How to pronounce Spanish "LL?"

Guest   Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:11 am GMT
If you want to speak proper Spanish, LL must be pronounced like GLI in Italian.
-che-   Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:33 pm GMT
^^^

this is the standard form of pronouncing Spanish LL, though, it's very difficult to find those pronouncing it like this. Today this manner is considered to be very theatrical and it's not natural. The best way to pronounce it is to mix Italian GL sound with English J and with Spanish Y in one sound. Then , you'll sound like a proper Spaniard.
!!   Thu Jul 09, 2009 5:03 pm GMT
The proper way is to pronounce the same way people you are talking to pronounce it. Otherwise they will think you are snobish or stupid.
Guest   Thu Jul 09, 2009 8:23 pm GMT
On the contrary, proper pronunciation of LL was regarded as peasantesque and low class by some snobish urbanites, yet "yeista" in Madrid some decades ago . From there, yeismo (confusion between LL and Y ) spreaded across the whole country because it was considered to be fashionable but there are still educated people who make the distinction in Spain. Good pronunciation has nothing to do with snobism and Spanish is already easy enough to pronounce so if students learn proper LL that will not hurt them too much.
JGreco   Thu Jul 09, 2009 8:51 pm GMT
I agree with mostly everybody here. There can be a distinction between "Y" and "LL" in pronunciation. The "Y" is mostly typically always a mixture between a English "J" and and the "s" in the English word "leisure". It seems to be as popular Spanish programming increases, there has been a softening towards the "s" pronunciation. "LL" tends to be more pronounced either like the new standard English "Y" sound or towards the English "J" sound. But with most words with those letters, it depends on the word. I know that in Mexico the standard seems always to be a "Y" sound for everything. All of the Mexican soap operas that I have seen have that pronunciation.
Il Ce   Wed Jul 22, 2009 12:21 am GMT
Hi Alex!

You can pronounce it like English SH in "SHip".

So pollo would sound like "posho".

This is how they pronounce ll in South America.
JGreco   Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:25 am GMT
"Hi Alex!

You can pronounce it like English SH in "SHip".

So pollo would sound like "posho".

This is how they pronounce ll in South America."

That is only the Rio Platense accent. The "dj" or "zh" sound is much more common in Latin America.
Harman   Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:21 am GMT
Don´t get mad Alex... I'm spaniard and in a practical street usage spanish LL = spanish Y. At least in spain.

i think my pronunciation is equal ll than y.

you can use english y ''yes', young,yellow'' or english J ''Jim, jump'' indistinctively for spanish LL.

For now don't worry about your accent, just learn practical spanish.

Getting the accent is a very difficult skill, and you should get it before 12 years old as i read, becouse mouth muscles.

¿What do you thing about learning accents?

¿What is the different between english Y or englis J pronunciation? i pronouncie equal.... my poor english.
Il Ce   Wed Jul 22, 2009 12:58 pm GMT
@JGreco: Almost everybody I know from South America pronounces it like that. What is Rio Platense accent?
Guest   Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:39 pm GMT
Educated people pronounce LL different than Y. Of course majority of people don't pronounce LL this way because illiteracy is high in Spain and public schools have very low level.
Harman   Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:11 pm GMT
Guest sorry but nobody pronunce LL different than Y, and nearly 30% of people have a university degree in spain.
Once upon a time Y was pronunced different than LL but nowdays not.
Lenguages evolve and this is an evolution like Mexico -> Mejico; Texas -> Tejas.
K. T.   Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:25 pm GMT
Ll has several pronunciations. This is the truth, not a political opinion on the subject. In Latin America (the Spanish many North Americans learn), it sounds a lot like, but maybe not to linguists who can write down sounds correctly, the English "y".

Still yet, in Latin America and Spain, some people pronounce it like the "lli" in "million" (English version).

Some people pronounce it like the "j" in joy or the "su" in sugar. It seems that I hear this from Argentians.

I have read that some people are not consistent in their pronunciations.
I mean native speakers.
Guest   Wed Jul 22, 2009 7:05 pm GMT
Guest sorry but nobody pronunce LL different than Y, and nearly 30% of people have a university degree in spain.

Yes they do, and natively, not acquired like those people who distinguisth B from V. You can find them in Northern Spain, in areas of Extremadura and in Cataluña, Valencia. Proper LL resembles English LL in million, for example.
Guest   Wed Jul 22, 2009 7:11 pm GMT
One thing is evolution and another very different one is degradation. Yeista people degrade the Spanish language with their unability to distinguish LL from Y cause they improverish the phonetic repertory of Spanish. They are just like the speakers of ebonics, nobody would consider that to be an "evolution" of English, just low class English.
bimbambom   Wed Jul 22, 2009 7:36 pm GMT
I hate when people compare english LL in million with spanish LL because it's a nonsense!
Germanic languages don't have those sounds: Ñ/LL and it's stupid when somebody says that "onion" is the same thing as "uña"...

I do distinguish those sounds and for me and for everybody seems to be normal...so i don't know what are you talking about. Only in Andalusian people pronounce Y=LL