Spanish Phonology, Orthography, and Accentuation
This domain tests your ability to analyze the sound system and spelling conventions of Spanish, including regional pronunciation variation. Questions may ask you to identify syllable divisions, explain allophonic variation, or apply accent rules to unfamiliar words.
Vowel System and Diphthongs
Spanish has five vowel phonemes /a e i o u/, each with relatively stable quality. Strong vowels (a, e, o) form separate syllables when adjacent (hiatus: le-er), while weak vowels (i, u) combine with other vowels to form diphthongs (ai, au, ei, eu, oi, ou, ia, ie, io, iu, ua, ue, ui, uo) or triphthongs (buey, Uruguay). An accent mark breaks a diphthong into hiatus: ba-úl vs. bau-la.
Consonant Allophones and Dialect Variation
Voiced stops /b d g/ become approximants [β ð ɣ] between vowels (nube [ˈnuβe], nada [ˈnaða], amigo [aˈmiɣo]). In Caribbean and coastal varieties, syllable-final /s/ may aspirate or delete (los amigos [lo(h)‿aˈmiɣo]), and /r/ vs. /ɾ/ remain phonemic (perro vs. pero). The letters b/v represent the same phoneme; c before e/i and z in most of Spain are voiceless dental fricatives [θ], while in Latin America they merge with /s/ (seseo). The digraph ll and letter y vary from palatal lateral to palatal approximant.
Stress and Written Accents
Words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s are stressed on the penultimate syllable; words ending in any other consonant are stressed on the final syllable. Any exception carries a written accent. Hiatus and diphthong distinctions affect syllabification and accent placement.
Worked Example
Explain why "exámenes" carries an accent. Syllabify: e-xá-me-nes (four syllables). Stress falls on the antepenultimate syllable (xá), which is an exception to the penultimate rule because the word ends in -s. Therefore a written accent marks the stressed vowel. Without the accent, "examenes" would be stressed on "me" (penultimate) under the default rule.
Traps
Do not assume English stress patterns; do not treat every adjacent vowel as a diphthong; remember that accent marks also distinguish homophones (sí/si, él/el, más/mas). Dialect questions may contrast aspirated /s/ with standard pronunciation.