Pronunciation of "terapeutica"
So I have a question about the pronunciation of "terapéutica."
http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/terapéutica
The stress when pronounced is on the "u" even though there is an accent on the "e." I asked a hispanic friend to say this word for me and he pronounced it the same way the link does. Why is that?
6 Answers
Pronunciation of "terapéutica"
The syllables are divided this way: Te/ra/péu/ti/ca
The tilde is not to distinguish the E sound from the U sound, but to stress that sylable. Of the two vowels that make up this syllable, which is a dipthong, the E will always have a stronger presence of pronunciation than the U.
The stress when pronounced is on the "u" even though there is an accent on the "e." I asked a hispanic friend to say this word for me and he pronounced it the same way the link does. Why is that?
If your friend is reading it correctly, you need to train your ear to interpret where the stress is. Ask your friend to pronounce "terapeútico" (this word does not exist) right after the correct "terapéutico" to hear the clear difference. The group "éu" is pronounced as a single syllable, whereas "e-ú" is pronounced as two syllables.
If you have a diphthong in Spanish, like in farmacéutica or astronáutica., the stress is placed on that entire vowel sound that carries the syllable, the entire diphthong, and we always put an accent on the first vowel of the diphthong.
Not quite! The stress is always on the vowels "a", "e" or "o", whether they come first or not. For example, "dio" is one syllable (and it has a diphthong) and the stress is on the "o". The word "comió" has two syllables, and the stress is on the "o", the second vowel of the diphthong.
Aeronáutica, farmacéutica, psicoterapéutica, astronáutica...
I think I've got it!
It is like 2 words: terapé and útica, perhaps because it has six syllables. Think of the English phrase: "Therapy you can use" when you listen to it. Anyway it made sense to me.
The accent is not on the "u". If it were, it would sound like te-ra-pe-U-ti-ca. But it is pronounced te-ra-PEU-ti-ca. That is why the accent mark is placed on the "e".
Ah, phonology!! I´m so happy you asked! The "u" sound you are describing is actually the e and u pulled together. This is called a diphthong, and for an English example you can think of how you would pronounce gran, grin, and grain. The ai in grain is one vowel sound, despite being made up of two vowels.
If you have a diphthong in Spanish, like in farmacéutica or astronáutica., the stress is placed on that entire vowel sound that carries the syllable, the entire diphthong, and we always put an accent on the first vowel of the diphthong.
