The vowels are, a, e, i, o, u, y.

Pronounce them, ah, ay, ee, oh, oo, ee. They have invariably the same sound, and must be fully and distinctly pronounced.

The vowels are never silent, except u, in the syllables gue, gui, que, qui. When the u is to be sounded in them, it is marked with a diæresis (¨) over it; thus, argüir, ar-goo-ir.

The syllables in which the consonants are pronounced differently from the English, are the following. The letters in italics under them express their respective sounds.

CH.
Pronounce it invariably as in the English words chap, chess, cheese.

J before all the vowels, and g before e or i, have the sound of the English h, more harshly aspirated.

LL.

LL is not a double consonant in Spanish, consequently it must not be divided in spelling. It sounds like ll in English in million; but it must be pronounced more quickly and stronger. In some parts of the Mexican states it is sounded somewhat like the Spanish y consonant, with which they confound it in writing; and in manuscript we frequently see cabayo instead of caballo.

N has a strong nasal sound, like n in poniard. The gn in French gives its sound.

The syllables qua, qüe, qüi, quo, are at present written with c, which see above.

V must be pronounced as in English. Its sound is so slender in Spanish, that most generally it is confounded with the b: but such pronunciation must not be imitated. It is frequently used in manuscript instead of the capital U; thus,

Vnion y Libertad, instead of Union y Libertad.

X.

X, in conformity with the new orthography, is to represent solely the sound of cs; but the greater part of the people pronounce and write only the s; thus, estranjero, instead of extranjero, (ex-tran-her´-oh.)

Y.

Y is a vowel when it is followed by a consonant, or terminates a word, and then it sounds like ee. It is a consonant when it is before a vowel, and then it sounds somewhat like English j. In some parts of America it is generally pronounced as ee; thus, suyo, soo´-ee-o.

N. B.—Of late years, some persons write i instead of y in ai, y, convoi, &c., but the Academy retains the y. In manuscript, Y is to be used instead of I, whenever this letter must be a capital.

Z.

Z, before all the vowels, is pronounced like th lisped in the English words thank, theft, thin, path, truth.

In Spanish America z is generally pronounced s, and also frequently written instead of that letter.