Yo...when is it pronounced "yo" and when is it "joe"?

Question

He dado cuenta mientras esuchando a música en español que a veces el artista se pronuncia "yo" comienza con una suave Inglés "j" el sonido de manera que suena casi como el nombre del Inglés "Joe" y otras veces se pronuncia sin el "j" sonido. ¿Hay una regla para esto? O es indicativa de una región donde se habla español?

I have noticed while listening to music in Spanish that sometimes the artist will pronounce "yo" beginning with an English soft "j" sound so that it sound almost like the English name "joe" and other times he pronounces it without the "j" sound. Is there a rule for this? Or is it indicative of a region where Spanish is spoken?

(Y por favor, corregir mi español.)

• I'm guessing it really can't be regional since the same artist in the same song will use both pronunciations (duh!) - aloshek Nov 7, 2009
• Una pregunta excelente! - mountaingirl Nov 7, 2009

Answer 1

link text

Answer 2

I believe it is one of those regional differences. I think that this one is more Latin American than Spain. I have a professor who is from Spain and she does not use the english J sound for words that begin with y or ll.

Answer 3

You are very lucky. I wrote a big long answer but it flew off into syber space. Here is my condensed version. I listen to a lot of latin american music but still have a lot of trouble understanding the words. I believe the Yo and Jo are used the same as in english lyrics. I feel they are slightly corrupted to make them fit the rhym and the tempo of the music. Sort of a poetic license if you will.

• Were you saying I was lucky because I was spared a long explanation? - lol - aloshek Nov 7, 2009

Answer 4

I found this on;

answers.yahoo.com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

It's simply dialect. "Yo" in Spanish means "I" in every Spanish language country, some just pronouce it differently depending on the country they are from or descended from. For instance because I speak Spanish in the Mexican dialect I say "Jo", pronouncing the Y with more of a "J" sound. In Argentina they say "Sho" pronouncing the Y with more of a "Sh" sound. For those that don't speak Spanish as their first language or are not familiar with dialects, they can say "Yo" and it's perfectly fine.

Source(s): Native speaker. 2 years ago

• ¡Muchas gracias! - aloshek Nov 7, 2009

Answer 5

Several regions of Latin America pronounce the Y and LL like the S in English "Treasure." The most popular country for doing this is Argentina, but I have heard it from a lot more people than Argentinians.

Answer 6

Argentines have a very peculiar way of pronouncing the y's all the rest sound the same to me. A trick to soften the y sound if you are having trouble is to say it as io.

Answer 7

No creo que hay una regla para la pronunciación de la palabra 'yo'. Mi pastor es de Columbia y él siempre dices como la palabra ingles 'joe'. Sin embargo, mis amigos de México nunca dicen 'joe', pero lo pronuncian sin el 'j' sonido.

• Para algunas personas suena como con "J" por su lengua oriunda. Pero la J y la Y tienen sonidos distintos. - 0068e2f4 Nov 7, 2009

Answer 8

The great Gypsy Kings also use "joe." Consistently.

I always thought that that pronunciation originated in the Castile region of Spain. (I'm now guessing I'm definitely mistaken.)

Also, I don't recall ever having heard "joe" used in Mexico during my more than 15,000 miles traveling there.

• Thumbs up! but don´t they spell it Gipsy - aloshek Nov 7, 2009
• Yes, it is spelled gipsy. Ironic. I have one of their CD's on my desk right now! (And their charming music playing in the background as I type.) - 005457e3 Nov 7, 2009
• I´ll admit, I had to check my Zune to see how it was spelled, but I have Lela by Hakim in Arabic playing which makes it impossible to focus on Spanish - aloshek Nov 7, 2009

Answer 9

Thanks for the link, robertico. The site is great, but it didn´t help answer my question.

Answer 10

I often hear 'jo' from Mexican speakers / singers - I am pretty sure it is a regional thing.

• If that's the case then why use both in the same song? - aloshek Nov 7, 2009
• I did see that in your question - I don't know, but I still think it is regional! I'm posting another answer after some research. - Jespa Nov 7, 2009

Answer 11

He dado cuenta mientras esuchando a música en español que a veces el artista se pronuncia "yo" comienza con una suave Inglés "j" el sonido de manera que suena casi como el nombre del Inglés "Joe" y otras veces se pronuncia sin el "j" sonido. ¿Hay una regla para esto? O es indicativa de una región donde se habla español?

Escuchando música en Español me he dado cuenta que a veces cuando el artista pronuncia el vocablo "yo", articula el sonido con una suave "j" Inglesa. De manera que casi suena como el nombre "Joe" en Inglés, mientras que otras veces lo pronuncia sin el sonido de la letra "j". ¿Existe una regla para esto, o es esto un ejemplo de una región determinada donde se habla el Español?

• Would this be a preferred translation? - aloshek Nov 7, 2009
• I polished it a little bit for you. - 0068e2f4 Nov 7, 2009

Answer 12

Well this is becoming clear as mud! jajajaja

Answer 13

In every language that I know, the Y has a soft sound. e.g. Yo = io Yuca = iuca Some languages like Chinese the Y's are even softer e.g. YinYan = in ian

The J sounds more forceful almost like the word Cheap in English. Ch in English has a very strong sound whereas Sh is softer. Compare Cheap with Sheep. Compare Joe with You.

In Chinese the J has a very similar sound to the Argentine Y but a little more forceful. e.g. Jiu in Chinese sounds like Ztchiu whereas Argentines would pronounce Yo as Yshio.

It's softer because the ZT sound is not present as in Chinese.

You would have to study Chinese pinyin to understand some of these sounds better.

To conclude I would say that Yo never sounds like Joe. It is just a rough comparison.

Answer 14

When Shakira says it, it"s "joe," Good enough for me!

• jaja - would there be a particular reason for that, Joe? - aloshek Nov 7, 2009
• She seems to always be singing to me...:} - Indignado Nov 7, 2009

Answer 15

hmmm....ever notice in English that following certain words we sometimes say "you" with a "ch" sound? (In a venacular I call lazy english) For example: "that´s what you think" sometimes sounds like "that's whachoo think" I am now wondering if this is what I hear with the yo/jo issue.