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 Alphabet
Famous quotes containing the words letter and/or names:
“Woe to the makers of literal translations, who by rendering every word weaken the meaning! It is indeed by so doing that we can say the letter kills and the spirit gives life.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“I do not see why, since America and her autumn woods have been discovered, our leaves should not compete with the precious stones in giving names to colors; and, indeed, I believe that in course of time the names of some of our trees and shrubs, as well as flowers, will get into our popular chromatic nomenclature.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)