La pronùncia
a
|
always a
like in "father" and never a like in "apple"
|
b/v
|
a.) b at
beginning of a word or after m or n
b.) p at end of a word or before an s c.) everywhere else: soft v produced without touching teeth to lower lip (many say this is actually more of a soft b, so it's really up to what the learner hears and can reproduce) |
c
|
a.) + e,i =
s
b.) k everywhere else |
ç
|
s
|
d
|
a.) voiced
th in "that" when between two vowels or between an r and
a vowel
b.) t at end of a word c.) d everywhere else |
e
|
a.)
sometimes like ay in way, same sound as Spanish e (sometimes
accented thus: é )
b.) sometimes like e in "get" (sometimes accented thus: è ), equivalent to French "ai" in "américaine" c.) neutral vowel that sounds like the first a in "separate" [sep-uh-rayt], essentially same as the e in French "le"; this sound of e occurs whenever it appears in an unstressed syllable |
j/ge/gi
|
French j
sound, much like s in vision
|
g
|
a.) g sound
in "girl" when not followed by e or i
b.) k at end of a word |
gu
|
+ i, e = g
in "girl"
|
gua/guë/güi
|
g is
essentially silent, thus making the combinations sound like "wa,"
"way," and "we," respectively
|
h
|
always
silent
|
i
|
a.) y when
at beginning of word or between two vowels
b.) ee in "keep" unless rule from a.) applies or unless i is in a diphthong/triphthong |
ll
|
like the
"lli" in "million" (corresponds to "lh"
in Portuguese and "gl" in Italian), thus an English
y sound with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.
however, many speakers today (as is the overwhelming case in
Spanish as well) simply make a sound that corresponds to the
English y
|
l·l
|
"ela
geminada"; pronounced as a single l
|
n
|
m when
before b/v in a word or phrase (e.g. enviar [em-bee-AH], un vas
[oom BAHS] )
|
ny
|
like ny in
"canyon" (corresponds to Spanish ñ, Portuguese nh, or
French/Italian gn)
|
nys
|
same as ny
but with the s being pronounced sh
|
inc/enc
|
when found
as last syllable of a word: first one (-inc) corresponds to
English -ing but with a very slight or even more pronounced k
sound afterwards depending on the speaker or even the specific
word (much like how in French the "c" is pronounced in
"donc" but not in "blanc"). Same applies
for -enc, though instead of corresponding to English -ing, it more
corresponds to -ang like in the word "pang"
|
o
|
a.)
sometimes open o like o in "dog" (sometimes accented
thus: ò)
b.) sometimes closed o like o in "row" (sometimes accented thus: ó) same sound as Spanish o c.) oo in "boot" when found in unstressed syllable (e.g. this occurs for every -o ending in the first person present tense conjugation of regular verbs like "parlo" or "surto") |
qu
|
a.) + e, i =
k
b.) + a, u, o = kw |
qü
|
+ e, i = kw
|
r
|
a.) trilled
when at beginning of word or when doubled (pretty much like in
Spanish)
b.) essentially like d in "dad" when between two vowels c.) silent at end of word with some exceptions, the most notable being the preposition "per" NB: silent r at end of infinitive is pronounced when infinitive is followed by a weak pronoun (e.g. dir [dee] but dir-se [DEER-suh] |
s
|
a.) z when
between two vowels. NB liason occurs generally when a word ending
in s is followed by a vowel or mute h (e.g. els agrada
[uhl-za-GRAH-thuh] )
b.) s everywhere else |
t
|
silent after
n or l when at the end of a word, but English t everywhere else
|
u
|
always oo in
"boot"
|
v
|
see rules
for Catalan b
|
x
|
a.) sh in
ship when at beginning of word or in combination "-ix"
b.) x in "taxi" when between two vowels |
ex
+ vowel
|
egz just
like in French and English
|
ex
+ consonant
|
eks also
like in French and English
|
z
|
always z as
in "zebra"
|
It should be assumed that any letter not treated above (but still found in the Valencian alphabet) has essentially the same pronunciation as in English (i.e. m, l, etc.)
Valencian Consonant Combinations, Diphtongs and Triphthongs
tj/tg/dj
|
j in "jump"
|
tz
|
dz in "adze"
|
tx/ig
|
ch in "chip"
|
ou
|
o in "row"
|
oi
|
oy in "boy"
|
au
|
ow in "cow"
|
ei
|
ay in "bay"
|
ui
|
wee in
"week"
|
ai
|
"eye"
|
iu
|
"you"
|
eu
|
no real
English equivalent, simply try to pronounce both vowels quickly
together
|
iai
|
"yi"
in "yikes!"
|
uai
|
"why"
|
iau
|
same as
English exclamation of pain "yow!"
|
ieu
|
no English
equivalent: essentially "eu" with a y sound at beginning
|
ueu
|
no English
equivalent: essentially "eu" with a w sound at beginning
|
NB: in the combinations oix, oig, aig, aix, uix, etc. there is NO acting diphthong. The i present in those combinations is linked to the following x or g and not the preceding vowel (e.g. vaig [bahch] and not [bye-ch], caixa [kah-shuh] and not [keye-shuh] ). Basically "ix" and "ig" are treated as single letters.
Stress
a.)
If a word ends in an unstressed vowel, an untressed vowel + s, the
combination "-en", or the combination "-in", then
the stress of the word is on the penultimate, or second-to-last
syllable (e.g. cotxe [COHCH-uh] "car", cotxes [COHCH-uhs]
"cars", parlen [PAR-luhn] "they speak", parlin
[PAR-leen] "they speak (present subjunctive)")
b.) If a word ends in a consonant other than s (even if that consonant, notably r, is not pronounced) or ends in "-an", "-on", "-un", then the stress of that word is on the final syllable (e.g. estimar [uh-stee-MAH] "to love", perdut [puhr-THUT] "lost", parlaran [par-lah-RAN] "they will speak", Ramon [rrah-MOHN] man's name, algun [al-GOON] "some").
c.) If word has an accent on any vowel, the first two rules are ignored and the stress falls on the syllable containing the accented vowel (e.g. català [kah-tah-LAH] Catalan, telèfon [tuh-LEH-foon].
b.) If a word ends in a consonant other than s (even if that consonant, notably r, is not pronounced) or ends in "-an", "-on", "-un", then the stress of that word is on the final syllable (e.g. estimar [uh-stee-MAH] "to love", perdut [puhr-THUT] "lost", parlaran [par-lah-RAN] "they will speak", Ramon [rrah-MOHN] man's name, algun [al-GOON] "some").
c.) If word has an accent on any vowel, the first two rules are ignored and the stress falls on the syllable containing the accented vowel (e.g. català [kah-tah-LAH] Catalan, telèfon [tuh-LEH-foon].
