sol el pol-vo el col-mi-llo. El co-liar de per-las 1 . El pi-llue-
lo del mue-lle. El po-llue-lo de la ga-lli-na.
Rem. 1. Note the occurrence of 1 as the liquid element in the inseparable consonant combinations
pi and bl, cl and gl, and fl (If 7 Rem. 3), e. g. (initial) plan bledo, clavo globo. flaco; (intervocalic) soplo
doble, tecla siglo, reflejo.
2. n: ni ne na no nu
in en an on un
ni ni-do ne-cio ne-ne na-na na-ve lu-na lle-nar no 1
no-no no-pal vi-no lie-no nu-be nu-do. Fin sin bien
sien men-te sen-ci-llo cuan pan plan tan a-fan man-
do mon-do co-Ion le-6n pe-6n mun-do be-tun. 4 Quie-
ro el pan pan y el vi-no vi-no. Los 1 le-o-nes 1 no llo-ran. 5
1 With hissing s. 2 Cf. 1 10 R. 7. 3 Proper name: 'Giles'. 4 Prov. == 'Call a spade
a spade '.
45
46 Lesson VII ^ 17 1
Rem. 2. n is usually silent in the prefix trans + consonant, and may be omitted
in writing, e. g. tra[n]scender, tra[n]sraitir, tra[n]soner (cf. examples in any full
vocabulary).
But in trans- with a following vowel the n is fully organic, e. g. transatlantic
transeunte, transigir.
Rem. 3. Of nn (properly speaking, the only double consonant in Spanish) each
letter is to be pronounced in deliberate utterance.
nn ordinarily results from a prepositional prefix in n joined to a word with initial
n, e. g. on-, in-, sin-, e. g.
con-notar ' to connote ' in-necesario ' unnecessary '
en-noblecer 'to ennoble' sin-numero 1 'numberless'
in-nato ' innate ' BUT peren-ne ' perennial '
Also, as suffix in enclitic -nos 'us' (If 68 Rem. 6) to 3rd person plural of verbs,
e. g. Llevan-nos 'They take us' Presentaron-nos 'They introduced to us'.
Rem. 4. Spanish nm (not to be confused with nn of Rem. 3 .above) usually represents English
and Latin m [m] or English MM as part of a negative or intensive prefix, e. g.
con-memorar 'to commemorate ' in-moderado 'immoderate' in-merecido ' 2ndeserved '
con-mocion 'commotion' in-mediato 'immediate'
en-memdar 'to amend' in-mortal 'immortal' BUT co-municacion 'communication'
Rem. 5. In parts of Spain, and extensively in Spanish- America, an, en, in (especially before f) are
pronounced as nasal vowels (as in French), e. g. mowde usted, Juan, ewfermo, t'nfierno.
This usage is growing, but as yet with ill defined boundaries.
3. t: ti te ta to tu
1 ti-la ti-no tien-to te-la te-nien-te tin-te-ro guan-te mon-
te ta-ller ta-ta tar-je-ta ba-ta ca-ta la-ta ma-ta pa-
ta at-le-ta to-tal to-no tor-to-la can-to ga-to ha-to
man-to pa-to pun-to san-to tan-to tu-te tur-no ti-tu-
5lo pun-tual pun-ti-llo mo-men-to tor-ti-lla bi-lle-te bo-
te-lla ba-ta-lla ba-ta-llon.
Rem. 6. For digraph tl cf. IT 21 Rem. t.
If 17. r and rr.
1. r. Spanish single r is characteristically strong (i. e. rolled or
trilled by emphatic tongue-tip vibration against the front palate),
unmistakably so when WORD INITIAL :-
ri re ra ro ru
ri-co ri-na re-cio re-ja ra-na ra-ta ro-jo ro-to ru-bio
ru-cio pri-mo bri-llo tro-pa dro-ga cru-do grii-po fres-co.
(a). In other situations (i. e. intervocalic and final), single r may
be smooth, as in English, but clear and distinct:
1 mi-ra fie-ra se-rie ce-ra ca-ra pa-ra va-ra fue-ra cle-ro
pe-ro ra-ro lo-ro mo-ro to-ro du-ro pu-ro co-bro re-
tra-to cua-dro lu-cro sa-gra-do. Ri-gor ru-mor a-mar
ha-blar re-zar ra-yar co-mer rom-per vi-vir su-frir re-
5 pri-mir.
1 Only example in sin-n-.
H 17 2 r-rr, s-x-y 47
Rem. 1. Single r is strong when it is medial after a dosed syllable, e. g.
ab-rogar 'to abrogate' mal-rotar 'to squander' sin-razon 'injustice'
sub-rayar 'to underscore' en-rcdar 'to tangle' Is-rael 'Israel'
al-rededor 'around' hon-ra 'honor'
Rem. 2. The rolled r is merely a more emphatic and prolonged utterance of the smooth r. The
latter is not set off from the former by a sharply defined boundary, but easily shades into the stronger
variety according to the temperament or habits of the speaker, or the degrees of emphasis or emotion
present. In some speakers the r tends uniformly to the stronger (rolled) variety.
The beginner can well afford to stress the Spanish r whenever he meets it even though the condi-
tions may allow it to be "smooth". Even some exaggeration is here a virtue in order to counteract false
habits (in respect to Spanish) formed from the prevailing weak English r. The situation imposes upon
the English-speaking learner the need of a conscious effort in order to square himself properly with the
Spanish requirements.
Rem. 3. From the foregoing it follows that Spainsh r offers no analogy with the more or less com-
plete suppression that has been the fate of medial and final English r over wide areas in the United States,
e. g. New Yau'k, bau'be' (barber), dinne' pawty, coppe' wiyo'.
Rem. 4. Spanish does not favor two r's in adjoining syllables, especially when one or both are liquids
in combination (If 7 R. 3). When so related by etymology or foreign cognates, one r is found missing in
Spanish (although present in the English cognate), e. g.
fragancia ' fragrance ' postrar ' to prostrate ' propiq ' proper '
fragante 'fragrant' postracion 'prostration' Federico 'Frederick'
A liquid 1 may exert the same suppressing influence on an etymological liquid r, e. g. temblar 'to
tremWe'.
Rem. 5. In illiterate speech the intervocalic r sometimes drops out, e. g. mi(r)a 'look [thou] ', pa(r)ece
'it seems', pa(r)a 'for', quie(r)es 'thou wishest'. Hence juvenile and affectionate pae for padre, and
mae for madre (cf. analogy with d, 1" 12 Rem. 5, 2).
Rem. 6. The Spanish r is lingual, as distinguished from the uvular r of France and parts of Germany.
2. rr is a digraph 1 = strongly trilled r, which it represents only
BETWEEN VOWELS (just as single r represents the same sound
when word initial) :
Rem. 7. The intervocalic trilled (rolled) r is doubled in writing in order to dis-
tinguish it graphically from the intervocalic smooth r (of H 17 la).
-rri -rre -rra -rro -rru
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES: Write down the following lines of rr as far as
MISCELLANEOUS:
rri: a-rri-ba a-rrie-ro be-rrin-che bo-rri-co ca-rri-llo gue- 1
rri-lla gue-rri-lle-ro cen-ce-rri-llo ci-ga-rri-llo chas' 2 -ca-rri-ll<>
ca-rril fe-rro-ca-rril de-rri-bar i-rri-tar o-cu-rrir.
rre: to-rre a-rre-o co-rre-o ca-rre-ra gue-rre-ro he-rre-ro
ci-ga-rre-ra cha-rre-te-ra in-su-rrec-to a-rre-bu-ja-do a-rre- 5
lla-na-do co-rres 2 -pon-den-cia i-rre-vo-ca-ble co-rrer a-bo-rre-
cer co-rres 2 -pon-sal 2 Gu-tie-rrez.
rra: sie-rra tie-rra gue-rra In 3 -gla-te-rra ba-rra ga-rra
La-rra pa-rra chi-cha-rra gui-ja-rra gui-ta-rra "Ja-va-rra
pi-za-rra go-rra zo-rra ca-mo-rra maz-mo-rra mo-do-rra 10
a-rran-que bo-rra-cho bo-rras 2 -co pa-rra-fo pro-rra-ta se-rra-
llo Gua-da-rra-ma Me-di-te-rra-ne-o bo-rrar cc-rrar na-rrar
1 Cf. p. 26, fn. 2. 2 With hissing s. 3 Note ng nasal.
48 Lesson VII 17
1 a-ho-rrar cha-pu-rrar cha-pa-rral ma-to-rral a-rran-car a-
rras-trar de-rra-mar Ta-rra-go-na.
rrO: ye-rro hie'-rro ce-rro pe-rro be-ce-rro ca-cho-rro cen-
ce-rro ba-rro ca-rro cha-rro ja-rro bi-za-rro ca-ta-rro ci-
5 ga-rro des 2 -pil-fa-rro cho-rro fo-rro go-rro so-co-rro bu-
rro a-rro-yo ce-rro-jo de-rro-ta ga-rro- te pa-rro-co a-rro-
gan-te pe-ti-rro-jo e-rro-ne-o e-rror ho-rror te-rror a-
rroz tu-rron so-ca-rron fan-fa-rron a-rro-jar des 2 -a-rro-llar.
ri*U : a-rru-llo ca-rrua-je Ma-rrue-cos 2 ma-rru-lle-ro pro-rrum-
10 pir in-te-rrum-pir.
MISCELLANEOUS: j 3 A-rre, bo-rri-co! El he-rre-ro hie-re el hie-rro.
4 No quie-ro pe-rro con cen-ce-rro. En su ros ! -tro a-rro-gan-te se le-i-a
u-na re-so 2 -lu-cion i-rre-vo-ca-ble.
Rem. 8. To guard against misleading English analogy in the matter of double
consonants, observe in the above examples how Spanish rr being an inseparable
character (1f 1 2) is indivisible in writing (e. g. note above examples of syllable di-
vision at the end of lines and cf. parallelism with 11 f 13 Rem. 2).
Rem. 9. Several word pairs have the identity of each member thereof resting on
this distinction between smooth r and rolled r (rr), namely
|ahora'now' (cero'zero' ( moro ' Moor[ish] '
< ahorra ' he saves [up]' \ cerro ' hill ' \ morro 5 ' headland '
| caro 'dear' ( coro 'choir' ( para 'for'
\ carro 'cart' ( corro 'group' (bystanders) ( parra 'vine'
( careta ' mask ' ( enterar ' to inform ' ( pero ' but '
( carreta 'cart' \ enterrar 'to bury' \ perro 'dog'
e. g. La parra para el jardln. Pero el perro .
Rem. 10. This digraph rr, as the sign of intervocalic rolled r, results graphically
whenever a word with initial r constitutes a derivative word with a vowel-ending
prefix, e. g.
arreglar (a + regla 'rule') 'to arrange'
arrodillarsc (a -+- rodilla 'knee') 'to kneel'
bajorrelieve (bajo 'low' + relieve 'relief') 'bas-relief
bancarrota (banca 'bench' + rota 'broken') 'bankruptcy'
contrarrevolucion (contra 'against' + revolucion) 'counter-revolution'
corregir (co- 'with' + rcgir 'to rule') 'to correct'
guardarropa (guarda 'it-keeps' + ropa 'apparel') 'clothes-press'
irregular (i- + regular; 'irregular'
[ant]irreligioso ( [antji \- religioso) 'irreligious'
pararrayos (para 'it-stops' + rayo 'lightning') 'lightning-rod'
prorrogar (pro + rogar 'to ask') 'to prorogue'
portorriqueno (Puerto -f Rico) 'Puerto Rican'
virrey (vi[cc] + rey 'king') 'viceroy'
1 /. e hie =ye (f 5 R. 9). 2 With hiiiing s. 3 For sign i cf. f 31 2. 4 Prov. = ' I don't
care for a gift with a " string " attached to it' (lit. 'I don't want a dog with a bell'). 5 Cf. Morro
Castle, at the entrance of Havana Harbor.
18 1 r-rr, s-x-y 49
If 18. s, w, x, y.
1. S is the hissing (i. c. sibilant) variety 1 , like English 5 in 'see-saw': 1
si se sa so su
Rem. 1. Note that the same sound is also represented by the Spanish- American
soft-c (in ci ce za zo zu ^ 8 I-II).
Hence, in this respect, the Spanish-American standard is unphonetic in its spelling,
since only a knowledge of the word itself (suggested by context) will enable the hearer
to recognize in it whether the sibilant is s or soft-c, e. g. si-ma and ci-ma, se-bo and
ce-bo, ca-sa and ca-za, ca-so and ca-zo, su-mo and zu-mo, (but cf. corresponding coin-
cidence in English, as in 'cell' and 'sell', 'cent' and 'sent').
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES: Write down the following examples of s as far as MIS-
CELLANEOUS:
si se sal-sa sal-sas; sas-tre sas-tres; se-so se-sos; so-
so; su sus; pi-so pi-sos; pe-so pe-sos; que-so que-
sos; sies-ta sies-tas; ca-so ca-sos; pa-so pa-sos; co-sa5
co-sas; sos-pe-cho-sos; pas-ta pas-tas; cos-ta cos-tas;
siis-to siis-tos; pues-to pues-tos; An-dres; cor-tes cor-te-
ses; fran-ces fran-ce-ses; in 2 -gles in-gle-ses; To-mas com-
pas a-de-mas Cer-van-tes; es-po-so es-po-sos; Ii-son 2 -ja li-
son 2 -jas; pre-cio-sa pre-cio-sas; si se-nor; si se-no-res; sin- 10
son-te sin-son-tes; su-ce-so su-ce-sos; sus-pi-ro sus-pi-ros;
su-su-rro su-su-rros; as-cen-sion as-cen-sio-nes ; sen-sa-cion
sen-sa-cio-nes ; in-ter-ce-sor in-ter-ce-so-res.
MISCELLANEOUS: Ce-bo-llas re-lle-nas. Las Mon-ta-iias Ro-que-nas.
Los pa-i-ses fri-os. De su som-bra se a-som-bra. A-lon-so mo-zo 15
de mu-chos a-mos. Sin-te-sis fi-lo-so-fi-ca de la Re-vo-!u-cion: sus
cau-sas, ca-rac-te-res y con-se-cuen-cias. Si Se-fior, e-lla se ca-sa
con su so-bri-no que sa-be ha-blar fran-ces, y no sa-be re-zar el ro-sa-rio.
Rem. 2. In the following examples and all kindred ones, guard against English
voiced s ( "buszing" z, as in 'rose', 'says'), which is unconsciously suggested to
the English-speaking learner by the many Spanish words of cognate English form
with voiced s = z.
a-cu-sar
dc-ci-si-vo
di-se-no
fre-nc-si
ad-qui-si-cion
dc-po-si-to
e-cle-sias-ti-co
gim-na-sio
a-lu-si-vo
des-a-gra-da-ble
E-li-sa
he-si-tar
a-plau-so
de-sas-tre
en-tu-sias-mo
he-si-ta-cion
El Bra-sil
de-se-o
e-va-si-vo
is-mo, e. g.
bri-sa
de-ser-tar
ex-cu-sar
e-go-is-mo
cau-sa
des-hon-rar
ex-qui-si-to
he-ro-is-mo
Ce-sar
de-sier-to
fan-ta-si-a
pa-trio-tis-mo
clau-su-la
de-sig-nar
fa-se
i-rre-sis-ti-ble
cos-me-ti-co
de-sis-tir
fi-si-co
I-sa-bel
1 /. e. a voiceless continuant (^ 7 Rem. 3) as distinguished from the voiced (Engiisn z) variety.
2 Note nasal ng.
50
Lesson VII
H182
Is-ra'-el
Je-sus
Je-ru-sa-len
Jo-se
Lui-sa
mias-ma
mi-san-tro-pi-a
mi-san-tro-pi-co
mi-san-tro-po
mi-se-ria
mi-sc-ra-ble
Moi-ses
mu-se-o
mu-si-ca
plau-si-ble
po-e-si-a
[com-d s, de, o-]-
po-si-cion
po-si-ti-vo
pre-sen-tar
pre-sen-te
pre-sen-ti-mien-to
pre-si-dir
pre-si-den-te
pre-su-mir
pri-sion
pro-sa
pro-sai-co
rc-po-so
re-pre-sen-tar
re-pre-sen-ta-cion
re-qui-si-to
re-ser-var
re-ser-va
re-si-dir
re-si-den-cia
re-sig-na-cion
e-sig-nar
re-sis-ten-cia
re-sis-tir
[i-r]rc-so-lu-cion
[i-r]re-so-lu-to
re-so-nan-cia
re-suel-to
rc-sul-ta
re-sul-ta-do
re-sul-tar
re-su-rrec-cion
ro-sa
sar-cas-mo
[ab-]u-sar
u-sur-pa-cion
u-sur-par
[in-]vi-si-ble
vi-si-ta
vi-si-tar
pau-sa
Retn. 3. A corresponding caution should be noted concerning back palatal s,
voiceless (as in 'sure', 'push') and voiced (as in 'pleasure', 'azure'), e. g.
VOICELESS: con-fe-sion, dis-cu-sion, [ad(com, per, su)-] mi-sion, [com{de, im, o, ex,
re, su)-] pre-sion, Ru-sia, [ex{in, pre)-] ten-sion.
VOICED: ad-he-sion, a-lu-sion, ca-sual, con-clu-sion, [in-] de-ci-sion, [des-] a-lu-sion,
ex-plo-sion, in-va-sion, u-sual, [a(con, di, in, per)-] version, vi-sion.
Rem. 4. "Impure s" (i. e. s combined with a following consonant in the same
syllable) so prominent a feature of Italian does not belong to Spanish, such a col-
location being quite alien to the spirit of the language. In naturalized foreign words
originally having it (notably those of Latin origin) it is avoided, initially, by means
of a prefixed ("prosthet'ic") e, thus constituting an initial syllable in es-, e. g. (cf.
also any full vocabulary) :
INITIAL
es-candalo 'scandal' Es-paiia 'Spain' es-tado 'state'
es-cena 'scene' es-piritu 'spirit' es-tigma 'stigma'
es-clavo 'slave' es-queleto 'skeleton' es-tudiante 'student'
es-cultura 'sculpture' es-tacion 'station' es-tupor 'stupor'
MEDIAL impure s is (theoretically) avoided by appropriate syllabication (K 21 a), e. g.
abs-traccion 'abstraction' ins-tituto 'institute' pers-pectiva
cons-titucion 'constitution' maes-tro 'teacher' su[b]s 2 -tancia
Rem. 5 In behalf of nature's economies there exists an instinctive tendency among Spaniards in
normal unconscious discourse to make the voiceless medial s become voiced (i. e. = English "buzzing"
z) before a voiced consonant or a nasal, e. g. desde ( = desde), desviar ( = dezviar), esbelto ( = esbelto),
Israel (= izrael), rasgo ( = rasgo) , mismo ( = mismo), limosna ( = limozna), las manos ( = lasmanos).
But in careful, deliberate utterance the regular voiceless type-sound reappears.
Rem. 6. In parts of Spain (notably Andalusia) and Spanish America final s (medial or word final)
tends to be dropped or to merge into a lisp ( = voiceless th), e. g. des-pues into de[//i]pue[//i], estamos
into elamo, respuesta into re[(/;]pueta.
Rem. 7. For sibilant i as the popular pronunciation of graphic x cf. Rem. 10.
2. w is : u- (i. e. w-cliphthong) or v, representing these sounds in
foreign words of English and Germanic sources, respectively:
Rem. 6. Hence Spanish w, not introducing a new sound, is not considered a regular letter of the
Spanish alphabet (H 1 Rem. 1).
Washington (= wa'-sing-ton) Wellington (= wel'-ling-ton) Ber-
wick (= ber'-uik) watman 3 (wat'-man) wiskey (= zas'-key)
Wagner (= z;ag-ner' Wamba (= yam'-ba 4 ) Weyler (= wei-ler').
1 For r cf. If 17 R. 1. 2 For b cf. f 10 R. 7. 3 (electric car) 'motorman' (from 'watt' the unit
measure of electrical power output). 4 And often so written (Spanish Visigothic King, 6th century).
1[ 18 3-4 Syllabus VII 51
3. x is usually sounded as :n English (e. g. in 'ft*'), i. e. =ks:
axio-ma exac-to exa-men exhi-be exis-tir exi-to maxi-mo
proxi-mo sexo tex-to Ca-lix-to con-vexo pre-tex-to or-to-
doxo he-te-ro-doxo pa-roxis-mo re-flexio-nar.
Rem. 8. The Spanish Academy prescribes this ks sound for x under all circumstances. But when
a consonant follows, usage is Quite general in reducing the x to s in pronunciation, and it tends to make
the same substitution in writing, e. g. (ex es).
excelente experiencia extranjero Extramadura ALSO sexto = serto.
excusar explicar extrano extremo [prejtexto = testo
Likewise, popular Mexican usage generally makes a hissing 5 out of this graphic x in native names,
e. g. Xochimilco ( = so-), Xochiaca ( = so-), Texcoco ( = tes-) , Tuxpan ( = tus-), Ixta(c)cihuatl ( = is-
taciuatl for tl cf. 1 21 Rem. 1).
Rem. 0. This sibilant x ( = s) is the normal Spanish evolution of an etymological x, of which the
sibilant character is sometimes established (e. g. ansiedad 'anxiety' (from Lat. anxietas), tasa (from
Lat. taxare cf. Eng. 'tax') ), sometimes resisted by orthodox usage (as in the above examples of Rem. 8),
sometimes tolerated as a popular variant (e. g. popular parasismo for cultured paroxismo).
Rem. 10. When ex is followed by a vowel it has a tendency to be pronounced as egz (i. e. voiceless
ks becomes voiced gz, e. g. exito ( = egzito) examen ( = egzamen), existencia ( = egzistencia) . But the
student should avoid it (Cf. paralelism of s = Eng. z, 1 18 Rem. 5).
Rem. 11. In the older language x (initial, medial, and a few examples of word final) did duty exten-
sively as the spelling of the jota -sound, and is still to be met now and then cf. exs. If 9 Rem. 7.
In the modern language final x is standard spelling only in a few words of foreign origin where it
= ks, namely
clima.v fenix flux onix
4. y as consonant = English consonant y, and decided. By the
rules of Castilian spelling it always BEGINS a word or medial syllable
(preceded by a vowel) as the initial element of a j/-diphthong (cf. ^[ 5
2 a):-
ye ya yo yu (cf. examples *{] 5 2 a).
Rem. 12. The status of word final y is anomalous, being construed now as vowel, now as conso-
nant, although phonetically it is a vowel = i (1 5 2b and examples) cf. If 5 R. 12.
4
Rem. 13. For y as vowel cf. 136.
Rem. 14. For South American i replacing Castilian y cf. H 6 Rem. 11.
Rem. 15. The preceding analysis of consonants aims only at generalizing fundamental distinctions.
But, as with the classification of vowels (If 2 Rem. 16), many modifications of a given type-sound are
possible from the cross combinations produced by a complex system of inter-alliances and mutual attrac-
tions among both vowels and consonants. These influences, left to themselves, work out unconsc'ously
to the speaker a course of sound-evolution along the lines of least resistance in harmony with the law of
the conservation of energy, a law that holds as true in language development as in any other of the forces
of nature. It is the explanation of all speech change in the course of the latter's incessant progress from
the complex to the simple.
52 Lesson VII
QUESTION SYLLABUS
(If 16 ) What peculiarity has the pronunciation of Spanish 1, n, and
t as compared with English?
Pronounce them accordingly in the vowel scale.
(p. 45 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(If 17 1 ) What is the characteristic tone of Spanish (single) r?
In what location has r this tone unmistakably?
Pronounce word-initial r in the vowel scale. Write.
(If 17 la ) When may single r be smooth instead of rolling?
(p. 46 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(If 17 2 ) What kind of character is Spanish IT?
What sound of r does it always have?
In what location does it represent this sound (i. e. graph-
ically) ?
(1f 17 R. 7 ) Why is Spanish IT so spelled (as double r)?
(p. 47 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(Tf 18 1 ) What variety of English 5 does the Spanish s sound like?
(1 18 R. 1 ) Where have we met this sound before?
(If 18 R. 2 ) What English sound of s is to be guarded against in Spanish?
(p. 49 ) EXAMPLE DRILL (including Rem. 2-3).
(Tf 18 2 ) What is Spanish w equivalent to?
In what class of words does it occur?
(^f 18 3 ) How is Spanish x usually sounded?
(p. 50 ) EXAMPLE DRILL.
(Tf 18 4 ) What is Spanish consonant y equivalent to in English?
Where is it prescribed by the rules of Spanish spelling?
Review EXAMPLE DRILL (p. 16).
Syllables
LESSON VIII (H19-24)
SYLLABICATION 1
1 19: The Syllabic 1 22: Adjacent Syllabic Vowels
If 20: A Single Syllabic Consonant If 23: Double Letters
121: Adjacent Syllabic Consonants 124: Word Linking
19. The Syllable.
Rem. 1. Syllabication is vital to printing and writing, inasmuch as Us rules
determine the division of words at the end of lines, a feature for the student not to
overlook in his written exercises.
Rem. 2. Apart from its close relations to writer and printer, syllabication is of
the utmost practical importance to the beginner by furnishing him an indispensable
guide in pronunciation: to get at which in a long and apparently difficult word, an-
alyze the word in question syllable by syllable, considering each syllable for
the time being as a single monosyllabic word.
Which is equivalent to enjoining, as the corner-stone precept in the matter: go
slowly and thoughtfully, applying to each doubtful situation of syllable division the
clearly denned and easily recognized rule appropriate to it. There is no problem of
syllabication that cannot readily be solved in this fashion.
A Spanish syllable is the expression, in speech and writing, of an in-
separable speech and spelling unit: which unit may be a single vowel;
or (as is more usual) it consists of a letter-group composed of one con-
sonant and a following vowel, or of two consonants and an intervening
vowel.
(a). The vowel in the syllable may be a simple letter or an insepa-
rable compound : as a simple letter, it is either strong (a, e, or o) or an
accented weak (i or u); as a compound, it consists of a diphthong or a
triphthong.
Rem. 3. In this connection LEST WE FORGET note again that diphthongs
and triphthongs are as inseparable in syllabication as they are in pronun-
ciation.
(b). The consonant in the syllable may be a simpie letter (b, c, d.
etc.) ; or it may consist of an inseparable compound a digraph (ch'
1 "Syllabication" is defined as the method or rules for determining the composition of syllables
and their sequence in words of two or more syllables.
53
54 Lesson VIII ^[20
gu (in gui, gue), 11, qu, rr) or liquid (1 or r) 1 compound (i. e. one of
bl or br, cl or cr, etc. 2 ).
Rem. 4. Hence, no two separable consonants or vowels can be considered as belonging to the same
syllable, but are to be divided according to the rules of *T 21-22, below.
20. A Single Consonant. 3
Rem. A single vowel may occur syllabically by itself, although it is usually found
leaning against a consonant as the stronger partner. But a consonant cannot exist
without an adjacent vowel as the vitalizing principle of its being 4 . Hence the be-
havior of consonants in syllabication is the primary consideration, which divides it-
self into two heads according as the consonant appears single or by twos (i. e. two
consonants adjacent).
The single intervocalic consonant may be thought of as the pivot on which Spanish
pronunciation turns. The word-initial or word-final consonant is single and neces-
sarily begins or closes the syllable to which it belongs, without need of further comment.
Hence the behavior of the intervocalic consonant, single or by twos, is the only
location that claims our special attention (^j 20-21).
A single intervocalic consonant 3 goes, in syllable division, with the
following vowel.
ORAL AND DICTATION EXERCISES
1 a-gua a-mo ai-re o-lla i-do o-bra o-tro u-no dia-rio
fue-go he-cho Lau-ra ma-yo rui-na sue-no pla-to so-
plo ble-do do-ble cla-vo te-cla glo-bo re-gla fle-cha
ri-fle llu-via ca-lle gue-rra si-gue quie-ro du-que plei-
5 te plie-gue prue-ba gri-llo so-bre true-que pa-tria dro-
ga cua-dro lu-cro frai-le su-fro a-fei-te a-mi-go au-ro-ra
cu-chi-llo i-dio-ma pe-que-no re-fle-jo se-fio-ra.
ORAL AND WRITING EXERCISES
Write down the following words syl-la-bi-ca-ted (i. e. with hyphened syllables):
1 achicharrador . . . cuchuflete .... notabilisimo
adeudado deleite parroquiano
aplauso equivocacion patriota
arrellanado Europa pequefiuelo
autorizacion . . . graduado preparatives
5 averigiieis Guadalajara prodigalidades
bayoneta heroico quietud
calabazada imagination regocijo
casualidad juicioso reyezuelo
civilization .... lucrative telegrafiar
10 comunicacion municipalizacion traidor
crudelisimo naturaleza Zumalacarreguy
1 r 7 R. 3. 2 The other liquid compounds are: fl, fr, 1, r, pi, pr, and tr. 3 /. e. intervo-
calic, and strictly as denned in r 19 (b). 4 7 R.
r 21 Syllabication 55
r 21. Adjacent Consonants are
goes with the preceding vowel (thus constituting the final consonant of
the preceding syllable) ; the second member goes with the following
vowel (thus becoming the initial consonant of the following syllable).
ORAL AXD DICTATION EXERCISES
ac-to sil-ba pai-o sal-go fal-da pal-ma fal-ta sel-val
som-bra siern-pre raa-cio cin-co tien-da gran-de pien-so
ton-to trein-ta tren-za Man-cha bar-ba ter-cio mar-co tar-
tor-pe car-ta zar-za chas-co des-de ras-go pas-mo
cas-to .lie-::' mez-cla tiz-ne al-cai-de al-fom-bra al-for-5
jas con-duc-ta gar-ban-zo gar-gan-ta in-fan-te sil-ves-tre
ac-ci6n cal-zar fin-gir us-ted al-ter-nar con-trac-cion in-
cus-tria San-tan-der.
.'. The liquid combinations r-1. s-l. t-1 ani s-r are ?-. - r-rrin* how-
[ '.'.y a. few examples, e. g.
r-I *-l t-1
ar-lequin 'clown' es-labon 'fink' At-lantico 'Atlantic'
Car-Ios " Charles ' (of a chain) at-Ieta ' athlete '
char-Iar "to chat' is-Ia 'island' s-r
nrir-Io 'blackbird' mus-Io 'thigh' Is-ru.;! prop, n&me
But ti behaves variously as a common element in Mexican proper names (of Indian
origin), namely
ENTTIAI. tl is quite unphoneric. being = cl, e. g. TTacoIula t. = da- . TTapa ( = dapa^ ,
Tlixiaco = dajiaco).
FIN'AI. tl = English final -tLe (e. g. in 'catfe')> e. g. ocelot (= *-&?" "ocelote". Popo-
catepeti ( = '-&*) Ixtaccihuati (, = '-tie'}) 3 .
MKDTAT. tl is phonetically separable and normal, e. g- TIanepiuitia = clineoazj-a .
(a), s between consonants 1 goes, in syllabication, with its first neigh-
bor so as to avoid the occurrence of "impure" S ( f IS Rem. 4) :
abs-traccion circuns-peccion cons-miir ins-cripcion ins-ritoto
mons-truo pers-pectiva subs-traer.
Rem. 2. x being equivalent to ks. its intervocalic separation is avoided in writing
or printing, e- g.
exa-mon (= e-.sa'-men) . exi-to (= ei'-si-to). nexi-ble (= 1 ?'ai.--
= ma^-ii-mi'na) . re-3exi-vo (,= re-fle&-5i'-\x>) cf. examples T , IS 3.
But the s>-llabic separation of x from a following consonant is afforded by "impure"
s, e. g. ex-trano ; = e&s-) , Calix-to ( = caliJfcs-}.
Rem. 3. Living 4 prefixes (L e. still keeping intact their adverbial or prepositional
force' are separated in writing and printing, regardless of the governing rules of sylla-
bication, e. g.
ab-intestato 'intestate' ^BUT j-OTsrno "abyss").
des- icarecer "to J/s-appear' (.BUT tfV-jastre "disaster").
des-esperar 'to <fcs-pair' (BUT dt-xrtar 'to desert')-
:
I --_ ' - . ; -
56 Lesson VIII 1J21
in-eludible ' unavoidable ' (BUT i-nocente 'innocent'),
sub-alterno 'subaltern' (BUT su-bir 'to go up'),
sub-lunar ' sub\unar[y]' (BUT su-b\ime 'sublime'),
super-intendente 'sw/wintendent' (BUT su-pe-rior).
trans-atlantico ' /rowsatlantic ' (BUT /raw-seunte 'passer-by').
This living force of the prefix is shown in several words whose primitives are writ-
ten with the y of the initial semi-consonant diphthong (^5 2a), namely.
ab-yecto 'afrject' dis-yuntivo 'disjunctive'
con-yugal 'conjugal* sub-yugar 'to subjugate'
Rent. 4. Most consonant-ending nouns and adjectives (including nouns in -y)
inflect their plural and feminine by means of suffixes (-es, a[s]) ; these lengthen the
syllabication of the word by one point, creating a new final syllable to which the once
final consonant now becomes initial, e. g.
pared 'wall' hablador 'talkative' luz 'light'
pare-des (pi.} hablado-res (pi.) lu-ces (pi.)
nacional hablado-ra (/.) ley 'law'
naciona-les (pi.) ingles 'English' le-yes (pi.)
aleman 'German' ingle-ses (pi.) rey 'king'
alema-nes (pi.) ingle-sa (/.) re-yes (pi.)
alema-na (/.)
ORAL AND WRITING EXERCISES (If 20-21)
Write down, syllabicated, the words of the following columns:
1 administracion . . . empingorotado . . . interrupcion
advertencia encuentro izquierdo
aguardiente espantapajaros metalurgista
albaricoque espectaculo monstruo
5 aquiescencia .... Espronceda .... murcielago
artefacto estandarte nostalgia
atmosfera estremecimiento patriarca
ayuntamiento estudiante perjuicio
circumnavegacion experiencia perspectiva
lOconciencia gongorismo .... quirurgico
condiscipulo gozquecillo respuesta
consecuencia Guadalquivir satisfaccion
constitucionalismo importancia tecnicismo
construction imprescindible Tegucigalpa
15 correspondencia . . . incontrovertible transeunte
cualquiera inconveniencia . . . transubstanciacion
descubrimiento indispensable transversalmente
Despenaperros 'inextinguible triangular
distinguir influencia vergiienza
20eclesiastico instante . . . . . zarzaparilla
prestidigitador Desproporcionadisimamente 2 . Tecnica industrial.
Quisquillosidad montanesa. Escultura y arquitectura. Municipali-
zacion y nacionalizacion de los servicios publicos.
1 Note "living prefix" (If 21 R. 3). 2 'Very disproportionately'.
1[22 Syllabication
Rem. 5. Note the lengthened Spanish syllabication of the following English
cognates:
ba-se esca-pe lan-ce 1 sau-ce ' willow '
balan-ce fa-se magna-te sua-ve 'soft'
chocola-te fra-se mo-le 'mass' subli-me
deba-te gra-ve perfu-me tran-cc 'crisis'
eclip-se higie-ne roman-ce ver-se 2
^22. Adjacent Vowels 3 are divided: the first member ends the
syllable of which it is a part; the second member begins or constitutes
by itself the next syllable (i. e. without a preceding initial consonant)
e. g. dese-ar 'to desire', dese-o 'I desire'.
But in normal pronunciation they are linked together without no-
ticeable separation, e. g. dese-ar, dese-o.
(a). Whenever either of the weak vowels, i and u, constitutes
alone the vowel member of a stressed syllable, and occurring
ADJACENT TO A STRONG VOWEL 4 , it is syllabically separate
therefrom and is written with the accent mark (as i, u) to show graph-
ically that it does not form a diphthong, e. g. di-a 5 , ba-ul 5 .
Rem. 1. Note that the accented i is written without the dot (the accent
mark taking up and replacing the dot), e. g. Si Senor ' Yes [Sir] '.
ORAL AND DICTATION EXERCISES
Read the examples ,of ^ 5 2c (p. 16-17) smoothly linked together.
(b). Medial h has the office of a consonant in the written syllabica-
tion; but being silent it does not affect the natural syllabic relations of
the adjacent letters to each other in pronunciation:
ad-hesion (= a-desion') a-hi' (= a-i') a-hora (= a-o'-ra) Al-ham-
bra ( = a-lam'bra) ba-hia ( = ba-i'a) Bo-hemia ( = bo-e'mia) bu-
ho ( = bu'o) fe-haciente ( = fe-a-cien'te) pro-hibir ( = proibir')
BUT pro-hibo (= pro-i'bo) re-husar (= reusar') BUT re-huso
(= re-u'so) tru-han (= truan) ve-hiculo (= ve-i'culo).
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES: Write down the following words syllabicated:
acentuo
. estropeamos .
. heroismo .
oasis
baraunda
extraordinario
instantaneo
poesia
caballeria
ganzua
jubileo
rocio
caserio
Garcia
lisonjear
sauco
comeriamos .
. gentio . .
maestro
sefiorio
continua
geografia
medioeval
soez
correo
Groenlandia
Mediterraneo
Taboada
cumpleanos
guia
meteorologia
teatro
chimenea
Guipuzcoa
Montevideo
Valparaiso
empleo .
. hablaria . .
norteamericano .
viviamos
10
1 'occurrence' (not "lance" lanza). 2 'to see one's self ', (" verse" is verso). SAccordingto
the terms of U 19 (a). 4 As the vowel member of an unstressed adjoining syllable. 5 Which
without the accent mark would read (graphically) dia, haul, (i. e. as monosyllables). Examples are com-
mon in i but rare in 6.
58 Lesson VIII
Rem. 2. ui is both a "true" and a "false" diphthong (f 5 Rem. 4). In the former capacity it is of
course, inseparable and without accent mark. But as a "false" diphthong it is etymologically dissyllabic
(although pronounced the same as a true diphthong). With the object of showing this distinction some
writers put the accent mark over the i (as u-i) in the relatively few words containing dissyllabic u-i, e. g.
jesu-i-ta. genu-ino, ru-ina; and in the past participles of the u-ir class of verbs ([ 158), e. g. atnbu-ido,
conclu-ida, etc.
As the office of the accent mark is not properly etymological, such an application is superfluous and
contrary to the rational spelling principles of the language.
Rem. 3. The infiniti% r e ending is considered separate in syllabication and hence without the need
of the distinguishing accent mark in the few examples where a possible diphthong is suggested by the
nature of the preceding vowel, e. g. re-ir 'to laugh', o-ir 'to hear' (cf. ^f 143 Rem. 4).
"23. Double Letters are not favored in the written language,
there being but few examples and these for special reasons, namely-
1. Consonants. The only divisible double consonants are C-c and
n-n (11 and rr being digraphs and hence not to be considered as doubles).
Of these since c-C represents two different sounds of c (^[8 2)
only n-n is properly a double in which each letter is pronounced in
deliberate utterance.
(a). It follows that in all examples of cognate words in the two
languages the English double consonants (e. g. //, pp, ss) or compound
consonants (e. g. ph) are made single in the spelling of the correspond-
ing Spanish form :
alusion Ana asesino inocente ocasion opresion posesion
posible Misisipi Filipinas Mefistofeles ilustracion foto-
graficas.
Rem. 1. In pronunciation the case may be different. Theory prescribes and it should be scrupu-
lously followed in the student's careful deliberate utterance that intervocalic consonants be pronounced
as single and syllable-initial only. But in smooth normal utterance there is an inevitable tendency to double
a single intermediate consonant to some extent (e. g. ba-ta-lla as ba/-ta/-lla). Nevertheless, the jerky
staccato movement that characterizes Romanic pronunciation in general whereby the syllables are
sharply set off from one another is a strong counteracting agency against any excessive doubling of con-
sonants in speech. The student should particularly avoid it, since with him the problem at the outset,
and long thereafter, is to fix the habit of pure type-sounds in the syllable location appropriate to each
occurrence.
2. Vowels. They are a-a, e-e, o~o, and i-i, considered divisible
in syllabication; but, in utterance, they elide 1 into a single prolonged
sound. Examples are few, mostly as follows:
a-a: Sa avedra (prop, name) contra ataque 'counter attack'.
e-e: cre-encia 'belief ere er 'to believe' (cre^e, cre-emos) le-er
'to read' (le^e, le-emos) re^mplazante 'substitute' so-bre^xci-
tar 'to over excite'.
O o: co operar 'to cooperate' co ordinar 'to coordinate' zo ologia
' zoology ' .
i i: fri isimo 'very cold' pi isimo 'very pious' ti ito 'dear uncle'.
Rem. 2. This contraction of ee into e has taken place in the written form, as well, of a couple of verbs
that were spelled ee in the older language: ser 'to be' (from se-er) and ver 'to see' (from ve-er).
I "Elide" means to reduce or contract by suppressing a superfluous vowel or syllable (cf. "elision"
U 49 R. 8).
Tf 24 Syllabication 59
(a). When h comes between like vowels it allows their elision 1 , in
utterance, into a single prolonged sound:
alco-Tiol alba^aca aza-Tiar contra^iiacer cle^esa mCMio
mo^oso pro-TiOmbre repre-"hender (= reprender 2 ) ve^emente.
1124. Word Linking. The terminal vowels of adjacent words
closely connected in sense (i. e. not separated by punctuation or a
rhetorical pause) link smoothly together in normal utterance similar
vowels eliding to one, and diphthong elements combining:
la^escuela la^hora este~ano se~hallaba ^Que'uay? me^olvida
demasiado^alto cuatroliermanos yo~era^el menor.
ELISION: la~amistad comienza~a~aprender para~~andar la"Alham-
bra (= lalam'bra) la^alhaja (= lala'ja) lal^acienda ( = : lacien'da)
de~el ( = del) de^ella de^esto me^engafio se^encuentra este~
ejemplo lo queues lefie^escuchado mPigual no'olvidar lo~
oculto su^uso.
DIPHTHONGIZATION : mi'alma (= mial'ma) su^amigo (= suami'go
nuestra~idea solo"y triste mPobra su^epoca~ilustrada mire""
usted la^iglesia.
Rem. 1. I. e. the same coalescing process goes on between closely connected words as within the
word, the examples of elision (as between like vowels) being more common in the former situation than
the latter, where they are rather rare (f\ 23 2).
Rem. 2. Spanish no longer recognizes written elision (as in French), of which there were a few ex-
amples in the classic period (e. g. del from de el, delta from de ella, and dello from de ello) later dis-
carded to preserve uniformity of writing usage.
(a). An adjacent final consonant and initial vowel break syllabically
together in pronunciation:
el?agua (= e-la'gua) con"amor (= co-na-mor') con~"ePamigo
(= co-ne-la-mi'go) por^ejemplo (= po-re-jem'plo) un hombre
(= u-nom'-bre) aPespejo aquePultimo (= a-que-lul'timo)
los~elementos (= lo-se-le-men'tos) tresTiermanas (= tre-ser-ma'nas)
(= lo que-soy')-
Rem. 3. Such economies of speech in rapid or even natural discourse are characteristic of all
tongues and present a prime source of perplexity to their foreign students, e. g. Engjish: "d'y' mind?||.
"can't tell", "a lit'y late", "better'n that", " 'as'more?", "th" enemy", "le(t)ggo!", "a-n-ices'wag'n".
They explain the disconcerting experiences of a student trained to academic precision when he hears
for the first time the spoken idiom with its puzzling vowel elisions and combinations.
ORAL EXERCISE
Read the following syllabically, but connecting orally the linked
(~) parts:
La"amo a~usted. Mi~eterno~amor. Su'hijo'^honrado. La~arqui-
tectura^arabe. La~invencible~armada. De^estoTiable^un po-
1 /. e. producing a more compact form of linking as observed in If 22 (b). 2 And tending to be
so written.
60 Lesson VIII
quillo. Desde que~el mundo^era mundo. Esto~acontecia~en mi
casa. Noliabia conocido"~a~o-tro~hombre. MPamigo seTiallaba""
"hambriento^y solo. Veintinco~afios y"una salud de bronce. E-s~
Una florecita^azul que~acabo de~encontrar. Dio-s~ensena~a-lliom-
bre~a ser bueno y'hiimilde. Pareciame~ingeniosa yliasta~agradable
la^interpretacion. La^apacible^y pintoresco"aldea, y~e-n~ella'~'e-l'ho
gar querido. MPequipaje~estaba listo, y'hasta^el caballo me~es-
peraba. Espero que~e-Pejemplo llegue^a servir a^alguno de~escar-
miento. No se concibe~una~idea~adecuada de"ese~eterno monu-
mento. E-lliecho~innegable~era que yo~estaba representando^alli
un papel desairado.
QUESTION SYLLABUS
(If 19 R. 1) Why is Spanish syllabication a vital feature of correct writing?
(II 19 R. 2) What practical importance has syllabication for the beginner?
How does syllabication enable you to get at the pronunciation of a long
and apparently difficult word?
(H 19 ) What is a Spanish syllable the expression of, in speech and
writing?
What may this unit be?
What does it more usually consist of?
(T[ 19 a ) What may the syllabic vowel be?
What is the vowel unit when represented by a simple letter?
What does the vowel unit consist of as a compound character?
(H" 19 b ) What may the syllabic consonant be or consist of?
What are the inseparable consonant compounds entering into
syllabication?
(1[20 R. ) What is the pivotal point of Spanish syllabication?
What consonant location, in the word, needs no comment?
(^[ 20 ) What becomes, in syllable division, of a single intervocalic
consonant?
(p. 54 ) EXAMPLES AND EXERCISES.
(If 21 ) What happens, in syllabication, to adjacent intervocalic con-
sonants?
What becomes of the first member? Of the second?
(^f 21 a ) What happens, in syllabication, to Spanish S between conso-
nants?
What is meant by "impure" S?
(p. 55-56 ) EXAMPLES AND EXERCISES.
(If 22 ) What happens, in syllabication, to the adjacent vowels of a
polysyllabic word?
But how are they treated in normal pronunciation?
(Tf 22 a ) Why are stressed i and u written with the accent mark
(as i, u) when adjacent to a strong vowel ?
Syllabus VIII 61
(H 22 R. 1) When i is accented (as i) what graphic detail is to be observed?
(1[ 22 b ) In respect to h, does the oral syllabication follow the written?
Why not?
(p. 57 ) EXERCISE DRILL.
(1[ 23 ) How are double letters regarded in Spanish?
(1[ 23 1 ) Which are the divisible consonants? Which are digraphs?
Is cc properly to be considered a double consonant? Why not?
\Vhat then, strictly, is the only double consonant in Spanish
(considered as one in which each letter has the same sound) ?
(H23 la) How do you write the Spanish cognate of English 'Anna',
'possible', Mississippi (i)', 'Philippine(a)s'?
(^[ 23 2 ) What are the Spanish double vowels?
How are they considered in syllabication? But in utterance?
(K 23 2a ) What effect has h between similar vowels?
(1[24 ) What may happen, in utterance, to the terminal vowels of
adjacent words?
What is the necessary condition to this linking of adjacent
words?
(If 24 a ) How would you pronounce syllabically el amigo, al espejo?
(p. 59 ) ORAL EXERCISE DRILL.
LESSON IX (H25-28)
ACCENTUATION 1
^25: Syllable Stress If 27: Irregular Stress
If 26: Regular Stress 1128: Diacritic Accent
H 25. The Syllable Stress is the stamp of a word's individual-
ity, and in the utterance of every word of more than one syllable its
proper place must be learned by observation and practice.
Rem. 1. In the transformation of Latin into Romance, the syllable stress was, so to speak, the soul
of a word, preserving its identity and keeping its place unchanged through ages of disguised exterior,
and at every stage of development furnishing the primary test of kinship with the parent language.
Although the matter of syllabication concerns, strictly, words of two or more syllables, there are few
words in the language that do not, at some point, come under its terms. Monosyllables are few: those
that cannot lengthen their syllabication such as articles and certain pronouns and prepositions bear
the relations of atonic syllables to the neighboring words of the discourse; while all but two monosyllabic
nouns (fe and pie) are consonant ending and by virtue of this fact bi-syllabic in their inflections.
To facilitate observation and practice for learning syllable stress in some systematic
fashion there are some general principles, namely
1. Regulaf. The great majority of Spanish words of two or more
syllables have a regular tonic (i. e. syllable) stress on either the next-to-
the-last (penultimate) or the last (ultimate)- syllable, corresponding
respectively to two comprehensive classes of word endings: (1) a vowel
(commonly a, e, o), or either of the consonants n and S; and (2) a con-
sonant other than n and s (usually one of d, 1, r, y, z).
Rem. 2. Other consonant endings than the above are rare (as j, x), or occur in words of foreign
origin and mold (Latin, Arabic, English, French, Indian), e. g.
club conac 'French brandy' album accesit 'second prize'
nabab 'nabob' Chapultapec (proper memorandum cenit 'zenith'
biftec 'beefsteak' name) item 'moreover 1 complot 'plot'
cine 'zinc' frac 'dress-coat' forceps
co[c]k 'coke' sport[s]
2. Accent Mark. In writing and printing, these words of regular
tonic stress dispense, as in English, with any accent mark. But all
others are considered of irregular stress; and the rules of Spanish spell-
ing require that in such instances the written or printed word take the
accent mark over the syllable bearing this irregular tonic stress.
Rem. 3. This regularity and clearness of accentuation are unique advantages that Spanish possesses
over other modern tongues in facilitating the foreign learner's task with the written language. Through
the means of ready discrimination provided by the accent mark he can promptly determine the proper
word stress for each example: he has only to follow the accent mark when there is one; while to the un-
accented word he has only to apply the logical and intelligible rules of accentuation governing it.
1 "Accentuation" is defined as the mode of ascertaining or indicating the syllable stress and accent
mark, in speech and writing, respectively, of words of two or more syllables. 2 Considered in their
relations to each other in an advancing series the syllable divisions are named as follows: ul'timate (last),
pe-nul'limate (next-to-the-last), anie-penul'timate (third-from-the-last), pre-antepenul'timate (fourth or
more from the last, e. g. 'cus'tomary ').
62
T[ 25 3 Accentuation 63
(a). The service of the accent mark in Spanish being thus simpli-
fied, only one sign is needed for it, represented by the grave accent (')
Its office is orthoepic 1 , to mark irregular stress (^f 27) ; and diacritic
(^f 28) to distinguish between like forms but unlike meanings.
Rem. 4. As a needed caution to those liable to carelessness in such matters of
detail note that the accent mark, whenever required, is to be scrupulously expressed
in writing. Take time and care to make it distinct (for the significance of accented
icf. H 22 Rem. 1).
(b) The vowel 2 of the accented syllable bears the accent mark; in
accented diphthongs and triphthongs, the strong vowel :
fran-ces ca-rac-ter com-pre-me-lo 6i-ga-me nau-fra-go trai-
ga-me mier-co-les hues-ped a-ve-ri-giieis.
3. Secondary Stress. The tonic or syllable stress is as decided as
in English, but without obscuring distinctness of utterance of the ad-
joining vowels.
Words lengthened out to two or more syllables beyond the one
bearing the tonic stress, take a secondary stress on every other syllable
counting from the one bearing the tonic or (by contrast) the primary
stress.
des-cu-brjr ' to discover ' .... espantapajaros 'scarecrow' 1
es-pa-nol 'Spanish' cOmpremelo 'buy it for me'
la-bra-dor 'peasant' estremecimiento 'shudder'
mer-ca-der 'merchant' prestidigitador 'juggler'
albaricOque 'apricot' empingorotado 'tony' 5
descubrimiento 'discovery' individualizacion
dificultad 'difficulty' prestandonoslo 'lending it to us'
ORAL EXERCISES
Pronounce the following words with the secondary stress correlated with the primary
stress (indicated by the boldface vowel):
SINGLE DOUBLE
SECONDARY STRESS SECONDARY STRESS
americano institutriz administracion 1
asociacion inteligGnte arqueologja
benevolencia legislacion equivocacidn
considerable naturaleza etimologfa
convalescGncia .... negociaciones .... exageracion 5
emperador pronunciacion geneologl'a
fundamental sociologla imaginacipn
generOso solicitud mineralogja
geografla superficial precipitacion
independencia .... teologl'a universidad 10
: . t.
1 By "ortho'e-pic" is meant helping to distinguish correct pronunciation. 2 Instead of the
consonant, since the vowel is the syllable's vital organ.
64 Lesson IX H 26 1
If 26. Regular Stress. Coordinating the general principles
of If 25 1 into specific rules of action, and generalizing from past ob-
servation (If 3-24), consider
1. Penultimate. Unaccented 1 words ending in a vowel OR either
of the consonants n and s 2 , are stressed on the next to the last syllable,
e. g. as in (English) 'so'da', ' pho'to' , 'Cali/or'nia', ' Bos' ton ,' tire'less' :-
-VOWEL OR -S -n OR -S
Ihermana 'sister' dinero 'money' hablan 'they speak'
hermanas (pi) hermano 'brother' comen 'they eat'
casa 'house' hermanos (pi) vivieron 'they lived'
casas (pi) caballo 'horse' alguien 'someone'
Sciencia 'science' caballos (pi) joven 'young'
ciencias (pi) negocio 'affair' antes 'before'
hombre 'man' negOcios (pi) apenas 'scarcely'
hombres (pi) tribu 'tribe' crisis 'crisis'
calle 'street' tribus (pi) entonces 'then'
lOcalles (pi) precioso 'precious' hablamos 'we speak'
especie 'species' preciosa (f) lunes 'Monday'
especies (pi) pequenos 'small' (pi) menos 'less'
Rem. 1. AVOID giving English antepenultimate stress to Spanish vowel-ending
paronyms, e. g. abundancia, americano, accidente, adorable (cf. Ex. p. 65-66).
Rem. 2. Stressed penultimates in -n are mostly verbs (3rd person plural) ; and in
-s, verbs (2nd persons) and substantive plurals. There are no singular adjectives
among such words; and singular nouns are few, namely
(1). About a dozen in -en (having a form akin, directly or by analogy, to Latin
originals with corresponding nominative endings) :
abdomen abdomen germen germ orden order
certamcn competition gravamen burden origen origin
crimen crime imagen image resumen summary
dictatem opinion joven young virgen virgin
examen examination margen margin volumen volume
For the effect of plurization on the shifting accent mark of the above list of words
cf. 1141 2b.
(2). The five consecutive week-days in -es, which are incapable of pluralizing in-
flection (H 41 Rem. 6): lunes 'Monday', martes, miercolcs, jueves, viernes 'Friday'.
(3). A small list in -is (H 121), likewise incapable of pluralizing inflection.
(4). Proper names (geographical and personal) in -n and -s, e. g. Burgos, Carmen,
Cervantes, Esteban Stephen, Gertrudis Gertrude, Londres London, Manzanares, Mer-
cedes; surnames like Lopes, Peres, etc. (where the final s is related to the final z of sur-
names If 8 Rem. 12).
Rem. 3. In certain verb inflections with enclitic pronoun object (1 66 Rem. 6) an accent mark
may be met under the conditions of rule 1 of '1 26. But in such instances the accent (which good usage
tends to discard) properly belongs to the verb as a regular part of its inflection, independently of the
coincidence of syllable stress, e. g. amrl.x ( = la ame), hablonos ( = nos hab!6), vime OR vime ( = me vi),
cogiolo ( = lo cogio). BUT fuese (= se fu-3) to distinguish diacritically from fuese (preterite subjunctive).
1 By "accented" or "unaccented" is here meant stress pointed out by the accent mark '.
2 Because as signs of pluralization, n (of verbs) and s (of substantives) they do not change the
original tonic stress.
^[262
Accentuation
65
2. Ultimate. Unaccented words ending in a consonant, EXCEPT
n and s, are to be stressed on the last syllable, e. g. cigar', arrest':
ciudad 'city'
usted ' you '
virtud ' virtue '
capital ' capital '
espanol 'Spanish
azul ' blue '
alfiler 'pin'
mercader ' merchant !
labrador ' peasant '
hablar 'to speak'
comer ' to eat '
Alcoy (prop, noun)
convoy ' train '
estoy ' I am '
disfraz ' disguise '
nariz ' nose '
andaluz 'Andalusian'
l
vivir ' to live '
Rem. 4. As rule (2) reverses the English and Spanish order of stress in a multi-
tude of consonant-ending paronyms, be careful NOT to put English stress on
corresponding Spanish words where it does not belong, c. g. animal, capital,
vertical, civil, altar, actor, vigor, (cf. Ex. p. 66-67).
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES in Regular Stress (H"26). Write down, syllabically,
every other word of the following lists, with the tonic (syllable) stress indicated by
the underscored vowel or the subscript dot (in the manuscript follow the order and
arrangement of the printed lists) :
NOTE. In this and the remaining exercises of the Lesson, only Spanish cognates have been intro-
duced whose accentuation differs in the two languages. Such examples afford the double advantage of
striking contrast in difference of usage and needed training on treacherous ground.
VOWEL-ENDING PARONYMS (TI26Rem. l)
(1). For PRIMARY STRESS ONLY
-a
-a
agencia
audiencia
corned i a
conciencia
criatura .
distancia
esencia
historia
influencia
licencia
malicia
noticia
patriota
provmcia
prudencia
sentencia
sustancia
tragedia .
-o
cubano
humano
indiano
pupilo ..
fl 26 1) :
-e
agente
decente
instante
urgente
-ble
horrible
notable
posible
probable
sensible
terrible
(2). For PRIMARY AND SECONDARY STRESS:
-cia
abundancia
acquiescencia
advertencia
benevolencia
consecuencia
correspondencia
[injdependencia
-cia
diligencia
efervescencia
experiencia
importancia
inteligencia
malevolencia
negligencia
-cia
importancia
persistencia
providencia
vigilancia
-na
disciplina
medicina
H21 Rem. 5
base . .
balance
debate
eclipse
. escape
fase
grave
higiene
magnate
. perfume .
romance
sublime
-o
africano .
americano
mejicano
10
66
Lesson IX
11262
-e
1 accidente
[injconveniente
importante
incidente
5 independente
inteligente
protestante
chocolate
-ble
10 adorable
combustible
-ble
[injcomparable
[inconsiderable
deplorable
detestable
[inestimable
imposible
improbable
indispensable
[inevitable
infalible .
insaciable
-ble
insensible
inteligible
irrevocable
lamentable
memorable
[imjperceptible
[imjpracticable
[inseparable
tolerable
venerable
Adorable criatura pero con deplorable educacion.
e inevitable.
La crisis es infalible
CONSONANT-ENDING PARONYMS (1126 2)
26 2) :-
-or
actor .
candor
color
doctor
. error
favor
fervor
furor
honor
horror
humor
labor
(4.) For PRIMARY AND SECONDARY STRESS :
(3).
For PRIMARY
STRESS ONLY (^
-al
-al
-d
1 actual
. mortal
. crueldad
central
naval
-el(il)
coral
neutral
laurel
cordial
normal
Samuel
5 final .
. oval .
. candil
formal
plural
civil
frugal
postal
hostil
gradual
rival
reptil
jovial
rural
-ar
10 legal .
. . total .
. altar .
local
usual
collar
manual
venal
vulgar
marcial
verbal
-al
1 animal
arsenal
artificial
capital
5 carnaval .
celestial
clerical
criminal
especial
10 fraternal .
fundamental
funeral
-al
general
habitual
horizontal
hospital
ideal . .
infernal
individual
lateral
liberal
literal .
material
medical
-al
mineral
nacional
natural
numeral
oficial
original
paternal
patriarcal
Portugal
principal .
sentimental
sepulcral
-or
licor
motor
pastor
rigor
rumor
senor
tenor
terror
tumor
tutor
valor
vigor
-el(il)
superficial
tribunal
tropical
vertical
infantil
juvenil
mercantil
-ar
circular
irregular
particular
peculiar
1f 27 1 Accentuation 67
-ar -d -d -d
popular . . . interior . . . curiosidad . . gratitud . . .1
regular inspector debilidad libertad
singular profesor enormidad magnitud
triangular protector eternidad majestad
-or . . . actitud . . . extremedad . . multitud . . .5
conductor adversidad facilidad sociedad
director atrocidad dificultad solicitud
exterior credulidad facultad universidad
La Universidad Central 1 . La base fundamental de la sociedad.
1 27. Irregular Stress. It is shown graphically by means of
the accent mark (H 25 a), and concerns all words whose accentuation is
not regular (i. e. not determined by *[ 26) namely
1. Ultimate. The accent mark is required on all those words in
which the accentuation of ^[ 26 1 is reversed, i. e. those which though
ending in a vowel 1 , in n 3 or in s 3 are stressed on the last syllable:
alia ' there ' refran ' proverb ' ambicion ' ambition ' 1
hablara 'he will speak' aleman 'German' cuestion 'question'
hable ' I spoke ' Sebastian (prop, noun) comun ' common '
comere ' I shall eat ' desden ' disdain ' ademas ' besides '
aqui 'here' festin 'banquet' Andres 'Andrew* 5
vivi 'I lived' rocin 'nag' ingles 'English'
hablo ' he spoke ' Aragon ' Arragon ' f ranees ' French '
comio ' he ate ' corazon ' heart ' vivis ' you live '
El Peru 'Peru' leon 'lion' hablais 'you speak'
Adan en el jardin de^Eden Guzman Satanas Valdes Ines ('Agnes'). 10
Rem. 1. AVOID giving English [ante]penultimate stress to Spanish cog-
nates with stressed ultimates like the following: cafe 'coffee', Jose 'Joseph',
rubi, sofa, cipres, Paris, Simon, capitan, sermon, educacion, canon, etc. (cf. Ex. p. 69).
Rem. 2. When nouns and adjectives with stressed ultimates in -n and -s add an
inflectional syllable (i. e. plural -es or gender -a[s]) they drop the accent mark as su-
perfluous (by reversion to the rule of If 26 1), e. g.
aleman 'German' ingles ' English ' baston 'stick' ambicion
alema-nes (pi) ingle-ses (pi) basto-nes (pi) ambicio-nes
alema-na[s] (f) ingle-sa[s] (f)
Rem. 3. A few consonant-ending monosyllables come indirectly under the pro-
visions of rule If 27 1, assuming the accent mark whenever they occur as the final
syllable of a compound of which they compose the chief element, e. g.
bien well Dios God pues then tras after
parabien congratulation adios good-bye despues after atras back
tambien also semidios demigod detras behind
Rem. 4. Monosyllables ordinarily take no orthoepic accent (although several
take the diacritic ^f 28). But there are a few monosyllabic preterites that keep the
accent mark from the example of the regular preterit inflection, e. g. di I gave, dio he
gave, fui / was(went), fue he was(went), hui I fled, vi / saw, vio he saw.
This accent may be be discarded as superfluous, a practice that is spreading, and,
in the press, is becoming quite general.
1 Official name of the University of Madrid. 2 Mostly verb inflections preterite and infinitive
groups (TI 139-140). 3 In many nouns and adjectives.
68 Lesson IX If 27 2-3
Rem. 5. A number of word pairs are alike in spelling but different in accentuation, one regular by
f 26 1 and one irregular by H 27 1 :
anden 'they may go' esta 'this veto veil
anden ' platform ' esta ' is ' velo ' he watched '
Cortes 'Legislature' hacia 'toward' veras |true'
cortes 'courteous' hacia 'he made' veras 'thou wilt see'
entre 'between' picaron 'they stung' viaje | journey '
entre 'I entered' picaron 'rascally' viaje 'I travelled'
Also some corresponding pairs of I conjugation verb inflections, e. g.
hable (pres. subj.) 'I may speak' hablara (impf. subj.) 'I might speak'
hable (pret. indie.) 'I spoke' hablara (fut. indie.) 'he will speak'
Rem. 6. The rules of accentuation for ultimate and penultimate stress were drawn up by the Spanish
Academy in 1888, and have been generally observed in printed matter thereafter. The leading feature
of the usage they displaced (which is met with in the older books of the country and in a number of texts
still in vogue) was the contradictory illogical status given to the stress of words in -n_and -s. In verbs
apart from the ultimates in the future and the few antepenultimate stresses (e. g. amabamos) there was
no written accentuation of any kind: and hence we find hablais, comia, comeria, etc. Correspondingly,
the stressed ultimates of nouns and adjectives in -n and -s were not accented, e. g. (modern) rocin, ladron,
gobernacion, demas, cortes, Amadis, etc. (older) rocin, ladron, gobernacion, demas, cortes, Amadis,
etc. But the penultimate stress of singulars in -s was accented (as if to distinguish this s from its plural-
izing functions), e. g.: (modern) antes, apenas, Burgos, menos, etc. = (older) antes, apenas, etc.
2. Penultimate. The accent mark is required with those words in
which the accentuation of ^f 26 2 is reversed, i. e. those which though
ending in a consonant 1 except n and s are stressed on the next to the
last syllable:
cesped 'sod' dificil 'difficult' lapiz '[lead]pencil'
huesped 'guest' martir 'martyr' Suarez (prop, name)
arbol 'tree' cadaver 'corpse' alcazar 'citadel'
Rem. 7. AVOID giving English reversed stress to Spanish paronyms with
stressed penultimates like the following: Cadiz, caracter, dificil, imbecil, versatil
(cf. p. 69).
3. Antepenultimate. The accent mark is required with those
words whose stress falls on the third 2 ' from the last syllable:
articulo 'article' lugubre 'gloomy' naufrago 'shipwreck'
fosforo ' match ' merito ' merit ' periodico ' newspaper '
huerfano 'orphan' metodo 'method' proximo 'next'
Rem. 8. Examples arc very numerous, particularly cognates (cf. Ex. p. 70).
(a). The accent mark is required over stressed i and U (as i and u)
whenever these are syllabically separate from an adjoining strong 3 vowel
(cf. * 22a as the counterpart of this rule in respect to syllabication):
di-a 'day' Di-az ri-e 'I may laugh' peri 5 -odo 'period
pa-is 'country' Garci-a 4 le-i-do 'read' ro-i-do 'grawn'
ba-til' trunk' BUT 6 crisis 'crisis' linea 'line' dificil 'difficult'
vivo 'alive' suplica 'petition' discipulo 'pupil'
Rem. 9. Barring one exception (caracter, pi. caracteres), the original accent
mark of nouns and adjectives remains invariable through whatever inflections (ex-
cepting stressed ultimates in -n and -s cf. Rem. 2), e. g.
arbol 'tree' dia 'day' baiil ' trunk' frivolo 'frivolous'
arboles (pi) dias (pi) baules (pi) frivola (f)
1 United in practice to d, 1, r, z, ( 1(25 1). 2 This is the syllable measure commonly under-
stood by the antepenultimate, but the rule covers also the few examples of /u-caiitepepenultimate stress
(R. 11). .< And also weak vowels (e. g. flii-ido, fri-isimo), but examples are rare. 4 Caution!
NOT = "gar'sha" (sic). 5 The accent mark being here antepenultimate as well as special to i.
6 The conditions being regular or the accent mark determined by syllable length only.
11273
Accentuation
69
INFINITIVE:
PRES. PART:
IMPERATIVE
PRET. IND:
PRES. IND:
Rem. 10. When nouns with wwstressed ultimates in -n (i. e. the list of If 26 R. 2
(1) ) take the pluralizing suffix -es they assume the accent mark (by reversion to the
antepenultimate stress of If 27 3), e. g.
crimen, (pi.) crimenes. imagen, (pi.) imagenes. orden, (pi.) ordenes
Rem. 11. Antepenultimate stress, with its attendant accent mark, characterizes
certain verb inflections, namely
(1). Verb forms (not monosyllabic) with enclitic pronoun object, e. g.
MITTVTT- prestarmelo 'to lend it to me' comerselo 'to eat it'
prestadnome 'lending to me' comiendolo 'eating it'
presteme Vd. 'lend to me' comalo Vd. 'eat it'
levantese Vd. 'get up' lease 'let it be. read'
hablamosle 'we spoke to him' comioselo 'he ate it up'
hablame 'he speaks to me' amola 'I love her'
W 7 ith present participles and imperatives (not monosyllables) such a combina-
tion offers the only examples in the language of >reantepenultimate stress (i. e. stress
reaching back to the fourth syllable from the last, e. g.
prestandonoslo 'lending it to us' prestemelo 'lend it to me'
comiendoselo 'eating it up' compramonoslo 'we bought it up'
(2). The 1st person plural of some past tenses, e. g.
hablabamos (imp. ind.) comieramos (imp. subj.) viviesemos (pret. subj.)
Rem. 12. Latin expressions current in Spanish customarily take the accent mark
of irregular stress antepenultimate or otherwise, e. g. calamo currente 'offhand',
facsimile, pro formula 'for form's sake', ultimatum.
Rem. 13. It will be noticed in the exercises below (3) that nouns and adjectives of antepenultimate
accentuation all end in vowels save one noun in -es (miercoles 'Wednesday') and a small group in -is
(If 155), which last are all incapable of a pluralizing inflection (H 41 2a) and hence take no lengthened
syllabication (f 21 Rem. 4); while one in -en (regimen 'rule') keeps antepenultimate stress in the plural
(i. e. regimenes). Therefore, the vowel-ending antepenultimate nouns and adjectives have an invariable
accentuation that maintains a constant syllabication unaffected by number and gender inflections.
ORAL and WRITING EXERCISES in Irregular Stress 1 (If 27). Writedown, syllabically,
the following examples of (l)-(2) and the first line from each group of (3), p. 70, pay-
ing attention to the accent mark by 1f 25 Rem. 4:
(1)
IRREGULAR ULTIMATES
rubi .
cafe
Jose
sofa
Paris . .
cipres
frances
ingles
Valdes
Tomas
Galdos
marques
cortes
azmn .
Eden
sultan
Adrian
refran .
guardian
balcon
boton
carbon
limon .
sermon
Simon
cuestion
leon
nacion .
comun
27 1)
Alcala . .
interes
capitan
charlatan
huracan .
talisman
Sebastian
ambicion
construccion
estacion
intencion
interruption
ocupacion
opinion
relation
(2)
IRREGULAR PENULT (If 27 2)
aspid .
angel
apostol
consul
debil .
habil
imbecil
marmol
util
versatil
Cesar
eter
martir
procer
revolver
alferez
Bolivar 1
Cadiz
Dominguez 2
Gomez
Gonzalez 5
Gutierrez
Hernandez
Jimenez
Lopez
Martinez 10
Nunez
Perez
Rodriguez
Sanchez
Velazquez 15
resurrection
Cristobal Colon. Un no salia de^Eden que regaba el jardin; y de alii
se dividia, y se repartia en cuatro brazos.
1 Observe secondary as well as primary stress,
list of surnames cf. 1f 8 R. 12.
2 For the significance of -ez in the following
70 Lesson IX 11 27 3
(3). ANTEPENULTIMATES (H 27 3)
1 -CO (ca) : Adriatico America analitico apatico aristocratico
Atlantico benefico Cantabrico catolico caustico cinico cri-
tico democratic domestico eclesiastico elastico electrico e-
nergico epoca equivoco fabrica filologico fisico gimnastico
Slogico magico magnifico mecanico medico metafisico mis-
tico mitologico musica narcotico panegirico parroco pate-
tico pedagogico periodico plastico platica platonico poe-
tico polemica politico practice publico quimica quirurgico
retorico simpatico suplica telegrafico teologico terapeutico
LO unico veridico.
-go (g3): codigo dialogo epilogo esofago estomago latigo
murcielago naufrago pielago prodigo rafaga relampago
sacrilege vertigo.
-to <ta): antidota apostata aristocrata atonito automata
IScredito democrata deposito ejercito epiteto exito indo-
mito ingenito insolito licito merito orbita proposito pro-
selito transito.
-do (da): acido anectoda comodo esplendido estupido hi-
gado humedo insipido livido metodo palido perdida peri-
ZOodo cuadrupedo.
-lo (la): angulo articulo brujula calculo ' capftulo circulo
cliusula conciliabulo cumulo cupula [conjdiscipulo escandalo
escandalo escrofulas escrupulo esdrujulo espectaculo esti-
mulo fabula f6rmula frivolo idolo jubilo minuscula ma-
25 yuscula o[b]staculo opuscule particula patibulo peninsula
preambulo simbolo titulo tortola valvula sustentaculo.
-mo (ma): astronomo atomo balsamo intimo projimo proxi-
mo lagrima lastima seudonimo sintoma ultimo.
-HO (na): huerfano indigena lamina maquina monotone o-
30ceano pagina termino.
-TO <ra): atmosfera barbaro euscaro feretro fosforo genero
integro lampara mascara metafora numero pajaro pr6s-
pero vispera.
-GS (is): miercoles analisis di6cesis enfasis genesis hipotesis
35 metam6rfosis necr6polis parilisis parentesis perifrasis.
MISCELLANEOUS: linea artifice c6mplice indice pontifice pi-
ramide catastrofe hiperbole indole heroe ap6cope prin-
11281
Accentuation 71
cipe multiple limite interprete satelite celebre lugubre
filosofo fotografo espiritu aureo. craneo erroneo Estebafiez
espontaneo momentaneo Mediterraneo nausea. Los arboles
de los paises frios y calidos.
1128. The Diacritic Accent. This is the accent mark con-
sidered as an instrument of definition rather than of accentuation,
since it deals only with a few monosyllables and bisyllabic words.
It is associated, as a distinguishing spelling mark, with one of two
words that are alike in spelling but of different meaning or function.
Usage has restricted it to the following special word groups, viz:
1. To set off the following pairs of very common homonyms 1 :
al to the [al 2 something] [mas 3 but] mas more
de of de [may] give se one's self se / know
di say [thou] di I gave si if si yes, one s self
el the el he, him solo alone solo only
ha has ha ago te thee te tea
he / have he behold tu thy tii thou
mi my mi me ve sees ve go [thou]
Rem. 1. Unreasoning usage has been the chief factor in assigning the diacritic accent to one member
of the pair rather than to the other, although in the majority of examples it is properly put on the less
common homonym (e. g. al, ha, he, el) so as to simplify the task of the harder worked partner (e. g. al.
ha, he, el).
Rem. 2. Other pairs of homonyms without the diacritic accent are quite common, their occurrence
not being' varied enough to provoke confusion of sense. They comprise verb and noun pairs sometime
quite disconnected, but usually related, e. g.:
f almuerzo v. (I breakfast) f encuentro v. (I meet) f pedido p. p. (asked)
lalmuerzo n. (breakfast) (.encuentro n. (meeting) \ pedido n. (order)
( amo n. (master) J envio n. (I send) \ pelo n. (hair)
(. amo v. (I love) \ envio n. (shipment) I pelo v. (I peel)
f ama n. (housekeeper) f enviado p. p. (sent) I prueba v. (he proves)
1 ama v. (he loves) ( enviado . (messenger) I prueba n. (proof)
f canto v. (I sing) I escrito p. p. (written) f puesto p. p. (set)
\ canto n. (singing) \ escrito n. (writing) ( puesto n. (post)
J como (ax) \estudio v. (I study) J sentido p. p. (felt)
(. como (/ eat) J estudio . (study) i sentido n. (sense)
j compra v. (he buys) f falta v. (he lacks) f ser v. (to be)
( compra ;;. (purchase) 1 falta n. (lack) "( ser n. (being)
j consuelo v. (I console) J hecho p. p. (done) f son v. (they are)
( consuelo n. (consolation) \hecho n. (deed, fact) tson . (sound)
( cuento v. (I count) ( juego v. (I play) J suefio v. (I dream)
1 cuento n. (story) (juego n. (game) (suefio n. (sleep)
( cuenta v. (he counts) J mando v. (I command) \ trabajo v. (I work)
\ cuenta n. (bill) ( mando n. (command) ( trabajo n. (work)
f vino v. (he came)
| vino M. (wine)
Some of these as como v., ser n., and son n. used to bear the diacritic accent, and may still be so
found in the older texts.
Rem. 3. Without the diacritic accent are also certain like verb forms in different tenses, e. g.
FIRST CONJUGATION THIRD CONJUGATION
PRES. IXD: hablamos 'we speak' vivimos 'we live'
PRET. IXD: hablamos 'we spoke' vivimos 'we lived'
1 "Homonyms" (pron. ho'mo-nimz) are words alike in sound or spelling but different in meaning.
On the other hand, "par'onyms" are words virtually alike in spelling and meaning. 2 From Latin
aliud, now obsolete but found as late as Cervantes and his contemporaries. 3 = pero.
72 Lesson IX If 28 2-3
2. To mark the demonstrative adjectives (este 'this', ese and
aquel 'that') used substantively as este 'this one', ese and aquel
'that one'.
Rent. 4. The indefinite demonstratives esto, eso, and aquello are not so
accented.
3. The diacritic accent is used to mark adverbs and relative pro-
nouns used interrogatively and exclamatively (directly or indirectly),
and when used as correlatives 1 - 2 , namely:
como as [<[] como [?] how [?]
cual which [i] cual [?] which [one] [?], one 1
cuan as [j] cuan [ how [I]
cuando when [<i] cuando [?] when [?], now 2
cuanto as much [<*] cuan to [?] how much [?]
cuyo whose, of which [<;] cuyo [?] whose [?]
donde where [i] donde [?] where [?]
que who, that lid)} que [?{!)] what [?], what al
quien who[m] [<i] quien [?] who[m] [?], one 1
Rem. 5. Up to the beginning of the second decade of the twentieth century, a fourth diacritic class
was observed the preposition a and the conjunctions e, 6, u, considered as vitalized letters set off against
their plain alphabetic counterparts.
In 1912 the Spanish Academy very sensibly ruled the suppression of this spelling hobble that had not
ever, the plea of ornamental to recommend it. But all printed matter before this date will show these
accented letters. /
Rem. 6. Of the three diacritic groups set forth above, only the last one seems defensible. The first
two do not rest on any stronger argument than usage which may be respectable without at all being
convincing. As "diacritic" is to subserve clearness of definition, its use is intended to have, presumably,
a useful rather than superfluous or ornamental purpose. But under this caption its pretentions are absurd
for 2, and idle for 1. There can be no more likely confusion of context bewteen de as o/and as give and
este as this (adj.) and as this one (pro.) than there is between amo as / love and as master (or any
other of the listed pairs in Rem. 2).
QUESTION SYLLABUS
(H 25 ) What is syllable stress the mark of?
(it 25 1 ) On what syllables do the great majority of Spanish words
have their stress?
To what classes of endings do these stresses correspond?
(If 25 2 ) What is peculiar about the accentuation of words of regular
stress?
Of what kind of stress are the others considered?
What do the rules of Spanish spelling require in respect to
such words when written or printed?
(If 25 2a) What only accent mark is there in Spanish? Write.
What is its office?
(If 25 R. 4) Show the purpose of this Rem. by the manner of writing the accent mark
over hablo, arbol, metodo, vivia.
1 E. g. 'one<some>' cual(cuales) OR quien(quienes> (e. g. 'would hide'), ' another(others) '
cual(cuales) OR quien(quienes) (e. g. 'would run'). 2 . g. 'now' cuando here, 'now' cuando
there.
Syllabus IX 73
(Tf 25 3 ) What is the degree of the syllabic stress as compared with
English?
What additional stress, and where, may polysyllables have?
EXERCISE.
(^[ 25 2b ) What letter of the syllable bears the accent mark when
needed? What part of a diphthong or triphthong?
(^f 26 1 ) State the rule of regular penultimate stress.
(If 26 R. 1) What caution is to be observed in the accentuation of such Spanish words
as a-m-e-r-i-c-a-n-o ' Amer'ican', a-c-c-i-d-e-n-t-e 'ac'cident'?
(f 26 2 ) State the rule of regular ultimate stress.
(II 26 R. 4) What caution is to be observed in the accentuation of such Spanish words
as a-n-i-m-a-l 'an'imal', c-i-v-i-1 'civ'il', a-c-t-o-r 'ac'tor'?
EXERCISE.
(If 27 ) How is Spanish irregular stress graphically shown?
What words does it concern?
(^j 27 1 ) Why are words stressed like alia and aqui considered of ir-
regular accentuation, and so requiring the accent mark?
Likewise refran and ingles?
(1f27R. 1) What caution is to be observed in pronouncing a word like J-o-s-e 'Jo'
seph', P-a-r-i-s 'Par'is'?
(II 27 2 ) Why are words stressed like huesped, arbol, and lapiz con-
sidered of irregular accentuation, and so requiring the
accent mark?
(1f 27R. 7) What caution is to be observed in a word like c-a-r-a-c-t-e-r 'char'acter',
d-i-f-i-c-i-l 'difficult'?
(*[273 ) Why are words stressed like articulo and merito considered
of irregular accentuation, and so requiring the accent
mark?
(If 27 R. 8) Is this class of words important to the learner's experience?
(*j| 27 a ) When is the accent mark required over i and U (as i, u) not
antepenultimate?
EXERCISE.
(^[ 28 ) Is the diacritic accent properly to be considered an instru-
ment of accentuation? Why?
It is associated, as what kind of sign, with words in what
relation ?
(II 28 1 ) Name a couple of common homonyms it distinguishes.
(If 28 2 ) What adjectives does it distinguish and in what function?
(^{283 ) Name a relative pronoun and an adverb that the diacritic
accent distinguishes, and in what function.
Appendix 1
IF 29. Spelling Permutations. 2 Below is a table 3 of the
graphically changing consonants of 1 8-9, according as they precede
front or back vowels:
1 Soft-c (zeta)' 1 sound (118 l)
FRONT
i e
BACK
a o u
ci
jgi
Iji
qui
gui
giii
ce
gej
jej
que
gue
gue
za
ja
ca
a
gua
zo
JO
CO
go
guo
zu
ju
cu
gu
2 Soft-g- (jota) 5 [sound (If 9 l)
3 Hard-c (" k ") sound (182)
4 Hard-g- sound (192)
5 Hard-g 1 w-diphthong (19 2a)
This table of changes explains the spelling peculiarities of many de-
rivative words for graphically preserving the consonant key-sound of
the primitive, under varying conditions of inflection, according to the
above prescribed rules of spelling, namely
Rem. 1. The underlying principle of these spelling changes is that a given conso-
nant key-sound is common to all members of a family of derivatives, and must be
kept intact without modification and free from admixture of diphthong elements.
I
Permutation illustrated in verbs whose inflectional syllable begins with
any of the above consonants (1-5):
Rem. 2. Observe that such permutation is merely a spelling peculiarity, NOT
a verb irregularity.
1. -zar e. g. lanzar ('to throw'). ^
-cons.-cer e. g. ejercer ('to exercise') >- e. g.
-cons.-cir e. g. esparcir ('to scatter') )
IND. PRES: lanzo lanzas lanza etc.; ejerzo ejerces ejerce etc.
SUBJ. " lance lances lance etc.; ejerza ejerzas ejerza etc.
IND. FRET: lance lanzaste lanzo etc.; ejerci ejerciste ejercio etc.
1 Comprising matter supplementary to the preceding for reference or topical study as occasion may
arise. 2 In philology, "permutation" means the interchange of allied consonants. 3 Which the
learner will find valuable for ready reference in summarizing the essential peculiarities of Chs. iii-iv.
4 Cf. p. 21, fn. 2. 5 Cf. p. 28, fn. 1.
74
1129 I
Appendix
75
cn cn cn
cn cn
cn cn
cn cn
cn
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cn cn cn cn cn
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INFINI1
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almorzar ( '
aplazar ( '
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realizar ( '
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333
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76 Appendix ^f 29 1
incntnenintnenenin
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01 in
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Appendix
77
II
Permutation illustrated in substantive inflections such as pluraliza-
tion (chiefly -z to -ces) , absolute comparison (by -isimo 'most'),
correspondence of nouns to their derivative verbs and of adjectives to
their derivative nouns, qualifying suffixes (chiefly diminutives in -ito
and -illo) :
Rem. 3. As will be observed below, examples of permutation in soft- and hard-g 1 (I, 3) are very
numerous, with virtually none in soft-g (2), owing to the prevailing tendency to standardize the spelling
of medial soft-g- into j (If 9 la).
1. SOFT-C
alcanzar (to reach)
alcance (reach)
andaluz (Andalusian)
andaluces (pi.)
andaluza (fern.)
Andalucia (Andalusia)
atroz (atrocious)
atrocidad (atrocity)
cabeza (head)
cabecera (bed head)
capaz (capable)
capacidad (capacity)
cruz (cross)
cruces (pi.)
crucero (cruiser)
cruzar (to cross)
cruzada (crusade)
dulce (sweet)
dulzura (sweetness)
feliz (happy)
fclices (pi.)
felicisimo (most )
felicidad (happiness)
hombrezuelo (little man)
hombrecillo (little man)
locuaz (garrulous)
locuacidad (garrulity)
luz (light)
luces (pi.)
lucero (morning star)
mozo (young fellow)
mocito (urchin)
paz (peace)
paces (pi.)
apaciguar (to pacify)
apacible (peaceful)
pedazo (piece)
pedacito (bit)
pez (fish)
peces (pi.)
pececito (little fish)
razon (reason)
racional (rational)
rozar (to rub)
roce (friction)
tapiz (tapestry)
tapices (pi.)
tapicero (upholsterer)
tenaz (tenacious)
tenacidad (tenacity)
veloz (swift)
velocidad (velocity)
voz (voice)
voces (pi.)
vocecita (little )
3. HARD-C
atacar (to attack)
ataque (attack)
banco (bench, bank)
banca (banking)
banquero (banker)
banquillo (stool)
barco (boat)
barquillo (small )
barqucro (boatman)
bianco (white)
blanquccino (whitish)
blanquear (to whiten)
cerca (near)
cerquita (quite near)
duque (duke)
ducado (dukedom)
duquesa (duchess)
flaco (weak)
flaquisimo (very )
flaqueza (weakness)
loco (mad)
locura (madness)
loquero (keeper)
enloqucdor (maddening)
cnloquecer (to madden)
manteca (lard)
mantequilla (butter)
mosca (fly)
moscon (gad-fly)
mosquito
Paco (Frank)
Paquito (Frankie)
poco (little)
poquito (very)
rico (rich)
riquisimo (very )
riquezas (riches)
roca (rock)
roqueno (rocky)
roncar (to snore)
ronquido (snore)
ronco (hoarse)
ronquera (hoarseness)
nistico (rustic)
rustiquez (rusticity)
secar (to dry)
seco (dry)
scquedad (dry ness)
sequia (drought)
tocar (to ring)
toque (peal)
trocar (to barter)
trueque (barter)
vaca (cow)
vaquero (cow-boy)
vaquita (calf)
4. HARD-g-
amigo (friend)
amiguito (dear )
amigable (friendly)
droga (drug)
droguero (druggist)
hormiga (ant)
hormigucra (ant-hill)
huelga (strike)
huelguista (striker)
jugar (to play)
juguetc (plaything)
largo (long)
larguisimo (very )
larguezas (generosity)
lobrcgo (gloomy)
lobrcgucz (darkness)
trigo (wheat)
trigueno (swarthy)
5. HARD-g-
WITH tV-DIPHTHONG
ambiguo (ambiguous)
ambigiiedad (ambiguity)
antiguo (ancient)
antigiiedad (antiquity)
lengua (tongue)
lingiiistico (linguistic)
78
Appendix
1130
H 30. The Alphabet is given below in three columns, namely.
1. Characters. Column 1 contains the characters used in print-
ing and writing. The pronunciation of these characters is represented
in Columns 2 and 3, whose names are to be pronounced according to
the rules of Spanish sound-values that apply to the letter or letters
composing them.
2. Alphabetic Names. Column 2 contains the alphabetic names
of the characters of column 1. These names are used for running the
alphabet (a, b, c, etc., as for practice), or when isolating a letter in dis-
course or particularizing it in reference (in which last cases the letter
is coupled with the feminine article la 'the' or una 'a[n]'):
For su figura la 11 ( = elle) es By its figure, // is double, but sin-
doble, pero sencilla por su
sonido.
La n ( = ene) se^escribe con
una n ( = ene) y el tilde.
No saber una jota (= j).
gle by its sound.
Spanish n ("soft n") is written
with n and the "tilde".
= To be utterly ignorant.
3. Spelling Names. Column 3 contains the names that are used
to supplement those of column 2 in spelling a word by telling its letters,
e. g. espanol se escribe e-se-pe-a-fie-o-le 'Spanish is written, etc'.
Rem. The only difference between columns 2 and 3 is that for spelling purposes
nearly all the two-syllable names of column 2 are reduced to one syllable sounds in
column 3 by discarding the initial syllabic vowel (e. g. e-fe to fe, e-ie to le, e-lle to
He, etc.).
1
2
3
1
2
3
charac-
alphabetic spelling
charac-
alphabetic spelling
ters
names
names
ters
names
names
a
(If 3
3)
a
a
n
(1fl3
) ene
ne
b
(1fio )
be
be
(1f34
) o
o
c
(H8 )
ce 1
ce
P
(If 15
) pe
pe
ch
(1fll )
che
che
q
(If 8
) cu
cu
d
(1
12
)
de
de
r |
(*} 17
>. ere
re
e
(1f 3
2)
e
e
rr j
V il L '
erre
rre
f
\ 1
15
)
efe
fe
s
(If 18
) ese
se
g
(1
9
)
ge 1
ge
t
(If 16
) te
te
h
(Ifll )
ache
ache
u
(If 3
5':) u
u
i
(If 3
O
i
i
V
(If 10
) ve
ve
j
(1f 9 )
jota 1
jota
^
^
*
k
(If 8
3)
ka
ka
wl
doble v 2
1
VII
(If 16
w /
ele
le
x I
(If 18
) ekis
11
(1113 )
elle
lie
(
-
m
(If 15 ^
eme
me
y
. i eriega 3
ye
n
\ II ***
(' 14
/
ene
ne
j j
z
(1f 8
) zeta 1
J
zeta
1 Castilian or Spanish-American (f 7 R. 6).
2 Lit. "double v ".
3 Lit. " Greek i".
^[31-32 Appendix 79
CAPITALIZATION AND PUNCTUATION
^ 31. Their Distinguishing Features in Spanish (as dif-
fering from English usage may be summarized in the following terms :
1. Capitalization. Use small initials for days of week and month
(11 33 1) and for adjectives of nationality (11 33 2).
2. Punctuation (1[34a). Introduce questions and exclamations-
by the inverted sign of interrogation (<;) and exclamation (j).
WITH MORE DETAIL
H 32. Capitals are required for the beginning:
1. Of sentences or isolated expressions, of verse, of proper names
(sacred, personal, geographical, and corporate), of nouns personified,
of the article introducing a quotation or descriptive title (as a customary
part thereof), of Don and Dona, of ustedfes] abbreviated (Vdfsj. or
V[V].).'of the points of the compass (el Norte, el Sur, el Este, el Oeste) :
La Republica del Peru. The Republic of Peru.
La Guerra de la Independencia. The War of Independence.
La Real Academia de Ciencias The Royal Academy of Moral and
Morales y Politicos. Political Sciences.
Parece que Vd. lefa un ejemplar de It seems that you were reading a
El Impartial 1 cuando entre. copy of the Impartial when I
entered .
La provincia de La Mancha es la The province of La Mancha is the
tierra de Don Quijote, conocido country of Don Quixote, known
por la divisa de "El caballero by the emblem of "the Knight
de la Triste Figura." of the Sad Visage."
La Real Academia Espanola fue The Royal Spanish Academy was
fundada por el rey [Don] Felipe founded by King Philip the
V ( = quinto) para fomentar las Fifth to encourage good litera-
buenas letras. Su lema es ture. Its motto is "polish, fix,
"Limpia, fija y da esplendor." and give luster."
Una Zorra se empena A Fox insists
En dar una comida a la Ciguena. On giving a dinner to the Stork.
2. Of personal titles (nobiliary, official, and professional) the best
usage of the two languages being alike, save that Spanish prefers a small
initial for a title coupled with the appositional personal name of the
bearer in indirect discourse:
Yo el Rey 2 . I the King.
El Conde-Duque de Olivares. The Count-Duke of Olivares.
El Presidente de los Estados Uni- The President of the United
dos. States. BUT-
1 Favorite name of Spanish newspapers for the most part in flagrant contradiction to the literal
sense of the term. 2 Official formula of the royal signature.
80 Appendix If 33
PQuien viene? Es el senor Sua- Who is coming? It is Mr. Sua-
rez. rez.
El rey [Don] Alfonso XIII. King Alphonsus XIII.
El general Espartero, Duque de General Espartero, Duke of Vic-
la Victoria. tory.
El presidente Diaz 'President Diaz'. El doctor Sangredo 'Doctor
Sangredo'. El profesor Menendez 'Professor Menendez'. El padre
Coloma 'Father Coloma'.
(a). In the written forms of direct address, Senor is preferably
written with capital initial as are all titles so used (Presidente, Gen-
eral, Doctor, etc.) :
Permitame, Senor (Caballero), que [le] Allow me, Sir, that I accompany you.
acompane a usted. Si Senor, con Yes, Sir, with great pleasure,
mucho gusto.
Buenos dias, [Senor] Profesor (General, Good morning, Professor (General, Doc-
Doctor, Juez), icomo esta Yd.? tor, Judge), how are you?
If 33. Small Initials are preferred:-
1. For the names of the days of the week, of the months of the year,
and of the seasons, e. g. [el] domigo 'Sunday', el mes de enero 'the month
of January', [la] primavera 'Spring'.
2. For English proper adjectives, and the same used substantively
and as names of languages, e. g. la politica espanola 'Spanish polities',
ia frontera francesca 'the .French frontier', el ejercito aleman 'the
German army', una espanola inglesa 'An .English-bred Spanish-woman',
la noche toledana 'the !Toledan night'.
La defensa heroica de les espano- The heroic defense of the Span-
les contra los franceses en 1808. iards against the .French in
1808.
Los norteamericanos hablan in- The Americans speak English, but
gles, pero los mejicanos hablan the Mexicans speak Spanish.
espafiol.
Kern. 1. But the capital initial may be used in book titles, or specifically of an individual, e. g. Una
Espanola Inglesa 'An English-bred Spanish woman'.
3. For the pronoun yo ' I ' :
No la olvidaba yo un punto. / didn't forget her a moment.
4. Preferably, for titles of works in literature and art occurring as a
part of discourse, but excepting those words whose capitalization is de-
termined by ^| 31 1 :
La vida es sueno 1 "Life is a Dream." El mdgico prodigioso 1 "The
Wonderworking Magician." La devotion a la Cruz 1 "Devotion to
the Cross." El mejor alcalde, el Rey 2 "The Best Judge is the King."
1 Calderon. 2 Lope de Vega.
34 Appendix 81
Las mil y una noches "The Thousand and One Nights." Al primer
vuelo 1 "On the First Flight." Penas arriba 1 "Up the Heights." Un
viaje de novios 2 "A Wedding Trip." El senorito Octavio 3 "Young Mr.
Octavius." El estudiante de Salamanca^ "The Salamanca Student."
Las mocedades del Cid' a "The Cid's Youthful Exploits." La rendition
de Breda* "The Surrender of Breda."
Rem. 2. In isolated headings and title-page announcements, as well as in names of newspapers
and periodicals, capital initials are to be expected for the main words, e. g. La Vida es Sueno, Drama de
Calderon. La Correspondencia de Espana (newspaper).
Rem. 3. Official or professional rank in a literary title may be considered as part of the proper name,
c. g. El Comendador (comendador) Mendoza. El Capilan (capitdn) Veneno 1 . Las ilusiones del Doctor
(doctor) Faustina*. La Hermann (hermana) San Sulpicio .
(a.) A descriptive collective title in discourse will be introduced by
an appropriate uncapitalized article not considered a part thereof:
Leer (conocer) las Escenas montanesas To read (be acquainted with) Pereda's
y los Tipos y paisajes de Percda, las "Scenes from the Montana" and
Novelets ejemplares de Cervantes, las "Types and Landscapes," the "Ex-
Historietas nacionales de Alarcon, los emplary Novels" of Cervantes, Alar-
Cuadros de costumbres de Fernan con's "Spanish Stories," Fernan Ca-
Caballero, los Cuentos populares de ballero's "Local Life and Manners,"
Trueba, las Pequeneces de Cola, el Trueba's "Trifles," Breton's "Col-
Teal.ro completo de Breton de los Her- lected Plays," Nunez's "Poetical
reros, las Obras poeticas de Nunez de Works," "A Collection of Moral
Arce, un Ramillete de advertencias Advice."
morales.
La publicacion de un Cuento oriental. The publication of "An Eastern Tale."
Yo sabia que Horacio habia escrito una I knew that Horace had written an
Epistola a los Pisones; la cual Epistola, "Epistola to the Pisos;" which Epistle,
a su vez, estaba inspirada en la Poe- in its turn, was inspired by Aristotle's
tica de Aristoteles. "Poetics."
(b). Single- word titles of common nouns usually take capital initial:
Lo Prohibido, El Escandalo, El Maestrante 3 La Gaviota 8 , La Gitanilla 9 ,
Las Lanzas 6 , La Puchera 1 , Los Suenos 10 , Los Borrachos 6 , Las Hilanderas 6 .
Rem. 3. But even here (b), small initials may be found in catalog lists.
Rem. 4. The above rules although divergences therefrom will be found express the marked ten-
dency to restrict the use of Spanish initial capitals to the minimum, as prescribed Dy f, 32.
1134. Punctuation is virtually the same in Spanish as in English,
with the additional features of inverted interrogation (<?) and exclama-
tion (j) marks set at the beginning of their respective clauses:
dQue quiere usted decir? What do you mean?
<|Entre que gentes estamos? Among what people are we?
i Pobre Dolores ! Poor Dolores !
jMueran los pillos! Death to the rascals!
1 Pereda. 2 Mrs. Pardo Bazan. 3 Palacio Valdes. 4 Espronceda. 5 GuUlen de
Castro. 6 Celebrated painting of Velazquez. 7 Valera. 8 Fernan Caballero. 9 Cer-
vantes. 10 Quevedo.
82 Appendix ^[ 34
(a). The inverted sign goes before that part of the expression it in-
troduces. When this is parenthetical and brief, a small initial is pre-
ferred :
Se""esta muy bien aqui, <ino es verdad? It's very nice here, isn't it?
jBah! . . .pero, <<quien piensa en eso? Pshaw! . . .But who thinks of that?
jAh! si la conocieras mejor, jde que di- Ah! if you knew her better, how differently
verso modo procederias! you would act!
(b). The exclamative-interrogative combination !....? (or the re-
verse order ...-. j ) is appropriate to a rhetorical question not expecting
a direct answer (i. e. not categorical) :
jComo he de olvidar? jQuien sabe? How can I forget! Who can tell?
jQue virtudes habia en mi para haber What virtues were there in me for my
adelantado tanto camino en tan poco having progressed so far and so quickly?
tiempo?
(c). The dash ( ) sets off dialog:
Pcro puede listed enfermar la dije. "But you may fall ill," I said to her.
jNo lo permita Dios! repuse clla. "God forbid!" she replied.
(d). Italics set off literary and art titles (*[ 33 4), literary quotations,
and any matter stressed for emphasis, significance or singularity:
Por eso, no quiero que se""exponga That's why / insist on your not exposing
usted. yourself.
iPor que era rubia? -jahi esta el quid! Why was she blonde? There's the "rub!"
En italiano, burro significa manteca de In Italian, "burro" means "butter".
vacas.
jOh! jme ama! Me ha dicho: hasta mas Oh! she loves me! She told me to come
ver. . . . again. . . .
Ellas son damas de la buena sociedad They arc ladies of your "tony" Madrid
madrilena. society, if you please!
Le di la noticia en confianza y en I gave him the news confidentially and in
secreto. secret.
Murmurabase que le habia derribado la It was whispered that he had been over-
misma oculta influencia. thrown by the same secret influence.
Me intimo el requisite, pro formula, de He hinted to me the requirement, "for
pedir oficialmente su mano. form's sake", to ask "officially" for her
hand.
Es precise dividir las obras literarias en It is necessary to divide literary works into
dos grupos: las de nuestros amigos y two groups: those of our friends and
las de los otros. those of "the others".
Rem. 1. In manuscript the place of italics is graphically indicated by underscoring.
Rein. 2. Italics may be appropriately used to set off the names of public concerns and establishments
referred to elliptically, e. K- compre un bilk-to en la administracion de la (sc. Compania) Transatldntica
y uno en la estacion del (sc. Ferrocarril del) Norte. El (sc. cafe) Suho era el Parnaso de Madrid 'The
"Suizo" caf6 used-to-be the Madrid Parnassus'.
(e). Marks of quotation set off citations (in personal, special, or
ironical sense) :
^| 35 Appendix 83
Gemia, como siempre, por "la pobre He groaned, as ever, for "Poor Spain" in
Espana" en poder de los hombres in- the power of the incompetent men who
eptos que le habian expatriado a el. had exiled him.
"<:D6nde esta el argumento? i Que pro- Where is the argument? What problem is
blema se plantea en el?" set up in it?
"No puede negarse" diremos "que "It can't be denied", we shall say, "that
interesa hasta cierto punto". it is interesting to a certain degree".
'35. Popularisms in pronunciation and its spelling are fre-
quently met in literature 1 , as the reflection of provincial or illiterate
usage, in the following forms, namely-
1. Metathesis 2 is still felt, often manifesting itself:
estogawo for estomago ' stomach ' pedricar for predicar 'to preach'
f ra&ica for f abrica ' factory ' perlado for prelado ' prelate '
g/arimas for lagrimas ' tears ' presona for persona ' person '
in/reprete for interprete probe for pobre ' poor'
naide for nadie 'nobody' trempano for temprano 'early'
nominaz>i/o for nominativo
Rem. 1. Metathesis has been a potent agency in the development of Spanish words from their Latin
sources, operating especially between the liquids (1 and r) and another consonant, e. g. ten(e)ru(m) 'tender'
into tien'ro, then tierno; tit(u)lu(m) 'title' into tid'lo, then tilde (T[ 13 Rem. 9); mirac(u)lu(m) 'miracle'
into mirag'/o, then milagro; mur(e)-caeculu(m) 'little blind (caecus) mouse (mus) ' into murciegato 'bat',
then murcielago; crocodilus 'crocodile' into cocodril. Also, in the (now archaic) 2nd person plural imper-
ative with enclitic pronoun charzcterizing 16th-17th century usage, e. g. llevadto 'take it 1 into llevaWo
(and this, in turn, into lleva/to); vedla. 'see her' into veWa (and, in turn, into veWa).
2. Permutation, namely-
1. Between 1 and r or n, e. g.
a/mario for armario ' cupboard ' p/onto for pronto ' ready '
awguno for alguno ' someone ' region for legion
co/onjia for canonjia 'canonry' vuervo for vuelvo 'I return'
er for el ' he ' reto/icas for retoricas ' fine words'
Rem. 2. Cf. also examples from the rogues' idiom of Rinconele y Cortidillo (picaroon novela of
Cervantes): wquido for liquido, and nibelo for libelo (cf. Rem. 4).
Rem. 3. The operation of this kind of permutation may be seen in the present form of many words
long since accepted as correct, explaining, as well, spelling peculiarities of many Spanish and English
cognates, e. g.
Argel 'Algiers' coronel 'co/onel 3 ' papel 'paper'
Beltran ' Bertram ' elemental 'elementary' peluca '(peri) wig'
Bercebu ' Bee/zebub ' escolta 'escort' piirpura 'purple'
Carmen 'Carme/' flete 'freight' recluta 'recruit'
Catalina 'Catherine' fraile* 'friar' sable 'saber'
Rem. 4. In the working out of this principle of permutation from Latin sources cf. e. g. alma '(em-
bodied) soul' from the original anima still kept in special sense of '(disembodied) soul' (e. g. el Dia de
las Animas 'All Souls' Day', una aruma en pena = : 'A soul in Purgatory), espanol from hispanione(m),
nivel from /ibellu(m).
Rem. 5. In a few words the permutation formerly accepted has been displaced in conventional
usage by the more artificial Latin relationship, e. g. cerebro 'brain' and peregrine 'pi/grim' for (now)
archaic ce/ebro and petegnno; or it forms an alternative word restricted to a special sense, e. g. alimana
for animal in depreciative sense of '(noxious) animal', ralo for raro 'rare' as 'thin' (hair).
1 Notably in the work of J. M. de Pereda, dealing with localisms of the Montana. 2 " Me-ta'the-
sis " is transposition or interchange of one or two letters from their accepted order, e. g. 'ask' and illiterate
"aks", Dixie "Marse" for 'mas(te)r'. 3 From Italian colonello as the head of a 'column' (Lat.
co/umna) of men. The maximum of spelling absurdity in English usage is illustrated by this example,
which adopts the pronunciation of one language and the contrary spelling of another so as to make an
utterly irrational combination. 4 From older fraire, whose still earlier stage was flaire.
84 Appendix ^ 35
II. j forf:-
_/uera[mos] for fuera[mos] juncion for funcion 'entertain-
ment'
juerza for f uerza ujano for uf ano ' elated '
3. Archaisms:
I. Final u for o, e. g. 1 a\gu for algo, \u for lo, finu, gustw, manw,
poctt, tiempw, etc.
II. Miscellaneous, e. g. ansi for asi, dende for donde, denguno for
ninguno, dimpues for despues, melecina for medicina, mesmo for
mismo.
1 Especially characteristic of Galicia and the Montana (Cantabrian region).
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