How to read and say Catalan

Written Catalan is less phonetic than Spanish or Italian, but it is definitely less complicated to pronounce than French or English. It has variations from one region to another; the model presented here is the standard pronunciation, similar to the language of the region of Barcelona. Each of the following dialectal groups has its differences in pronunciation and vocabulary: Western (Lleida province and Ebre river basin), Balearic, Valencian.

Vowels

To know how to pronounce vowels in Catalan, it is necessary to know the stressed syllable of the word; a, e, and o change if they are in the stressed syllable or an unstressed one. In other words, some vowels are reduced when unstressed.

a

stressed as the 'a' in "article" [ah] (IPA: a), and unstressed 'a' in "sofa" [uh] (IPA: ə)

e

stressed as the 'e' in "pet" (IPA: ɛ​) or the 'ea' in "bear" [eh] (IPA: e), and unstressed 'e' in "open" [uh] (IPA: ə)

i

like 'ee' in "bee" (IPA: i)

o

stressed as the 'o' in "hot" (IPA: ɔ) and "port" [oh] (IPA: o), unstressed 'oo' in "zoo" [oo] (IPA: u)

u

silent between 'g' and 'e/i' and between 'q' and 'e/i', elsewhere as 'u' in "flute" [oo] (IPA: u)

Watch for the different accent signs in e and o: è sounds always as 'e' in "bed", é sounds as 'ea' in "bear", ò sounds as 'o' in "bond" and ó sounds like the 'o' in "score". Stress usually falls on the second-last syllable, unless the word ends in a consonant or consonant cluster or it has a written accent. Also, two dots over 'i' or 'u', 'ї' 'ü', indicate that the vowel sound should be pronounced as a separate syllable: Ensaïmada [ehn-SUH-ee-mah-duh] (sweet pastry), diürn [dee-oorn] (in day time).

Consonants

b

like 'b' in "bed" (IPA: b)

c

when followed by 'e' or 'i', like 'c' in "cell" (IPA: s), otherwise like 'k' in "skull" (IPA: k)

ç

like 'c' in "cell" (IPA: s)

d

like 'd' in "dog" (IPA: d)

f

like 'f' in "fine" (IPA: f)

g

when followed by 'e' or 'i', like 'j' in "James" or 's' in "pleasure" (IPA: ʒ), otherwise like "g" in "go" (IPA: g); in clusters "gue" and "gui", the "u" is silent, unless it bears a diaeresis, as in "güe" and "güi"; in clusters gua,guo,güe,güi, the two first letters like 'Gu' in McGuire or 'w' in "wire"; notice the group -ig after a vowel sounds like "ch" (IPA: ​t͡ʃ).

h

silent

j

like 'j' as in "Jean" (French pronunciation); or 's' in "pleasure" (IPA: ʒ)

k

like 'k' in "skull" (IPA: k)

l

like 'l' in "love" at the beginning of a word (IPA: l) and dark 'l' elsewhere, like English "file" (IPA: ɫ).

ll

like 'lli' in "million" (palatalized l) (IPA: ʎ), same as Portuguese "lh"

l·l

like a double or long dark 'l' (IPA: ɫː). It only occurs between vowels.

m

like 'm' in "mother" (IPA: m)

n

like 'n' in "nice" (IPA: n), and like 'n' in "anchor"

ny

like the Spanish "ñ" as in Señor; or US English 'ny' in "canyon" (IPA: ​ɲ).

p

like 'p' in "spoof" (IPA: p)

q

in clusters "que" and "qui", the "u" is silent and "qu" is pronounced as (IPA: k), unless it bears a diaeresis, as in "qüe" and "qüi"; in clusters qua,quo,qüe,qüi, the two first letters like 'Qu' in "quit"

r

a tap (IPA: ​ɾ), like 'tt' in American English "butter"; except at the beginning of a word, where it is realised as a trill (IPA: r) or so called "rolled R".

rr

a trilled r (IPA: r)

s

like 's' in "sun" (IPA: s) except when is between vowels, when it sounds like 'z' in "zone" (IPA: z). Sometimes pronounced like a soft "sh".

ss

like 'ss' in "hiss" (IPA: s). Always goes between vowels.

t

like 't' in "stop" (IPA: t)

tj

pronounced like the 'j' in "Jeans" (IPA: d͡ʒ)

tx

pronounced like the 'ch' as in "chip" (IPA: ​t͡ʃ)

v

like 'b' in "bed"

w

like 'w' in "weight" in most English words, like 'b' in "bed" in Germanic words or Catalanised words as ""wàter" (WC) that sounds BAH-tehr

x

like 'sh' in "short" (IPA: ʃ), except if it is between two vowels, when it sounds like the x as in "Axel" (IPA: ks); notice the group -ix after a vowel sounds like "sh" (IPA: ʃ) as well.

z

like 'z' in "zone" (IPA: z)