Linguistics of Spanish: Phonology, Morphology, Syntax
Core knowledge
Phonology. Spanish has five vowel phonemes and roughly nineteen consonants. Know the major allophonic patterns: voiced stops /b d g/ become approximants between vowels ([β ð ɣ]); nasals assimilate to the following consonant; the tap/trill contrast is phonemic (pero vs. perro). Know the dialectal variables: seseo (merger of /θ/ and /s/), distinción (central-northern Spain), ceceo, yeísmo, aspiration or loss of syllable-final /s/, and the velar vs. glottal realization of /x/. Morphology. Gender and number marking, article agreement, verb inflection for tense/mood/aspect/person, pronoun systems (tuteo, voseo, ustedeo) and clitics, including leísmo/laísmo/loísmo. Syntax. Spanish is a null-subject language with flexible word order and heavy use of se impersonal and passive-reflexive constructions.
Traps
- Assuming peninsular usage is the unmarked norm; seseo is far more widespread worldwide than distinción.
- Confusing the written accent with stress itself. The accent mark marks exceptions to the default stress rule.
- Assuming every noun ending in -a is feminine (el problema, el día) or every -o noun masculine (la mano).
- Using the subjunctive after creer que when the speaker asserts the truth of the complement.
Rule of thumb
Default stress: words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s are stressed on the penultimate syllable; all others on the final syllable. If actual stress differs, write an accent. Example: examen (exa-men, penultimate, ends in -n, no accent) but exámenes (ex-á-menes, antepenultimate, requires the accent).