This was one of the most popular blog posts on my old Blogspot, if not the most popular. For some reason, a lot of people did a lot of Google searches for how to pronounce Catalan, and my post came up. Maybe it's because there is a dearth of English-language resources for this beautiful language, or maybe people were simply curious. Who knows. Anyway, I'm posting it here in the hopes of building up this blog's SEO so more people can see more o our stuff. Who knows if anyone is even as interested in Catalan as they were in the early 2010s and if there are still fewer resources for people to find English-language materials. Here's hoping.
*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. Some that I like are the TV3 (the Catalan state television station) YouTube channel and online radio such as Catalunya Ràdio and RAC1. I developed and honed my pronunciation and speaking skills by watching FC Barcelona matches with commentary from both Catalunya Ràdio and RAC1!
(Bonus: here's a video of Catalan pop star Rosalía speaking 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 "ee" as in "reed". 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 “proof” (not as in “foot” or “book”). Before vowels, it becomes "w". Examples: “música” (MOO-zee-kuh) "aigua" (AY-wuh"): "water"
*Most of the time, when a vowel has a "tilde" 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. I suggest listening to native Catalan speakers in order to get a better idea of how certain vowels are pronounced.
// 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” (often written as "dh"). At the end of words, it is “t” as in “top”.
Examples: “darrer” (duh-RRAY): “last”
“Madrid” (muh-DHREET): “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) but 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. Just like in Spanish.
Example: “home” (OH-muh): “man”
J - Always “s” as in “measure” (in some accents this will be pronounced with a “y”¨or like the English ¨j", most often in Barcelona city).
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. If you speak American English, say "old" and pay attention to where your tongue is on the "l". That's what you want for Catalan "l".
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. The tongue placement is the same for "l", only this time say "ly" together with the tip o your tongue not touching your hard palate behind your teeth and you have the basis for pronouncing "ll" the way Catalans do! "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”. If you speak American English, think of how you say ¨butter¨. The way you say the "tt" is the sound you want for a Catalan "r".). 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). If you struggle with this, don't worry about it, regular English "r" works fine (or if you've practiced the single "r" and how you say the "tt" in "butter", that's okay too)!
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. Almost like you're going for a "th" but not quite between your teeth.
Example: “tot” (TOHT): “all/everything”
V - Always “b” as in “boy”.The actual sound is more of a cross between "b" and "v", called a "labial fricative" in fancy linguistics talk, but basically, it's allowing some air to pass through your lips when saying "b". But you can usually just use "b".
Example: “envejar” (uhn-buh-ZHAH): “to envy”
W - Does not exist in Catalan, save for 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” and "ch", and "x" is usually used where names and places that originally have a "ch" pronunciation are used. Both "ch" and "sh" are acceptable. Examples: “examen” (uhg-ZAH-muhn): “exam” “xarxa” (SHAR-shuh): “network/web” “explicar” (uhks-plee-KAH): “to explain”
"Xile" (SHEE-luh or CHEE-luh): "Chile" (the country)
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-dhay-WAH): Catalan dish similar to paella 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” Examples: “passeig” (puh-SECH): “walkway” or "path"
"Puig" (POOCH): Catalan family name IX - “Sh” as in “shake”. The previous vowel is generally what is pronounced, not the "i". If there is no preceding vowel, the "i" is pronounced. Examples: “peix” (PESH): “fish” “caixa” (CAH-shuh): “box”
"Mixelin" (mee-shuh-LEEN or mee-chuh-LEEN): "Michelin"
NY - “Ni” as in “onion” (just like the “ñ” in Spanish) Examples: “any” (AÑ): “year”. As saying the plural form of "anys" is counter-intuitive due to the fact that "y" is not a vowel here, you'll often hear it as "ainsh".
"enyorar" (uh-ñoo-RAH"): "to long for"
TLL - "Ly". The "t" is silent.
Example: "Batlló" (buh-LYOH) - Catalan family name, most famously used in the name of Casa Batlló.
TX - “Ch” as in “church” Example: “borratxo” (boo-RAH-choo): “drunk” TZ - “Dz” as in “adds” (almost always intervocalic) Example: “magatzem” (muh-guh-DZEM): “storage facility” More information can be found here (in English, with an option to choose which language/accent comparisons to make to Catalan).
Happy speaking!