Pronunciation

Lughaidh · **Joined:** Thu 15 Sep 2011 12:06 pm **Posts:** 2436

Quote:

Ulster: /'mʲiʃ.nʲah/ (something like MISH-nyah)

the "n" is really "ny" so it should be transcribed "Nʲ" in your phonological transcription :razz:

Quote:

Gaelic: /'miʃ.Nʲɪç/ (with a tense n sound, note the final guttural)

"ç" isn't a guttural sound... I see you've taken it from "Am Faclair Beag" but there's a contradiction between the spelling and their phonological transcription, they write "-each" but "/ɪç/" in phonology, as if it had been spelt "ich"...

Cúmhaí · **Posted:** Thu 06 Oct 2016 10:22 pm

Lughaidh wrote:

(kh here = the SPanish jota, a throaty sound)

I doubt this confused anyone, but Lughaidh is referring to Spanish as spoken in Spain not as spoken in the Americas. And certainly not as "spoken" in the US haha

Lughaidh · **Joined:** Thu 15 Sep 2011 12:06 pm **Posts:** 2436

As far as I know, the jota is pronounced the same way in Spain and in most places of Latin America...

Bríd Mhór · **Joined:** Sun 28 Aug 2011 8:29 pm **Posts:** 2994

This is one of my favourite videos for Spanish pronunciation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNRLEXaJfs8

I don't think they do the Jota sound as throaty in Mexico as they do in Spain. (I don't know about the rest of Central/South America).
And some even say it as an English H, I wonder if that is at least partly the influence of Americans not able to say it properly and Mexicans maybe modifying to suit English.
I remember seeing an item on Facebook about a Latina newsreader saying a word with the proper Spanish pronunciation and people were complaining as it wasn't correct according to their English ears... yeah it was probably Fox News come to think of it lol. But it does show that there is pressure.

Cúmhaí · **Posted:** Fri 07 Oct 2016 1:06 am

A very impressively done video!
I cannot confidently tell you whether it is the same. I speak Spanish all the time with speakers from the Americas, but have never paid close attention to jota. I myself have a Castillian accent, so I really can't say. But for some reason my immediate reaction was to think they did it differently. Maybe they do? Maybe they don't?

But what I can say for certain is 99% of Americans graduate high school Spanish without the faintest idea!! hahahaha

Perhaps a less ambiguous example would be "the 'ch' in this word sounds like what you think of when you think of someone speaking Hebrew" or "it sounds like the way Russians laugh" or something hahaha

Bríd Mhór · **Joined:** Sun 28 Aug 2011 8:29 pm **Posts:** 2994

Cúmhaí wrote:

But what I can say for certain is 99% of Americans graduate high school Spanish without the faintest idea!! hahahaha

I can certainly believe that.

Cúmhaí wrote:

it sounds like the way Russians laugh

a rare sound

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