Let’s be honest, here. I knew that the Spanish accent would be different from most of the Spanish I heard in my U.S. classes, but let me tell you I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Here’s a quick Andalusian accent lesson (Andalucía is the region in southern Spain that includes Sevilla):
There are several different ways to enunciate the letters “s,” and “z” and “c.” (Note, “z” and “c” are often pronounced like the English “th.” I will refer to their sound as θ.)
• Distinción is when you actually differentiate between the “s” sound and the θ sound. Ex) casa and caza would sound different
• Seseo is when you pronounce “s,” “z,” and “c” as if they were “s.” Ex) casa and caza would both sound like “casa”
• Ceceo is when you pronounce “s,” “z,” and “c” as if they were all θ. Ex) casa and caza would both sound like “caza”
• Heheo is when you pronounce “s,” “z,” and “c” like an “h” or “j”—that is to say, you basically just breathe through them. Ex) casa and caza would sound like “caha”
The Spanish taught in the U.S. mostly uses seseo. In Sevilla, all these accents are used.
Additionally, many consonants are just left off the ends of words (comunidá = comunidad), or are interchangeable (arguno = alguno). Sometimes words or syllables are left off entirely (ca María = casa de María; cansá = cansada). You get the point.
(The title of this post is a bit of a tongue twister from my conversation class. You can pronounce it a billion different ways with the Andalusian accent. Try it for yourself!)
Spanish word of the day: azotea = rooftop balcony; cerrada con llave = locked (This is a bit of a story. In an effort to talk to Matthew without disturbing the girl who lives with me, I went up to the azotea at about 1am. My Señora prefers for this door to be closed and locked at night. Since I had turned off my light to conserve electricity, I was fully locked out when I came down to sleep at around 1:30. Luckily a bit of banging did the trick!)
peace,
elizabeth
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