words containing double "LL"

Question

how do you really pronounce the double "LL"
e.g. the word Llamo-is read as "YAMO"
but i have heard just a liitle while ago, when i watched the video, if i am not mistaken , the word "pollo" is pronounced as"polyo" or polio"

Answer 1

I'm not aware of any rule. We just pronounce the "Y" this way when is before any vowel within a word.

Rey Forte said:

It depends on the country. the "Y" pronunciation is used in Argentina, and as far as I knor in other few Latin American countries.Are there rules regarding the pronunciation of that..?

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Answer 2

It depends on the country. the "Y" pronunciation is used in Argentina, and as far as I knor in other few Latin American countries.

Answer 3

Hi Rey forte
I learnt Spanish with a linguaphone course. The tip they gave is that it is equivalent to the double "ll" in the English word "million"

Answer 4

if that so, the word "llamo" is pronounced as Lyamo"

Answer 5

It is close to the English "y" in "you", but the airtream is allowed to flow over the sides of the tongue, rather than the middle of the tongue. In different regions the pronunciation is slightly different, and it can be almost like the English "y", but in any case, avoid pronouncing it like "ly". This is a typical mistake among English speakers.

The position of the tongue when pronouncing the Spanish "ll" is similar to that in "million" in English, but there is no L sound, so careful with that "ly".

Answer 6

It depends on the country. the "Y" pronunciation is used in Argentina, and as far as I knor in other few Latin American countries.

Are there rules regarding the pronunciation of that..'

Answer 7

Rey Forte said:

It depends on the country. the "Y" pronunciation is used in Argentina, and as far as I knor in other few Latin American countries.

Are there rules regarding the pronunciation of that..?

In Argentina is pronounced in two different ways: like "s" in "vision", or "sh" in "ship".

Answer 8

The sound is a little harder than that, but I guess it's the closest match you can find to explain it.

Answer 9

The dictionary on this site has audio

key in a few words to hear the pronunciation.
pollo, llama, silla, llave, llamar

I notice on llamar there was a slight j sound, but the rest were y sounds.

My Cuban teacher uses the y sound, my Peruvian teacher used a j sound.
I tried some words with some Mexican friends, most of them were y sounds but with some, a slight j sound.

Answer 10

Sorry if it sounded like I said pollo with an L in the video. I´ve listened to that video over and over and never noticed. I agree with what most people have told you though, that it should NOT have an L sound. The most standard pronunciation it what I can a "fricative Y." It sounds like the Y in "you" but instead of your tongue staying at the bottom of your mouth, touch your bottom teeth with the tip of your tongue and push the rest of your tongue up. I think it sounds a little like a mix between a Y and the SH sound, but mostly Y. Thanks for the feedback on the video. I´ll make sure to pay even closer attention to how I say things next time!

Answer 11

motley said:

I tried some words with some Mexican friends, most of them were y sounds but with some, a slight j sound.

The J in English is pronounced in more than one way, and often it contains two consonant sounds together: a D and the S in "vision". The sound of ll you are describing is closer to the Y in "yes", but slightly closer (blocking more the airstream) and more tension on the tongue .

Answer 12

This is an interesting topic. I was told by some Spanish speakers that "ll" is always pronounced like "y". I didn't know that it could be pronounced to other sounds depending on the situations. I guess the reason why these Spanish speakers told me that is because they might think that it's easier for me to pronounce it and I always follow this rule so far. I guess other people would understand me if I always pronounce "ll" like "y". Possible?

Thank you,

Marco

Answer 13

I believe that would be true. Pronouncing it like a 'y' would be understood. After all, if someone from Madrid is talking to someone from Argentina, the Madrileño would pronounce it like a 'y' and would be understood by the Argentinian, who would pronounce it like the 's' in "pleasure".

Having said that, there are all kinds of variations on the pronunciation of 'll' and 'y', even within the same dialect. Example - ¿Quién yo? - this 'y' is often pronounced with a hard sounding 'y' bordering on the English 'ch' or 'j' sound.

There is an interesting example in the book, "Introducción a la linguística hispánica" by José Ignacio Hualde, Antxon Olarrea and Anna María Escobar. It illustrates the difference in the 'll' and 'y' sound in some regions and the lack of a difference in others. Where there is no difference, this sentence becomes somewhat difficult to understand - "El pollo se calló cuando se cayó del poyo." (poyo is a bench made of stone). An Arentinian who would differentiate between the 'll' sound and the 'y' sound would make the sentence much more understandable to a listener. If everything is pronounced like the 'y' sound, it becomes more difficult.

Answer 14

This one drives me crazy!!! I'm stuck up, arrogant, a prima donna when it comes to the LL. In Spain, specifically Castilla, the home, the seat, the cradle of Castellano, it most definately has a delicate L sound followed by the y sound. If it's too heavy, no good. It's a very refined sound.
The silent H also has a very delicate differnce than no H at all. I swear! It's like "Aye" and "Hay" don't sound exactly the same. "Aye" starts with the throat closed and the aspirant vowel is curt or explosive. In "Hay" the throat is open and the word begins with a soft air-flow vowel sound.
I know you may think I'm nuts but growing up in Madrid, it was very distinct.

I'll bow out now, keeping my nose high in the air.

Answer 15

Hess, now that you mention it I agree with what you say about the silent 'H' sound. Spending a lot of time in Spain, with Andalusian inlaws, I hear the same thing. There is a subtle 'h' sound in words like 'hay'.

I haven't actually noticed the 'L' sound of the 'LL', but I'll try to pay more attention next time I'm there.