Common Articulation Variations

Between English and Spanish

KEY IDEAS
1. Importance of
knowing language
and dialect patterns

Being aware of the articulation rules and

speech patterns in a bilingual student's
primary language helps the Speech-
Language Pathologist (SLP) differentiate
between a disorder and typical
differences
2. Differences between
English and Spanish
consonants

Highlight the 15 common phonemes, 5 unique to Spanish,

and 9 unique to English.

For example, "ch" and "sh" may be pronounced

interchangeably by Spanish speakers.

3. SYLLABIC NATURE OF SPANISH

Spanish is syllabic with equal duration for

each syllable, while English has an
accentual rhythm with stressed syllables
having longer duration.

4. Pitch and accent

differences

In Spanish does not vary like in English,

and the placement of an accent can
change the meaning of a word.

5. DIALECTAL VARIATIONS
Point out that variations and substitutions in
pronunciation occur based on the student's
region/country such as final /s/ deletion in some
Caribbean dialects and the "th" sound in place of
/s/ in Spanish dialects.