Catalan/Alphabet
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< Catalan
All of the English comparisons are with General American English pronunciations. The Catalan alphabet consists of twenty-seven letters:
| Letter | IPA | Name | English Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | /a/ or /ə/ | a | a in father when stressed; a in about otherwise (schwa) |
| B b | /b/ or /p/ | be | p as in pat the end of the word; b as in ball elsewhere, but softer |
| C c | /k/ or /s/ | ce | c as in ceiling before e or i; k as in kite elsewhere |
| Ç ç | /s/ | ce trencada | c as in ceiling. Usually before a, o, u, but sometimes at ends of words like feliç [happy] |
| D d | /d/ or /t/ | de | t as in tile at the end of the word; th as in there elsewhere |
| E e | /e/, /ɛ/, /ə/ | e | e as in pencil or ai as in paint when stressed; a as in about otherwise (schwa) |
| F f | /f/ | efa | f as in feather |
| G g | /g/, /ʤ/ or /ʒ/ | ge | j as in jacket or s as in measure before e or i; g as in game elsewhere |
| H h | Ø | hac | silent |
| I i | /i/, /j/ | i | y as in you before vowels; ea as in eat elsewhere |
| J j | /ʤ/ or /ʒ/ | jota | j as in jacket or s as in measure |
| K k | /k/ | ke | k as in kite; used only in foreign words |
| L l | /l/ | ela | l as in lamp; always "clear" |
| M m | /m/ | ema | m as in mother |
| N n | /n/ | ena | n as in night |
| O o | /o/, /ɔ/, /u/ | o | o as in phone or o as in pore when stressed; oo as in racoon elsewhere |
| P p | /p/ | pe | p as in power |
| Q q | /k/ | cu | k as in kite; always before u |
| R r | /r/ or /ɾ/ | erre | fully trilled word-initially; t in bottle elsewhere |
| S s | /s/ or /z/ | esse | z as in zipper between vowels; s as in sample elsewhere |
| T t | /t/ | te | t as in time |
| U u | /u/ or /w/ | u | w as in water before vowels; oo as in loot elsewhere |
| V v | /b/ | ve baixa | b as in ball but softer |
| W w | /w/ | ve doble | w as in water |
| X x | /ʃ/ or /ks/ | ics or xeix | sh as in ship; x as in taxi in some words |
| Y y | Ø | i grega | does not occur by itself |
| Z z | /z/ | zeta | z as in zipper |