Silabas y acento

1. CHAPTER 13: Pronunciación

2. Stress in Spanish/Acento en Español
A stressed syllable is one that is pronounced with more energy than an
unstressed one and hence is auditorily more prominent.
For example, in the word potato it is the second syllable which bears the
stress and hence ‘stands out’ acoustically.
The phonetic symbol indicating stress is a small superscripted vertical line ‘ˈ’
placed immediately before the stress-bearing syllable, as in the examples
below:
[ˈlaɾɣo] largo ‘long’
[reˈlox] reloj ‘watch’
[ˈinteɣɾo] íntegro ‘whole’ 1
1 Word stress in Spanish. (n.d.). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from https://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/i.e.mackenzie/stress.htm

3. The position of the stress in Spanish can play an important role in distinguishing between the
different grammatical functions of otherwise identical sequences of sounds.
Consider, for example, the phonetic sequence [animo]. Stressing the first syllable, as in
[ˈanimo], produces the noun ánimo ‘spirit/excitement’.
Stressing the second syllable, [aˈnimo], produces the 1st person singular present indicative
form of the verb animar ‘encourage’.
And stressing the final syllable, as in [aniˈmo], delivers the 3rd person singular preterite form
of the same verb (written as animó). 2
2 Word stress in Spanish. (n.d.). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from https://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/i.e.mackenzie/stress.htm
Stress in Spanish/Acento en Español

4. Stress in Spanish/Acento en Español
There are four main categories of words you come across when talking about
Spanish Word stress:
palabras agudas, palabras graves palabras esdrújulas
and palabras sobresdrújulas.
Let's take a closer look at each one.

5. Las Palabras Agudas
Las palabras agudas are words that are stressed on the last syllable.
listen and repeat the next examples:
Azul , avestruz, matador, estoy,
inglés, colibrí, balcón, hablar
If a word ends in a consonant other
than -s or -n and the word does not
have a tilde anywhere, the word is
a palabra aguda.
Las palabras agudas have a written
accent, or tilde (’ ) on the final
syllable to mark word stress if the
last letter in the word is a vowel or
the consonants -s or -n.

6. Las Palabras Graves/Llanas
Las palabras graves, also called palabras llanas, are words that are stressed
on the penultimate (second-to-last syllable). Listen and repeat the next
examples:
ágil, cóctel, comida, árbol, álbum,
bíceps, verde, dolar, naranja. Las palabras graves have a
written accent on the
second-to-last syllable to
mark word stress in words
that end in any consonant
other than -s or -n and in
groups of consonants like -ps
and -cs.

7. Palabras Esdrújulas
Las palabras esdrújulas are words that are stressed on the antepenultimate (third-
to-last) syllable.
rápido, pájaro, América, clásico, teléfono,
fantástico, imágenes, ídolo, pólvora
Acording to La Real Academia espanola, las plabras Esdrújulas
siempre llevan tilde. 1

8. Las palabras sobresdrújulas
Las palabras sobresdrújulas are words that are stressed on the fourth-to-last,
fifth-to-last, or sixth-to-last syllable. Listen and repeat the next examples:
cómpramelo, préstaselo, enséñenoslo,
devuélvemelo, llévatelo, pruébatelo,
regálaselo.

9. Las Palabras Agudas
Las palabras agudas are words that are stressed on the last syllable.
listen and repeat the next examples:
Azul , avestruz, matador, estoy,
inglés, colibrí, balcón, hablar
If a word ends in a consonant other
than -s or -n and the word does not
have a tilde anywhere, the word is
a palabra aguda.
Las palabras agudas have a written
accent, or tilde (’ ) on the final
syllable to mark word stress if the
last letter in the word is a vowel or
the consonants -s or -n.

10. Hora de Practicar
Palabras Agudas. Escucha y repite lo siguientes ejemplos:
Bebé, Perú , sofá , café , rubí , menú , marroquí , bebé,
avión, amor, cantidad , papel , reloj , capaz , pared , estoy
, avestruz , virtud , fatal , contador.

11. Hora de Practicar
Palabras Graves/Llanas. Escucha y repite lo siguientes ejemplos:
árbol , cárcel , ángel , difícil , túnel, azúcar,
lápiz, césped, fácil, útil, carácter, débil,
problema, adulto, martes, zapato, volumen,
pesca, amazonas, tasa, ,piso , corazones

12. Hora de Practicar
Palabras esdrújulas . Escucha y repite lo siguientes ejemplos:
América, Bélgica, Sudáfrica, música, miércoles, sílaba , máquina ,
gramática, económico, pájaro, séptimo, cuídate, brújula, gótico,
hígado, ejército, características, cállate, dámelo, fósforo, cáscara,
cerámica , oxígeno, didáctico , válido.

13. Hora de Practicar
Palabras sobresdrújulas. Escucha y repite lo siguientes ejemplos:
Cuéntamelo, devuélveselo, éticamente, fácilmente,
explícaselo, rápidamente, juégatela, véndemelo, repíteselo,
frívolamente, ágilmente, ábremelo, dígaselo, cálidamente,
difícilmente, dibújamelo, dócilmente, gánatela.

14. Syllables and Syllabification Rules/ Silabas y Reglas de
silabificacion.
Knowing how to separate a word into syllables can help you pronounce
and spell Spanish words correctly, as well as help you decide if a word
needs a written accent or not.
The sophisticated word for dividing a word into syllables is syllabification.
Here are some general rules for Spanish syllabification.

15. Word/ palabra Syllabification/ Silabificacion
sábana sá-ba-na
vaso va-so
velita ve-li-ta
musica mu-si-ca
comida Co-mi-da
Invitalo In-vi-ta-lo
escoba es-co-ba
Rule # 1: Consonant Plus Vowel
Whenever possible, you should break up words so that each syllable contains a
consonant followed by a vowel. A consonant between two vowels belongs to the syllable
with the second vowel. The goal is to end each syllable with a vowel. Listen and Repeat.

16. Rule # 2: Two Consecutive Consonants
Two consecutive consonants will generally belong to separate syllables. However,
if the second consonant is a r or l, the consonant pair is not separated into
different syllables. Listen and Repeat.
Word/ palabra Syllabification/ Silabificacion
deseschable de-se-cha-ble
alcanzar al-can-zar
abrazo A-bra-zo
llegar lle-gar
frecuente fre-cu-en-te
amarillo a-ma-ri-llo
hecho he-cho

17. Rule # 3: Three Consecutive Consonants
When three consonants appear together, the first one will generally belong to a
separate syllable or consecutive consonants will generally belong to separate
syllables. Listen and Repeat.
Word/ palabra Syllabification/ Silabificacion
ingles in-gles
panfleto pan-fle-to
ombligo om-bli-go
constante cons-tan-te
instrumento Ins-tru-men-to
construcion cons-tru-ci-on

18. Rule # 4: Weak and strong vowels
Spanish has both strong vowels (a, e, o) and weak vowels (i, u). Here are some rules on how the
combinations of these vowels are divided into syllables.
Two weak vowels together form a diphthong and are not separated into different syllables.
Examples escucha y repite :
Fui, Ma-ria, poe-ta, cui-da-do,
pau-sa

19. Rule # 4.1: Weak and strong vowels
A weak vowel and a strong vowel together form a diphthong and are not
separated into different syllables. Example, Listen and Repeat:
Juan, co-me-dia, tie-rra, fue-go, re-si-duo,
pia-no, A-sia, Po-lo-nia, hie-lo, qui-sie-ras,
mie-do, vie-nto,no-vio, mi-llo-na-rio.

20. Rule # 4.2: Two strong vowels
Two strong vowels together form a hiatus and are separated into different
syllables. Listen and Repeat
Le-o, to-a-lla, fe-o, ti-o, cre-er, ca-os ,
po-se-er.