LL- (english y or j)

Question

Hi, there are words with (LL) in them. well in school i learned that (LL) in english is (Y), but some people pronounce it as [J]. I'm getting confused. which one should i use?

for example: llevar, is it [yevar] or [jevar]. thanks

Awesome question! Thanks! - farallon7, May 10, 2012

Answer 1

The actual perfect pronunciation of Ll in Spanish is a sound that does not exist in English. I.E. Cállate = Kal-la-teh, However, most Spanish speaking people do not pronounce it that way, (including myself).

• To me, the best sound would be "j" in English. I.E. Cállate = Ka-ja-teh.

• The sound "y" is a little more "lazy" way to pronounce it but still I cannot say it is wrong. I.E. Cállate = Ka-ya-teh. Personally, I prefer "j" and that is the way I pronounce it.

• In Argentina, and maybe Chile and Paraguay, (not 100% sure) it is pronounced differently) I.E. Cállate = Káshate, the same goes for "y" Yo = Shoh.

My friend from Nicaragua pronounces the Ll as the y sound in English. - rac1, May 10, 2012

Interesting. Most of my Mexican friends are pretty clearly in the Y camp (not EXACTLY a Y, but much closer to that than a J. Just need to train my ear for both. - rogspax, May 10, 2012

I know! Specially in Central America they pronounce it like "y" in English. It is still correct any of the 3 ways! It could sound weird one way or the other, but it is correct and regional. - farallon7, May 10, 2012

Answer 2

When I first started a few months ago, I noticed the same thing. I decided that I would pronounce it and read it as an English [j] and when I hear it as an English [y] I can pick it up easily, because it's a simpler sound to notice, and perfectly unique to the LL.

It's pronounced both ways. - sinsonte, May 10, 2012

It's like a J sound in English. Like if you were saying to someone "Shh" and simultaneously tried to make a J sound. That's as best I can describe it, lol. - sinsonte, May 11, 2012

Answer 3

Regional, and even a bit of word-to-word variance here for sure. USUALLY a Y sound in most regions, but you WILL here a much harder one like a J sometimes too. This language game isn't easy.

Answer 4

Thanks guys! that was very helpful. ) Appreciate it. More questions will be coming up soon. Hope ill get respond to them as well)))). Gracias

Answer 5

The crux of your question is 'which one should you use'.

The 'll', as has been said by some above, changes with region, sounding similar to a y, a j or something like sh, depending on where you are.

Which one you should use depends on 1/ where you are and 2/ how you wish to sound. If you learn Spanish in say Argentina, you will learn the Argentinian 'sh' and likely speak like that. Depending on how much time you spend there you'll either consider that the way that you speak Spanish and stick with that for a long time or be open to change. If you spend enough time in another place you might find that you want to pronounce it like the locals.

If you are learning Spanish in a non-Spanish speaking country I would stick to 'y', that seems more universal to me, a 'sh' or 'j' would sound odd to me coming from someone who has not learned Spanish in a place where that is the norm.