Spanish Phonemic Inventory Chart (Page 2 of 2) in pdf

Facts on Spanish Phonology

• The following consonant clusters are used in Spanish; these do not occur in word-

final position:

/pl/, /pſ/, /bl/, /bſ/, /tſ/, /dſ/, /kl/, /kſ/, /gl/, /gſ/, /fl/, and /fſ/.

• There are five consonants used in word-final position:

: /l/, /ſ/, /d/, /n/, and /s/.

• In intervocalic environments, the allophonic variations for /b, d, g/ are /ß, ð, Ɣ/.

• Dialectal variations in Spanish phonology exist. It is important to recognize this

when assessing a Spanish speaker. For example, /v/ and /θ/ occur in some

Spanish dialects.

• By age 4, normally developing monolingual Spanish speakers acquire most

sounds of the language except for /g/, /f/, /s/, /ɲ/, /r/, and /ſ/.

• Phonemes in English that do not occur in Spanish include the following:

o /ŋ/, /v/, /ð/, /θ/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/, /ʧ/, /ʤ/, and /ɹ/.

• The Spanish vowel system is much smaller than that of English; they are similar

to the short vowels of English. Spanish vowels include the following: /a/,/e/, /i/,

/o/, /u/.

• Spanish developmental norms

3;3

3;7

3;11

4;3

4;7

4;11

5;7

>5;7

/p,b,t/ /k,w,m,n/

/j,l/

/f/

/s/

/r/

/ ʧ,d,g,ſ/

/x,ɲ/

Data were normed on 120 Spanish-speaking children of Mexican descent living in California. Spanish was

reported as the primary language. Data reflect 90% accuracy of phoneme production.

Bedore, L. (1999). The acquisition of Spanish. In O. Taylor & L. Leonard (Ed.), Language acquisition

across North America: Cross-cultural and cross-linguistic perspectives (pp. 157–207). San Diego, CA:

Singular.

Ibid.

Jimenez, B. C. (1987). Acquisition of Spanish consonants in children aged 3-5 years, 7 months.

Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 18, 357–363.

Acevedo, M. (1993). Development of Spanish consonants in pre-school children. Journal of

Communication Disorders, 15, 9–15.

Iglesias, A., & Anderson, N. (1993). Dialectal variations. In J. Bernthal & N. Bankson (Eds.).

Articulation and phonological disorders. (3

ed., pp. 147-161). New York: Prentice-Hall.

Jimenez, B. C. (1987). Acquisition of Spanish consonants in children aged 3-5 years, 7 months.

Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 18, 357–363.

Spanish Phonemic Inventory Chart Page 2

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