*Note* This is a guide to the pronunciation of the Central Catalan accent, the predominant accent in Barcelona. Pronunciation approximations given in English. Also, given the fact that it is extremely difficult to hear how a language is pronounced via text, it is recommended to find access to spoken Catalan.
// Vowels //
A - Like “a” as in “father”. When unstressed, it makes the “shwa” sound, similar to the “u” in “nut”.
Example: “ara” (AH-ruh): “now”
E - When stressed, it is pronounced as either “ai” as in “straight” or “e” as in “end”*. ”É” is always “ai” and “è” is always “e”. Unstressed, it makes the “shwa” sound, similar to the “u” in “nut”.
Examples: “més” (MEHS): “more”
“èpic” (EH-peek): “epic”
“pare” (PAH-ruh): “father”
I - Always “ea” as in “speak”. Before vowels it becomes "y".
Example: “llibre” (LYEE-bruh): “book”
"iaia" (YA-yuh): "grandma"
O - When stressed, it is pronounced as the “aw” in “dawn” or “o” in “open”*. ”Ò” is always “aw” and “ó” is always “o”. When unstressed, it is pronounced “oo” as in “roof” (not as in “foot” or “book”).
Examples: “gos” (GOHS): “dog”
"Besòs" (buh-ZAWS): river in Barcelona
U - Always “oo” as in “roof” (not as in “foot” or “book”). Before vowels it becomes "w".
Examples: “música” (MOO-zee-kuh)
"aigua" (AY-wuh"): "water"
// Consonants //
B - “B” as in “boy”, though often between vowels it is softened to a sound similar to "b" but without the lips touching, though "b" is an accepted pronunciation. At the end of words it often becomes “p”.
Example: “baixa” (BAH-shuh): “low”
"abaixar" (uh-buh-SHAH): "to lower"
C - Before back vowels (a, o, u) it is “c” as in “cat”, and before front vowels (e, i) it is “c” as in “circle”.
Examples: “carrer” (cuh-RRAY): “street”
“cercle” (SEHR-kluh): “circle”
Ç - Always “s” as in “snake”.
Example: “calçat” (kuhl-SAHT): “pertaining to shoes”
D - At the beginning of words and after consonants (except “r”) it is “d” as in “dog”. Intervocalically (between vowels) it is “th” as in “this”. At the end of words it is “t” as in “top”.
Examples: “darrer” (duh-RRAY): “last”
“Madrid” (muh-THREET): “Madrid”
F - Always “f” as in “fox”.
Example: “afició” (uh-fee-SYOH): “fan of/fans/hobby”
G - At the beginning of words it is “g” as in “got”. Before back vowels (a, o, u) it is “gh” like in “aghast” (this sound is not used in English much anymore, save in some accents) (can simply be pronounced “g” as in “got”). Before front vowels (e, i) it is “s” as in “measure” (“zh” in some transcriptions). Often before “u” it is not pronounced at all. At the end of words it often becomes “k”.
Examples: “guerra” (GEH-rruh): “war”
“amagar” (uh-muh-GHAH): “to hide”
“Girona” (zhee-ROH-nuh): “Girona”
“aigua” (AYE-wuh): “water”
H - Always silent.
Example: “home” (OH-muh): “man”
J - Always “s” as in “measure” (in some accents this will be pronounced with a “y”).
Example: “pluja” (PLOO-zhuh): “rain”
K - Does not exist, save in a few foreign words, especially place names, e.g. Nova York, Kandahar.
L - It has a sound and tongue placement similar to that when saying “ld” in English.
Example: “Barcelona” (buhr-suh-LOHN-uh): “Barcelona”
LL - Similar to “li” in “million”; it is also produced with the tongue at the back of the mouth. Saying it as “y” is accepted. "LL” should not be confused with “l·l”, or “ela geminada”, which is pronounced as a double “l”.
Examples: “vell” (BELY): “old”
“col·legi” (cool-LEZH-ee): “school”
M - Always “m” as in “mother”. When followed by “c”, “p” and “t” those letters are often dropped.
Examples: “mare” (MAH-ruh): “mother”
“camp” (CAHM): “field”
N - Always “n” as in “nut”, though before “c” or “g” it is often nasalized as it is in English. When followed by “c”, “p” and “t” those letters are often dropped.
Examples: “néixer” (NEY-shuh): “to be born”
“banc” (BAHNG): “bank”
P - Always “p” as in “pop”.
Example: “pare” (PAH-ruh): “father”
Q - Only exists when accompanied with a “u”. Before back vowels (a, o, u) it is “qu” as in “quality” and before front vowels (e, i) it is “k” as in “kite”.
Examples: “quadre” (KWAH-thruh): “(picture) frame”
“quiet” (KYET): “still”
R - Intervocalically (between vowels) it is simply tapped, sounding similar to “d”. When preceded or followed by a vowel, it is trilled (rolled). When ending a word, it is usually not pronounced, though there are many, many exceptions to this rule.
Examples: “revista” (ruh-BEES-tuh): “magazine”
“trepitjar" (truh-pee-JAH): "to step/to take a step"
RR - Always trilled (rolled).
Example: "carrer" (kuh-RAY): "street"
S - Before vowels and consonants, “s” as in “snake”, intervocalically (between vowels), “z” as in “magazine”. If a word ends with “s” after a vowel and the word following it also begins with a vowel, said final “s” will become “z”.
Examples: “sant” (SAHN): “saint”
“casa” (CAH-zuh): “house”
“les àvies” (luh-ZAH-bee-uhs): “the grandmothers”
T - Always like “t” as in “top”, though a bit softer, as the sound is dental instead of palatal, which means the tip of your tongue should touch the back of your teeth.
Example: “tot” (TOHT): “all/everything”
V - Always “b” as in “boy”.
Example: “envejar” (uhn-buh-ZHAH): “to envy”
W - Does not exist in Catalan, save for in some foreign words, especially names, e.g. Washington.
X - Intervocalically like “gs” as in “eggs”, and when preceded or followed by a consonant (not intervocalically) like “sh” as in “shake”. Occasionally also pronounced as “ks”, like in “box”.
Examples: “examen” (uhg-ZAH-muhn): “exam”
“xarxa” (SHAR-shuh): “network/web”
“explicar” (uhks-plee-KAH): “to explain”
Z - As “z” as in “zebra”.
Example: “esmorzar” (us-moor-ZAH): “to eat lunch”
// Dipthongs //
AU - “Ow” as in “how”.
Example: “clau” (CLOW): “key”
AO - “Ow” as in “how”.
Example: “Bilbao” (beel-BOW): “Bilbao”
IA - “Ya”
Example: “iaia” (YAH-yuh): “grandma”
UA - "Wa"
Example: "fideuà" (fee-thay-WAH): Catalan dish made with short spaghetti-like pasta
// Other Letter Groups //
CH - Always “k” as in “kite”
Example: “Domènech” (doo-MEH-nuhk): Catalan family name
TG/TJ - “J” as in “jump”
Examples: “avantatge” (uh-buhn-TAH-juh): “advantage”
“platja” (PLAH-juh): “beach”
IG - “Ch” as in “chore”
Example: “passeig” (puh-SECH): “walkway”
IX - “Sh” as in “shake”
Examples: “peix” (PESH): “fish”
“caixa” (CAH-shuh): “box”
NY - “Ni” as in “onion” (just like the “ñ” in Spanish)
Example: “any” (AÑ): “year”
TX - “Ch” as in “church”
Example: “borratxo” (boo-RAH-choo): “drunk”
TZ - “Dz” as in “adds” (almost always intervocalic)
Example: “magatzem” (muh-guh-DZEM): “department store”
*Most of the time, when a vowel is accented it will suggest the pronunciation, but there are some exceptions. And when a vowel does not have an accented mark, it is usually very difficult to figure out which pronunciation a vowel gets. It is suggested to listen to native Catalan speakers in order to establish how certain vowels are pronounced.
More information can be found here (in Catalan).
Also, if you found this through Google or another search engine, I'd appreciate it a lot if you'd let me know what you think of this pronunciation guide. If you find it helpful or unhelpful, or what your general thoughts are. If you don't want to say anything you don't have to, and you can also click the "+1" button at the bottom of the page. Thank you very much!
