how u pronounce lavabo in spanish?
I'm a newbie in this site, and also in spanish.
I think there some alphabets in spanish which sound different from English. Can someone tell me how many are they?
for example:
Letter "b", I heard the prononciation of lavabo sound like lavavo or caballo is sound like cavallo. So is the b in spanish sound "v"? are there any other letters that sound different from english?
thanks
5 Answers
The word "lavabo" is an excellent choice. In standard/normal Spanish (wherever spoken) the "v" and the "b" are pronounced in exactly the same way and it is quite distinct from the pronunciations of "b" and "v" in English (except, perhaps, to English speakers who can't hear the differences). If one insists on an explanation in terms of the sounds of English (which is not a good idea), then the sound of Spanish is mid-way between the English "b" and the English "w". It is a bilabial (not labio-dental, like the "v" in English) fricative and not an occlusive/stop (such as the "b" in English).
In other phonetic contexts (most obviously, at the beginning of a word) it is a bilabial stop/occlusive/plosive (and, in this case, alone, it is quite similar to the "b" of English).
All of the above, aside, if your goal is to pronounce words like a Spanish speaker, then forget about explanations that employ phrases such as "sounds like the 'X' of English".Listen to real Spanish! If you can't imitate them, well, so be it; at least you are trying to reproduce the "real" thing as opposed to a pale (foreign) imitation.
You may also go to the Acapala Text to Speech, Interactive Demo to hear the word pronounced. Lazarus1907, who pointed us to the site, suggested that we choose the voice of Antonio.
Check the pronounciation here: http://tts.imtranslator.net/8qeo
The b in spanish sound as v is wrong it is the other way round v is sounded like b and lavabo as it is spelt would be pronounced lababo but the second or should I say the real b in that word is exploded from the lips more than the b sounding v.
Welcome to the forum!
from all the points you've accumulated, you are no newbie!
Yes, the "v" is pronounced somewhat like an English "b", and the "d" is somewhat like an English "th". Therefore: "la-BA-tho".
Probably equally important in Spanish pronunciation is to not stretch out the vowel sounds. In English we tend to "slide" them, such as in the English word "cone". If you pronounce it and listen hard to yourself, you will see that you "slide" that letter "o". In Spanish this is not done. Therefore, the Spanish word "con" is not pronounced the same as the English word "cone". There is no slide; it is just an "o", short and sweet.
None of the vowels in Spanish "slide". Keep them all short and sweet...this is called "vocalic tension"
I hope that this has helped...
