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Language

The further you go from cities and tourist resorts the less chance there

will be of finding an English speaker. Basques (call it Euskade if

speaking to a Basque) Galicians and Catalans all speak their own

language but will understand Castilian. Fortunately (unlike English)

Spanish spelling / pronounciationis entirely logical and regular. Once

you have learnt the rules you will be able to make yourself understood

from your phrase book. You can then ask 'closed' questions with a 'si' or

'non' answer. ( say "is the town square this way" while pointing, not

"where is the town square" which will get a complex reply that you may

not understand).

Spanish is one of the worlds most widespread languages and is of course

invaluable in South America.

'Rough and ready' pronunciation guide.There are just a few rules to learn here but the good thing is there are no

exceptions, so once you know these you will be able to pronounce any

spanish word you see."J" is sounded rather like "h" and "Z" like "th".So the town where sherry comes from (Jerez) is "hereth"."ll" is not double "l" but a single letter sounded as "yah".Therefore a Spanish omelette (tortilla) is a "tort-ee-a" and a sandwich

(bocadillo) is a "boc-a-de-yo",Another single letter "Ch" is sounded as "chey", rather similar to english

but beware when using the dictionary (after C, before D!). "C" and "G" are softened/lisped when followd by "e" or "I". The town of

Caceres is "Ka-the-res". Guerrilla is "Ger-ree-yah". Gigante meaning

large, often applied to a maize snack is something like "Hiy-gant-ee" -

just think of Manuel in Fawlty Towers saying "How are you".The letter "Z" followed by an "a","o" or "u" is pronounced "tha" "tho" or

"thu". You will sometimes find some imported words like "Zinc", also

lisped.

Every letter is sounded - unlike French - so pronounce "e" at the end of a

word- Lanzarote "lanth-a-rotay", Tenerife "tenner-reef-ay".Emphasis is placed on the penultimate syllable - "MADrid"

"O" is a short sound as in "cot", don't add a "w" sound to the end as we

often do in english.An accented "" is "ni" or "ny". The Boy "El Nio" is "neenyo" not

"knee-know"."H" is silent but emphasises the following letter. "Hotel" is "Otel".Of course you already knew Mallorca (or Majorca) is "ma-york-ah" didn't

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you?In Gallego (Galician), Basque and Catalan "x"s are common. "Txakoli"

(the Basque wine) is pronounced "Chack-o-lee". Some gallego words

replace the "j" with an "x" as in "Xunta" for "Junta" (town council) or

"Xose" for "Jose" which are then pronounced "chunt-ah" and "chose-

ay" respectively. In Catalan the "x" sound is closer to the castilian "j".The alphabet

Mountain vocabularyandnn, majada - an alp or flat area on a

mountainarroyo- small riverarista- areteagarre- holdaguja- spire or pinnaclebarranco,barranquillo - ravine, dry river

bedcabezo- rounded hillcaldera,calderilla - cratercaminoreal - old public path (paved) or

transhumance drove road*.canal- gullycaada- flat gravel bed (former lake)cara -facecima -summitcornisa,repisa, vira - ledgedegollada,horcado - collembalse- reservoir

*ten drovers trails cross Spain from Leon,

Roija and Cuenca in the north to

Extremadura, Andalucia and Valencia in the

south.

ladern,ladera - mountainside,

hillsideladera- small gully or valley on

hillsidelago -lakelomo -slope or ridgellano- flats, plainmesa,meseta - literally table,

plateau or tablelandneve -snowneveron- snow peakmirador- viewpointmontaa- mountainmorro- one of those vertical

sided, flat topped mountains

you see in westerns!Are they

bluffs?puerto- passpico -peakpiolet- ice axerecorrido- ascent(distance)risco- cliffroque- rocks, outcropssenda- pathvega -high pasture,alp (hence

Las Vegas-the meadows!)

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