Language/Spanish/Pronunciation/La--Z--no-se-pronuncia--S-
SOUND OF "C" AND "Z" IN CASTILIAN SPANISH[edit | edit source]
I'm hearing a lot of videos in which the "Z" sound is pronounced the same as if it were an "S", and I want to clarify that it is not so.
The "Z" in Castilian Spanish is pronounced differently.
ZA - ZE - ZI - ZO - ZU: Sound like "C" when followed by "E" or "I". "Ce..." "Ci..."
ZA - [θa]
ZE - [θe]
ZI - [θi]
ZO - [θo]
ZU - [θu]
CE - [θe]
CI - [θi]
A good word to practice: "Cereza" - It does not sound "SereSa" / Correct: [θeˈɾe.θa]
"Marzo" - It does not sound "MarSo" / Correct: `[maɾ · θo]
There is also a pronunciation error with the "C" in some words
"Celebrar" - It does not sound "Selebrar" / Correct: [θe · le · βɾaɾ]
"Diciembre" - It does not sound "DiSiembre" / Correct: [di · θiem · βɾe]
A perfect description of the phonetics of Spanish:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonolog%C3%ADa_del_espa%C3%B1ol