|
|
Spanish Help!!
1ST:
How do you pronounce the "X" in the word "auxilio"? Is the "X" an "S" sound or an "X" sound? 2ND: How do pronounce the word "apehender"? Is it pronounced just like "aprender"? That's it, thanks in advance. ;)
Disclaimer: I'm not a native speaker of Spanish.
<< How do you pronounce the "X" in the word "auxilio"? Is the "X" an "S" sound or an "X" sound? >> I believe that the standard pronunciation of "x" between sounds is always the same as "x" in English. However, in some dialects, the 'x' becomes 's' when next to a consonant: "expandir" can be pronounced with either an 'x' or an 's' sound, depending on the dialect. I *think* that dialects of Spain more commonly changes 'x' to 's', while Latin Americans usually keep the 'x' sound... but I could be wrong. << How do pronounce the word "apehender"? Is it pronounced just like "aprender"? >> "Ee" is always two syllables, so "aprehender" has one more syllable than "aprender". I can imagine that they might be pronounced identically in rapid speech, though (maybe with a longer "e" for "aprehender"), because neither syllable is stressed, unlike with, say, "leer". - Kef
Kef is basically right but I'd like to add:
In Spanish all Xs are supposed to be pronounced /ks/ except at the beginning of a word, but some dialects make it an /s/ behind consonants, this is not WRONG but not very recommended. In school we are taught to identify them as homophones because in rapid speech they sound the same, BUT it's much better to pronounce aprehender with another syllable. For example, comprender and comprensión were comprehender and comprehensión but now they are simplified both orally and orthographically.
<< I believe that the standard pronunciation of "x" between sounds is always the same as "x" in English. >>
I meant to say "between vowels", not "between sounds".
1ST:
How do you pronounce the "X" in the word "auxilio"? Is the "X" an "S" sound or an "X" sound? I pronounce it as a S but the standard form requires to pronounce it as a S. 2ND: How do pronounce the word "apehender"? Is it pronounced just like "aprender"? No, there is a small difference. "E" vowel is pronounced as a long "E" in aprehender, since it appears twice, and aprender has just a single "E" so you have to pronounce it shorter.
<<However, in some dialects, the 'x' becomes 's' when next to a consonant: "expandir" can be pronounced with either an 'x' or an 's' sound, depending on the dialect. I *think* that dialects of Spain more commonly changes 'x' to 's', while Latin Americans usually keep the 'x' sound... but I could be wrong.>>
I myself use /ks/ when the 'x' is between vowels and this is the pronunciation I hear most often in Uruguay. I've also occasionally heard /s/ in this context. Before consonants, I've noticed the process /ks/ ---> /s/ ---> /h/ (which is the normal realization of /s/ before consonants in my accent). So, for instance, "extenso" could be [eks"tenso] or [eh"tenso]. Again, this may only apply to my accent.
That's because South Americans don't pronounce the S's, but that's their problem they're the ones speaking improperly, not you.
Anyways an X is always an X, except in some words that are mostly local, but since they're local you'll hear how to pronounce it just by hearing the locals ^^!. Then for your second question, since the word aprEhEnder, has two E's you have to pronounce both of them, so you just make the E sound a little bit longer, that's it.
<< That's because South Americans don't pronounce the S's, but that's their problem they're the ones speaking improperly, not you. >>
If that's a typical dialectical feature, it's not "improper"; there's no such thing as an "improper" dialect. - Kef
By the way, it's worth noting the exceptional words "México" and "Texas" which are pronounced in Spanish with a [x] or [h] but never with [ks].
By the way, it's worth noting the exceptional words "México" and "Texas" which are pronounced in Spanish with a [x] or [h] but never with [ks].
That is dued to the fact that by the time Mexico was founded by the Spaniards, the /x/ sound in written form was a X. Later Spanish evolved and X become when read as [ks] |