Pronunciation of 'la idea' in Spanish...

Question

Until today I had only heard the Spanish word 'idea' pronounced like 'ee-dee-ah', but listening to the latest Pimsleur lesson, I'm sure they pronounce it almost exactly as it is in English, i.e. 'eye-dee-ah'. Pimsleur seems to have a Mexican slant. Is this a regional pronunciation ?

Gracias

Answer 1

Say it in the English way and they look at you like they have no idea.

I know I have trouble with almost all of the words that are spelled the same but pronunciated differently. So I have first hand experience with using the English pronunciation because it often comes out without any effort eventhough I know it is wrong. I get dumbfounded looks. The English "idea" would be spelled like this "aydía". No wonder they look at me like they do.

True :) - ian-hill, Apr 9, 2015

Answer 2

I am not from Mexico but I am pretty sure no spanish speaker pronounces it like "eye-dee-ah".

It does sound rather weird, particularly as the 'actors' on the audio course are natives... ;-) - Faldaesque, Apr 9, 2015

That said, some native-English speakers pronounce 'envelope' with a pseudo-French accent, so who knows... - Faldaesque, Apr 9, 2015

@ Falda , kinder to say that it is a regional thing , you could not accuse an Aussie of having a pseudo -French accent , but we mostly say'onvelope'. but enveloping , go figure. - ray76, Apr 10, 2015

Answer 3

Thinking about it again, the word 'idea' is prefaced with 'una'. If the 'i' is given a short sound, more like the 'i' in English 'bit', but there's elision between the 'a' of 'una' and the 'i' of idea, this would produce an 'a-i' diphthong like 'eye'.

I guess this is what it might be. But it definitely sound like 'eey-dee-ah'...

That doesn't explain the dee-ah part which should be day-ah. - gringojrf, Apr 9, 2015

Well, I guess I'd pronounce it more like 'ee-deh-ah' as opposed to 'ee-day-ah' anyway... ;-) - Faldaesque, Apr 9, 2015

Answer 4

I'm living in south of spain. Pronounciation is ee - day - yah here....

That is how I pronounce it. :) - FELIZ77, Apr 9, 2015

Answer 5

Eeeee-dayyyy-ah

You say "eeee dayyyyy ah" I say "eeee dehhh ah" - tomayto, tomahto, potayto, potahto... - Winkfish, Apr 10, 2015

Answer 6

The word would be:

idea [i.dé.a] f. idea; notion.

According an old dictionary of my house, that I didn't remember that it was from Chicago because currently is deteriorated and only has the part in Spanish - English without covers.

Answer 7

My concern was more for the first vowel sound, but now I see I've 'opened a can of worms' regarding the second too, perhaps partly owing to my poor attempt to render it in a kind of English-based phonetics.

Anyway, regarding the pronunciation of 'e' in Spanish, Pimsleur does seem to tend towards an 'ay' pronunciation, whereas when I did the Michel Thomas courses (which I did before Pimsleur), they clearly placed emphasis on trying to pronounce Spanish 'e' more like 'eh' than 'ay'.

I'm quite ready to accept there may be different pronunciations according to regional accent in this regard.

You're a Scot! You of all should understand regional accents!! ;-) - Winkfish, Apr 9, 2015

Answer 8

Falda, I think you've hit on one of the things I like best about Pimsleur, as you've mentioned in other threads. The speakers do run (among other things) "una" or "buena" right into "idea"(Sp pronunciation). It's almost like a dipthong, so instead of 5 syllables ("bueh nah ee deh ah"), you hear 4 syllables ("buen ay deh ah"). I tend to think it's a pretty authentic way of speaking. I can think of many things we say in English that run together that an English student would find a bit difficult. ("Wudyadoin tonight?")

Keep on keepin' on, my friend!

Every day I hear the 'slurry' speech of native Scots around me & realise I can understand it only because I'm used to it & pity even fellow English-speakers from further afield who would be baffled, so I agree... - Faldaesque, Apr 9, 2015

...exposure to authentic sound rhythms is indispensible :-) - Faldaesque, Apr 9, 2015

Answer 9

@ falcop: Supongo que hay un problema en lo que tratamos de usar escritos para expresar sonidos, pero cuando digo 'day', por ejemplo, este no suena como alguien que viene de Norte América... Mi 'day' no es parecido a 'e' al fin de 'donde' por ejemplo... Muy lejano...

That's because all of you on the other side of the pond talk funny. In American Day is pronounced with a long A sound. - gringojrf, Apr 10, 2015

Answer 10

Hello Falda

The Spanish word idea is pronounced phonetically as:

Idea = ee - day - yah

enter link description here

Please click on the link above and then find the microphone symbol next to the first word idea and listen to the sounds of the word pronounced by a native Spanish speaker.

You can do this whenever you encounter a new Spanish word that you experience trouble with pronouncing! If after listening carefully to it several times you continue to struggle to differentiate and break down the sounds of the word come back and ask the community for help.

I hope this helps

Or 'ee-deh-ah'... ? ;-) - Faldaesque, Apr 9, 2015

I have listened to it again several times It is somewhere between ee-dAY-yah and ee-de yah but closer to the first dAY - FELIZ77, Apr 9, 2015

I would expect there may be various pronunciations depending on region & accent... ;-) - Faldaesque, Apr 9, 2015