La Distinción entre /s/ y /θ/

Question

I want to speak Castilian Spanish. I have a deep admiration for Latin America, especially Mexico, but I've got the feeling that if I can speak a good and almost perfect (because it's never going to be native-like) Castilian Spanish I will be able to blend in at any other kind of Spanish spoken in Latin America. I have a hard time trying to pronounce the ZA CE CI ZO ZU with the Voiceless dental fricative /?/, which is the Ceceo. I think there is a small difference between this sound in English and Spanish. Any european spanish born and raised speaker know what I'm talking about. Is there any tip that could help me? Please share something you guys know.

Answer 1

Well, el ceceo is actually the phenomenon where all S's, soft C's, and Z's are realized as /?/.

What you are actually referring to is "la distinción," where just the Z's and soft C's are realized as /?/.

• Distinción: La casa - /la kasa/; La caza - /la ka?a/

• Ceceo: La casa - /la ka?a/; La caza - /la ka?a/

• Seseo: La casa - /la kasa/; La caza - /la kasa/

(From the wikipedia page Phonological history of Spanish coronal fricatives)

And as to how to pronounce the /?/ with la distinción, it's close to the soft "th" in the English word "bath."

That's what I'm talking about. The difference between the English TH and the ZA CE CI ZO ZU del Castellano de Madrid. Is is softer? Is it faster? How is it? - samrodrigue_z, Jul 22, 2014