Phonetical Pronunciations

[BullyLover]

Hi guys,

I am a newbie to both the Spanish language and the forum

I am in the process of learner Spanish (just started actually!). I am looking for a website or a specific book that indicates how to pronounce the words in Spanish in a phonetical manner.

I do have one book but as it is not a dictionary it does not cover all the words required.

Can you point me in the right direction? Or is there anywhere online that I can just type in specfic words that I am unsure of and the phonetical pronunciation will be shown?

Sarah

 

[Focalist]

Click on this link for a dictionary that will give you audio pronunciations.

StudySpanish.com also has lots of free study material, including pronunciation explanations and exercises.

F

 

[Maeron]

Are DVD movies that include a Spanish sound track and subtitles available where you live? If so, it's a good way to get used to hearing the sounds of Spanish. You can watch the movie first in English so you know what's going on, and then in Spanish.

 

[JVBN]

This site will be of much use to you. http://www.inex.netfirms.com/transcriptor.html

Should you have a specific question, you can contact me via email at (jvbn2002@yahoo.com). My name is Julio, I'm a native speaker of Spanish and I love helping people who are learning Spanish.

 

[esance]

Hello,

Bienvenido Bullylover. La opción de Maeron es muy buena, yo la utilizo con el inglés y funciona!!

And don't hesitate to ask us!!

 

[BullyLover]

Thanks for your help so far. The reason I am asking for the phonetical pronunciation and not an audio one is because my Husband has asked me to labal various items around the house so he learn their names in Spanish but he wants to know the correct pronunciation so he has also asked me to write the phonetical pronunciation in brackets besides it.

Sarah

 

[BullyLover]

Mensaje para Esance, gracias por el consejo.

 

[BullyLover]

This site will be of much use to you. http://www.inex.netfirms.com/transcriptor.html

Should you have a specific question, you can contact me via email at (jvbn2002@yahoo.com). My name is Julio, I'm a native speaker of Spanish and I love helping people who are learning Spanish.

I have just looked at this site and at first it appeared to be exactly what I wanted, however, upon putting in certain words for translation the phonetical translation did not help at all.

For example:

cerveza = θerβeθa

This does not help in the slightest, any other ideas

Sarah

 

[LadyBlakeney]

I am afraid that, if you want a phonetic pronounciation, you need to know the meaning of the phonetical signs. Most English-Spanish dictionaries have a section where they are explained. For example:

For casa I have found /kasa/ (probably not a very good transcription).

A dictionary would explain:

K is c as in cake
a is a as in car
s is s as in simple

So you can learn each phonetical sign with examples. It takes some time, though.

Good luck with your learning!

 

[Vicki]

The reason I am asking for the phonetical pronunciation and not an audio one is because my Husband has asked me to labal various items around the house so he learn their names in Spanish but he wants to know the correct pronunciation so he has also asked me to write the phonetical pronunciation in brackets besides it.

Labeling things around the house to learn vocabulary is a good idea. But labeling each word with the phonetics may not be the best use of your time. Consider this:

The wonderful thing—one of the wonderful things!—about Spanish is that you can predict the pronunciation of a word from its spelling, since there is a one-to-one correspondence between letters and phonemes.

In Spanish, to give just one example, the syllable "ma" is always pronounced the same. In English, on the other hand, the way "ma" is pronounced can vary greatly. (Compare "maple" and "mama", for example.) In English you really do need to associate the specific phonetic pronunciation with the specific word (or learn the patterns—and exceptions—if there are any in a particular instance).

So, once you're sure of how to pronounce the phonemes "m" and "a" in Spanish—perhaps using some of the tools others have recommended—you'll know how to say it whenever and wherever you see it, whether it's "cama" or "llama" or...

Given that, practicing the pronunciation of "minimal pairs" is recommended. "Minimal pairs" are pairs of words in a language which differ in only one phoneme and mean different things. For example, "piso" (apartment), "peso" (weight), "paso" (step), "poso" (sediment), "puso" (he put).

I found this (expensive!) product designed for Spanish-speaking children, but it's just to give you the idea: http://www.superduperinc.com/B_Pages/bss1170.htm. I'm sure there are lists online or in books.

I hope this helps.

Saludos.
Vicki

 

[BullyLover]

Thanks everyone for taking your time to help me.

The only reason I wanted to do it this way is because I have a book that interprets the words in a phonetical readable manner and it has been a great way to learn the pronunciation. Unfortunately, it is a book for travellers and only covers parts of the language and not everything. I just made it so easy to learn the way that it interpreted the words for you that I wanted to continue this way.

Will keep on looking, if one book has adopted this interpretation there must be more out there.

Sarah