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Title: Hossfeld's Spanish Dialogues and Idiomatic Phrases indispensible
for a Rapid Acquisition of the Spanish Language

Author: W.N. Cornett

Release Date: January 25, 2013 [EBook #41915]

Language: English

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                    HOSSFELD'S POCKET MANUALS.                   

HOSSFELD'S

SPANISH DIALOGUES,
AND
IDIOMATIC PHRASES
INDISPENSABLE
FOR A RAPID ACQUISITION
OF THE
SPANISH LANGUAGE

New Edition, Entirely Revised and Enlarged

BY
W. N. CORNETT


LONDON
HIRSCHFELD   BROTHERS,   LIMITED
263, High Holborn, W.C.
40 & 42, University Avenue, Glasgow
133, North Thirteenth Street, Philadelphia
1915

Copyright.
All rights reserved.

PREFACE.

The aid of a reliable book of dialogues in the study of a language cannot be overestimated, and it is with a view to further increasing the usefulness in this respect of the present work that it has been thoroughly revised, and a number of important changes made in it. The pages on Spanish pronunciation have been re-written and augmented, as have also those on the verbs, and numerous additions have been made to the vocabularies, several of which have also been rearranged. As in the new editions of the French and other dialogues of the series, idioms and proverbs, alphabetically arranged, have been substituted for less useful matter, and some aids are given to letter-writing, but for a full treatment of this latter subject those interested are referred to special works dealing with it issued by the same publishers.

The above changes, together with others of a minor character, but which bring the work right up to date, will, it is felt, be appreciated by all desirous of acquiring a good conversational knowledge of the Spanish language.

Wallasey.                 W. N. CORNETT.

REMARKS ON PRONUNCIATION.

THE SPANISH ALPHABET.

The letter k occurs only in words of foreign origin.

The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u. The letter y is a vowel also at the end of a word, as in rey, king, and in the conjunction y, and.

ACCENTS AND SIGNS.

The acute accent (´) is the only one now in use in Spanish, and it serves to indicate the syllable on which stress is to be laid. It marks departures from the rule that words of two or more syllables ending in a vowel or n or s are stressed on the last syllable but one, and those ending in a consonant (except n and s), on the final syllable. It is used also to distinguish between words of the same spelling but different meanings, and is placed over the preposition a, and the conjunctions e, o and u, when emphasised. The conjunction o must always be accented when used with figures.

Formerly, the grave accent (`) and the circumflex (^) were also in use in Spanish, all three accents being used indiscriminately to indicate the stressed syllable. The circumflex was used also on the vowel following ch and x in old Spanish spelling, to indicate that these letters were to be pronounced like k and ks respectively.

The diæresis (¨) is placed over the u in the syllables gue and gui when the u is to be pronounced, as in the words agüero, omen; argüir, to argue.

The hyphen (-) is used at the end of a line to connect the syllables of a divided word. It is also used in a few compound words.

The tilde (~) is used over the letter n only, and gives that letter a sound very similar to that of ni in the English word opinion.

It was originally a sign of abbreviation, and indicated the omission of an m or n.

The interrogation (?) and exclamation (!) marks are used before and after the sentence in Spanish, being inverted (¿ ¡) when preceding.

Other punctuation marks are used as in English.

PRONUNCIATION OF THE VOWELS.

Note.—Spanish vowels have each one sound only, but this sound is influenced by accent or stress, the emphasised vowel being naturally longer or fuller than the same vowel when not emphasised.

a is sounded like a in far or in fat: mar, sea; sal, salt;

e like a in mate, or e in met: mesa, table; venta, sale;

i like i in marine or in pin: mina, mine; fin, end;

o like o in note or in not: cono, cone; con, with;

u like u in rule or in full: luna, moon; mundo, world.

y, as a vowel, has the same sound as i: muy, very; ley, law.

COMPOUND VOWELS.

These consist of combinations formed with the strong vowels a, e, o, each of which, when they meet, is pronounced as forming a separate syllable:

ae, ao, as in faena, task; nao, ship.

ea, eo, as in correa, strap; empleo, employment.

oa, oe, as in loa, praise; poema, poem.

DIPHTHONGS.

These are formed by combining one of the strong vowels, a, e, o, with one of the weak vowels, i, u, or by a combination of the two weak vowels alone. In the former the stress falls on the strong vowel, and in the latter on the second;

ai (ay), au, as in aire, air; causa, cause;

ei (ey), eu, as in seis, six; neutro, neuter;

ia, ie, io, iu, as in diario, daily; viuda, widow;

oi (oy), ou, as in boina, cap; bou, fishing-boat;

ua, ue, ui (uy), uo, as in agua, water; ruido, noise.

TRIPHTHONGS.

These are a combination of the two weak vowels with one of the strong ones:

iai, iei, as in apreciáis, ye appreciate; apreciéis (that) ye appreciate;

uai, uei, as in averiguáis, ye verify; averigüéis, (that) ye verify.

PRONUNCIATION OF THE CONSONANTS.

The following letters are pronounced generally as in English: b, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, x and y (consonant). It should, however, be noted that the b is slightly softer than in English, as is also the d at or towards the end of a word; that the r is always trilled, the s always hissed, and the t pronounced close to the teeth.

c before a, o, u, and before a consonant, is pronounced like k: capa, cape; crema, cream: before e and i it has the sound of th in bath: cera, wax; cima, summit.

ch is always sounded like ch in check: coche, carriage; ocho, eight.

g before a, o, u, and before a consonant, is pronounced like g in go: goma, gum; grano, grain: before e and i it is sounded like h strongly aspirated in the throat: gente, people; gitano, gipsy. The pronunciation of gua is gwah: guante, glove; guardia, guard; and gue and gui are sounded as in guess and guild, respectively: guerra, war; guitarra, guitar; but güe and güi are pronounced gweh and gwee: vergüenza, shame; lingüista, linguist.

h is always silent: harina, flour; anhelo, eagerness.

j has always the same sound as that given to g before e and i: jabón, soap; hoja, leaf.

ll has a sound very similar to that of lli in million: llave, key; tallo, stalk.

ñ is sounded like ni in minion: cuña, wedge; daño, damage.

q is always followed by u, the two together being sounded like k: quedo, quiet; quinto, fifth.

z has the same sound always as that of c before e and i: zarza, bramble; zona, zone.

ARTICULATION.

In Spanish, every syllable is pronounced, and every stressed or accented syllable is strongly emphasised. Every vowel, also, is given its proper sound, generally, as in the alphabet, a shorter or weaker sound, as when unaccented or unstressed, being the principal variation. The only silent letters in ordinary speech are the consonant h, and the vowel u in the combinations gue, gui, que, qui; but, colloquially, several other letters are either silent, or nearly so, in certain positions; as, for example, b before sc or st; d at or towards the end of a word, especially in the word usted (you); n in trans, principally before a consonant; and p before t. Spanish articulation is somewhat more emphatic than English, especially towards the end of a sentence.{Page 1}

PART I.
WORDS OF FREQUENT OCCURRENCE.
PRIMERA PARTE.
PALABRAS DE USO FRECUENTE.