How does Spanish pronunciation differ across regions and accents

Spanish pronunciation varies significantly across regions and accents, influenced by historical, social, and linguistic factors. Major regional differences include:

• In Spain, particularly Castilian Spanish, the “c” before “e” or “i” and the “z” are pronounced as a “th” sound (like the English “think”), a phenomenon called “distinción.” This is absent in Latin American Spanish, where these sounds are pronounced as “s” (“seseo”).
• The pronunciation of the letter “s” varies; for example, in Andalusia and parts of the Caribbean, the “s” is often aspirated or dropped at the end of syllables and words.
• In some Latin American accents, such as Caribbean Spanish, the “r” at the end of a syllable can be pronounced like an “l.”
• Vowel pronunciation can also differ, with some regions showing more vowel reduction or distinct vowel qualities.
• Intonation patterns and rhythm vary regionally, with some accents sounding more melodic or faster than others.
• Consonant weakening or deletion is common in southern Spain and many Latin American dialects.

These variations reflect the diverse phonetic and phonological landscape of the Spanish language across its speaking regions. ^{11, 16, 20}

References

• Study on the Differences of Spanish Language from the Perspective of the Belt and Road

• Teaching English Consonants to Spanish Speakers Universidad de Guayaquil

• Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage

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• Medics on the Move South Africa: Access to Medical Words

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• Variety of pronunciation models in European and American teaching or (self-)learning manuals of pronunciation for non-native speakers of Spanish

• Bay Area Spanish: regional sound change in contact languages

• Dialectal variation in the expression of que in sí-que ‘yes that’ contexts across Spanish: The case of some Latin American Spanish varieties

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