What’s with the lisp?

Legend says that a Spanish monarch long ago spoke with a lisp, and it became fashionable to imitate his pronunciation. Whatever the origin, it is true that many people in Spain have a distinct “th” sound where most other speakers say “s.”

This quirk of pronunciation affects the letter Z and the soft C, which will sound like a TH.

This does not affect the S, however, which is pronounced just like in English.

Compare Three Different Speakers

In these recordings you will hear three people say a list of words.  Notice that the speakers from Chile and Nicaragua use the same S sound for all of the words, whether it is a C, an S or a Z.

Cazar, Casar, Cierra, Sierra, Empezar, Abusar.

Chile

Nicaragua

España