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Spanish sounds
I’m a new Spanish learner. I am a beginner and I make confusion with these sound:
C – Z G – J LL – Y What’s the difference in these letters? How can I recognize them and learn to pronounce them in a standard Castillan Spanish?
The university of Iowa has a good site. You could also try "Pronounce it Perfectly in Spanish" or "How to Pronounce Spanish Correctly". Both recordings give examples of Latin American and European Spanish.
"C" and "Z" are only pronounced the same when followed by "e" or "i". "Z" is used in other cases.
"G" and "J" are only pronounced the same when followed by "e" or "i". "J" is used in other cases. The distinction between "LL" and "Y" is now rare. Those who do make the distinction pronounced "LL" as [ʎ] (palatal lateral approximant) and "Y" as [ʝ] (voiced palatal fricative). Most dialects use [ʝ] for both, but some use [ʒ] (voiced postalveolar fricative).
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/spanish/frameset.html
Thanks to guest two, I was able to locate the correct page for you based on the [ʎ] sound.
The distinction between LL and Y is not rare. It's just a cultured trait and is common among people who speak good Spanish.
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