Editing Spanish language (section)

== Phonology ==
[[File:Miguel Hache - voice.ogg|thumb|Spanish as spoken in Spain]]
{{Main|Spanish phonology}}

The Spanish phonological system evolved from that of [[Vulgar Latin]]. Its development exhibits some traits in common with other [[Western Romance languages]], others with the neighboring Hispanic varieties—especially [[Leonese dialect|Leonese]] and [[Aragonese language|Aragonese]]—as well as other features unique to Spanish. Spanish is alone among its immediate neighbors in having undergone frequent aspiration and eventual loss of the Latin initial {{IPA|/f/}} sound (e.g. Cast. {{lang|es|harina}} vs. Leon. and Arag. {{lang|ast|farina}}).<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Zamora Vicente|1967|pp=117 and 222}}</ref> The Latin initial consonant sequences {{lang|la|pl-}}, {{lang|la|cl-}}, and {{lang|la|fl-}} in Spanish typically merge as {{lang|es|ll-}} (originally pronounced {{IPA|[ʎ]}}), while in Aragonese they are preserved in most dialects, and in Leonese they present a variety of outcomes, including {{IPA|[tʃ]}}, {{IPA|[ʃ]}}, and {{IPA|[ʎ]}}. Where Latin had {{lang|la|-li-}} before a vowel (e.g. {{lang|la|filius}}) or the ending {{lang|la|-iculus}}, {{lang|la|-icula}} (e.g. {{lang|la|auricula}}), Old Spanish produced {{IPA|[ʒ]}}, that in Modern Spanish became the velar fricative {{IPA|[x]}} ({{lang|es|hijo}}, {{lang|es|oreja}}), whereas neighboring languages have the palatal lateral {{IPA|[ʎ]}} (e.g. Portuguese {{lang|pt|filho}}, {{lang|pt|orelha}}; Catalan {{lang|ca|fill}}, {{lang|ca|orella}}).

=== Segmental phonology ===
[[File:Spanish vowel chart.svg|thumb|upright=1.15|Spanish vowel chart, from {{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|Johnson|2010|p=227}}]]
The Spanish [[Phoneme|phonemic]] inventory consists of five vowel phonemes ({{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}) and 17 to 19 consonant phonemes (the exact number depending on the dialect<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Hualde|2014|p=39}}</ref>). The main [[Allophone|allophonic]] variation among vowels is the reduction of the high vowels {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}} to glides—{{IPA|[j]}} and {{IPA|[w]}} respectively—when unstressed and adjacent to another vowel. Some instances of the mid vowels {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}}, determined lexically, alternate with the diphthongs {{IPA|/je/}} and {{IPA|/we/}} respectively when stressed, in a process that is better described as [[Morphophonology|morphophonemic]] rather than phonological, as it is not predictable from phonology alone.

The Spanish consonant system is characterized by (1) three [[nasal stop|nasal]] phonemes, and one or two (depending on the dialect) [[lateral consonant|lateral]] phoneme(s), which in syllable-final position [[Archiphonemic|lose their contrast]] and are subject to [[Assimilation (linguistics)|assimilation]] to a following consonant; (2) three [[Voicelessness|voiceless]] [[Plosive|stops]] and the [[Affricate consonant|affricate]] {{IPA|/tʃ/}}; (3) three or four (depending on the dialect) [[Voicelessness|voiceless]] [[Fricative consonant|fricatives]]; (4) a set of voiced [[obstruent]]s—{{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, and sometimes {{IPA|/ʝ/}}—which alternate between [[Approximant consonant|approximant]] and [[plosive]] allophones depending on the environment; and (5) a phonemic distinction between the "[[Flap consonant|tapped]]" and "[[Trill consonant|trilled]]" ''r''-sounds (single {{angle bracket|r}} and double {{angle bracket|rr}} in orthography).

In the following table of consonant phonemes, {{IPA|/ʎ/}} is marked with an asterisk (*) to indicate that it is preserved only in some dialects. In most dialects it has been merged with {{IPA|/ʝ/}} in the merger called {{lang|es|[[yeísmo]]}}. Similarly, {{IPA|/θ/}} is also marked with an asterisk to indicate that most dialects do not distinguish it from {{IPA|/s/}} (see {{lang|es|[[seseo]]}}), although this is not a true merger but an outcome of different evolution of sibilants in southern Spain.

The phoneme {{IPA|/ʃ/}} is in parentheses () to indicate that it appears only in [[loanwords]]. Each of the voiced obstruent phonemes {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/ʝ/}}, and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} appears to the right of a ''pair'' of voiceless phonemes, to indicate that, while the ''voiceless'' phonemes maintain a phonemic contrast between plosive (or affricate) and fricative, the ''voiced'' ones alternate [[Allophone|allophonically]] (i.e. without phonemic contrast) between plosive and approximant pronunciations.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align: center;"
|+ Consonant phonemes<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Martínez-Celdrán|Fernández-Planas|Carrera-Sabaté|2003|p=255}}</ref>
|-
!
! colspan=2 | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan=2 | [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan=2 | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan=2 | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan=2 | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| style="border-right:0; width:25px;"| || style="border-left:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|m}}
| colspan=2 |
| style="border-right:0; width:25px;"| || style="border-left:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|n}}
| style="border-right:0; width:25px;"| || style="border-left:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|ɲ}}
| colspan=2 |
|-
! [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
| style="border-right:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|p}}||rowspan=2 style="border-left: 0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|b}}
| style="border-right:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|t̪|t}}|| rowspan="2" style="border-left:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|d̪|d}} 
| style="border-right:0; width:25px;"| || rowspan="2" style="border-left:0; width:25px;"| 
| style="border-right:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|tʃ}}|| rowspan="2" style="border-left:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|ʝ}}
| style="border-right:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|k}}|| rowspan="2" style="border-left:0; width:25px;"|{{IPA link|ɡ}}
|-
! [[Continuant]]
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|f}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|θ}}*
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|s}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|({{IPA link|ʃ}})
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|x}}
|-
! [[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|l}}
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ʎ}}*
| colspan=2 |
|-
! [[Flap consonant|Flap]]
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ɾ}}
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|-
! [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|r}}
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|}

=== Prosody ===
Spanish is classified by its [[Isochrony|rhythm]] as a [[isochrony#syllable timing|syllable-timed language]]: each syllable has approximately the same duration regardless of stress.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Cressey|1978|p=152}}</ref><ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Abercrombie|1967|p=98}}</ref>

Spanish [[intonation (linguistics)|intonation]] varies significantly according to dialect but generally conforms to a pattern of falling tone for declarative sentences and wh-questions (who, what, why, etc.) and rising tone for [[Yes–no question|yes/no questions]].<ref>{{cite book |author=John B. Dabor |title=Spanish Pronunciation: Theory and Practice |edition=3rd |publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston |year=1997 |chapter=Ch. 7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.auburn.edu/academic/liberal_arts/foreign/Spanish/FLSP0501/dalvofile.html |title=John B. Dalbor's Voice Files to Accompany ''Spanish Pronunciation'' |publisher=Auburn.edu |access-date=20 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308071525/http://www.auburn.edu/academic/liberal_arts/foreign/Spanish/FLSP0501/dalvofile.html |archive-date=8 March 2012}}</ref> There are no syntactic markers to distinguish between questions and statements and thus, the recognition of declarative or interrogative depends entirely on intonation.

Stress most often occurs on any of the last three syllables of a word, with some rare exceptions at the fourth-to-last or earlier syllables. Stress tends to occur as follows:<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Eddington|2000|p=96}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2021}}
* in words that end with a [[monophthong]], on the penultimate syllable
* when the word ends in a [[diphthong]], on the final syllable.
* in words that end with a consonant, on the last syllable, with the exception of two grammatical endings: {{lang|es|-n}}, for third-person-plural of verbs, and {{lang|es|-s}}, for plural of nouns and adjectives or for second-person-singular of verbs. However, even though a significant number of nouns and adjectives ending with {{lang|es|-n}} are also stressed on the penult ({{lang|es|joven}}, {{lang|es|virgen}}, {{lang|es|mitin}}), the great majority of nouns and adjectives ending with {{lang|es|-n}} are stressed on their last syllable ({{lang|es|capitán}}, {{lang|es|almacén}}, {{lang|es|jardín}}, {{lang|es|corazón}}).
* Preantepenultimate stress (stress on the fourth-to-last syllable) occurs rarely, only on verbs with [[clitic]] pronouns attached (e.g. {{lang|es|guardándoselos}} 'saving them for him/her/them/you').

In addition to the many exceptions to these tendencies, there are numerous [[minimal pair]]s that contrast solely on stress such as {{lang|es|sábana}} ('sheet') and {{lang|es|sabana}} ('savannah'); {{lang|es|límite}} ('boundary'), {{lang|es|limite}} ('he/she limits') and {{lang|es|limité}} ('I limited'); {{lang|es|líquido}} ('liquid'), {{lang|es|liquido}} ('I sell off') and {{lang|es|liquidó}} ('he/she sold off').

The orthographic system unambiguously reflects where the stress occurs: in the absence of an accent mark, the stress falls on the last syllable unless the last letter is {{angle bracket|n}}, {{angle bracket|s}}, or a vowel, in which cases the stress falls on the next-to-last (penultimate) syllable. Exceptions to those rules are indicated by an acute accent mark over the vowel of the stressed syllable. (See [[Spanish orthography]].)