I have found several words that sound like they are being pronounced "serr" but the pronounciation here shows "therr." For example: conocer, cerca, and cerdo. How are these words actually pronounced? Thank you!

Question

I have found several words that sound like they are being pronounced "serr" but the pronounciation here shows "therr." For example: conocer, cerca, and cerdo. How are these words actually pronounced? Thank you!

Answer 1

If you do a bit of research on the terms "seseo" and "ceceo" you should be able to satisfy your curiosity regarding this difference in pronunciation.

In a nutshell, these refer to variations in speech patterns amongst different dialects in regards to the pronunciation of certain phonemes ce, ci and z - /s/ (seseo) or /?/ (ceceo). For example, in most of Spain you are more likely to hear the /?/ phoneme "therdo (ceceo);" whereas, in many parts of Andalusia (Spain) the /s/ phoneme - "serdo (seseo)" - will be more prevalent.