Another pronunciation question

Question

I know that a + el goes together to form 'al' for pronunciation purposes. I was wondering if you would also combine the ends of other words ending in a with el pronounced, but not written. It may seem confusing so I will explain.

por ejemplo:

You see: Toca el timbre.

But you hear: Tocal timbre.

It seems logical to me.

Answer 1

In written form, no. You would not make such a contraction; however, in spoken form, it is not unusual for verbs to blend together when they come at the ending and beginning of words in a sequence.

On the other hand, because the "a" sound in the word "toca" is unstressed, it might be more accurate to describe the "e" sound in the word "el" as the more dominant sound. Therefore, we might hear it run together more like "tocael timbre" (with the stressed vowels in bold).

The grammatical term for this phenomena is synalepha ("sinalefa" in Spanish), and you can find further information by doing a quick search of the web.

If you can get your hands on a copy (at your local college or public library, for instance), I would recommend the following article: Hispania Vol. 7, No. 5, Nov., 1924. Synalepha and Syneresis in Modern Spanish.

thank you! - Himself12794, Dec 16, 2011

1924! Did they speak Spanish that long ago? in Modern Spanish?! - 0074b507, Dec 17, 2011

Well, ya see back in my day.....oops, sorry. I really have to stop beginning my sentences like that, jeje. Actually, I believe that Lazarus may have brought up the topic of "sinalefa" not long ago which is probably why the word is still fresh on my mind - Izanoni1, Dec 17, 2011

I remember it being something to the effect of "without sinalefa people would sound stilted or robotic when they spoke." - Izanoni1, Dec 17, 2011

Answer 2

Mispronunciation , you should hear tocael timbre or toca el timbre,if you don't make a pause when you say toca el ,then you will hear tocael and it can be confusing.