How to read and say Galician

Galician sounds are similar to Portuguese, but nasalization is not nearly as pervasive. The letter x, pronounced sh in both languages, is used mainly in Galician words; whereas in Portuguese words the letters j or g are used and pronounced like "zh".

Vowels

a

like father

e (stressed)

like set, ten

e (unstressed)

like herd

i

like machine

o (stressed)

like hot, top (British pronunciation)

o (unstressed)

like sort

u

like soup or book

Consonants

b

like 'b' in "bed": bico ('kiss').

c + e, i

like 's' in "supper" (western Galicia) or 'th' in "think" (eastern Galicia): cedo ('early').

c + a, o, u

like 'k' in "key": can ('dog').

d

like 'd' in "day": data ('date').

f

like 'ph' in "phone": ferro ('iron').

g

like 'g' in "gone". In western Galicia, g is sometimes aspirated, like 'h' in "house": xogo ('game'). If followed by e or i, g must be written with a silent u: xoguete ('toy'), preguiza ('laziness'). If followed by a pronounced u and then by e or i, that u bears a diaeresis: bilingüe ('bilingual'), Güiana ('Guyana').

h

silent: harmonía ('harmony').

j

like 'su' in "pleasure"

k

used only in foreign words like "kilo"

l

like 'l' in "love": lúa ('moon').

m

like 'm' in "month": amarelo ('yellow').

n

like 'n' in "nice": nai ('mother'). Like 'ng' in "song" if it's at the end of a word: non ('no').

ñ

like 'ny' in "canyon" : xuño ('June'). Transliterated as nh in Portuguese and ny in Catalan.

p

like 'p' in "party": pai ('father').

q

like 'q' in "unique". Q is almost always followed by a silent u and then by e or i: queixo ('cheese'/'chin'), arquivo ('archive').

r

trill with the tip of the tongue, like other Romance languages: terra ('earth', 'land', 'ground').

s

like 's' in "supper": persoa ('person').

t

like 't' in "top": ter ('to have').

v

like 'b' in "bed": novo ('new').

x

like 'sh' in "shoe": imaxe ('image'), axuda ('help'), xaneiro ('January'), viaxar ('to travel'), lóxico ('logical'), xanela ('window'), cervexa ('beer'), xeral ('general'). Like 'x' in "example" (only in some words): taxi ('taxi'), explorar ('to explore'), texto ('text'), excursión ('trip')

z

like 's' in "supper" (western Galicia) or 'th' in "think" (eastern Galicia): prezo ('price'). Unlike Spanish, Z is never followed by e or i.

Common diphthongs

ai

like say (British pronunciation)

au

like pout

ei

like say (American pronunciation)

eu

the e vowel plus a w semivowel (no equivalent in English)

oi

like boy

ou

as in own

Common digraphs

ch

like 'tch' in "match": chave ('key').

ll

like 'lli' in "million": ollo ('eye'). Same as in Catalan and as lh in "standard" Portuguese.

nh

like the nasal 'n' in "bang" : unha ('one' fem.)