Quick Question: The Spanish "O": Open or Closed?

Question

I just have a quick question.

How open or closed should one pronounce the Spanish "o"? I've been pronouncing it quite open; however, upon listening to my Spanish teacher talk (she's from Oviedo, Asturias), I noticed that her "o"s are more closed.

It might be a regional thing, but I'm still wondering about it.

you spam me i will spam you - 0080b918, Apr 6, 2013

And I was not spamming you. I was simply stating that some of your posts were spam - which they were. - Azabache, Apr 6, 2013

Unlike your posts, mine is not spam. You can also be reported for falsely flagging a question. - Azabache, Apr 6, 2013

sorry i was not happy - 0080b918, Apr 6, 2013

Answer 1

You have a good ear, it's a very common feature of the accent of that area. But they have the two sounds: the closed o and the open o. The same happens to the e, which has also two sounds.

To me, the way they pronounce Oviedo sounds almost like "uviedu", and in fact they say Uviéu in bable, their regional dialect, a dialect in which it seems that all the words end in u.

Answer 2

Little video on the o sound.

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Thanks, that is helpful, but she pronounces her "o"s open, like how I do. My Spanish professor (from Spain) pronounces them a bit more closed. - Azabache, Jan 17, 2013

But, I'm not arguing that one pronunciation is wrong, or anything like that. I'm just interested. - Azabache, Jan 17, 2013

Answer 3

I´m not sure what you mean by "open" and "closed" but if you form your mouth as if to blow a kiss to someone of the opposite sex, and then say O, you will have a very close approximation.