Spanish phonology

Some of the phonemic contrasts between consonants in Spanish are lost in certain phonological environments, especially in syllable-final position. In these cases, the phonemic contrast is said to be neutralized.

The three nasal phonemes—/m/, /n/, and /ɲ/—maintain their contrast when in syllable-initial position (e.g. cama 'bed', cana 'grey hair', caña 'sugar cane'). In syllable-final position, this three-way contrast is lost as nasals assimilate to the place of articulation of the following consonant[9]—even across a word boundary;[32] or, if a nasal is followed by a pause rather than a consonant, it is realized for most speakers as alveolar [n] (though in Caribbean varieties, this may instead be [ŋ] or an omitted nasal with nasalization of the preceding vowel).[33][34] Thus /n/ is realized as [m] before labial consonants, and as [ŋ] before velar ones. Additionally, word-final /m/ and /ɲ/ in stand-alone loanwords or proper nouns are substituted with [n], e.g. álbum [ˈalβun] ('album').[35]

Similarly, /l/ assimilates to the place of articulation of a following coronal consonant, i.e. a consonant that is interdental, dental, alveolar, or palatal.[36][37][38] In dialects that maintain the use of /ʎ/, there is no contrast between /ʎ/ and /l/ in coda position, and syllable-final [ʎ] appears only as an allophone of /l/ in rapid speech.[39]

The alveolar trill [r] and the alveolar tap [ɾ] are in phonemic contrast word-internally between vowels (as in carro 'car' vs caro 'expensive'), but are otherwise in complementary distribution, as long as syllable division is taken into account: the tap occurs after any syllable-initial consonant, while the trill occurs after any syllable-final consonant.[40][41]

Only the trill can occur at the start of a morpheme (e.g. el rey 'the king', la reina 'the queen') or at the start of a syllable when the preceding syllable ends with a consonant, namely /l/, /n/, or /s/ (e.g. alrededor, enriquecer, Israel).

Only the tap can occur after a word-initial obstruent consonant (e.g. tres 'three', frío 'cold').

Either a trill or a tap can be found word-medially after /b/, /d/, /t/ depending on whether the rhotic consonant is pronounced in the same syllable as the preceding obstruent (forming a complex onset cluster) or in a separate syllable (with the obstruent forming the coda of the preceding syllable). The tap is found in words where no morpheme boundary separates the obstruent from the following rhotic consonant, such as sobre 'over', madre 'mother', ministro 'minister'. The trill is found in words where the rhotic consonant is preceded by a morpheme boundary and thus a syllable boundary, such as subrayar, ciudadrealeño, postromántico;[42] compare the corresponding word-initial trills in raya 'line', Ciudad Real "Ciudad Real", and romántico "Romantic".

In syllable-final position inside a word, the tap is more frequent, but the trill can also occur (especially in emphatic[43] or oratorical[44] style) with no semantic difference—thus arma ('weapon') may be either [ˈaɾma] (tap) or [ˈarma] (trill).[45] In word-final position the rhotic is usually:

• either a tap or a trill when followed by a consonant or a pause, as in amo[ɾ ~ r] paterno ('paternal love'), the former being more common;[46]
• a tap when followed by a vowel-initial word, as in amo[ɾ] eterno ('eternal love').

Morphologically, a word-final rhotic always corresponds to the tapped [ɾ] in related words. Thus the word olor 'smell' is related to olores, oloroso 'smells, smelly' and not to *olorres, *olorroso.[8]

When two rhotics occur consecutively across a word or prefix boundary, they result in one trill, so that da rocas ('s/he gives rocks') and dar rocas ('to give rocks') are either neutralized or distinguished by a longer trill in the latter phrase.[47]

The tap/trill alternation has prompted a number of authors to postulate a single underlying rhotic; the intervocalic contrast then results from gemination (e.g. tierra /ˈtieɾɾa/ > [ˈtjera] 'earth').[48][49][50]

The phonemes /θ/, /s/,[9] and /f/[51][52] may be voiced before voiced consonants as in jazmín ('Jasmine') [xaðˈmin], rasgo ('feature') [ˈrazɣo], and Afganistán ('Afghanistan') [avɣanisˈtan]. There is a certain amount of free variation in this so that jazmín can be pronounced [xaθˈmin] or [xaðˈmin].[53] This may occur across word boundaries, causing feliz navidad ('merry Christmas') /feˈliθ nabiˈdad/ to be pronounced [feˈlið naβ̞iˈð̞að̞].[12] In one region of Spain, the area around Madrid, word-final /d/ is sometimes pronounced [θ] especially in a colloquial pronunciation of its name, Madriz ([maˈðɾiθ]^ⓘ).[54] (In some words now spelled with -z- before a voiced consonant, the phoneme /θ/ is in fact diachronically derived from original [ð] or /d/. For example, yezgo comes from Old Spanish yedgo and juzgar comes from Old Spanish judgar, from Latin jūdicāre.[55])

Both in casual and formal speech, there is no phonemic contrast between voiced and voiceless consonants placed in syllable-final position. The merged phoneme is typically pronounced as a relaxed, voiced fricative or approximant,[56] although a variety of other realizations are also possible. So the clusters -bt- and -pt- in the words obtener and optimista are pronounced exactly the same way:

• obtener /obteˈner/ > [oβteˈneɾ]
• optimista /obtiˈmista/ > [oβtiˈmista]

Similarly, the spellings -dm- and -tm- are often merged in pronunciation, as well as -gd- and -cd-:

• adminículo /admiˈnikulo/ > [aðmiˈnikulo]^ⓘ
• atmosférico /admosˈfeɾiko/ > [aðmosˈfeɾiko]^ⓘ
• amígdala /aˈmiɡdala/ > [aˈmiɣðala]^ⓘ
• anécdota /aˈneɡdota/ > [aˈneɣðota]^ⓘ

Phonetic nasalization occurs for vowels occurring between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal, e.g. cinco [ˈθĩŋko] ('five') and mano [ˈmãno] ('hand').[69]

Arguably, Eastern Andalusian and Murcian Spanish have ten phonemic vowels, with each of the above vowels paired by a lowered or fronted and lengthened version, e.g. la madre [la ˈmaðɾe] ('the mother') vs. las madres [læː ˈmæːðɾɛː] ('the mothers').[72] However, these are more commonly analyzed as allophones triggered by an underlying /s/ that is subsequently deleted.

There is no agreement among scholars on how many vowel allophones Spanish has; an often[73] postulated number is five [i, u, e̞, o̞, a̠].

Some scholars,[74] however, state that Spanish has eleven allophones: the close and mid vowels have close [i, u, e, o] and open [ɪ, ʊ, ɛ, ɔ] allophones, whereas /a/ appears in front [a], central [a̠] and back [ɑ] variants. These symbols appear only in the narrowest variant of phonetic transcription; in broader variants, only the symbols ⟨i, u, e, o, a⟩ are used,[75] and that is the convention adopted in the rest of this article.

Tomás Navarro Tomás describes the distribution of said eleven allophones as follows:[76]

• Close vowels /i, u/
  • The close allophones [i, u] appear in open syllables, e.g. in the words libre [ˈliβɾe] 'free' and subir [suˈβɪɾ] 'to raise'
  • The open allophones are phonetically near-close [ɪ, ʊ], and appear:
    • In closed syllables, e.g. in the word fin [fɪn] 'end'
    • In both open and closed syllables when in contact with /r/, e.g. in the words rico [ˈrɪko] 'rich' and rubio [ˈrʊβjo] 'blond'
    • In both open and closed syllables when before /x/, e.g. in the words hijo [ˈɪxo] 'son' and pujó [pʊˈxo] 's/he bid'
• Mid front vowel /e/
  • The close allophone is phonetically close-mid [e], and appears:
    • In open syllables, e.g. in the word dedo [ˈdeðo] 'finger'
    • In closed syllables when before /m, n, t, θ, s/, e.g. in the word Valencia [ba̠ˈlenθja̠] 'Valencia'
  • The open allophone is phonetically open-mid [ɛ], and appears:
    • In open syllables when in contact with /r/, e.g. in the words guerra [ˈɡɛra̠] 'war' and reto [ˈrɛto] challenge
    • In closed syllables when not followed by /m, n, t, θ, s/, e.g. in the word belga [ˈbɛlɣa̠] 'Belgian'
    • In the diphthong /ei/, e.g. in the words peine [ˈpɛjne] 'comb' and rey [ˈrɛj] king
• Mid back vowel /o/
  • The close allophone is phonetically close-mid [o], and appears in open syllables, e.g. in the word como [ˈkomo] 'how'
  • The open allophone is phonetically open-mid [ɔ], and appears:
    • In closed syllables, e.g. in the word con [kɔn] 'with'
    • In both open and closed syllables when in contact with /r/, e.g. in the words corro [ˈkɔrɔ] 'I run', barro [ˈba̠rɔ] 'mud', and roble [ˈrɔβle] 'oak'
    • In both open and closed syllables when before /x/, e.g. in the word ojo [ˈɔxo] 'eye'
    • In the diphthong /oi/, e.g. in the word hoy [ɔj] 'today'
    • In stressed position when preceded by /a/ and followed by either /ɾ/ or /l/, e.g. in the word ahora [ɑˈɔɾa̠] 'now'
• Open vowel /a/
  • The front allophone [a] appears:
    • Before palatal consonants, e.g. in the word despacho [desˈpatʃo] 'office'
    • In the diphthong /ai/, e.g. in the word aire [ˈajɾe] 'air'
  • The back allophone [ɑ] appears:
    • Before the back vowels /u, o/, e.g. in the word flauta [ˈflɑwta̠] 'flute'
    • In closed syllables before /l/, e.g. in the word sal [sɑl] 'salt'
    • In both open and closed syllables when before /x/, e.g. in the word tajada [tɑˈxa̠ða̠] 'chop'
  • The central allophone [a̠] appears in all other cases, e.g. in the word casa [ˈka̠sa̠]

According to Eugenio Martínez Celdrán, however, systematic classification of Spanish allophones is impossible due to the fact that their occurrence varies from speaker to speaker and from region to region. According to him, the exact degree of openness of Spanish vowels depends not so much on the phonetic environment, but rather on various external factors accompanying speech.[77]

Spanish has six falling diphthongs and eight rising diphthongs. While many diphthongs are historically the result of a recategorization of vowel sequences (hiatus) as diphthongs, there is still lexical contrast between diphthongs and hiatus.[80] There are also some lexical items that vary amongst speakers and dialects between hiatus and diphthong: words like biólogo ('biologist') with a potential diphthong in the first syllable and words like diálogo with a stressed or pretonic sequence of /i/ and a vowel vary between a diphthong and hiatus.[81] Chițoran & Hualde (2007) hypothesize that this is because vocalic sequences are longer in these positions.

In addition to synalepha across word boundaries, sequences of vowels in hiatus become diphthongs in fast speech; when this happens, one vowel becomes non-syllabic (unless they are the same vowel, in which case they fuse together) as in poeta [ˈpo̯eta] ('poet') and maestro [ˈmae̯stɾo] ('teacher').[82] Similarly, the relatively rare diphthong /eu/ may be reduced to [u] in certain unstressed contexts, as in Eufemia, [uˈfemja].[83] In the case of verbs like aliviar ('relieve'), diphthongs result from the suffixation of normal verbal morphology onto a stem-final /j/ (that is, aliviar would be |alibj| + |ar|).[84] This contrasts with verbs like ampliar ('to extend') which, by their verbal morphology, seem to have stems ending in /i/.[85]

Non-syllabic /e/ and /o/ can be reduced to [j], [w], as in beatitud [bjatiˈtuð] ('beatitude') and poetisa [pweˈtisa] ('poetess'), respectively; similarly, non-syllabic /a/ can be completely elided, as in (e.g. ahorita [oˈɾita] 'right away'). The frequency (though not the presence) of this phenomenon differs amongst dialects, with a number having it occur rarely and others exhibiting it always.[86]

Spanish also possesses triphthongs like /uei/ and, in dialects that use a second person plural conjugation, /iai/, /iei/, and /uai/ (e.g. buey, 'ox'; cambiáis, 'you change'; cambiéis, '(that) you may change'; and averiguáis, 'you ascertain').[87]

Because of the phonotactic constraints, an epenthetic /e/ is inserted before word-initial clusters beginning with /s/ (e.g. escribir 'to write') but not word-internally (transcribir 'to transcribe'),[111] thereby moving the initial /s/ to a separate syllable. The epenthetic /e/ is pronounced even when it is not reflected in spelling (e.g. the surname of Carlos Slim is pronounced /esˈlin/). While Spanish words undergo word-initial epenthesis, cognates in Latin and Italian do not:

• Lat. status /ˈsta.tus/ ('state') ~ It. stato /ˈsta.to/ ~ Sp. estado /esˈta.do/
• Lat. splendidus /ˈsplen.di.dus/ ('splendid') ~ It. splendido /ˈsplen.di.do/ ~ Sp. espléndido /esˈplen.di.do/
• Fr. slave /slav/ ('Slav') ~ It. slavo /ˈzla.vo/ ~ Sp. eslavo /esˈla.bo/

In addition, Spanish adopts foreign words starting with pre-nasalized consonants with an epenthetic /e/. Nguema, a prominent last name from Equatorial Guinea, is pronounced as [eŋˈɡema].[112]

When adapting word-final complex codas that show rising sonority, an epenthetic /e/ is inserted between the two consonants. For example, al Sadr is typically pronounced [al.sa.ðeɾ].[113]

Occasionally Spanish speakers are faced with onset clusters containing elements of equal or near-equal sonority, such as Knoll (a German last name, common in parts of South America). Assimilated borrowings usually delete the first element in such clusters, for example (p)sicología 'psychology'. When attempting to pronounce such words for the first time without deleting the first consonant, Spanish speakers insert a short, often devoiced, schwa-like svarabhakti vowel between the two consonants.[114]

Spanish syllable structure is phrasal, resulting in syllables consisting of phonemes from neighboring words in combination, sometimes even resulting in elision. The phenomenon is known in Spanish as enlace.[115] For a brief discussion contrasting Spanish and English syllable structure, see Whitley (2002:32–35).

Phonological development varies greatly by individual, both those developing regularly and those with delays. However, a general pattern of acquisition of phonemes can be inferred by the level of complexity of their features, i.e. by sound classes.[116] A hierarchy may be constructed, and if a child is capable of producing discrimination on one level, they will also be capable of making the discriminations of all prior levels.[117]

• The first level consists of stops (without a voicing distinction), nasals, [l], and optionally, a non-lateral approximant. This includes a labial/coronal place difference (for example, [b] vs [t] and [l] vs [β]).
• The second level includes voicing distinction for oral stops and a coronal/dorsal place difference. This allows for a distinction between [p], [t], and [k], along with their voiced counterparts, as well as a distinction between [l] and the approximant [j].
• The third level includes fricatives and/or affricates.
• The fourth level introduces liquids other than [l], [ɹ] and [ɾ]. It also introduces [θ].
• The fifth level introduces the trill [r].

This hierarchy is based on production only, and is a representation of a child's capacity to produce a sound, whether that sound is the correct target in adult speech or not. Thus, it may contain some sounds that are not included in adult phonology but are produced as a result of error.

Spanish-speaking children will accurately produce most segments at a relatively early age. By around three-and-a-half years, they will no longer productively use phonological processes the majority of the time. Some common error patterns (found 10% or more of the time) are cluster reduction, liquid simplification, and stopping. Less common patterns (evidenced less than 10% of the time) include palatal fronting, assimilation, and final consonant deletion.[118]

Typical phonological analyses of Spanish consider the consonants /b/, /d/, and /ɡ/ the underlying phonemes and their corresponding approximants [β], [ð], and [ɣ] allophonic and derivable by phonological rules. However, approximants may be the more basic form because monolingual Spanish-learning children learn to produce the continuant contrast between [p t k] and [β ð ɣ] before they do the lead voicing contrast between [p t k] and [b d ɡ].[119] (In comparison, English-learning children are able to produce adult-like voicing contrasts for these stops well before age three.)[120] The allophonic distribution of [b d ɡ] and [β ð ɣ] produced in adult speech is not learned until after age two and not fully mastered even at age four.[119]

The alveolar trill [r] is one of the most difficult sounds to produce in Spanish and, as a result, is acquired later in development.[121] Research suggests that the alveolar trill is acquired and developed between the ages of three and six years.[122] Some children acquire an adult-like trill within this period, and some fail to properly acquire the trill. The attempted trill sound of the poor trillers is often perceived as a series of taps owing to hyperactive tongue movement during production.[123]

The trill is also often very difficult for those learning Spanish as a second language, sometimes taking over a year to be produced properly.[124]

One research study found that children acquire medial codas before final codas, and stressed codas before unstressed codas.[125] Since medial codas are often stressed and must undergo place assimilation, greater importance is accorded to their acquisition.[110] Liquid and nasal codas occur word-medially and at the ends of frequently used function words, so they are often acquired first.[126]

Research suggests that children overgeneralize stress rules when they are reproducing novel Spanish words and that they have a tendency to stress the penultimate syllables of antepenultimately stressed words, to avoid a violation of nonverb stress rules that they have acquired.[127] Many of the most frequent words heard by children have irregular stress patterns or are verbs, which violate nonverb stress rules.[128] This complicates stress rules until ages three to four, when stress acquisition is essentially complete, and children begin to apply these rules to novel irregular situations.

One notable dialectal feature is the merging of the voiced palatal approximant [ʝ] (as in ayer) with the palatal lateral approximant [ʎ] (as in calle) into one phoneme (yeísmo), with /ʎ/ losing its laterality. While the distinction between these two sounds has traditionally been a feature of Castilian Spanish, this merger has spread throughout most of Spain in recent generations, particularly outside of regions in close linguistic contact with Catalan and Basque.[130] In Spanish America, most dialects are characterized by this merger, with the distinction persisting mostly in parts of Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and northwestern Argentina.[131] In the other parts of Argentina, the phoneme resulting from the merger is realized as [ʒ];[9] and in Buenos Aires the sound has recently been devoiced to [ʃ] among the younger population; the change is spreading throughout Argentina.[132]

Most dialects in Spanish from Spain have [s] / [θ] contrast (distinción), while [θ] is absent in Latin America and parts of Spain (seseo).

Speakers in northern and central Spain, including the variety prevalent on radio and television, have both /θ/ and /s/ (distinción, 'distinction'). However, speakers in Latin America, Canary Islands and some parts of southern Spain have only /s/ (seseo), which in southernmost Spain is pronounced [θ] and not [s] (ceceo).[9]

The phoneme /s/ has three different pronunciations depending on the dialect area:[9][37][133]

1. An apical alveolar retracted fricative (or "apico-alveolar" fricative) [s̺], which sounds similar to English /ʃ/ and is characteristic of the northern and central parts of Spain and is also used by many speakers in Colombia's Antioquia department.[134][135]
2. A laminal alveolar grooved fricative [s], much like the most common pronunciation of English /s/, is characteristic of western Andalusia (e.g. Málaga, Seville, and Cádiz), the Canary Islands, and Latin America.
3. An apical dental grooved fricative [s̄] (ad hoc symbol), which has a lisping quality and sounds something like a cross between English /s/ and /θ/ but is different from the /θ/ occurring in dialects that distinguish /s/ and /θ/. It occurs only in dialects with ceceo, mostly in Granada, in parts of Jaén, in the southern part of Sevilla and the mountainous areas shared between Cádiz and Málaga.

Obaid describes the apico-alveolar sound as follows:[136]

There is a Castilian s, which is a voiceless, concave, apicoalveolar fricative: the tip of the tongue turned upward forms a narrow opening against the alveoli of the upper incisors. It resembles a faint /ʃ/ and is found throughout much of the northern half of Spain.

Dalbor describes the apico-dental sound as follows:[137]

[s̄] is a voiceless, corono-dentoalveolar groove fricative, the so-called s coronal or s plana because of the relatively flat shape of the tongue body ... To this writer, the coronal [s̄], heard throughout Andalusia, should be characterized by such terms as "soft," "fuzzy," or "imprecise," which, as we shall see, brings it quite close to one variety of /θ/ ... Canfield has referred, quite correctly, in our opinion, to this [s̄] as "the lisping coronal-dental," and Amado Alonso remarks how close it is to the post-dental [θ̦], suggesting a combined symbol ⟨θˢ̣⟩ to represent it.

In some dialects, /s/ may become the approximant [ɹ] in the syllable coda (e.g. doscientos [doɹˈθjentos] 'two hundred').[138] In southern dialects in Spain, most lowland dialects in the Americas, and in the Canary Islands, it debuccalizes to [h] in final position (e.g. niños [ˈniɲoh] 'children'), or before another consonant (e.g. fósforo [ˈfohfoɾo] 'match') so the change occurs in the coda position in a syllable. In Spain, this was originally a southern feature, but it is now expanding rapidly to the north.[28]

From an autosegmental point of view, the /s/ phoneme in Madrid is defined only by its voiceless and fricative features. Thus, the point of articulation is not defined and is determined from the sounds following it in the word or sentence. In Madrid, the following realizations are found: /pesˈkado/ > [pexˈkao][139] and /ˈfosfoɾo/ > [ˈfofːoɾo]. In parts of southern Spain, the only feature defined for /s/ appears to be voiceless; it may lose its oral articulation entirely to become [h] or even a geminate with the following consonant ([ˈmihmo] or [ˈmimːo] from /ˈmismo/ 'same').[140] In Eastern Andalusian and Murcian Spanish, word-final /s/, /θ/ and /x/ regularly weaken, and the preceding vowel is lowered and lengthened:[141]

/is/ > [ɪː] e.g. mis [mɪː] ('my' pl)

/es/ > [ɛː] e.g. mes [mɛː] ('month')

/as/ > [æː] e.g. más [mæː] ('plus')

/os/ > [ɔː] e.g. tos [tɔː] ('cough')

/us/ > [ʊː] e.g. tus [tʊː] ('your' pl)

A subsequent process of vowel harmony takes place so lejos ('far') is [ˈlɛxɔ], tenéis ('you [plural] have') is [tɛˈnɛj] and tréboles ('clovers') is [ˈtɾɛβɔlɛ] or [ˈtɾɛβolɛ].[142]

Southern European Spanish (Andalusian Spanish, Murcian Spanish, etc.) and several lowland dialects in Latin America (such as those from the Caribbean, Panama, and the Atlantic coast of Colombia) exhibit more extreme forms of simplification of coda consonants:

• word-final dropping of /s/ (e.g. compás [komˈpa] 'musical beat' or 'compass')
• word-final dropping of nasals with nasalization of the preceding vowel (e.g. ven [bẽ] 'come')
• dropping of /r/ in the infinitival morpheme (e.g. comer [koˈme] 'to eat')
• the occasional dropping of coda consonants word-internally (e.g. doctor [doˈto(r)] 'doctor').[143]

The dropped consonants appear when additional suffixation occurs (e.g. compases [komˈpase] 'beats', venían [beˈni.ã] 'they were coming', comeremos [komeˈɾemo] 'we will eat'). Similarly, a number of coda assimilations occur:

• /l/ and /r/ may neutralize to [j] (e.g. Cibaeño Dominican celda/cerda [ˈsejða] 'cell'/'bristle'), to [l] (e.g. Caribbean Spanish alma/arma [ˈalma] 'soul'/'weapon', Andalusian Spanish sartén [salˈtẽ] 'pan'), to [r] (e.g. Andalusian Spanish alma/arma [ˈarma]) or, by complete regressive assimilation, to a copy of the following consonant (e.g. pulga/purga [ˈpuɡːa] 'flea'/'purge', carne [ˈkanːe] 'meat').[143]
• /s/, /x/, (and /θ/ in southern Peninsular Spanish) and /f/ may be debuccalized or elided in the coda (e.g. los amigos [lo(h) aˈmiɣo(h)] 'the friends').[144]
• Stops and nasals may be realized as velar (e.g. Cuban and Venezuelan étnico [ˈeɡniko] 'ethnic', himno [ˈiŋno] 'anthem').[144]

Final /d/ dropping (e.g. mitad [miˈta] 'half') is general in most dialects of Spanish, even in formal speech.[145]

The neutralization of syllable-final /p/, /t/, and /k/ is widespread in most dialects (with e.g. Pepsi being pronounced [ˈpeksi]). It does not face as much stigma as other neutralizations, and may go unnoticed.[146]

The deletions and neutralizations show variability in their occurrence, even with the same speaker in the same utterance, so nondeleted forms exist in the underlying structure.[147] The dialects may not be on the path to eliminating coda consonants since deletion processes have been existing for more than four centuries.[148] Guitart (1997) argues that it is the result of speakers acquiring multiple phonological systems with uneven control like that of second language learners.

In Standard European Spanish, the voiced obstruents /b, d, ɡ/ before a pause are devoiced and laxed to [β̥˕, ð̥˕, ɣ̊˕], as in club [kluβ̥˕] ('[social] club'), sed [seð̥] ('thirst'), zigzag [θiɣˈθaɣ̊˕].[149] However, word-final /b/ is rare, and /ɡ/ even more so. They are restricted mostly to loanwords and foreign names, such as the first name of former Real Madrid sports director Predrag Mijatović, which is pronounced [ˈpɾeð̞ɾaɣ̊˕]; and after another consonant, the voiced obstruent may even be deleted, as in iceberg, pronounced [iθeˈβeɾ].[150] In Madrid and its environs, sed is alternatively pronounced [seθ], where the aforementioned alternative pronunciation of word-final /d/ as [θ] coexists with the standard realization,[151] but is otherwise nonstandard.[54]

The fricative /ʃ/ may also appear in borrowings from other languages, such as Nahuatl[152] and English.[153] In addition, the affricates /t͡s/ and /t͡ɬ/ also occur in Nahuatl borrowings.[152] That said, the onset cluster /tl/ is permitted in most of Latin America, the Canaries, and the northwest of Spain, and the fact that it is pronounced in the same amount of time as the other voiceless stop + lateral clusters /pl/ and /kl/ support an analysis of the /tl/ sequence as a cluster rather than an affricate in Mexican Spanish.[107][108]

El Viento del Norte y el Sol discutían por saber quién era el más fuerte de los dos. Mientras discutían, se acercó un viajero cubierto en un cálido abrigo. Entonces decidieron que el más fuerte sería quien lograse despojar al viajero de su abrigo. El Viento del Norte empezó, soplando tan fuerte como podía, pero entre más fuerte soplaba, el viajero más se arropaba. Entonces, el Viento desistió. Se llegó el turno del Sol, quien comenzó a brillar con fuerza. Esto hizo que el viajero sintiera calor y por ello se quitó su abrigo. Entonces el Viento del Norte tuvo que reconocer que el Sol era el más fuerte de los dos.

/el ˈbiento del ˈnoɾte i el ˈsol diskuˈti.an poɾ saˈbeɾ ˈkien ˈeɾa el ˈmas ˈfueɾte de los ˈdos ‖ mientɾas diskuˈti.an se aseɾˈko un biaˈxeɾo kuˈbieɾto en un ˈkalido aˈbɾiɡo | enˈtonses desiˈdieɾon ke el ˈmas ˈfueɾte seˈɾi.a kien loˈɡɾase despoˈxaɾ al biaˈxeɾo de su aˈbɾiɡo ‖ el ˈbiento del ˈnoɾte empeˈso soˈplando tan ˈfueɾte komo poˈdi.a | peɾo entɾe ˈmas ˈfueɾte soˈplaba el biaˈxeɾo ˈmas se aroˈpaba | enˈtonses el ˈbiento desisˈtio | se ʝeˈɡo el ˈtuɾno del ˈsol kien komenˈso a bɾiˈʝaɾ kon ˈfueɾsa | ˈesto ˈiso ke el biaˈxeɾo sinˈtieɾa kaˈloɾ i poɾ ˈeʝo se kiˈto su aˈbɾiɡo ‖ enˈtonses el ˈbiento del ˈnoɾte ˈtubo ke rekonoˈseɾ ke el ˈsol ˈeɾa el ˈmas ˈfueɾte de los ˈdos/

[el ˈβjento ðel ˈnoɾte j‿el ˈsol diskuˈti.am por saˈβeɾ ˈkjen eɾa‿e̯l ˈmas ˈfweɾte ðe los ˈðos ‖ ˈmjentɾas ðiskuˈti.an ˌse̯‿aseɾˈko‿wm bjaˈxeɾo kuˈβjeɾto̯‿en uŋ ˈkaliðo̯‿aˈβɾiɣo | enˈtonses ðesiˈðjeɾoŋ k‿el ˈmas ˈfweɾte seˈɾi.a kjen loˈɣɾase ðespoˈxaɾ al βjaˈxeɾo ðe swaˈβɾiɣo ‖ el ˈβjento ðel ˌnoɾt‿empeˈso soˈplando taɱ ˈfweɾte ˌkomo poˈði.a | ˈpeɾo̯‿entɾe ˈmas ˈfweɾte soˈplaβa el βjaˈxeɾo ˈmas ˌse̯‿aroˈpaβa | enˈtonses el ˈβjento ðesisˈtjo | se ʝeˈɣo̯‿el ˈtuɾno ðel sol ˌkjeŋ komenˈso̯‿a βɾiˈʝar koɱ ˈfweɾsa | ˈesto‿jso k‿el βjaxeɾo sinˈtjeɾa kaˈloɾ i poɾ eʝo se kiˈto swaˈβɾiɣo ‖ enˈtonses el ˈβjento ðel ˈnoɾte ˈtuβo ke rekonoˈseɾ ˌkel ˈsol ˈeɾa‿e̯l ˈmas ˈfweɾte ðe los ˈðos]