Letter Names and Pronunciations
Catalan is a pluricentric language, the pronunciation of some of the letters is different in Eastern Catalan (IEC) and Valencian (AVL). Apart from these variations, the pronunciation of most consonants is fairly straightforward, and similar to French, Occitan or Portuguese pronunciation.
| Letter | Catalan | Valencian | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name (IEC & AVL) | Pronunciation | Phonetic values | Pronunciation | Phonetic values | ||
| A a | a | /ˈa/ | /a/, /ə/ | /ˈa/ | ||
| B b | be (alta) | /ˈbe (ˈaltə)/ | /b/, /β/, /p/ | /ˈbe/ | , | |
| C c | ce | /ˈse/ | /k/, /s/, /ɡ/ | '/ˈse/ | , | |
| D d | de | /ˈde/ | /d/, /ð/, /t/ | /ˈde/ | , | |
| E e | e | /ˈe/ | /ɛ/, /e/, /ə/ | /ˈe/ | , | |
| F f | efa | /ˈefə/ | /f/, /v/ | /ˈef(e)/ | , | |
| G g | ge | /ˈʒe/ | /ɡ/, /ɣ/, /k/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/, /tʃ/ | /ˈdʒe/ | , | |
| H h | hac | /ˈak/ | ∅ | /ˈak/ | ∅ | |
| I i | i | /ˈi/ | /i/, /j/ | /ˈi/ | , | |
| J j | jota | /ˈʒɔtə/ | /ʒ/ | /ˈdʒɔta/ | ||
| K k | ca | /ˈka/ | /k/ | /ˈka/ | ||
| L l | ela | /ˈelə/ | /ɫ/, /ʎ/ | /ˈel(e)/ | , | |
| M m | ema | /ˈemə/ | /m/ | /ˈem(e)/ | ||
| N n | ena | /ˈenə/ | /n/, /m/, /ɲ/, /ŋ/ | /ˈen(e)/ | , | |
| O o | o | /ˈo/ | /ɔ/, /o/, /u/, /w/ | /ˈo/ | , | |
| P p | pe | /ˈpe/ | /p/, /b/ | /ˈpe/ | , | |
| Q q | cu | /ˈku/ | /k/ | /ˈku/ | ||
| R r | erra | /ˈɛrə/ | /r/, /ɾ/ | /ˈɛre/, /ˈɛɾ/ | , | |
| S s | essa | /ˈesə/ | /s/, /z/ | /ˈes(e)/ | , | |
| T t | te | /ˈte/ | /t/, /d/ | /ˈte/ | , | |
| U u | u | /ˈu/ | /u/, /w/ | /ˈu/ | , | |
| V v | ve (baixa) | /ˈbe ˈbaʃə/, /ˈve/ | /b/, /β/ ~ /v/, /f/ | /ˈve/ | , | |
| W w | ve doble | /ˈbe ˈdobːlə/, /ˈve ˈdobːlə/ | /w/, /b/, /β/ ~ /v/ | /ˈve ˈdoble/ | , | |
| X x | ics, xeix | /ˈiks/, /ˈʃeʃ/ | /ʃ/, /ʒ/, ks, ɡz | /ˈiks/, /ˈʃeiʃ/ | , | |
| Y y | i grega | /ˈi ˈɡɾeɡə/ | /i/, /j/ | /ˈi ˈɡɾeɡa/ | , | |
| Z z | zeta | /ˈzetə/ | /z/, /s/ | /ˈzeta/ | , | |
Read more about this topic: Catalan Orthography
Famous quotes containing the words letter and/or names:
“Of all the barbarous middle ages, that
Which is most barbarous is the middle age
Of man! it is—I really scarce know what;
But when we hover between fool and sage,
And don’t know justly what we would be at—
A period something like a printed page,
Black letter upon foolscap, while our hair
Grows grizzled, and we are not what we were.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“And even my sense of identity was wrapped in a namelessness often hard to penetrate, as we have just seen I think. And so on for all the other things which made merry with my senses. Yes, even then, when already all was fading, waves and particles, there could be no things but nameless things, no names but thingless names. I say that now, but after all what do I know now about then, now when the icy words hail down upon me, the icy meanings, and the world dies too, foully named.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)