spanish J sound
Does the letter J in Spanish make a K sound because one of my friends from Mexico pronounces his J's like that and I always assumed it made an H sound
3 Answers
Yes it does, it is actually a hybrid of K and H .. haha .. I call it a GMO .. Genetically Modified Sound .. hahahah .. well, jokes apart ... It is like a mild K mixed with an aspirated h sound .. and it also depends from country to country .. in some countries they may pronounce it as "H" .. Like Jose would be pronounced as Hose .. and in some other countries "it may be pronounced as "Khose" (kind of) ...
I would suggest you to click on this link and hit the speaker sign next to the word Baja .. and you would notice that the j sound is being pronounced as an "h" sound .. but on some other site you may see the same word being probounced differently as Bakha instead of Baha .. hope it helps ..
link : http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/BAJA
A little insight into the pronunciation of this sound can be found by comparing it to the way in which the /k/ and /g/ sounds are formed in English. In English, both of these sounds are initiated by first raising the back of the tongue until it meets the soft palate, thus blocking off the flow of air. As air bursts through this blockage, a characteristic clicking sound is produced that, in English, we recognize as either a "g" or a "k" (depending on whether or not the vocal cords vibrate).
Now, recognizing the mechanics behind these sounds can help us to better understand the Spanish /j/. Consider that in Spanish, when a "g" is followed by either an "i" or and "e" (such as with words like "gemelo" or "gimnasia"), it makes the same sound as a Spanish "j." This relationship provides a clue as to why one might perceive a similarity with an English "k-sound." In Spanish, articulation of this sound is very similar in that the tongue is raised up to the soft palate until it just nearly touches, but (typically) air flow is not blocked entirely. Instead, air passes through this narrowed opening and produces the characteristic sound.
Considering these ideas, it is not difficult to understand how a slight repositioning of the tongue might result in what an English speaker might perceive to be the same as an English "k-sound."
