Friday, October 8, 2010

The Letter P

So, here in our first post examining Spanish pronunciation, we're going to take a look at the letter "p". In English, most of the time we use aspirated "p's" whereas in Spanish, none of the "p's" are aspirated. What's aspiration you ask?  All that means is that when you say the sound of the letter they aren't accompanied by a puff of air. For example, try putting the palm of your hand in front of your mouth and say the word: 

pass

You should feel a little breath of air emanate from your mouth at the beginning of the word when your pronounce the "p". This also happens when the "p" occurs in other places within a word. Try out "map" or "leopard" and you'll feel the same puff of air on your palm. The only time that you don't get this aspiration with an English "p" is when it follows a consonant. So, try the exercise again of putting your palm in front of your mouth and say the word:

spell

Notice this time that you don't feel the same strong puff of air from the "p" as you did with "pass". It's this second unaspirated "p" that characterizes how "p's" should sound all the time in Spanish regardless of where they fall in the word. It's almost like you're saying the "p" very softly. Or, another way to think about it is that it's a sound that comes close to somewhere between the English "p" and "b". While the letter "b" is different in that it is voiced (that is, your vocal chords vibrate) your mouth is essentially performing the same action. Don't worry if you didn't get that last bit. We can cover it in more detail in a later post. For now, remember what you did with your mouth when you said "spell". Now let's try a Spanish word:

pelo

When you say this, there shouldn't be a blast of air coming from your mouth. If you felt something, you can try this exercise. First, try repeating the word "spell".

spell…spell…spell…spell…spell…spell


Then put a brief pause between the "s" and "p" as you continue repeating the word.

s--pell…s--pell…s--pell…s--pell…s--pell…s--pell 


Now, say the "s" very softly so you can barely hear it and lengthen the pause between the "s" and "p".

s----pell…s----pell…s----pell…s----pell…s----pell…s----pell


Next, drop the "s" altogether and continue repeating.

pell…pell…pell…pell…pell…pell…


Great! Keep going! Now, let's turn that into Spanish. Add "ma" to what you're saying:

pelma…pelma…pelma…pelma…pelma…

There you have it!  Now say:

¡No seas pelma! 

Or, Don't be such a bore!


Easy, right? If not, keep practicing this exercise and it'll start to come more naturally. We'll actually look at two more consonants that have the same issue, so don't worry. More practice is on the way!  

Check out this video of a Spanish tongue twister.




He's speaking quickly, but pay attention to the "p's" and you'll notice that they just sound a little softer compared to English "p's". Strive for your "p's" to have this non-aspirated quality.

Hope that didn't scare you!

If you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, you can also check out this Spanish iPhone App that I have found helpful with improving my Spanish accent. It focuses specifically on pronunciation, so I think it's really great for what we talk about in this blog. It has audio from real native speakers and a unique way of phonetic transcription that doesn't rely on your knowing IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) or learning a new system. Basically, they use common English words as a guide that everyone already knows how to pronounce. Disclosure Notice: I have done some work for this company, but they do have a great app that's really wonderful and helpful in breaking down the sounds systematically. So, I'm giving them a little plug. They even have some regional accents covered. Go check them out!

Great! We're a step closer to improving our Spanish accent!  Gringo no más!  

Until next time!

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