CONSONANTS.
Only those consonant sounds differing from English usage need be mentioned here.
C has two sounds. Before e and i it is pronounced like s in seat, that is, in Spanish-American usage; examples, Cerro, pronounced Ser´ro, and Cima, pronounced See´mah. In all other cases c has the sound of k; examples, Carlos, pronounced Kar´loce, Colorado, pronounced Ko-lo-rah´do (each o long, as in hope), Cuesta, pronounced Kwes´tah, and Cruz, pronounced Kroos.
Ch has the sound of ch in church. Example, Chico, pronounced Chee´ko.
D is slightly softened, and when occurring between vowels and at the end of words it is almost like th in then. Examples, Andrade, pronounced Ahn-drah´-dthay, and Soledad, pronounced Sole-ay-dadth.
G has two sounds. Before e and i it has the sound of strongly aspirated h. Examples, German´, pronounced Hare-mahn´, and giro, pronounced hee´ro. In all other cases it sounds like g in go. Examples, Gaviota, Goleta, Guadalupe, Granada. In gue and gui the u is regularly silent; exceptions to this rule are marked by the diaeresis, as in Argüello, pronounced Ar-gwayl´yo, or in Spanish-American, Ar-gway´yo.
H is silent except in the combined character ch. Example, La Honda, pronounced La On´dah, with long o, as in hope.
J has the sound of strongly aspirated h. Examples, Pájaro, pronounced Pah´hah-ro, and San José, pronounced San Ho-say´. This letter is one of the worst stumbling-blocks in the pronunciation of Spanish names.
Ll has the sound of the letters lli in the English million, but in many parts of Spanish-America it is pronounced like y in beyond. The latter is not considered an elegant pronunciation. Example, Vallejo, properly pronounced Val-yay´ho, but in Spanish-American, Va-yay´ho.
N has the sound of the letters ni in the English pinion. Example, Cañada, pronounced Can-yah´dthah.
Q only occurs before ue and ui, and sounds like k, the following u being always silent. Example, San Quintín, pronounced San Keen-teen´.
S has the hissing sound of s in say, base, and is never pronounced like sh as in mansion, or z as in rose. Thus in Santa Rosa the s is sharply hissed and is not pronounced as Santa Roza.
Z is sounded in Spanish-America like sharply hissed s, as in say or base. Example, Zamora, pronounced Sah-mo´rah.
A peculiarity of pronunciation common to almost all Spaniards is the confusion of the b and the v so that one can hardly be distinguished from the other. Vowel sounds are pronounced shortly and crisply, never with the drawling circumflex sound sometimes heard in English. Without going into the complications of the division of syllables, it may be stated that the fundamental principle is to make syllables end in a vowel as far as possible; examples, Do-lo-res (not Do-lor-es), Sa-li-nas (not Sal-in-as).