Pronunciation Lesson 20
I is (am?) a weak vowel!
Which are the weak vowels?
As we saw in lesson 19, U and I are weak vowels. When they are by themselves, this does not matter at all, and we can forget this fact.
When the letter I appears in conjunction with a strong vowel, however, we need to pay attention!
What happens when an I is with a strong vowel?
The letter I will always blend into a neighboring vowel if it is one of the strong ones (A, E, O), and the two will form a single syllable. Listen and repeat:
- Dios
- Radio
- Sierra
- Caries
- Seis
- Farmacia
- Familia
- Bailar
Watch out for accents!
If an I is accented, it will cancel out this rule; the I will get more emphasis than the rest of the word, and it will be a separate syllable from the strong vowel beside it. Listen and repeat:
- desafío
- oímos
- confíes
- se ríen
- días
- hacíamos
Practice Sentences
Repeat each sentence after you hear it. After saying all of the sentences, do the activity once more.
La fiesta empieza con veinte frailes bien viejos.
(The party begins with twenty fairly old monks.)
El criado va hacia el refugio de la iglesia.
(The servant goes towards the refuge of the church.)