Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1899-10-28
HOW TO LEARN SPANISH.
By GEORGE f. McKIBBEN, \. NJ,
Professor of Modern Languages in
Denison University.
LESSON 1.

l. The language which we are to
study is called by those who use it the
Casttlan. ell castellano, or the Spanish
Ell espanyol. The first name is more
commonly used, especially III Spanish
America. In geogra phical extent it is
next to the English and Russian. In
numbers those who speak it in Spain
and her adjacent colonies, in Spanish
America and the islands of the western
millions in South America and the
Philippine islands, who use more IA
military the various native tongues.
,. Many peculiarities of the Spanish
as spoken in the maritime provinces of
Catalunya, Galicia, Andalucia and in
Estremadura, We're carried to the west
ern hemisphere. These peculiarities
and the influence of the Indian tongues
affect. to be sure, the Vocabulary and
a few sounds, but general usage among
the educated shows everywhere great
uniformity. Our purpose is to intro
duce the learner to the elements of this
common Spanish. which is everywhere
substantially the same. This once
gained, the acquisition of a special vo-
cabulary for commercial or technical
purposes. for travel and literary study
will present no great difficulty to alert
persistence, with the 3,elp of books and
teachers. AT present no text book 5
required. though a small dictionary
may expedite the formation of u vo-
cabulary.
>. With a few exceptions the letters
are the same as in English. The addi-
tfOnal characters. cn. Il. IT and topped
nv tho tilda O1 dO1rhln rl77.X-e ara TacII-
liar The latter character. not being
found in typesetting machine fonts.
will. to facilitate printing, be indicated
by printing ny instead OF topped by
the tide E. g. espanyoI. instead of
espanol. It should be noted that this
substitute. ny. always represents The
pronunciation Of with the tide The
Spanish spelling is practically pho
netic. The only letters that seriously
modify their sounds because of posi-
ton are c. g and u; b. d, and + vary
in sound, but much less.
f. In the first column below are the
Spanish letters: to the right and oppo-
site each one is an equivalent English
letter. or a description OF the sound. ii
this does not exist in English.
The Spanish letters and their equiv
alent sounds:
A-As in far.
medal. like Y; when initial,
like b. but without pressure of the
LIPS
C-When before a consonant or a
strong vowel "a. o. ~. like k: but be
fore a weak vowel. like tn in think
In general. however, in Spanish
America before or sounds like
$ in thistle.
Ch-As in church.
D-When initial, like d. but without
pressure OF tongue against teeth;
when medal or final like tn in than
E-A in ate but like in there before
final or +, especially the latter.
F-As in fife.
consonant or strong
vowel "a, o. W, like g in go; but be-
fore a weak vowel e, y, nearly like
German oh.
H-Practically silent.
AS in marine.
J-Nearly like German oh.
K-As in kite.
las in tale.
LI-LIi as in brilliant, but tends to a /
sound like that of in beyond.
Mas in may.
Mas in not.
n topped by tilde-Ni as in union or !
ny as in lanyard.
O-As in rope.
PAS in rope /
Q-Found only in the combination gu, 7
which sounds like k, not like gu IN /
quart
R-When medal. like in very. but /
more strongly rolled when initial OF
after b. l. II or s.
strongly rolled everywhere;
like French or German L.
T-As in time
U-Wheii it begins a diphthong. like
v in was: when alone as vowel or
at the end of a diphthong, like 90 in
boot It is often silent, serving only
to indicate that the preceding is
hard dixie g in go) before or i.
V-As in five.
Vas in was, but like in German
words.
x-As in six. but tends to sound like
in thistle, especially in the prefix
OK.
VI as in marine. but when it begins
a diphthong ike in yard
l-Th as in think. but even in Spain.
outside of CASTLE, it tends to sound
like in thistle, and is generally so
pronounced in Spanish America.
It should be noted that Spanish has
ew double letters and that these, eN-
epting IT, do not represent double
ounds.. The peculiarities of pronunci-
tion and vocabulary that characterize
'uba and Mexico in particular will be
reated at the end Of this course.
s. Besides the tide. the double curve
ver the n. the acute accent and the
iaeresis are often found. Though be-
ause of the limitations of typesettinS
machines neither acute accent nor dia-
resis is produced in these lessons, the
ules for their use are given blow
l. The diaeresis stands over the first
f two successive vowel5 and resolves
diDhthong or shows that the vowel II
: not mare sign that the preceding