Learn Spanish- Pronunciation of the Letter C- La Pronunciación de la Letra C

 Pronunciation of the Letter C- La Pronunciación de la LetraC

Learn Spanish- Pronunciation of the Letter C- La Pronunciación de la Letra C

Even though, Spanish seems easy to pronounce. Remember that there is not an exact match with the letter and its sounds. Therefore some letters are pronounced differently depending on the vowel that is located after. This is the case of the letter C.

The letter C has two different sounds, but also where you say it.
The first sound, it is found mainly in Spain there is a sound /θ/ like in cesta /ˈθesta /.
 In the Americas, we use the sound /s/in its place. One can say that it is a minor phoneme in the Spanish Language; even though, in Spain can be differentiated thanks to the pairing of like concejo /konˈθexo / and consejo /konˈsexo / or caza /ˈkaθa / and casa /ˈkasa /.

Remember than in the Americas it would be: concejo/konˈsexo / and consejo /konˈsexo/ or caza /ˈkasa / and casa /ˈkasa/.

The second sound would be the /k/ sound when followed by certain vowels. It would be like concejo /konˈθexo / and consejo /konˈsexo / or caza /ˈkaθa / and casa /ˈkasa /.

In Spain, the letter Cc (ce) has two phonemes. One that sounds /θ/ c+e and c+i. Cerilla /θeˈɾiʎa / and

cielo /θjelo /.

The other phoneme is /k/ when c+a, c+o, c+u /ka/ /ko/ and /ku/

The phoneme /ka/ as in casa; /ko/ as in coche and /ku/ as in cubo.

When the letter c is followed by the letter l or r (cl) (cr), it has the same phoneme sound /k/ as in clase and cráneo. When the letter c is at the end of the word, it also has the sound of /k/ as in bloc.

In the Americas, the letter Cc (ce) has a phoneme /s/ instead of the phoneme /θ/.We would say:

cerilla/seˈɾiʎa / and cielo/ˈsjelo /. 

 Like in Spain, also have the /k/ sound with the phoneme /k/

when the c is paired with c+a c+o c+u ca/ka/ co/ko/ cu/ku/. Also when it is paired with the l and r as in casa, coche, cubo, clase, cráneo, and when placed at the end of the word bloc.

So, let's practice- vamos a practicar.

In the Spanish pronunciation:

cebolla /θeˈβoʎa /; in the Americas cebolla /seˈβoʎa /

cena /ˈθena /                                                    /ˈsena /

cine / ˈθine/                                                      / ˈsine/

cierto / ˈθierto/                                                / ˈsierto/

cama/ˈkama)                                                   

cochino(koˈʧino)
cuello(ˈkweʎo)
clima(ˈklima)
crema(ˈkɾema