Grapheme Data for Spanish written with Latin script
The data shown below of graphemes and phonemes for Spanish is quite simplified, and is intended to represent a broad range of dialects. Specific differences between Iberian Spanish (as used in much of Spain) and Latin American Spanish are mentioned in notes. Note that the sounds indicated are phonemes, not actual phones, and as such do not reflect many subtleties of pronunciation.
| Grapheme | USV | Phoneme | Status | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <ai> | 0061 0069 | /ai/ | expected | aire ‘air’, baile ‘dance’ | |
| <au> | 0061 0075 | /au/ | expected | causa ‘cause’ | |
| <ay> | 0061 0079 | /ai/ | expected | hay ‘there is’ | ‹ay› is used word-finally |
| <a> | 0061 | /a/ | expected | gato ‘cat’ | |
| <b> | 0062 | /b/ | expected | boca ‘mouth’ | Sound is often close to [β] |
| <ch> | 0063 0068 | /tʃ/ | expected | mucho ‘much’ | |
| <c> | 0063 | /s/ | common | ciento ‘hundred’ | ‹c› can be used for /s/ before e and i (Latin American only) |
| <c> | 0063 | /θ/ | common | ciento ‘hundred’ | ‹c› can be used for /θ/ before e and i (Iberian only) |
| <c> | 0063 | /k/ | expected | calor ‘heat’ | |
| <d> | 0064 | /d̪/ | expected | dama ‘lady’ | Sound is often close to [ð] |
| <ei> | 0065 0069 | /ei/ | expected | seis ‘six’, veinte ‘twenty’ | |
| <eu> | 0065 0075 | /eu/ | expected | neutral ‘neutral’, Europa ‘Europe’ | |
| <ey> | 0065 0079 | /ei/ | expected | rey ‘king’ | ‹ey› is used word-finally |
| <e> | 0065 | /e/ | expected | tres ‘three’ | |
| <f> | 0066 | /f/ | expected | fuego ‘fire’ | |
| <gu> | 0067 0075 | /g/ | common | guerra ‘war’ | ‹gu› is used for /g/ before e and i; elsewhere it is /gw/ |
| <gü> | 0067 00FC | /kw/ = /k/ + /w/ | common | lingüístico ‘linguistic’ | |
| <g> | 0067 | /x/ | common | gemela ‘twin’ | ‹g› is /x/ only before e and i |
| <g> | 0067 | /g/ | expected | gato ‘cat’ | Sound is often close to [ɣ] |
| <h> | 0068 | /∅/ | expected | hablar ‘to speak’ | ‹h› is always silent |
| <ia> | 0069 0061 | /ja/ | expected | hacia ‘towards’, media ‘half’ | |
| <ie> | 0069 0065 | /je/ | expected | siete ‘seven’, viejo ‘old’ | |
| <io> | 0069 006F | /jo/ | expected | Dios ‘God’, labio ‘lip’ | |
| <iu> | 0069 0075 | /ju/ | expected | ciudad ‘city’, viuda ‘widow’ | |
| <i> | 0069 | /i/ | expected | hijo ‘son’ | |
| <j> | 006A | /x/ | expected | juego ‘game’ | |
| <k> | 006B | /k/ | uncommon | kilómetro ‘kilometer’ | Loan words |
| <ll> | 006C 006C | /j/ | common | llamar ‘to call’ | ‹ll› is used for /j/ in Latin American dialects only |
| <ll> | 006C 006C | /ʎ/ | expected | llamar ‘to call’ | Iberian only |
| <l> | 006C | /l/ | expected | luz ‘light’ | |
| <m> | 006D | /m/ | expected | madre ‘mother’ | |
| <n> | 006E | /n/ | expected | nombre ‘name’ | |
| <oi> | 006F 0069 | /oi/ | expected | oigo ‘I hear’ | |
| <ou> | 006F 0075 | /ou/ | rare | bou ‘trawler’ | /ou/ is a rare diphthong in Spanish |
| <oy> | 006F 0079 | /oi/ | expected | soy ‘I am’, estoy ‘I am’ | ‹oy› is used word-finally |
| <o> | 006F | /o/ | expected | ocho ‘eight’ | |
| <p> | 0070 | /p/ | expected | pollo ‘chicken’ | |
| <qu> | 0071 0075 | /k/ | common | quien ‘who’ | ‹qu› occurs only before e and i |
| <rr> | 0072 0072 | /r/ | expected | perro ‘dog’ | Non-word-initial |
| <r> | 0072 | /ɾ/ | expected | pero ‘but’ | |
| <r> | 0072 | /r/ | expected | rojo ‘red’ | Word-initial |
| <sh> | 0073 0068 | /ʃ/ | uncommon | flash ‘flashbulb’ | Loan words only |
| <s> | 0073 | /s/ | expected | sin ‘without’ | |
| <t> | 0074 | /t̪/ | expected | tomar ‘to take’ | |
| <ua> | 0075 0061 | /wa/ | expected | cuatro ‘four’ | |
| <ue> | 0075 0065 | /we/ | expected | bueno ‘good’, puerta ‘door’ | |
| <ui> | 0075 0069 | /wi/ | expected | cuidado ‘care’, ruido ‘noise’ | |
| <uo> | 0075 006F | /wo/ | expected | cuota ‘quota’, ingenuo ‘naïve’ | |
| <uy> | 0075 0079 | /ui/ | uncommon | muy ‘very’, cuy ‘guinea pig’ | /ui/ is a rare diphthong |
| <u> | 0075 | /u/ | expected | mucho ‘much’ | |
| <v> | 0076 | /b/ | expected | vivir ‘to live’ | |
| <w> | 0077 | /w/ | uncommon | sandwich ‘sandwich’, web ‘Internet’ | Loan words |
| <x> | 0078 | /s/ | uncommon | texto ‘text’ | |
| <x> | 0078 | /ʃ/ | uncommon | Xela | Loan words from Mayan |
| <x> | 0078 | /x/ | uncommon | México, Oaxaco | Historical spellings |
| <x> | 0078 | /ks/ = /k/ + /s/ | expected | conexión ‘connection’ | |
| <y> | 0079 | /j/ | expected | yo ‘I’ | Some linguists analyze this sound as [ʝ] |
| <z> | 007A | /s/ | common | zapato ‘shoe’ | Latin American only |
| <z> | 007A | /θ/ | common | zapato ‘shoe’ | /θ/ occurs in Iberian only |
| <ñ> | 00F1 | /ɲ/ | expected | año ‘year’ |