View source for Spanish orthography

{{Short description|System for writing in Spanish}}
{{Spanish language}}{{IPA notice}}
[[File:«Ortografía de la lengua española» (2010).jpg|thumb|''Ortografía de la lengua española'' (2010)]]

'''Spanish orthography''' is the [[orthography]] used in the [[Spanish language]]. The [[alphabet]] uses the [[Latin script]]. The [[spelling]] is fairly [[phonemic orthography|phonemic]], especially in comparison to more opaque orthographies like [[English orthography|English]], having a relatively consistent mapping of [[grapheme]]s to [[phoneme]]s; in other words, the pronunciation of a given Spanish-language word can largely be predicted from its spelling and to a slightly lesser extent vice versa. Spanish [[punctuation]] uniquely includes the use of [[inverted question and exclamation marks]]: {{angbr|¿}} {{angbr|¡}}.

Spanish uses capital letters much less often than English; they are not used on adjectives derived from proper nouns (e.g. ''francés'', ''español'', ''portugués'' from ''Francia'', ''España'', and ''Portugal'', respectively) and book titles capitalize only the first word (e.g. ''[[The Revolt of the Masses|La rebelión de las masas]]'').

Spanish uses only the acute accent over any vowel: {{angbr|á é í ó ú}}. This accent is used to mark the tonic ([[Stress (linguistics)|stressed]]) syllable, though it may also be used occasionally to distinguish [[homophones]] such as ''si'' ('if') and ''sí'' ('yes'). The only other [[diacritics]] used are the tilde on the letter {{angbr|ñ}}, which is considered a separate letter from {{angbr|n}}, and the [[Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] used in the sequences {{angbr|güe}} and {{angbr|güi}}—as in ''bilingüe'' ('bilingual')—to indicate that the {{angbr|u}} is pronounced, {{IPA|[w]}}, rather than having the usual silent role that it plays in unmarked {{angbr|gue}} and {{angbr|gui}}.

In contrast with English, Spanish has an official body that governs linguistic rules, orthography among them: the [[Royal Spanish Academy]], which makes periodic changes to the orthography. The currently valid work on orthography is the ''Ortografía de la lengua española'', published in 2010.

==Alphabet in Spanish==
The Spanish language is written using the Spanish alphabet, which is the ISO [[Latin script]] with one additional letter, {{lang|es| eñe}} {{angbr|[[ñ]]}}, for a total of 27 letters.<ref name="nuevaortografia2010">{{Cite news |url=https://elpais.com/cultura/2010/11/05/actualidad/1288911609_850215.html |title=La "i griega" se llamará "ye" |last=Marcos |first=Javier Rodriguez |date=2010-11-05 |work=El País |access-date=2018-09-10}}</ref> Although the letters {{angbr|k}} and {{angbr|w}} are part of the alphabet, they appear only in [[loanwords]] such as ''{{Wikt-lang|es|karate}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|kilo}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|waterpolo}}'' and ''{{Wikt-lang|es|wolframio}}'' (tungsten or wolfram) and in [[sensational spelling]]s: ''[[Squatting in Spain#Okupa|okupa]]'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|bakalao}}''. Each letter has a single official name according to the [[Real Academia Española]]'s new 2010 Common Orthography,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rae.es/consultas/un-solo-nombre-para-cada-letra |title=Un solo nombre para cada letra |access-date=20 September 2014}}</ref> but in some regions alternative traditional names coexist as explained below. The digraphs {{vr|ch}} and {{vr|ll}} were considered single letters of the alphabet from 1754 to 2010 (and sorted separately from {{vr|c}} and {{vr|l}} from 1803 to 1994). Letters in <span style="color: RED ">red</span> are no longer part of the alphabet.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=abecedario |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=ZvGbeqYw9D6ECGlgby |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; min-width:60%; margin-left:5px"
|-
|+ Spanish alphabet
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right; width:50px;"|[[Capital letters|Uppercase]]
! width=100 | [[A]] || width=100 | [[B]] || width=100 | [[C]] || width=100 | <span style="color: RED ">Ch</span>{{ref|ch|1}} || width=100 | [[D]] || width=100 | [[E]] || width=100 | [[F]] || width=100 | [[G]] || width=100 | [[H]] || width=100 | [[I]]
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right; width:50px;"|[[Lower case|Lowercase]]
! width=100 | a || width=100 | b || width=100 | c || width=100 | <span style="color: RED ">ch</span> || width=100 | d || width=100 | e || width=100 | f || width=100 | g || width=100 | h || width=100 | i
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|Name<ref name="letter names">{{Cite book |title=Ortografía de la lengua española (2010) |publisher=Real Academia Española y Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española. |pages=63}}</ref> 
|''a''||''be'' (alternative: ''be larga, be alta'') ||''ce''||''<span style="color: RED ">che</span>''||''de''||''e''||''efe''||''ge''||''hache''||''i''
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|[[Phoneme]](s)
| {{IPA|/a/}}||{{IPA|/b/}}||{{IPA|/k/}}, {{IPA|/θ/}}{{ref|c,z|2}}||<span style="color: RED ">{{IPA|/tʃ/}}</span>||{{IPA|/d/}}||{{IPA|/e/}}||{{IPA|/f/}}||{{IPA|/ɡ/}}, {{IPA|/x/}}||<small>silent</small>{{ref|h|3}}||{{IPA|/i/}}
|}
{{note|ch|1}} The digraph {{angbr|ch}} represents the affricate {{IPA|/tʃ/}}. The digraph was formerly treated as a single letter, called ''che''.

{{note|c,z|2}} The phonemes {{IPA|/θ/}} and {{IPA|/s/}} are not distinguished in most dialects; see ''[[seseo]]''.

{{note|h|3}} With the exception of some loanwords: ''{{Wikt-lang|es|hámster}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|hachís}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|hawaiano}}'', which have {{IPA|/x/}}.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; min-width:60%; margin-left:5px"
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|[[Capital letters|Uppercase]]
![[J]]||[[K]]||[[L]]||<span style="color: RED ">Ll</span>||[[M]]||[[N]]||[[Ñ]]||[[O]]||[[P]]||[[Q]]
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|[[Lower case|Lowercase]]
!j||k||l||<span style="color: RED ">ll</span>||m||n||ñ||o||p||q
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|Name<ref name="letter names" />
|''jota''||''ka''||''ele''||''<span style="color: RED ">elle</span>''||''eme''||''ene''||''eñe''||''o''||''pe''||''cu''
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|Phoneme(s)
| {{IPA|/x/}}||{{IPA|/k/}}||{{IPA|/l/}}{{ref|l|4}}||<span style="color: RED ">{{IPA|/ʎ/}}</span>||{{IPA|/m/}}{{ref|m|5}}||{{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/m/}}{{ref|n|5}}||{{IPA|/ɲ/}}||{{IPA|/o/}}||{{IPA|/p/}}||{{IPA|/k/}}{{ref|q|6}}
|}
{{note|l|4}} The digraph {{angbr|ll}} (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|calle}}'') represents the [[Palatal lateral approximant|palatal lateral]] {{IPA|/ʎ/}} in a few dialects; but in most dialects—because of the historical merger called [[yeísmo]]—it, like the letter {{angbr|y}}, represents the phoneme {{IPA|/ʝ/}}.

{{note|nasal|5}} The exact realization of nasals in syllable-final position depends on phonetic attributes of following consonants (even across word boundaries) so that {{angbr|n}} can represent a nasal that is labial (as in ''á'''n'''fora''), palatal (as in ''có'''n'''yuge''), velar (as in ''ri'''n'''cón''), etc. In rare instances, word-final {{angbr|m}} is used, but there is no actual pronunciation difference.

{{note|q|6}} Used only in the digraph {{angbr|qu}}.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; min-width:60%; margin-left:5px"
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|[[Capital letters|Uppercase]]
![[R]]{{ref|r|8}}||[[S]]||[[T]]||[[U]]||[[V]]||[[W]]||[[X]]||[[Y]]||[[Z]]
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|[[Lower case|Lowercase]]
!r||s||t||u||v||w||x||y||z
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|Name<ref name="letter names" />
|''erre''||''ese''||''te''||''u''|| style="width:80px" |''uve, ve, ve corta, ve baja, ve chica''|| style="width:80px" |''uve doble, ve doble, doble ve, doble u''||''equis''|| style="width:80px" |''ye, i griega''||''zeta''
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|Phoneme(s)
| {{IPA|/ɾ/}}, {{IPA|/r/}} ||{{IPA|/s/}}||{{IPA|/t/}}||{{IPA|/u/}}||{{IPA|/b/}}||{{IPA|/w/}}, {{IPA|/b/}}||{{IPA|/ks/}}, {{IPA|/s/}}{{ref|x|9}}||{{IPA|/ʝ/}}, {{IPA|/i/}}||{{IPA|/θ/}}{{ref|c,z|2}}
|}
{{note|r|8}} The digraph {{angbr|rr}}, which only appears between vowels, represents the trill {{IPA|/r/}}.

{{note|x|9}} Old orthography with the letter {{angbr|x}} representing {{IPA|/x/}} has been preserved in some proper names such as ''México''.

For details on Spanish pronunciation, see [[Spanish phonology]] and [[Help:IPA/Spanish]].

When [[acute accent]] and diaeresis marks are used on vowels ({{angbr|á}}, {{angbr|é}}, {{angbr|í}}, {{angbr|ó}}, {{angbr|ú}} and {{angbr|ü}}) they are considered variants of the plain vowel letters, but {{angbr|ñ}} is considered a separate letter from {{angbr|n}}. This makes a difference when sorting alphabetically: {{angbr|ñ}} appears in dictionaries after {{angbr|n}}. For example, in a Spanish dictionary ''{{Wikt-lang|es|piñata}}'' comes after ''{{Wikt-lang|es|pinza}}''.

There are five [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]]s: {{angbr|[[ch (digraph)|ch]]}} ("che" or "ce hache"), {{angbr|[[ll]]}} ("elle" or "doble ele"), {{angbr|[[rr (digraph)|rr]]}} ("doble erre"), {{angbr|[[gu (digraph)|gu]]}} ("ge u") and {{angbr|[[qu (digraph)|qu]]}} ("cu u").<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=ch |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=ch |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=ll |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=ll |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=r |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=r |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref> While ''che'' and ''elle'' were each formerly treated as a single letter,<ref name="nuevaortografia2010" /> in 1994 the tenth congress of the [[Association of Spanish Language Academies]] agreed to [[collation|alphabetize]] {{angbr|ch}} and {{angbr|ll}} as ordinary sequences of letters. [[Spain]] requested the change at the behest of [[UNESCO]] and the [[European Union]], in an effort to facilitate translation and computing.<ref>{{Cite news |agency=The Associated Press |date=1994-05-01 |title=In Spanish, Two Fewer Letters in Alphabet |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/01/world/in-spanish-two-fewer-letters-in-alphabet.html |access-date= |issn=0362-4331|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150426001803/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/01/world/in-spanish-two-fewer-letters-in-alphabet.html|archive-date= 2015-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Las consonantes de la discordia|first1=Rosa|last1=Mora|first2=Ángeles|last2=García|work=[[El País]]|location=Madrid|date=April 26, 1994|accessdate=September 10, 2024|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1994/04/26/cultura/767311202_850215.html|language=es}}</ref>

Thus, for example, in dictionaries, ''chico'' is alphabetized after ''centro'' and before ''ciudad'', instead of being alphabetized after all words beginning with ''cu-'' as was formerly done.<ref>"{{lang|es|No obstante, en el X Congreso de la Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, celebrado en 1994, se acordó adoptar para los diccionarios académicos, a petición de varios organismos internacionales, el orden alfabético latino universal, en el que la ''ch'' y la ''ll'' no se consideran letras independientes. En consecuencia, estas dos letras pasan a alfabetizarse en los lugares que les corresponden dentro de la C (entre -cg- y -ci-) y dentro de la L (entre -lk- y -lm-), respectivamente.|italic=unset}}" [http://www.rae.es/ Real Academia Española]. [http://www.spanishpronto.com/spanishpronto/spanishalphabet.html Explanation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070906105503/http://www.spanishpronto.com/spanishpronto/spanishalphabet.html |date=September 6, 2007 }} at [http://www.spanishpronto.com/ spanishpronto.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914002335/http://www.spanishpronto.com/ |date=September 14, 2007 }} (in Spanish and English)</ref>

Despite their former status as unitary letters of the alphabet, {{angbr|ch}} and {{angbr|ll}} have always been treated as sequences with regard to the rules of capitalization. Thus the word ''{{Wikt-lang|es|chillón}}'' in a text written in all caps is ''CHILLÓN'', not *''ChILlÓN'', and if it is the first word of a sentence, it is written ''Chillón'', not *''CHillón''. Sometimes, one finds [[elevator|lift]]s with buttons marked ''{{wikt-lang|es|llamar|LLamar}}'', but this double capitalization has always been incorrect according to [[Real Academia Española|RAE]] rules.

This is the list of letters from most to least frequent in Spanish texts: {{angbr|E A O S R N I D L C T U M P B G V Y Q H F Z J Ñ X W K}};<ref>Fletcher Pratt, Secret and Urgent: the Story of Codes and Ciphers Blue Ribbon Books, 1939, pp. 254-255.</ref>{{efn|The eñe is added in the fourth to last position according to the [[Quixote]] [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2000 gutenberg.org].}} the vowels make up around 45% of the text.

===Alternative names===
{{multiple image
 | perrow = 2
 | width = 60
 | image1 = Fraktur_letter_B.png
 | alt1 = blackletter b
 | image2 = Fraktur_letter_V.png
 | alt2 = blackletter v
 | image3 = Sv-cursive-small-letter-b.jpg
 | alt3 = cursive b
 | image4 = Sv-cursive-small-letter-v.jpg
 | alt4 = cursive v
 | footer = The be/be larga/grande/alta and uve/ve corta/chica/baja in [[blackletter]] and [[cursive]] scripts
}}
;B and V<ref name="nuevaortografia2010" />
:The letters {{angbr|b}} and {{angbr|v}} were originally simply known as ''{{Wikt-lang|es|be}}'' and ''{{Wikt-lang|es|ve}}'', which in modern Spanish are pronounced identically. In [[Old Spanish]], they likely represented different sounds, but the sounds merged later. Their usual names are ''be'' and ''uve'';<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Penny|2002|p=38}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=v |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=v |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref> in some regions, speakers may instead add something to the names to distinguish them. Some [[Mexican Spanish|Mexicans]] and most [[Peruvian Spanish|Peruvians]] generally say ''{{lang|es|be}} {{Wikt-lang|es|grande}}'' / ''[[wikt:chico#Spanish|chica]]'' ('big B' / 'little V'); [[Argentine Spanish|Argentines]], Uruguayans and Chileans, ''be [[wikt:largo#Spanish|larga]]'' / ''[[wikt:corto#Spanish|corta]]'' ('long B' / 'short V'). Some people give examples of words spelt with the letter; e.g., ''b de {{Wikt-lang|es|burro}}'' / ''v de {{Wikt-lang|es|vaca}}'' ('b as in {{Wikt-lang|es|burro}}' / 'v as in {{Wikt-lang|es|vaca}}'); [[Colombian Spanish|Colombians]] tend to say {{lang|es|be grande}} for B and ''{{lang|es|ve}} {{Wikt-lang|es|pequeña}}'' for V. In Venezuela, they call B ''b de {{Wikt-lang|es|Bolívar}}'' and V ''v de {{Wikt-lang|es|Venezuela}}'', or ''{{lang|es|be alta}}'' and ''{{lang|es|ve baja}}'' ('tall B' / 'short V'). Regardless of these regional differences, all Spanish-speaking people recognize ''be'' as the official name of B.
;R<ref name="nuevaortografia2010" />
:The digraph {{angbr|[[rr (digraph)|rr]]}} is sometimes called {{lang|es|doble erre}} or {{lang|es|erre doble}}. It is sometimes suggested that the name of the letter {{angbr|r}} be {{lang|es|ere}} when it is single, and {{lang|es|erre}} when it is double, but the dictionary of the Real Academia Española defines the name of {{angbr|r}} as {{lang|es|erre}}. {{lang|es|Ere}} is considered obsolete.<ref>[http://www.rae.es/rae/gestores/gespub000018.nsf/%28voAnexos%29/arch8100821B76809110C12571B80038BA4A/$File/CuestionesparaelFAQdeconsultas.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213201123/http://www.rae.es/rae/gestores/gespub000018.nsf/%28voAnexos%29/arch8100821B76809110C12571B80038BA4A/%24File/CuestionesparaelFAQdeconsultas.htm|date=December 13, 2012}}</ref> The name {{lang|es|ere}} was used when referring specifically to the [[alveolar tap]] {{IPA|/ɾ/}} and {{lang|es|erre}} referring to the [[alveolar trill]] {{IPA|/r/}}. The two contrast between vowels, with the latter being represented with {{angbr|rr}}, but the sounds are otherwise in [[complementary distribution]] so that a single {{angbr|r}} may represent either. As a referent to the trill sound rather than the phoneme, {{lang|es|erre}} can refer to a single or double {{angbr|r}}.
;W<ref name="nuevaortografia2010" />
: In [[Spanish language in the Americas|Hispanic American Spanish]], {{angbr|w}} is sometimes called {{lang|es|doble ve}}, {{lang|es|ve doble}}, or {{lang|es|doble uve}}. In Colombia, Mexico, and in some Central American countries, because of English acculturation, the letter is usually called {{lang|es|doble u}} (like English "double u"). In Spain, it is usually called {{lang|es|uve doble}}. 
;I
:Because of its origin, {{angbr|i}} is occasionally known as {{lang|es|i latina}} ("Latin i") to distinguish it from {{angbr|y}}, which is known as {{lang|es|i griega}} ("Greek i").
;Y<ref name="nuevaortografia2010" />
:The most common name for {{angbr|y}} in Spain is {{lang|es|i griega}}, but it has been commonly superseded in Hispanic American Spanish by {{lang|es|ye}} in an effort to standardize on a one-word name, as opposed to a name consisting of two words. Using {{lang|es|ye}} as the only name for the letter is one of the newest proposed changes specified by the 2010 new common orthography.<ref name="nuevaortografia2010" />
;Z<ref name="nuevaortografia2010" />
:The name for {{angbr|z}} is {{lang|es|zeta}} (formerly also spelled {{lang|es|ceta}}, pronounced the same).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=z |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=z |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref> In older Spanish, it was called {{lang|es|zeda}} or {{lang|es|ceda}}, and the diminutive form of this word, ''[[cedilla]]'', is now used in both Spanish and English to refer to the diacritic mark exhibited in the letter {{angbr|ç}}.

===Other characters===
Besides the letters, other characters are specially associated with Spanish-language texts:
* The [[currency symbol]]s of Spanish-language countries: {{angbr|[[¢]]}} ([[centavo]]), {{angbr|₡}} ([[colón (currency)|colón]]), {{angbr|₧}} ([[Spanish peseta|peseta]]), {{angbr|[[$]]}} ([[peso]]), {{angbr|[[₲]]}} ([[Paraguayan guaraní]]).
* {{angbr|[[wiktionary:℆|℆]]}}, abbreviation of ''cada una'' or ''cada uno'' ('each one')
* {{angbr|[[º]]}} and {{angbr|[[ª]]}} are used in abbreviations like ''1.º'', ''1.ª'' ('first') or D.ª ("[[doña]]"); in [[ordinal numbers]] they match the grammatical gender of the noun being modified: masculine {{angbr|º}} and feminine {{angbr|ª}}. ''N.º'' (''número'', 'number') can be represented as one character {{angbr|[[№]]}}.
* {{angbr|[[@]]}} is the symbol of the [[arroba]], a pre-metric unit of weight (about 11.502&nbsp;kg, 25.3 pounds).
* {{angbr|[[¿]]}} and {{angbr|[[¡]]}} are used at the beginning of interrogative and exclamatory sentences, respectively. They are also used in the middle of a sentence if only part of the sentence is a question or exclamation: {{langx|es|Juan se puso a comer y ¡recórcholis! }} ("John started eating and wow!")
* The [[guillemet]]s ({{langx|es|comillas}}) {{angbr|«}} and {{angbr|»}} are used in formal settings in the same sense as [[quotation marks]], although they are very uncommon in informal usage.<ref>{{cite web |title=comillas |url=https://www.rae.es/dpd/comillas |website=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (DPD) |publisher=Real Academia Española (RAE) |access-date=16 January 2023}}</ref>

==Orthography==
===Orthographic principles===
Spanish orthographic rules are similar, but not identical, to those of other [[Romance languages]] of the [[Iberian Peninsula]], such as [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[Galician language|Galician]].

In general, the orthography of Spanish is such that the pronunciation of most words is unambiguous given their written form. The main exception is the letter {{angbr|x}}, which usually represents {{IPA|/ks/}} or {{IPA|/s/}}, but can also represent {{IPA|/x/}} or {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, especially in proper nouns from times of [[Old Spanish]] (e.g. {{lang|es|[[Toponymy of Mexico|México]]}} or ''[[Pedro Ximénez]]'' – in both cases the {{angbr|x}} is pronounced {{IPA|/x/}}).

The converse does not always hold, i.e. for a given pronunciation there may be multiple possible spellings, as a result of decisions by the Royal Spanish Academy. The main issues are:
*the use of both {{angbr|b}} and {{angbr|v}} for {{IPA|/b/}};
*the use of both {{angbr|j}} and {{angbr|g}} for {{IPA|/x/}} before {{angbr|e}} and {{angbr|i}};
*the silent {{angbr|h}};
*the occasional use of accents to distinguish two words that sound the same, such as ''tú'' / ''tu'', ''sí'' / ''si'', and ''más'' / ''mas'' (see ''[[#Differential accents|differential accents]]'' below).

For some speakers, additional problems may come from:
*the use of {{angbr|y}} and {{angbr|ll}} (''{{lang|es|[[yeísmo]]}}'');
**the use of {{angbr|y}}/{{angbr|ll}}, {{angbr|hi}} and (less commonly) {{angbr|i}} as part of a rising diphthong at the beginning of words (variant of ''{{lang|es|yeísmo}}'');{{efn|The distinction is usually preserved in dialects with {{lang|es|[[Yeísmo#Zheísmo and sheísmo|sheísmo or zheísmo]]}} (such as [[Rioplatense Spanish]]), in which word-initial {{angbr|y}} and {{angbr|ll}} are pronounced {{IPA|[ʃ]}} or {{IPA|[ʒ]}}, while {{angbr|hi}} and {{angbr|i}} are pronounced {{IPA|[j]}}.<br />Additionally, some speakers pronounce certain {{angbr|hi-}} words with a hiatus, thus making them distinct from {{angbr|y-}} words; for example, {{lang|es|[[wikt:hierba#Spanish|hierba]]}} can be pronounced with either a diphthong ({{IPA|/ˈʝeɾ.ba/}}) or a hiatus ({{IPA|/i.ˈeɾ.ba/}}). However, this varies by region, and does not apply to all {{angbr|hi-}} words (e.g. {{lang|es|[[wikt:hierro#Spanish|hierro]]}} is never pronounced with a hiatus).}}
*the use of {{angbr|s}} and {{angbr|z}} (as well as {{angbr|c}} and {{angbr|sc}} before {{angbr|e}} and {{angbr|i}}), either for {{IPA|/s/}} (''[[seseo]]'') or for {{IPA|/θ/}} (''[[ceceo]]'');
*the use of {{angbr|x}} (also {{angbr|xs}} in a few prefixed words) and the letter combinations {{angbr|cc}} and {{angbr|xc}} before {{angbr|e}} and {{angbr|i}}, either for {{IPA|/ks~ɡs/}} (''seseo'') or for {{IPA|/kθ~ɡθ/}} (''ceceo'');
*the use of {{angbr|hu}}, {{angbr|gu}} and {{angbr|bu}} before a vowel for {{IPA|/w/}};
*the use of both {{angbr|s}} and {{angbr|x}} for {{IPA|/s/}} before consonants (in a few Greek-derived words, {{angbr|x}} is used for word-initial {{IPA|/s/}} from etymological ξ).

The use of {{angbr|b}} and {{angbr|v}}, {{angbr|j}} and {{angbr|g}}, and the silent {{angbr|h}} is mostly based on etymology. In particular, using {{angbr|b}} in many cases is not a living continuation of Old Spanish (which often had {{angbr|v}} in place of intervocalic {{angbr|b}} as a result of Vulgar Latin merger, as in other Romance languages), but an artificial restitution based on Latin: {{Wikt-lang|es|caballo}} 'horse' is spelled as Latin {{Wikt-lang|la|caballus}} and unlike French {{Wikt-lang|fr|cheval}}, Italian {{Wikt-lang|it|cavallo}}, Portuguese {{Wikt-lang|pt|cavalo}}, or Catalan {{Wikt-lang|ca|cavall}}. The letter {{angbr|h}} is used in place of Latin {{angbr|h}} and {{angbr|f}} (in a few words also {{angbr|g}}): {{Wikt-lang|es|hoy}}<{{Wikt-lang|la|hodie}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|hablar}}<{{Wikt-lang|la|fabulare}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|hermano}}<{{Wikt-lang|la|germanus}}. Additionally, {{angbr|h}} is a purely orthographical sign used before word-initial rising diphthongs.{{efn|name="h"}} However, in some words RAE mandated counteretymological spellings because of established tradition of usage, e. g. {{Wikt-lang|es|abogado}}<{{Wikt-lang|la|advocatus}}.

The {{lang|es|Ortografía}} includes a series of "rules of thumb" on using the letters {{angbr|b/v}}, {{angbr|g/j}}, {{angbr|ll/y}}, {{angbr|c/s/z}}, {{angbr|h}}, and {{angbr|x}}. For example, verbs ending in ''-bir'' are spelled with {{angbr|b}}, except {{Wikt-lang|es|hervir}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|servir}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|vivir}}, and their derivatives.

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Use of different letters for the same sound
! sound !! before {{angbr|e/i}} !! elsewhere
|- style="text-align:center;"
| {{IPA|/θ/ or /s/}} || {{angbr|c}} (or {{angbr|z}} in some loanwords) or {{angbr|s}} || {{angbr|z}} or {{angbr|s}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
| {{IPA|/k/}} || {{angbr|qu}} (or {{angbr|k}} in some loanwords) || {{angbr|c}} (or {{angbr|k}} in some loanwords)
|- style="text-align:center;"
| {{IPA|/x/}} || {{angbr|g}} or {{angbr|j}} (or {{angbr|x}} in Mexico) || {{angbr|j}} (or {{angbr|x}} in Mexico)
|- style="text-align:center;"
| {{IPA|/ɡ/}} || {{angbr|gu}} || {{angbr|g}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
| {{IPA|/ɡw/}} || {{angbr|gü}} || {{angbr|gu}}
|}

In some Spanish verbs, the same stem is spelled differently before different verb endings. This is required to keep the regularity of the conjugated forms in terms of sound, when a letter represents different sounds, or to avoid unusual combinations, such as ''-ze-'' or ''-qua-'':
* {{IPA|/k/}}: ''qu''↔''c'': ''{{Wikt-lang|es|delinquir}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|delincamos}}'' (-quir); ''{{Wikt-lang|es|tocar}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|toquemos}}'' (-car). 
* {{IPA|/θ/}}: ''c''↔''z'': ''{{Wikt-lang|es|vencer}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|venzamos}}'' (-cer); ''{{Wikt-lang|es|gozar}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|gocemos}}'' (-zar).
* {{IPA|/ɡw/}}: ''gü''↔''gu'': ''{{Wikt-lang|es|argüir}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|arguyamos}}'' (-güir); ''{{Wikt-lang|es|averiguar}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|averigüemos}}'' (-guar).
* {{IPA|/ɡ/}}: ''gu''↔''g'': ''{{Wikt-lang|es|distinguir}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|distingamos}}'' (-guir); ''{{Wikt-lang|es|negar}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|neguemos}}'' (-gar). 
* {{IPA|/x/}}: ''g''→''j'': ''{{Wikt-lang|es|proteger}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|protejamos}}'' (-ger). But in verbs ending in ''-jar'', the ''j'' is kept before ''e'': ''{{Wikt-lang|es|mojar}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|mojemos}}'' (not {{lang|es|*mogemos}}).

The same occurs in other parts of speech when combined with certain suffixes, such as {{wikt-lang|es|-ito}}/{{wikt-lang|es|-ita}} for nouns and pronouns or {{wikt-lang|es|-ísimo}}/{{wikt-lang|es|-ísima}} for adjectives and adverbs: {{wikt-lang|es|taza|ta'''z'''a}} → {{wikt-lang|es|tacita|ta'''c'''ita}}; {{wikt-lang|es|poco|po'''c'''o}} → {{wikt-lang|es|poquito|po'''qu'''ito}}; {{wikt-lang|es|abrigo|abri'''g'''o}} → ''abri'''gu'''ito''; {{wikt-lang|es|agua|a'''gu'''a}} → {{wikt-lang|es|agüita|a'''gü'''ita}}; {{wikt-lang|es|feroz|fero'''z'''}} → {{wikt-lang|es|ferocísimo|fero'''c'''ísimo}};  {{wikt-lang|es|loco|lo'''c'''o}} → {{wikt-lang|es|loquísimo|lo'''qu'''ísimo}}; {{wikt-lang|es|largo|lar'''g'''o}} → {{wikt-lang|es|larguísimo|lar'''gu'''ísimo}}; {{wikt-lang|es|exiguo|exi'''gu'''o}} → {{wikt-lang|es|exigüísimo|exi'''gü'''ísimo}}. Likewise, nouns and adjectives ending in ''z'' change this letter to ''c'' in the plural for similar reasons: ''{{Wikt-lang|es|lápiz|lápi'''z'''}}'' → ''{{Wikt-lang|es|lápices|lápi'''c'''es}}''; {{wikt-lang|es|feroz|fero'''z'''}} → {{wikt-lang|es|feroces|fero'''c'''es}}.

===Letter-to-sound correspondences===
====Consonants====

{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Consonant]]s
|-
! Letter !! Context !! [[Help:IPA|IPA]] !! Examples !! English approximation
|-
| rowspan=3|'''b''' or '''v'''
| word-initial after a pause, or after {{angbr|m}} or {{angbr|n}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|b}}</big>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|bestia|'''b'''estia}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|embuste|em'''b'''uste}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|vaca|'''v'''aca}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|envidia|en'''v'''idia}}
| practically the same as the typical English {{angbr|b}}, except that it is fully [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]; e.g. ''a'''b'''out''
|-
| elsewhere (i.e. after a vowel, even across a word boundary, or after any consonant other than {{angbr|m}} or {{angbr|n}})
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|β̞|β}}</big>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|bebé|be'''b'''é}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|obtuso|o'''b'''tuso}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|vivir|vi'''v'''ir}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|curva|cur'''v'''a}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|mi}} {{Wikt-lang|es|bebé|'''b'''e'''b'''é}}; {{lang|es|mi}} {{Wikt-lang|es|vaca|'''v'''aca}}{{efn|name="Approximant"|{{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/ʝ/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} are [[approximant consonant|approximants]] ({{IPA|[β̞]}}, {{IPA|[ð̞]}}, {{IPA|[ʝ˕]}} {{IPA|[ɣ˕]}}; represented here without the undertacks) in all places except after a pause, after an {{IPA|/n/}} or {{IPA|/m/}}, or—in the case of {{IPA|/d/}} and {{IPA|/ʝ/}}—after an {{IPA|/l/}}, in which contexts they are stops {{IPA|[b, d, ɟʝ, ɡ]}}, not dissimilar from English ''b, d, j, g.''<ref name="carrera258" />}}
| between ''ba'''b'''y'' and ''be'''v'''y'' (like the typical English {{angbr|v}}, but with the upper lip in place of the upper teeth)
|-
| rare: {{angbr|v}} at the end of loanwords
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|v|v}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|f|f}}</big><ref>[https://www.rae.es/dpd/v Diccionario panhispánico de dudas]</ref>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|leitmotiv|leitmoti'''v'''}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|lev|le'''v'''}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|molotov|moloto'''v'''}}
| same as the typical English {{angbr|v}} or {{angbr|f}}; e.g. '''''v'''ase'' or '''''f'''ase''
|-
| rowspan=3|'''c'''
| before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|θ}}</big> <small>(central and northern Spain) or </small><br /><big>{{IPAblink|s}}</big> <small>(most other regions)</small>{{efn|name="seseo"|In Andalusia, Canary Islands, and Spanish America {{IPA|/θ/}} is not distinguished from {{IPAslink|s}};<ref name="carrera258" /> see ''[[seseo]]''.}}
| {{Wikt-lang|es|cereal|'''c'''ereal}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|encima|en'''c'''ima}}
|same as the English [[Pronunciation of English ⟨th⟩|voiceless ⟨th⟩]] (as in '''''th'''ing'') in central and northern Spain,<br /> or the typical English {{angbr|s}} (as in '''''s'''a'''ss''''') in all other regions
|-
|before voiced consonants
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ɣ}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|anécdota|ané'''c'''dota}}
|a sound between a light English {{angbr|g}} and the typical English {{angbr|h}} (between '''''g'''old'' and ''a'''h'''old'')
|-
| elsewhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|k}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|casa|'''c'''asa}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|claro|'''c'''laro}}; {{lang|es|va'''c'''a}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|escudo|es'''c'''udo}}
|same as certain instances of English {{angbr|k}} or {{angbr|c}}; e.g. ''s'''k'''ull'', ''s'''c'''an'', or ''pi'''ck'''ing'' (unaspirated, i.e. without the puff of air that accompanies English {{IPA|/k/}} at the beginning of a word, e.g. in '''''c'''an'')
|-
| '''ch'''
| everywhere{{efn|In a small number of borrowed words, such as Kir'''ch'''ner, this is {{IPAblink|ʃ}}.}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|tʃ}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|ʃ}}</big> <small>(depending upon the dialect)</small>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|ocho|o'''ch'''o}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|chícharo|'''ch'''í'''ch'''aro}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|ch}}; '''''ch'''ur'''ch'''''
|-
| rowspan=2|'''d'''
| word-initial after a pause, or after {{angbr|l}} or {{angbr|n}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|d̪|d}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|dedo|'''d'''edo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|cuando|cuan'''d'''o}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|aldaba|al'''d'''aba}}
|practically the same as the typical English {{angbr|d}}, except that it is fully [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] and the tip of the tongue touches the [[Denti-alveolar consonant|upper teeth]]; e.g. ''a'''d'''ore''
|-
| elsewhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ð}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|dádiva|dá'''d'''iva}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|arder|ar'''d'''er}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|admirar|a'''d'''mirar}}; {{lang|es|mi}} {{Wikt-lang|es|dedo|'''d'''e'''d'''o}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|verdad|ver'''d'''a'''d'''}}{{efn|name="Approximant"}}
|same as the typical English [[Pronunciation of English ⟨th⟩|voiced ⟨th⟩]]; e.g. '''''th'''is''
|-
| rowspan=2|'''f'''
| before voiced consonants
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|v}}</big><ref>{{cite book|last=Harris|first=James|year=1969|title=Spanish Phonology|place=Cambridge|publisher=[[MIT Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last1=D'Introno|first1=Francesco|last2=Del Teso|first2=Enrique|last3=Weston|first3=Rosemary|year=1995|title=Fonética y fonología actual del español|place=Madrid|publisher=Cátedra}}</ref>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|afgano|a'''f'''gano}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|Afganistán|A'''f'''ganistán}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|v}}; e.g. '''''v'''ase''
|-
| elsewhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|f}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|fase|'''f'''ase}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|café|ca'''f'''é}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|f}}; e.g. '''''f'''ace''
|-
| rowspan=3|'''g'''
| before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|x}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|h}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|general|'''g'''eneral}}
|similar to a "strong" English {{angbr|h}}-sound (e.g. the {{angbr|ch}} in Scottish ''lo'''ch''''' or in German ''Ba'''ch''''') or aspirated {{angbr|h}} (as in '''''h'''eaven'')
|-
| not before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}, and either word-initial after a pause, or after {{angbr|n}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ɡ}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|gato|'''g'''ato}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|grande|'''g'''rande}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|vengo|ven'''g'''o}}
|practically the same as the typical English {{angbr|g}} sound, except that it is fully [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]; e.g. ''a'''g'''o''
|-
|not before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}, and not in the above contexts
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ɣ}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|trigo|tri'''g'''o}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|amargo|amar'''g'''o}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|signo|si'''g'''no}}; {{lang|es|mi '''g'''ato}}{{efn|name="Approximant"}}
|a sound between a light English {{angbr|g}} and the typical English {{angbr|h}} (between '''''g'''old'' and ''a'''h'''old'')
|-
| rowspan=4|'''gu'''
| before {{angbr|a}} or {{angbr|o}}, and either word-initial after a pause, or after {{angbr|n}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPA|[ɡw]}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|guante|'''gu'''ante}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|lengua|len'''gu'''a}}
|a sound like the {{angbr|gu}} in English ''lan'''gu'''age''
|-
| before {{angbr|a}} or {{angbr|o}}, and not in the above contexts
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPA|[ɣw]}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|agua|a'''gu'''a}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|averiguar|averi'''gu'''ar}}{{efn|name="Approximant"}}
|similar to the typical English {{angbr|w}}, but preceded by a soft guttural sound
|-
|before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}, and either word-initial after a pause, or after {{angbr|n}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ɡ}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|guerra|'''gu'''erra}}
|practically the same as the typical English {{angbr|g}} sound, except that it is fully [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]; e.g. ''a'''g'''o''
|-
|before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}, and not in the above contexts
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ɣ}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|sigue|si'''gu'''e}}{{efn|name="Approximant"}}
|a sound between a light English {{angbr|g}} and the typical English {{angbr|h}} (between '''''g'''old'' and ''a'''h'''old'')
|-
| rowspan=2|'''gü'''
| before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}, and either word-initial after a pause, or after {{angbr|n}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPA|[ɡw]}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|güero|'''gü'''ero}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|pingüino|pin'''gü'''ino}}
|a sound like the {{angbr|gu}} in English ''pen'''gu'''in''
|-
| before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}, and not in the above contexts
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPA|[ɣw]}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|averigüe|averi'''gü'''e}}{{efn|name="Approximant"}}
|similar to the typical English {{angbr|w}}, but preceded by a soft guttural sound
|-
|rowspan=2|'''h'''
| everywhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>(''silent'')</big>{{efn|name="h"|Modern words in which ''h'' is derived from Latin ''f'' (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|hacer}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|hablar}}'') were spelled with ''f'', pronounced {{IPA|[f]}}, in [[Old Spanish language|Old Spanish]] (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|fazer}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|fablar}}''), and there was a transitional stage pronounced {{IPA|[h]}} before the sound was entirely lost; hence the modern spelling with ''h''. But in words derived from Latin words with ''h'' (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|hoy}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|prohibir}}''), the letter was always silent in Spanish. And words beginning with either of the diphthongs {{IPA|[je]}} or {{IPA|[we]}} (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|hielo}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|huevo}}'') were given an initial ''h'' in spelling (always silent) to ensure that their initial [[semivowel|glide]] was not read as a consonant (in Old Spanish, the letters ''i'' and ''j'' were often interchanged, as were ''u'' and ''v'').}}
|{{Wikt-lang|es|hoy|'''h'''oy}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|hacer|'''h'''acer}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|prohibir|pro'''h'''ibir}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|huevo|'''h'''uevo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|hielo|'''h'''ielo}}
|silent (like the English {{angbr|h}} in English '''''h'''onor or '''h'''our'')
|-
|everywhere; occurs in loanwords and foreign proper names
|style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|x}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|h}}</big>
| '''h'''ámster, '''h'''awaiano, '''h'''achís, {{Wikt-lang|es|yihad|yi'''h'''ad}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|haiku|'''h'''aiku}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|dírham|dír'''h'''am}}, [[Yokohama|Yoko'''h'''ama]], [[wahid|Wa'''h'''id]]{{efn|However, many loanwords are pronounced without the original {{IPAblink|h}} sound, e. g. ''alcohol, hitita, hurra, hotentote, húsar, harakiri, hamaca''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ortografía de la lengua española (2010) |publisher=Real Academia Española y Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española. |pages=144}}</ref>}}
|similar to a "strong" English {{angbr|h}}-sound (e.g. the {{angbr|ch}} in Scottish ''lo'''ch''''' or in German ''Ba'''ch''''') or aspirated {{angbr|h}} (as in '''''h'''eaven'')
|-
| '''hi'''
| before a vowel
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|j}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|ʝ}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|hierba|'''hi'''erba}}; {{lang|es|'''hi'''elo}}
|similar to or the same as the typical English {{angbr|y}}; e.g. '''''y'''ou'' (but often more strongly pronounced, sometimes resembling the English {{angbr|j}}, as in '''''j'''am'')
|-
| '''hu'''
| before a vowel
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|w}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|hueso|'''hu'''eso}}; {{lang|es|'''hu'''evo}}{{efn|name="spanish_w"}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|w}}; '''''w'''e'' (sometimes sounds closer to the English {{angbr|gw}}, like in '''''Gw'''en'', or {{angbr|bw}}, like in ''co'''bw'''eb'')
|-
|'''j'''
| everywhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|x}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|h}}</big>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|jamón|'''j'''amón}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|eje|e'''j'''e}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|reloj|relo'''j'''}};{{efn|For most speakers, the {{angbr|j}} is silent at the end of a word, in which case ''relo'''j''''' is pronounced {{IPA|[reˈlo]}}.}}
|similar to a "strong" English {{angbr|h}}-sound (e.g. the {{angbr|ch}} in Scottish ''lo'''ch''''' or in German ''Ba'''ch''''') or aspirated {{angbr|h}} (as in '''''h'''eaven'') However, the letter originally had a j sound akin to '''''j'''ump'' in older versions of Spanish.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/janero#Old_Spanish | title=Janero | date=7 August 2024 }}</ref>
|-
| '''k'''
|rare; only occurs in a few loanwords and sensational spellings
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|k}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|kilo|'''k'''ilo}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|karate|'''k'''arate}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|okupa|o'''k'''upa}}
|same as certain instances of English {{angbr|k}} or {{angbr|c}}; e.g. ''s'''k'''ull'', ''s'''c'''an'', or ''pi'''ck'''ing'' (unaspirated, i.e. without the puff of air that accompanies English {{IPA|/k/}} at the beginning of a word, e.g. in '''''c'''an'')
|-
| '''l'''
| everywhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|l}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|lino|'''l'''ino}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|alhaja|a'''l'''haja}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|principal|principa'''l'''}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|l}} (especially like the [[alveolar lateral approximant|clear {{angbr|l}}]] of British English, rather than the [[velarized alveolar lateral approximant|dark {{angbr|l}}]] of American English);e.g. ''pu'''ll/'''pə'''ɫ̩/'''''
|-
| '''ll'''
| everywhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ʎ}}</big>, <big>{{IPAblink|ʝ}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|dʒ}}</big><small> (depending upon the dialect)</small>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|llave|'''ll'''ave}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|pollo|po'''ll'''o}}
|similar to the {{angbr|lli}} in English ''mi'''lli'''on'' (in some dialects simplified to a sound between the typical English {{angbr|y}} and {{angbr|j}}, e.g. between '''''y'''es'' and '''''J'''ess'')
|-
| rowspan=2|'''m'''
| everywhere except word-finally
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|m}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|madre|'''m'''adre}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|comer|co'''m'''er}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|campo|ca'''m'''po}}{{efn|name="nasal"}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|m}}; '''''m'''ada'''m'''''
|-
| rowspan=2|word-final
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|n}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|ŋ}}</big> <small>(depending upon the dialect)</small>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|álbum|álbu'''m'''}}
| rowspan=2|varying between the typical English {{angbr|n}} and {{angbr|ng}}, e.g. the {{angbr|ng}} in English ''si'''ng'''''
|-
| rowspan=3|'''n'''
|{{Wikt-lang|es|sin|si'''n'''}}
|-
| everywhere but before other consonants
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|n}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|nido|'''n'''ido}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|anillo|a'''n'''illo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|anhelo|a'''n'''helo}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|n}}; e.g. '''''n'''u'''n'''''
|-
| before other consonants{{efn|name="nasal"|The [[nasal stop|nasal consonants]] {{IPA|/n, m, ɲ/}} only contrast before vowels. Before consonants, they assimilate to the consonant's [[place of articulation]]. This is partially reflected in the orthography: only {{angbr|m}} is written before {{angbr|b}} and {{angbr|p}}; but only {{angbr|n}} is written before {{angbr|v}} (although the combination ''nv'' represents the same sounds as ''mb'') and {{angbr|f}}. Word-finally, only {{IPA|/n/}} occurs, normally spelled {{angbr|n}}; but {{angbr|m}} is used in some loanwords.}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|m}}</big><br /><big>{{IPAblink|ɱ}}</big><br /><big>{{IPAblink|n}}</big><br /><big>{{IPAblink|ɲ}}</big><br /><big>{{IPAblink|ŋ}}</big><br />
|{{Wikt-lang|es|invierno|i'''n'''vierno}}<br />{{Wikt-lang|es|confite|co'''n'''fite}}<br />{{Wikt-lang|es|mundo|mu'''n'''do}}<br />{{Wikt-lang|es|enyesar|e'''n'''yesar}}<br />{{Wikt-lang|es|cinco|ci'''n'''co}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|m}}; '''''m'''ada'''m'''''<br />same as the English {{angbr|m}} in '' sy'''m'''phony''<br />same as the typical English {{angbr|n}} (as in {{Wikt-lang|es|nun|'''n'''u'''n'''}})<br />same as the English {{angbr|ny}} in ''ca'''ny'''on''<br />same as the typical English {{angbr|ng}} (as in ''si'''n'''k'' or ''si'''ng''''')
|-
| '''ñ'''
| everywhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ɲ}}</big> or <big>[nj]</big>
<small>(depending upon the dialect)</small>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|ñandú|'''ñ'''andú}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|cabaña|caba'''ñ'''a}}{{efn|name="nasal"}}
|roughly like ''mi'''n'''ions''
|-
| rowspan="2" | '''p'''
| everywhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|p}}</big>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|pozo|'''p'''ozo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|topo|to'''p'''o}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|esposa|es'''p'''osa}}
|same as certain instances of English {{angbr|p}}; e.g. ''s'''p'''an'' or ''ty'''p'''ing'' (unaspirated, i.e. without the puff of air that accompanies English {{IPA|/p/}} at the beginning of a word, e.g. in '''''p'''an'')
|-
|in the consonant cluster {{Angbr|pt}}<ref>* {{Citation
|last=Navarro Tomás
|first=Tomás
|author-link = Tomás Navarro Tomás
|year=1918
|title=Manual de pronunciación española
|edition=21st (1982)
|place=Madrid
|publisher=CSIC
|url=http://scans.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/4/20/manualdepronunci00navauoft/manualdepronunci00navauoft.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619083231/http://scans.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/4/20/manualdepronunci00navauoft/manualdepronunci00navauoft.pdf
|archive-date=19 June 2018
|page=61
}}</ref>
|style="text-align:center;"| <big>{{IPAblink|β̞|β}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|optimista|o'''p'''timista}}
|between ''ba'''b'''y'' and ''be'''v'''y'' (like the typical English {{angbr|v}}, but with the upper lip in place of the upper teeth)
|-
| '''qu'''
| only occurs before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|k}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|quise|'''qu'''ise}}
|same as certain instances of English {{angbr|k}} {{angbr|c}} or ⟨q⟩; e.g. ''s'''k'''ull'', ''s'''c'''an'', or ''uni'''q'''ue'' (unaspirated, i.e. without the puff of air that accompanies English {{IPA|/k/}} at the beginning of a word, e.g. in '''''k'''ey'')
|-
| rowspan=2|'''r'''
| word-initial, morpheme-initial,{{efn|name="r"|In the verb {{lang|es|[[wikt:subrayar#Spanish|subrayar]]}} the trilled initial {{IPA|[r]}} of the root {{lang|es|[[wikt:raya#Spanish|raya]]}} is maintained, even with the prefix ''{{Wikt-lang|es|sub-}}''. The same goes for ''{{Wikt-lang|es|ciudadrealeño}}'' (from ''Ciudad Real''). However, after vowels, the initial {{angbr|r}} of the root becomes {{angbr|rr}} in prefixed or compound words: ''{{Wikt-lang|es|prorrogar}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|infrarrojo}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|autorretrato}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|arriesgar}}''.}} <br />or after {{angbr|l}}, {{angbr|n}}, {{angbr|s}}, or {{angbr|z}}; in emphatic and oratorical or formal speech, may also be used instead of {{IPAblink|ɾ}} in syllable-final (especially before {{angbr|l}}, {{angbr|m}}, {{angbr|n}}, {{angbr|s}}, {{angbr|t}}, or {{angbr|d}}) and word-final positions (before pause or consonant-initial words only)
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|r}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|rumbo|'''r'''umbo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|honra|hon'''r'''a}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|alrededor|al'''r'''ededor}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|israelí|is'''r'''aelí}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|Azrael|Az'''r'''ael}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|subrayar|sub'''r'''ayar}}; amo'''r''' puro
|trilled or rolled {{angbr|r}}
|-
| elsewhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ɾ}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|caro|ca'''r'''o}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|bravo|b'''r'''avo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|partir|pa'''r'''ti'''r'''}}; amo'''r''' eterno
|flapped {{angbr|r}}; e.g. the same sound as the {{angbr|dd}} of ''la'''dd'''er'' in [[American English]]
|-
| '''rr'''
| only occurs between vowels
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|r}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|carro|ca'''rr'''o}}
|trilled or rolled {{angbr|r}}
|-
| rowspan=2|'''s'''
| before a voiced consonant (e.g. {{angbr|l}}, {{angbr|m}}, {{angbr|d}},{{angbr|g}})
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|z}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|isla|i'''s'''la}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|mismo|mi'''s'''mo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|desde|de'''s'''de}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|jurisdicción|juri'''s'''dicción}};{{Wikt-lang|es|deshuesar|de'''s'''huesar}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|atisbo|ati'''s'''bo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|presbítero|pre'''s'''bítero}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|resbalar|re'''s'''balar}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|rasgo|ra'''s'''go}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|riesgo|rie'''s'''go}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|desvelar|de'''s'''velar}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|esvarar|e'''s'''varar}}{{efn|name="debuccalize"}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|z}}; e.g. the {{angbr|s}} in ''i'''s''''' or ''bu'''s'''y''; in central and northern Spain, [[Paisa]] region of Colombia, and Andes, this sound is made with the [[Apical consonant|tip of the tongue]] rather than the [[Laminal consonant|blade]], with a sound quality intermediate between the alveolar {{IPA|[z]}} of English ''bu'''s'''y'' and the palato-alveolar {{IPA|[ʒ]}} of ''plea'''s'''ure''
|-
|everywhere else
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|s}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|saco|'''s'''aco}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|casa|ca'''s'''a}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|deshora|de'''s'''hora}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|espita|e'''s'''pita}}{{efn|name="debuccalize"|For [[Spanish dialects and varieties#Debuccalization of coda /s/|many speakers]], {{IPA|/s/}} may [[debuccalization|debuccalize]] or [[Elision|be deleted]] in the [[syllable coda]] (at the end of words and before consonants).}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|s}}; '''''s'''a'''ss'''''; in central and northern Spain, [[Paisa]] region of Colombia, and Andes, this sound is made with the tip of the tongue rather than the blade, with a sound quality intermediate between the alveolar {{IPA|[s]}} of English '''''s'''ea'' and the palato-alveolar {{IPA|[ʃ]}} of '''''s'''ure''
|-
| '''sh'''
| Not considered to be a Spanish digraph (hence words like ''sherpa, show, flash'' are considered ''extranjerismos crudos''), but used in proper names from other languages, some of them being accentuated in the Spanish manner (names from Native American languages or from languages using non-Latin writing systems)
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ʃ}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|tʃ}}</big> (sometimes <big>{{IPAblink|s}}</big>)
|[[Ancash Region|Ánca'''sh''']]; '''Sh'''anghái; Wa'''sh'''ington
|same as the typical English {{angbr|sh}}; e.g. '''''sh'''ee'''sh'''''; when this digraph is equated with the phoneme {{IPA|/s/}} (typically in northern and central Spain, [[Paisa Region|Paisa region]] of Colombia, and Andes), the sound is made with the tip of the tongue rather than the blade, with a sound quality intermediate between the alveolar {{IPA|[s]}} of English '''''s'''ea'' and the palato-alveolar {{IPA|[ʃ]}} of '''''s'''he''
|-
| rowspan="2"|'''t'''
| everywhere
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|t̪|t}}</big>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|tamiz|'''t'''amiz}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|átomo|á'''t'''omo}}
|same as certain instances of English {{angbr|t}}; e.g. s'''t'''and (unaspirated, i.e. without the puff of air that accompanies English {{IPA|/t/}} at the beginning of a word, e.g. in '''''t'''an''). Also, the tip of the tongue touches the [[Denti-alveolar consonant|upper teeth]], rather than the [[alveolar ridge]] and found in the word ''mon'''t'''h'' /mənt̪θ/
|-
|before voiced consonants
|style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ð}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|atmósfera|a'''t'''mósfera}}
|same as the typical English [[Pronunciation of English ⟨th⟩|voiced ⟨th⟩]]; e.g. '''''th'''is'' 
|-
| '''tl'''
| rare; mostly in loanwords from [[Nahuatl]]
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPA|[tl]}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|tɬ}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|tlapalería|'''tl'''apalería}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|cenzontle|cenzon'''tl'''e}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|Popocatépetl|Popocatépe'''tl'''}}
|similar to the combined {{angbr|tl}} sound in English ''ca'''t-l'''ike''
|-
|'''tz'''
| rare; from loanwords
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ts}}</big>
|''{{Wikt-lang|es|quetzal|que'''tz'''al}}''; ''[[Pátzcuaro|Pá'''tz'''cuaro]]''
|same as the "ts" in English ''ca'''ts'''''
|-
| rowspan=3|'''w'''
| rare; in loanwords from English and non-European languages
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPA|[w]}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|waterpolo|'''w'''aterpolo}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|taekwondo|taek'''w'''ondo}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|kiwi|ki'''w'''i}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|wau|'''w'''au}}, ''[[Wahid|'''W'''ahid]]'', ''[[Taiwan|Tai'''w'''án]]''
|'''''w'''ater'' (sometimes turn to /gw/ or /bw/){{efn|name="spanish_w"}}
|-
| rare; in loanwords from German and in Visigothic names; word-initial after a pause, or after {{angbr|m}} or {{angbr|n}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPA|[b]}}</big>{{efn|Orthographic {{angbr|w}} in names of [[Visigoth]]ic origin is thought to have represented {{IPAslink|β}} in [[Old Spanish]], in which {{IPA|/b/}} and {{IPA|/β/}} were separate phonemes); this {{IPA|/β/}} phoneme was also spelled {{angbr|v}} in Old Spanish. See [[History of the Spanish language#Betacism|History of Spanish#Merger of /b/ and /v/]].}}
|{{Wikt-lang|es|wolframio|'''w'''olframio}}; ''[[Wamba (king)|'''W'''amba]]''; ''[[Wittenberg|'''W'''ittenberg]]''
|same as the typical English {{angbr|b}}; e.g. '''''b'''i'''b'''''
|-
| rare; in loanwords from German and in Visigothic names; elsewhere (i.e. after a vowel, even across a word boundary, or after any consonant other than {{angbr|m}} or {{angbr|n}})
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|β̞|β}}</big>
|[[volkswagen|Volks'''w'''agen]], [[ludwig (given name)|Lud'''w'''ig]]
|between ''ba'''b'''y'' and ''be'''v'''y'' (like the typical English {{angbr|v}}, but with the upper lip in place of the upper teeth)
|-
| rowspan="5" |'''x'''
| between vowels and word-finally
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPA|[ks]}}</big> (sometimes <big>{{IPA|[gz]}}</big>)
|{{Wikt-lang|es|exacto|e'''x'''acto}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|taxi|ta'''x'''i}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|relax|rela'''x'''}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|exigente|e'''x'''igente}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|x}}; e.g. ''ta'''x'''i or E'''x'''actly''
|-
| word-initially
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|s}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|xenofobia|'''x'''enofobia}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|s}}; '''''s'''a'''ss'''''; in central and northern Spain, [[Paisa]] region of Colombia, and Andes, this sound is made with the tip of the tongue rather than the blade, with a sound quality intermediate between the alveolar {{IPA|[s]}} of English '''''s'''ea'' and the palato-alveolar {{IPA|[ʃ]}} of '''''s'''he''
|-
|before a consonant
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPA|[ks]}} or {{IPAblink|s}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|extremo|e'''x'''tremo}}{{efn|name="debuccalize"}}{{efn|In words with the combination ''-xs-'' (e.g., ''{{Wikt-lang|es|exsenador}}''), the pronunciation is {{IPA|[ks]}}, and the two {{IPAblink|s}} sounds are merged into one. The same goes for ''-xc-'' before ''e, i'' (e.g., ''{{Wikt-lang|es|excelente}}'') in varieties with ''seseo''.}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|x}} or {{angbr|s}}; e.g. ''ma'''x''''' or ''ma'''ss'''''
|-
| in some words borrowed from Nahuatl, mostly place names, and in some Spanish proper names conserving archaic spelling
| style="text-align:center;"| <big>{{IPAblink|x}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|h}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|México|Mé'''x'''ico}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|Oaxaca|Oa'''x'''aca}}; '''x'''iote; Te'''x'''as; [[Axarquía|La A'''x'''arquía]]; '''X'''imena; '''X'''iménez; Me'''x'''ía; {{Wikt-lang|es|Roxas|Ro'''x'''as}}
|similar to a "strong" English {{angbr|h}}-sound (e.g. the {{angbr|ch}} in Scottish ''lo'''ch''''' or in German ''Ba'''ch''''') or aspirated {{angbr|h}} (as in '''''h'''eaven'')
|-
| in some words from indigenous American languages, mostly place names
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ʃ}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|tʃ}}</big> (sometimes <big>{{IPAblink|s}}</big>)
|[[Quetzaltenango|'''X'''ela]]; {{Wikt-lang|es|xocoyote|'''x'''ocoyote}}
|same as the typical English {{angbr|sh}}; e.g. '''''sh'''ee'''sh'''''; when this is equated with the phoneme {{IPA|/s/}} (typically in northern and central Spain, [[Paisa]] region of Colombia, and Andes), the sound is made with the tip of the tongue rather than the blade, with a sound quality intermediate between the alveolar {{IPA|[s]}} of English '''''s'''ea'' and the palato-alveolar {{IPA|[ʃ]}} of '''''s'''he''
|-
| rowspan=2|'''y'''
| as a semivowel (almost always in a [[diphthong]])
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|i}}</big> or <big>{{IPAblink|j}}</big>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|hay|ha'''y'''}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|soy|so'''y'''}}
| same as the typical English {{angbr|y}} (but joined in a [[diphthong|single syllable with another vowel sound]]); ''a'''ye''''', ''bo'''y'''''
|-
| as a consonant
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|j}}</big>, <big>{{IPAblink|ʝ}}</big>, or <big>{{IPAblink|dʒ}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|ya|'''y'''a}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|yelmo|'''y'''elmo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|ayuno|a'''y'''uno}}{{efn|name="Approximant"}}
|similar to the typical English {{angbr|y}}, or {{angbr|j}} but softer; e.g. similar to '''''y'''es'' or '''''J'''ess,'' '''''y'''east''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Handbook of the IPA|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-521-65236-0|location=United Kingdom Cambridge University Press|pages=20|quote=Eng. variant of [j] in 'yeast' [ʝist]}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan=2| '''z'''
| usually does not occur before {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|θ}}</big> <small>(central and northern Spain) or</small><br /> <big>{{IPAblink|s}}</big> <small>(most other regions)</small>{{efn|name="seseo"}}
| {{Wikt-lang|es|zorro|'''z'''orro}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|paz|pa'''z'''}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|caza|ca'''z'''a}}
|same as the English [[Pronunciation of English ⟨th⟩|voiceless ⟨th⟩]] (as in '''''th'''ing'') in central and northern Spain,<br /> or the typical English {{angbr|s}} (as in '''''s'''a'''ss''''') in all other regions
|-
| before voiced consonants
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ð}}</big> <small>(central and northern Spain) or</small> <big>{{IPAblink|z}}</big> <small>(most other regions)</small>{{efn|name="seseo"}}
| {{Wikt-lang|es|jazmín|ja'''z'''mín}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|juzgado|ju'''z'''gado}}, A'''z'''nar
|same as the typical English [[Pronunciation of English ⟨th⟩|voiced ⟨th⟩]]; e.g. '''''th'''is'' in central and northern Spain,<br />or the typical English {{angbr|z}}; e.g. the {{angbr|s}} in ''i'''s''''' or ''bu'''s'''y'' 
|}

====Vowels====

{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Monophthong|Vowels]]
|-
! Letter
! [[Help:IPA|IPA]]
! Examples !! English approximation
|-
| '''a'''
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ä|a}}</big>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|azahar|'''a'''z'''a'''h'''a'''r}}
| between tr'''a'''p and sp'''a'''
|-
| '''e'''
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|e|e}}</big>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|vehemente|v'''e'''h'''e'''m'''e'''nt'''e'''}}
| between ''b'''e'''t'' and ''b'''ai'''t''
|-
| '''i'''
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|<big>{{IPAblink|i}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|dimitir|d'''i'''m'''i'''t'''i'''r}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|mío|m'''í'''o}}
|rowspan="2"|sk'''i'''
cit'''y'''
|-
|'''y'''
|{{Wikt-lang|es|y|'''y'''}}
|-
| '''o'''
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|o|o}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|boscoso|b'''o'''sc'''o'''s'''o'''}}
| between ''c'''oa'''t'' (American more than British) and ''c'''augh'''t''
|-
| '''u'''
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|u}}</big>
| {{Wikt-lang|es|cucurucho|c'''u'''c'''u'''r'''u'''cho}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|dúo|d'''ú'''o}}
| r'''u'''le
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Semivowel]]s{{efn|name="Semivowel"|In Spanish, the letters '''i''' and '''u''' can combine with other vowels to form [[diphthong]]s (e.g. {{lang|es|c'''i'''elo}}, {{lang|es|c'''u'''adro}}).}}
|-
! colspan="2" |Letter
![[Help:IPA|IPA]] !! Examples !! English approximation
|-
|'''i'''
| {{angbr|i}} before a vowel
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|j}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|aliada|al'''i'''ada}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|cielo|c'''i'''elo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|amplio|ampl'''i'''o}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|ciudad|c'''i'''udad}}
|'''y'''ou
|-
|'''hi'''; '''y'''
| {{angbr|hi}} before a vowel; {{angbr|y}} before a vowel
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|ʝ}}</big>
|  {{Wikt-lang|es|hierba|'''hi'''erba}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|hielo|'''hi'''elo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|ya|'''y'''a}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|yelmo|'''y'''elmo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|ayuno|a'''y'''uno}}
|'''Y'''ou
|-
|'''u'''
| {{angbr|u}} before a vowel<br />(but silent in {{angbr|qu}}, also {{angbr|gu}} before an {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}})
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|w}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|cuadro|c'''u'''adro}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|fuego|f'''u'''ego}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|arduo|ard'''u'''o}}
|'''w'''ine
|-
|'''hu'''
| {{angbr|hu}} before a vowel
| style="text-align:center;"|<big>{{IPAblink|w̝}}</big>
|{{Wikt-lang|es|hueso|'''hu'''eso}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|hueso|'''hu'''evo}}; {{Wikt-lang|es|Huila|H'''u'''ila}}<{{efn|name="spanish_w"|Some speakers may pronounce word-initial {{IPA|[w]}} with an [[epenthesis|epenthetic]] {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, e.g. ''H'''u'''ila'' {{IPA|[ˈɡwila]~[ˈwila]}}.}}
|'''Gw'''en
|}
The phoneme {{IPA|/ʝ/}} is realized as an approximant in all contexts except after a pause, a nasal, or a lateral. In these environments, it may be 
realized as an [[affricate consonant|affricate]] ({{IPAblink|ɟʝ}}).<ref name="carrera258">{{Harvcoltxt|Martínez Celdrán|Fernández Planas|Carrera Sabaté|2003|pp=257–258}}</ref><ref name="Trager">{{Harvcoltxt|Trager|1942|p=222}}</ref> The approximant allophone differs from non-syllabic {{IPA|/i/}} in a number of ways; it has a lower [[formant|F2]] amplitude, is longer, can only appear in the syllable onset (including word-initially, where non-syllabic {{IPA|/i/}} normally never appears), is a [[voiced palatal fricative|palatal fricative]] in emphatic pronunciations, and is unspecified for rounding (e.g. ''v'''iu'''da'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-viuda.oga|[ˈbjuða]|help=no}} 'widow' vs ''a'''yu'''da'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-ayuda.oga|[aˈʝʷuða]|help=no}} 'help').<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Martínez Celdrán|2004|p=208}}</ref> The two also overlap in distribution after {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/n/}}: ''en'''ye'''sar'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-enyesar.oga|[eɲɟʝeˈsaɾ]|help=no}} ('to plaster') ''an'''ie'''go'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-aniego.oga|[aˈnjeɣo]|help=no}} ('flood').<ref name="Trager" /> Although there is dialectal and ideolectal variation, speakers may also exhibit other near-minimal pairs such as ''ab'''ye'''cto'' ('abject') vs ''ab'''ie'''rto'' ('opened'),<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Saporta|1956|p=288}}</ref> or even minimal pairs across word boundaries such as '''''ya''' visto'' {{IPA|[(ɟ)ʝa ˈβisto]}} ('I already dress') vs '''''y ha''' visto'' {{IPA|[ja ˈβisto]}} ('and he has seen').<ref name="Bowen-Stockwell">{{Harvcoltxt|Bowen|Stockwell|1955|p=236}}</ref> There are some [[#Alternations|alternations]] between the two, prompting scholars like {{Harvcoltxt|Alarcos Llorach|1950}}<ref name ="Saporta">{{Harvcoltxt|Saporta|1956|p=289}}</ref> to postulate an [[archiphoneme]] {{IPA|/{{serif|I}}/}}, so that ''ley'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-ley.oga|[lei̯]|help=no}} would be transcribed phonemically as {{IPA|/ˈle{{serif|I}}/}} and ''leyes'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-leyes.oga|[ˈleʝes]|help=no}} as {{IPA|/ˈle{{serif|I}}es/}}.

In a number of varieties, including some American ones, a process parallel to the one distinguishing non-syllabic {{IPA|/i/}} from consonantal {{IPA|/ʝ/}} occurs for non-syllabic {{IPA|/u/}} and a rare consonantal {{IPA|/w̝/}}.<ref name="Trager" /><ref>Generally {{IPA|/w̝/}} is {{IPA|[ɣʷ]}} though it may also be {{IPA|[βˠ]}} ({{Harvcoltxt|Ohala|Lorentz|1977|p=590}} citing {{Harvcoltxt|Navarro Tomás|1961}} and {{Harvcoltxt|Harris|1969}}).</ref> Near-minimal pairs include ''des'''hue'''sar'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-deshuesar.oga|[dezw̝eˈsaɾ]|help=no}} ('to debone') vs. ''des'''ue'''llo'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-desuello.oga|[deˈsweʎo]|help=no}} ('skinning'), ''son '''hue'''vos'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-son huevos.oga|[ˈsoŋ ˈw̝eβos]|help=no}} ('they are eggs') vs ''son n'''ue'''vos'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-son nuevos.oga|[ˈsoⁿ ˈnweβos]|help=no}} ('they are new'),<ref name ="Saporta" /> and '''''hua'''ca'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-huaca.oga|[ˈ(ɡ)w̝aka]|help=no}} ('Indian grave') vs '''''u o'''ca'' {{Audio-IPA|Es-u oca.oga|[ˈwoka]|help=no}} ('or goose').<ref name="Bowen-Stockwell" />

===Doubling of vowels and consonants===
Vowels in Spanish can be doubled to represent a hiatus of two identical vowels: ''leer, chiita, loor, duunviro''. This especially happens in prefixed and compound words: ''portaaviones, sobreesfuerzo, microorganismo''. However, in this case simplification of double vowels is also mostly allowed: ''portaviones, sobresfuerzo, microrganismo''. Simplification is not allowed when it would change the meaning: ''archiilegal'' ('arch-illegal') but ''archilegal'' ('arch-legal').

The only consonant letters that can be doubled in the Spanish orthography are {{angbr|l}}, {{angbr|r}} (as the digraphs {{angbr|ll}} and {{angbr|rr}}, respectively), {{angbr|c}} (only when they represent different sounds: e.g. ''acción, diccionario''), {{angbr|n}} (e.g. ''innato, perenne, connotar, dígannos''), and {{angbr|b}} (in a few words with the prefix ''sub-'': ''subbase, subbético''). Exceptions to this limitation are ''gamma'' (and its derivatives ''gammaglobulina, gammagrafía''), ''digamma, kappa, atto-'', as well as unadapted foreign words (including proper names) and their derivations (see below).<!--Arguably ''gamma, digamma, kappa'' are also unadapted foreign words, but RAE does not consider them to be ''extranjerismos crudos''. --> When a double consonant other than ''nn'' or ''bb'' would appear on a morpheme border, it is simplified: ''digámoselo'' for ''digamos+se+lo'', ''exilofonista'' for ''ex+xilofonista''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190928034523/twitter.com/raeinforma/status/1172110201153032192 RAE informa].</ref> However, the combination ''sal+le'' is pronounced with a prolonged ''l'' and has no correct spelling according to the current orthography.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ortografía de la lengua española (2010) |publisher=Real Academia Española y Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española. |pages=174}}</ref>

===Optional omission of a consonant in consonant combination===
In some words, one of consonants in a consonant combination may optionally be omitted. This includes Greek-derived words such as {{Wikt-lang|es|psicología}}/{{Wikt-lang|es|sicología}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|mnemónico}}/{{Wikt-lang|es|nemónico}} (word-initial consonant clusters that are foreign to Spanish are mostly simplified in pronunciation, but more commonly retained in spelling) and other words such as {{Wikt-lang|es|obscuro}}/{{Wikt-lang|es|oscuro}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|transcribir}}/{{Wikt-lang|es|trascribir}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|septiembre}}/{{Wikt-lang|es|setiembre}} (the spelling {{lang|es|setiembre}} is mostly used in Costa Rica, Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay).

===The letter Y===
The letter {{angbr|y}} is consistently used in the consonantal value. The use of the letter {{angbr|y}} for a vowel or a semivowel is very restricted. The diphthongs {{angbr|ai, ei, oi}} are usually written {{angbr|ay, ey, oy}} at the end of words (e. g. {{lang|es|hay, ley, voy}}), though exceptions occur in loanwords (e.g. {{lang|es|bonsái, agnusdéi}}) and in Chilean [[voseo]] forms (e. g. {{lang|es|estái, hablabai}}).<ref>[https://www.rae.es/dpd/y Diccionario panhispánico de dudas]</ref> The spelling {{angbr|uy}} is used at the end of some words, where it is pronounced as a falling diphthong, such as {{lang|es|cocuy}}; the word {{lang|es|muy}} may also be pronounced with a raising diphthong. The letter {{angbr|y}} is conserved in rarely used encliticized verbal forms like {{lang|es|doyte}}, {{lang|es|haylas}} (it is more normal to say {{lang|es|te doy, las hay}}). The letter {{angbr|y}} is used for the vowel {{IPA|/i/}} in the conjunction ''y'' and in some acronyms, like {{Wikt-lang|es|pyme}} (from {{lang|es|pequeña y mediana empresa}}). Otherwise, {{angbr|y}} for a vowel or semivowel occurs only in some archaically spelled proper names and their derivations: {{lang|es|Guaymas, guaymeño}}, and also {{lang|es|fraybentino}} (from {{lang|es|Fray Bentos}} with regular usage of {{angbr|y}} in a word-final diphthong). Derivatives of foreign proper names also conserve {{angbr|y}}: {{lang|es|taylorismo}}, from ''Taylor''.

===Special and modified letters===
The vowels can be marked with an [[acute accent]]—{{angbr|á, é, í, ó, ú, ý}}—for two purposes: to mark [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]] if it does not follow the most common pattern, or to differentiate words that are otherwise spelled identically (called the {{lang|es|tilde diacrítica}} in Spanish). The accented {{angbr|y}} is found only in some proper names: ''Aýna, Laýna, Ýñiguez''.

A silent {{angbr|u}} is used between {{angbr|g}} and {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}} to indicate a hard {{IPA|/ɡ/}} pronunciation, so that {{angbr|gue}} represents {{IPA|/ɡe/}} and {{angbr|gui}} represents {{IPA|/ɡi/}}. The letter {{angbr|[[ü]]}} ({{angbr|u}} with diaeresis) is used in this context to indicate that the {{angbr|u}} is not silent, e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|pingüino|pingüino}}'' {{IPA|[piŋˈɡwino]}}. The diaeresis may occur also in Spanish poetry, occasionally, over either vowel of a diphthong, to indicate an irregular disyllabic pronunciation required by the meter (''{{Wikt-lang|es|vïuda|vïuda}}'', to be pronounced as three syllables).

Also a silent {{angbr|u}} always follows a {{angbr|q}} when followed by {{angbr|e}} or {{angbr|i}}, as in ''{{Wikt-lang|es|queso|queso}}'' and ''{{Wikt-lang|es|química|química}}'', but there is no case for the combination {{angbr|qü}}, with {{angbr|cu}} fulfilling this role (as in ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cuestión|cuestión}}''). There are no native words in Spanish with the combination {{angbr|qua}} nor {{angbr|quo}}; again, {{angbr|cu}} is used instead (''{{Wikt-lang|es|cuando|cuando}}''). When they appear, usually from Latin idioms such as ''{{Wikt-lang|es|statu quo|statu quo}}'', the {{angbr|u}} is not silent, so {{angbr|ü}} is never needed after {{angbr|q}}. Prior to the introduction of the 2010 ''Common Orthography'' words such as ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cuórum|cuórum}}'' ('quorum'), ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cuásar|cuásar}}'' ('quasar') or ''{{Wikt-lang|es|Catar|Catar}}'' ('Qatar') were spelled with {{angbr|q}}; this is no longer so.

===Keyboard requirements===
{{See also|QWERTY#Spanish}}

To write Spanish on a [[typewriter]] or to set [[Typeface|type]], the special characters required are {{angbr|á}}, {{angbr|é}}, {{angbr|í}}, {{angbr|ó}}, {{angbr|ú}}, {{angbr|ñ}}, {{angbr|Ñ}}, {{angbr|ü}}, {{angbr|Ü}}, {{angbr|¿}}, and {{angbr|¡}}. The uppercase {{angbr|Á}}, {{angbr|É}}, {{angbr|Í}}, {{angbr|Ó}}, and {{angbr|Ú}} are also prescribed by the RAE, although occasionally dispensed with in practice.

As implemented on the mechanical typewriter, the keyboard contained a single [[dead key]], with the acute accent {{nowrap|( ´ )}} in the lowercase position, and the diaeresis {{nowrap|( ¨ )}} in the uppercase position. With these, one could write {{angbr|á}}, {{angbr|é}}, {{angbr|í}}, {{angbr|ó}}, {{angbr|ú}}, and {{angbr|ü}}. A separate key provided {{angbr|ñ/Ñ}}. (A dead key "~" is used on the Spanish and Portuguese keyboards, but on the Hispanic American keyboard the "~" is not a dead key). The inverted marks {{angbr|¿}} and {{angbr|¡}} completed the required minimum. When an additional key was added to electro-mechanical typewriters, this was used for {{angbr|ª}} and {{angbr|º}}, though these are not required. (These symbols are used for [[Ordinal number (linguistics)|ordinal]] numbers: {{angbr|1.º}} for ''primero'', {{angbr|2.ª}} for ''segunda'', etc.)

As implemented in the [[MS-DOS]] [[operating system]] and its successor [[Microsoft Windows]], a {{angbr|ç}}/{{angbr|Ç}} pair—not required in Spanish but needed for Catalan, Portuguese, and French—is typically added, and the use of the acute accent and diaeresis with capital letters ({{angbr|Á}}, {{angbr|É}}, {{angbr|Í}}, {{angbr|Ó}}, {{angbr|Ú}}, {{angbr|Ü}}) is supported. Although not needed for Spanish, another dead key with {{angbr|`}} (the grave accent) in lowercase position and {{angbr|^}} (the circumflex accent) in uppercase position was included. Also available is {{angbr|·}} (the [[Interpunct|"flying point"]], required in Catalan). To make room for these characters not on the standard English keyboard, characters used primarily in programming, science, and mathematics—{{angbr|[}} and {{angbr|]}}, {{angbr|<nowiki>{</nowiki>}} and {{angbr|<nowiki>}</nowiki>}}, {{angbr|/}} and {{angbr|<nowiki>|</nowiki>}}, and {{angbr|<}} and {{angbr|>}}—are removed, requiring special keystroke sequences to access.

On a USA or UK physical keyboard, all of the Spanish characters are present using the US-International layout.

===Stress and accentuation===
[[Stress in Spanish]] is marked unequivocally through a series of orthographic rules. The default stress is on the penultimate (next-to-last) syllable on words that end in a vowel, {{angbr|n}} or {{angbr|s}} (not preceded by another consonant) and on the final syllable when the word ends in any consonant other than {{angbr|n}} or {{angbr|s}} or in a consonant group. Words that do not follow the default stress have an acute accent over the stressed vowel. In many cases, the accent is essential to understanding what a word means, for example {{lang|es|[[wikt:hablo#Spanish|hablo]]}} ('I speak') contrasts with {{lang|es|[[wikt:habló#Spanish|habló]]}} ('he/she/you spoke').

A corollary of the accentuation rule above is that the written accent can sometimes appear in certain forms of a word but not others, to indicate that the same syllable is stressed. For example:
* Some nouns and adjectives gain or lose their accent mark when they become plural: e.g. {{lang|es|[[wikt:andén#Spanish|andén]]}} → {{lang|es|[[wikt:andenes#Spanish|andenes]]}}; {{lang|es|[[wikt:examen#Spanish|examen]]}} → {{lang|es|[[wikt:exámenes#Spanish|exámenes]]}}.
* Verbs may gain or lose their accent mark when a pronominal suffix is added: e.g. {{lang|es|[[wikt:manda#Spanish|manda]]}} + {{lang|es|[[wikt:lo#Spanish|lo]]}} → {{lang|es|[[wikt:mándalo#Spanish|mándalo]]}}; {{lang|es|[[wikt:mandá#Spanish|mandá]]}} + {{lang|es|lo}} → {{lang|es|[[wikt:mandalo#Spanish|mandalo]]}}.
** An accent mark is always present if two (or more) pronouns are suffixed: {{lang|es|[[wikt:manda#Spanish|manda]]}} + {{lang|es|[[wikt:me#Spanish|me]]}} + {{lang|es|lo}} → {{lang|es|[[wikt:mándamelo#Spanish|mándamelo]]}}; {{lang|es|[[wikt:mandá#Spanish|mandá]]}} + {{lang|es|me}} + {{lang|es|lo}} → {{lang|es|[[wikt:mandámelo#Spanish|mandámelo]]}}.

For purposes of counting syllables and assigning stress in Spanish, where an unmarked high vowel is followed by another vowel the sequence is treated as a [[rising diphthong]], counted as a single syllable—unlike Portuguese and Catalan, which tend to treat such a sequence as two syllables.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Butt|Benjamin|2011|loc=§39.2.2}}</ref> A syllable is of the form ''XAXX'', where ''X'' represents a consonant, permissible consonant cluster, or no sound at all, and ''A'' represents a vowel, diphthong, or triphthong. A diphthong is any sequence of an unstressed [[Close vowel|high vowel]] ({{angbr|i}} or {{angbr|u}}) with another vowel (as in {{lang|es|[[wikt:gracias#Spanish|grac'''ia'''s]]}} or {{lang|es|[[wikt:náutico#Spanish|n'''áu'''tico]]}}), and a triphthong is any combination of three vowels beginning and ending with unstressed high vowels (as in {{lang|es|[[wikt:cambiáis#Spanish|camb'''iái'''s]]}} or {{lang|es|[[wikt:buey#Spanish|b'''uey''']]}}). Hence, Spanish writes {{lang|es|[[wikt:familia#Spanish|familia]]}} (no accent), while Portuguese and Catalan both put an accent mark on ''{{lang|ca|{{lang|pt|[[wikt:família|família]]}}}}'' (all three languages stress the first {{angbr|i}}). By contrast, Spanish puts the accent on {{lang|es|[[wikt:día#Spanish|día]]}}, while Portuguese and Catalan spell ''{{lang|ca|{{lang|pt|[[wikt:dia|dia]]}}}}'' without the accent (again, all three languages stress the {{angbr|i}}).

An accent over the [[Close vowel|high vowel]] ({{angbr|i}} or {{angbr|u}}) of a vowel sequence prevents it from being a diphthong (i.e., it signals a [[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]]): for example, {{lang|es|[[wikt:tía#Spanish|tía]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:dúo#Spanish|dúo]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:oír#Spanish|oír]]}} and {{lang|es|[[wikt:baúl#Spanish|baúl]]}} all have two syllables each.

The letter {{angbr|h}} is not considered an interruption between vowels for diphthongisation purposes; for instance, {{lang|es|[[wikt:ahumar#Spanish|ahumar]]}} is considered to have two syllables: ''ahu-mar'' ({{IPA|[au.ˈmaɾ]}}).{{efn|In practice this may vary in some regions, where {{angbr|h}} is used as a hiatus or diphthong-breaking mark for unstressed vowels, so the pronunciation would be then ''a-hu-mar'' ({{IPA|[a.u.ˈmaɾ]}}); however, that trait is gradually disappearing.}} As such, it is also not taken into account when determining the stressed syllable; for example, {{lang|es|[[wikt:desahucio#Spanish|desahucio]]}} has three syllables, with ''a'' being the stressed vowel: ''de-sahu-cio'' ({{IPA|[de.ˈsau.θjo]}} or {{IPA|[de.ˈsau.sjo]}}). This is also why words such as {{lang|es|[[wikt:búho#Spanish|búho]]}} {{IPA|[ˈbu.o]}} require an acute accent over the high vowel to break the diphthong (without the accent, the word ''*buho'' would be considered a single-syllable word, with the assumed pronunciation {{IPA|[ˈbwo]}}).

If the diphthongs {{angbr|ai, ei, oi, ui}} are written {{angbr|ay, ey, oy, uy}} at the end of words, the letter {{angbr|y}} is considered a consonant letter for the purpose of accentuation: {{lang|es|[[wikt:estoy#Spanish|estoy]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:yóquey#Spanish|yóquey]]}}.

A word with final stress is called [[oxytone]] (or {{lang|es|[[wikt:aguda#Spanish|aguda]]}} in traditional Spanish grammar texts); a word with penultimate stress is called [[paroxytone]] ({{lang|es|[[wikt:llana#Spanish|llana]]}} or {{lang|es|[[wikt:grave#Spanish|grave]]}}); a word with antepenultimate stress (stress on the third-to-last syllable) is called [[proparoxytone]] ({{lang|es|[[wikt:esdrújula#Spanish|esdrújula]]}}). A word with preantepenultimate stress (on the fourth last syllable) or earlier does not have a common linguistic term in English, but in Spanish receives the name {{lang|es|[[wikt:sobresdrújula#Spanish|sobresdrújula]]}}. (Spanish words can be stressed only on one of the last three syllables, except in the case of a verb form with [[Clitic|enclitic]] pronouns, such as {{lang|es|[[wikt:poniéndoselo#Spanish|poniéndoselo]]}} or {{lang|es|[[wikt:llévesemelo#Spanish|llévesemelo]]}}.) All proparoxytones and ''sobresdrújulas'' have a written accent mark.

Adjectives spelled with a written accent (such as {{lang|es|[[wikt:fácil#Spanish|fácil]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:geográfico#Spanish|geográfico]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:cortés#Spanish|cortés]]}}) keep the written accent when they are made into adverbs with the ''-mente'' ending (thus {{lang|es|[[wikt:fácilmente#Spanish|fácilmente]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:geográficamente#Spanish|geográficamente]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:cortésmente#Spanish|cortésmente]]}}), and do not gain any if they do not have one (thus {{lang|es|[[wikt:libremente#Spanish|libremente]]}} from {{lang|es|[[wikt:libre#Spanish|libre]]}}). In the pronunciation of these adverbs—as with all adverbs in {{lang|es|[[wikt:-mente#Spanish|-mente]]}}—primary stress is on the ending, on the [[Ultima (linguistics)|penultimate syllable]]. The original stress of the adjective—whether marked, as in ''fácilmente'', or not marked, as in ''libremente''—may be manifested as a secondary stress in the adverb.

Some words, such as {{lang|es|[[wikt:piar#Spanish|piar]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:hierba#Spanish|hierba]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:guion#Spanish|guion]]}} and {{lang|es|[[wikt:truhan#Spanish|truhan]]}}, are pronounced either with a diphthong or with a hiatus between the adjacent vowels, depending on the region. Pre-1999 orthographic rules treated these as hiatus, and accentuated the words accordingly (e.g. ''guión'', ''truhán''). The 1999 orthography reform by the RAE admitted the two spellings (with or without the accent), corresponding to two different pronunciations. The subsequent 2010 reform, though, declared that for orthographic and syllabification purposes such letter combinations should always be considered diphthongs, so the only correct spelling is now ''guion'' and ''truhan''. Regardless of the spelling, however, these words may still be pronounced with a hiatus as before, and RAE does not discourage this practice.<ref>[https://www.rae.es/espanol-al-dia/palabras-como-guion-truhan-fie-liais-etc-se-escriben-sin-tilde Palabras como «guion», «truhan», «fie», «liais», etc., se escriben sin tilde] – Real Academia Española</ref> Furthermore, other grammatical rules were not changed by the reform; for example, "trees and grass" can be translated as either {{lang|es|árboles '''y''' hierba}} (if ''hie'' pronounced as a diphthong) or {{lang|es|árboles '''e''' hierba}} (if pronounced with a hiatus); the latter form is still correct even though ''hie'' is always treated as a diphthong for the purposes of syllabification.<ref>[https://www.rae.es/espanol-al-dia/cambio-de-la-y-copulativa-en-e-0 Cambio de la «y» copulativa en «e»] – Real Academia Española</ref>

====Accentuation of capital letters====
The Real Academia Española indicates that accents are required on capitals (but not when the capitals are used in [[acronyms]]).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=tilde |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=Adwesaq4ND64VT09xQ |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref>

===Differential accents===
[[File:Spanish orthography.jpg|300px|right|thumb|[[Blackboard]] used in a university classroom shows [[student]]s' efforts at placing "[[ü]]" and [[acute accent]] [[diacritic]] used in Spanish orthography.]]
In eight cases, the written accent is used to distinguish stressed monosyllabic words from [[clitic]]s:

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Monosyllabic words distinguished by differential accent
! Clitic !! Stressed word
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:de#Spanish|de]]}} ('of')
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:dé#Spanish|dé]]}} ('give' or present subjunctive and imperative of 'dar')
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:el#Spanish|el]]}} ('the', masculine definite article)
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:él#Spanish|él]]}} ('he, it' for masculine nouns)
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:mas#Spanish|mas]]}} ('but', archaic)
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:más#Spanish|más]]}} ('more')
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:mi#Spanish|mi]]}} ('my')
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:mí#Spanish|mí]]}} ('me' after prepositions)
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:se#Spanish|se]]}} (third person reflexive)
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:sé#Spanish|sé]]}} ('I know' or imperative 'be')
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:si#Spanish|si]]}} ('if')
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:sí#Spanish|sí]]}} ('yes' or 'himself' after prepositions)
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:te#Spanish|te]]}} (informal object case of 'you')
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:té#Spanish|té]]}} ('tea')
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:tu#Spanish|tu]]}} (informal 'your')
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:tú#Spanish|tú]]}} (informal subject case of 'you')
|}

The written accent in the word ''té'' is conserved in its plural: {{lang|es|[[wikt:tés#Spanish|tés]]}}. However, it is usually not conserved in the imperatives ''dé'' and ''sé'' when combined with a pronominal suffix, unless it is necessary for stress purposes (e.g. ''dé'' + {{lang|es|[[wikt:me#Spanish|me]]}} → {{lang|es|[[wikt:deme#Spanish|deme]]}} (formal form of "give me") and ''dé'' + {{lang|es|[[wikt:lo#Spanish|lo]]}} → {{lang|es|[[wikt:delo#Spanish|delo]]}} (formal form of "give it"), but ''dé'' + ''me'' + lo → {{lang|es|[[wikt:démelo#Spanish|démelo]]}} (formal form of "give it to me")).

Names of letters and musical notes are written without the accent, even if they have homonymous clitics: ''a, de, e, o, te, u; mi, la, si''.

The written accent is also used in the [[interrogative pronoun]]s to distinguish them from [[relative pronoun]]s (which are pronounced the same but unstressed):

:{{lang|es|¿Adónde vas?}} 'Where are you going?'
:{{lang|es|Adonde no puedas encontrarme.}} 'Where you cannot find me.'

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Relative and interrogative words distinguished by differential accent
! Relative !! Interrogative
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:como#Spanish|como]]}} 
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cómo#Spanish|cómo]]}} 
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cual#Spanish|cual(es)]]}} 
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cuál#Spanish|cuál(es)]]}}
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cuan#Spanish|cuan]]}} 
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cuán#Spanish|cuán]]}} 
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cuando#Spanish|cuando]]}} 
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cuándo#Spanish|cuándo]]}} 
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cuanto#Spanish|cuanto(s)]]}}<br />{{lang|es|[[wikt:cuanta#Spanish|cuanta(s)]]}}
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cuánto#Spanish|cuánto(os)]]}}<br />{{lang|es|[[wikt:cuánta#Spanish|cuánta(s)]]}}
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cuyo#Spanish|cuyo(s)]]}}<br />{{lang|es|[[wikt:cuya#Spanish|cuya(s)]]}}
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:cúyo#Spanish|cúyo(s)]]}}<br />{{lang|es|[[wikt:cúya#Spanish|cúya(s)]]}}{{efn|In modern Spanish, the interrogative and exclamative forms of {{lang|es|cúyo}} have largely fallen into disuse, in favour of {{lang|es|de qué}} or {{lang|es|de quién}}. The relative pronoun {{lang|es|cuyo}}, however, remains in common use alongside {{lang|es|de que}} and {{lang|es|de quien}}.}}
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:donde#Spanish|(a)donde]]}} 
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:dónde#Spanish|(a)dónde]]}} 
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:que#Spanish|que]]}}
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:qué#Spanish|qué]]}}
|-
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:quien#Spanish|quien(es)]]}}
| {{lang|es|[[wikt:quién#Spanish|quién(es)]]}}
|}

The use of {{angbr|ó}} in the word {{lang|es|[[wikt:o#Spanish|o]]}} (meaning 'or') is a [[hypercorrection]]. Up until 2010, {{angbr|ó}} was used when applied to numbers: {{lang|es|7 ó 9}} ('7 or 9'), to avoid possible confusion with the digit 0. The tenth congress of the Association of Spanish Language Academies deemed the use of an accent unnecessary, as typewriting eliminates possible confusion due to the different shapes of {{angbr|0}} (zero) and {{angbr|o}} (the letter).<ref name="nuevaortografia2010" />

The differential accent is sometimes used in demonstrative pronouns (e. g. {{lang|es|[[wikt:éste#Spanish|éste]]}} 'this one') to distinguish them from demonstrative determiners (e. g. {{lang|es|[[wikt:este#Spanish|este]]}} 'this') and in the adverb {{lang|es|[[wikt:sólo#Spanish|sólo]]}} 'only' to distinguish it from the adjective {{lang|es|[[wikt:solo#Spanish|solo]]}}. However, the current position of the RAE is not to use accent in these words regardless of their meaning (as they are always stressed), except in cases of possible ambiguity (and even then it is recommended to rephrase, avoiding the accented spellings of these words entirely).

These diacritics are often called {{lang|es|acentos diacríticos}} or {{lang|es|tildes diacríticas}} in traditional Spanish grammar.

===Foreign words===
Loanwords in Spanish are usually written according to Spanish spelling conventions (''extranjerismos adaptados''): e.g. ''pádel, fútbol, chófer, máster, cederrón'' ('CD-ROM'). However, some foreign words (''extranjerismos crudos'') are used in Spanish texts in their original forms, not conforming to Spanish orthographic conventions: e.g. ''ballet, blues, jazz, jeep, lady, pizza, sheriff, software''.

The RAE prescribes ''extranjerismos crudos'' to be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in [[quotation mark]]s in a manuscript text or when italics are not available:
:{{lang|es|Quiero escuchar ''jazz'' y comer ''pizza''.|italic=unset}}
:{{lang|es|''Quiero escuchar'' jazz ''y comer'' pizza.|italic=unset}}
:{{lang|es|Quiero escuchar "jazz" y comer "pizza".|italic=unset}}
Spanish-speakers use both English-style and angled quotation marks, so the above example could also be written as follows: 
:{{lang|es|Quiero escuchar «jazz» y comer «pizza».|italic=unset}}

This typographical emphasis is prescribed by the RAE since 1999.<ref name="ort1999"/> In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

This typographical emphasis is not used for foreign proper names and their derivations with the suffixes {{lang|es|-iano, -ismo, -ista}}; nor is it used for some Spanish derivations of {{lang|es|extranjerismos crudos}}, such as {{lang|es|pizzería}}.

According to the RAE rules, presence of the letters {{vr|k}} and {{vr|w}}, and also the letter {{vr|h}} representing an aspirated sound, does not impede a loanword to be considered a Spanish word and to be written without the typographical emphasis and with an added acute accent if it is necessary to indicate the stressed syllable: ''hámster, sándwich''.

According to the current {{lang|es|Ortografía}}, Latin expressions (e. g. {{lang|la|curriculum vitae, grosso modo}}) are treated as unadapted foreign words, so they are also typographically emphasized. From 1870 to 2010, Latin expressions in Spanish texts were accentuated according to the Spanish orthographical rules (e. g. {{lang|la|currículum vítae}}) and not typographically emphasized. Some Latin expressions have become single words in Spanish: {{lang|es|etcétera}}, {{lang|es|suigéneris}}. These words are not typographically emphasized.

For foreign names from non-Latin-script languages, using Spanish [[orthographic transcription]] is recommended: ''[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al-Yazira]]'', ''[[Menachem Begin|Menájem Beguín]]''.

===Capitalization===
Capitalization in Spanish is sparse compared to English.

In general, only personal and place names, some abbreviations (e.g. {{lang|es|Sr. López}}, but ''{{Wikt-lang|es|señor}} {{lang|es|López}}''); the first word (only) in the title of a book, movie, song, etc. (except when the title contains only two words, then the second word is also sometimes capitalized); and the first word in a sentence are capitalized, as are names of companies, government bodies, celebrations, periodicals, etc. Some geographical names have a capitalized article: {{lang|es|El Salvador}}, but {{lang|es|los Estados Unidos}}. Capitalized article is also used in names of periodicals, such as {{lang|es|El País, El Nuevo Diario}}. Some nouns have capital letters when used in a special administrative sense: {{lang|es|Estado}} 'state' (sovereign polity), but {{lang|es|estado}} 'state' (political division; condition). Nomenclature terms in geographical names are written in lowercase: {{lang|es|el mar Mediterráneo}} 'the Mediterranean Sea'. According to the current {{lang|es|Ortografía}}, geographical names of the type "nomenclature term + adjective from another name of the same geographical object" are not capitalized at all: {{lang|es|la península ibérica}} 'the Iberian Peninsula', because {{lang|es|ibérica}} comes from {{lang|es|Iberia}}, another name of the same peninsula (although mainly used in a historical context).<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ortografía de la lengua española (2010) |publisher=Real Academia Española y Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española. |pages=477}}</ref>

Adjectives from geographical names, names of nationalities or languages are not capitalized, nor (in standard style) are days of the week and months of the year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/capitalization-in-spanish-3080293 |title=When To Capitalize Letters in Spanish |website=ThoughtCo |access-date=2018-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Writer's Reference Guide to Spanish|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JQxNC3qNjXIC&pg=PA75|isbn=978-0-292-72511-9|first1=David William|last1=Foster|year=1999|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin|pages=75–77|first2=Daniel|last2=Altamiranda|first3=Carmen|last3=de Urioste|chapter=Capitalization|access-date=September 18, 2014}}</ref>

===Writing words together and separately===
The following words are written together:
* prefixed words, such as {{Wikt-lang|es|anteayer}};
* adverbs ending in ''-mente'', such as {{Wikt-lang|es|fácilmente}};
* compound words from verbs and nouns, such as {{Wikt-lang|es|cumpleaños}};
* the conjunction {{Wikt-lang|es|porque}} ('because') and the noun {{Wikt-lang|es|porqué}} ('reason');
* indefinite pronouns such as {{Wikt-lang|es|quienquiera}};
* combinations of verbs with enclitic pronouns, such as {{Wikt-lang|es|entregándomelo}} 'delivering it to me' from {{Wikt-lang|es|entregando}} 'delivering' + {{Wikt-lang|es|me}} 'me' + {{Wikt-lang|es|lo}} 'it'.

The following word combinations are written separately:
* compound adverbs such as {{Wikt-lang|es|a menudo}};
* the interrogative {{Wikt-lang|es|por qué}} ('why');
* combinations of prefixes and word combinations: {{Wikt-lang|es|vice primer ministro}} (but {{Wikt-lang|es|vicepresidente}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|vicerrector}}{{efn|name="r"}}).

Coordinated compound adjectives are written with a hyphen: {{Wikt-lang|es|político-económico}}.

===Syllabification===
Spanish words are divided into syllables using the following rules:

1. A vowel between two consonants always ends the first syllable and the second consonant begins another: ''pá-ja-ro''. Put differently, if a vowel follows a consonant, the consonant, not the vowel, must begin the new syllable.

2. If a vowel is followed by two consonants, the syllables divide between the consonants: ''can-tar, ver-ter, án-da-le''. However, ''ch, ll, rr'' and combinations of ''b, c, d, f, g, k, p, t'' plus ''r'' or ''l'' do not divide: ''pe-rro, lu-char, ca-lle, pro-gra-ma, ha-blar''. Exceptionally, ''r'' and ''l'' after a consonant can begin a new syllable in prefixed or compound words: ''sub-ra-yar, sub-lu-nar, ciu-dad-re-a-le-ño''.

3. Two vowels may form a hiatus or a diphthong (see the section "[[#Stress and accentuation|Stress and accentuation]]" above): ''pa-e-lla, puen-te, ra-íz''. Three vowels may sometimes form a triphthong: ''es-tu-diáis''.

4. The silent ''h'' is not taken into account when syllabifying words. Two vowels separated by an ''h'' may form a hiatus or a diphthong: ''ahu-mar, de-sahu-cio, bú-ho''.

The combination ''tl'' in the middle of words may be divided into syllables in two ways: ''at-le-ta'' or ''a-tle-ta'', corresponding to the pronunciations [að̞ˈle.t̪a] (more common in Spain) and [aˈt̪le.t̪a] (more common in Hispanic America).

These rules are used for hyphenating words at the end of line, with the following additional rules:

1. One letter is not hyphenated. So, the word ''abuelo'' is syllabified ''a-bue-lo'', but the only way to hyphenate it at the end of a line is ''abue-lo''.

2. Hiatuses are not divided at the end of line. So, the word ''paella'' is syllabified as ''pa-e-lla'', but the only way to hyphenate it at the end of a line is ''pae-lla''. This rule includes hiatuses with an intervening silent ''h'': ''alcohol'' is syllabified as ''al-co-hol'', but the only way to hyphenate it at the end of a line is ''al-cohol''. On the other hand, the name ''Mohamed'' contains a pronounced ''h'', so the hyphenation ''Mo-hamed'' is accepted. See also rule 3 containing an exception to this rule.

3. Prefixed and compound words may be divided phonetically (corresponding to the above rules) or morphologically (the border between morphemes is considered a border between syllables): ''bie-nestar'' or ''bien-estar'', ''inte-racción'' or ''inter-acción'', ''reins-talar'' or ''re-instalar''.

This rule is not valid:

a) for compounds in which one part is not used as an independent word: ''pun-tiagudo'' (not *''punti-agudo'');

b) for words with unproductive prefixes: ''arzo-bispo'' (not *''arz-obispo'');

c) for words containing etymological prefixes not determined as such by surface analysis: ''adhe-sivo'' (not *''ad-hesivo'').

4. Unusual combinations containing the letter ''h'' are not permitted at the beginning of a line: ''sulfhí-drico'' (not *''sul-fhídrico''), ''brah-mán'' (not *''bra-hmán'').

The letter ''x'' between vowels phonetically represents two consonants separated by a syllable border, but hyphenation at the end of line is permitted before the ''x'': ''ta-xi, bo-xeo''.

Words written with hyphen are hyphenated by repeating the hyphen on the following line: ''teórico-/-práctico''. Repeating the hyphen is not necessary if the hyphenated word is a proper name where a hyphen is followed by a capital letter.

===Abbreviations, symbols, acronyms===
[[Abbreviation]]s are written with the period: ''art.'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|artículo}}. Contractions are written in the same way: ''admón.'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|administración}}, or sometimes using superscript letters: ''D.ª'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|doña}}. Hyphenating abbreviations (including contractions) at the end of line is not allowed and putting them in separate lines with terms they accompany is not allowed. Abbreviations are not capitalized if the original word is written in lowercase, but there are some traditional exceptions: ''Ud.'' or ''Vd.'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|usted}}, ''Sr.'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|señor}}. Rarely, abbreviations are written using the slash: ''c/'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|calle}}, ''b/n'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|blanco y negro}}.

One-letter abbreviations are pluralized by doubling the letter: ''pp.'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|páginas}}. More-than-one-letter abbreviations are pluralized by adding ''s'': ''vols.'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|volúmenes}}. The ending ''-es'' is used for contractions if it appears in the corresponding complete word: ''admones.'' for {{Wikt-lang|es|administraciones}}. Traditional exceptions: the plural of ''pta.'' ({{Wikt-lang|es|peseta}}) is ''pts.'', that of ''cent.'' ({{Wikt-lang|es|centavo}}) and ''cént.'' ({{Wikt-lang|es|céntimo}}) is ''cts.'', and that of ''Ud.'' or ''Vd.'' ({{Wikt-lang|es|usted}}) is ''Uds.'' or ''Vds.''

Letter symbols such as those of chemical elements or measurement units are written following international conventions and do not require the abbreviation period: H ({{Wikt-lang|es|hidrógeno}}), kg ({{Wikt-lang|es|kilogramo}}). For some notions, Spanish-specific symbols are used: O ({{Wikt-lang|es|oeste}} 'west'), sen ({{Wikt-lang|es|seno}} 'sine').

[[Acronym]]s are written in all capitals and read by letters ({{Wikt-lang|es|ONG}} for ''organización no gubernamental'' 'non-governmental organization') or as words ({{Wikt-lang|es|ONU}} for ''Organización de las Naciones Unidas''). Some acronyms read as words are written as normal words, including proper names of more than four letters such as ''Unesco, Unicef'' or common nouns such as {{Wikt-lang|es|ovni}}. Some acronyms read by letters may also be spelled according to their pronunciation: {{Wikt-lang|es|oenegé}}. Acronyms written in all capitals are not pluralized in writing, but they are pluralized in speech: ''las ONG'' [las o.e.neˈxes] 'the non-governmental organizations'.

===Numerals===
Numbers may be written in words (''uno, dos, tres...'') or in figures (1, 2, 3, ...).

For the [[decimal separator]], the comma and the point are both accepted (3,1416 or 3.1416); the decimal comma is preferred in Spain, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, but the decimal point is preferred in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. Both marks are used in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, and El Salvador.

For the thousands separator, the currently standard mark is the thin space (123 456 789). Formerly, the point was sometimes used, but now it is not recommended.

When written in words, numbers up to 30 are nowadays written as a single word, e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|dieciséis}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|veintinueve}}''. The corresponding ordinal numbers may be written as a single word or separately, e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|decimosexto}}'' ({{lang|es|decimosexta, decimosextos, decimosextas}}) or ''{{Wikt-lang|es|décimo sexto}}'' ({{lang|es|décima sexta, décimos sextos, décimas sextas}}). Numbers more than 30 (cardinal and ordinal) are usually written separately, e.g. ''{{wikt-lang|es|Appendix:Spanish numerals|treinta y cinco}}'', ''{{wikt-lang|es|Appendix:Spanish numerals|trigésimo quinto}}'', but one-word spellings such as ''{{wikt-lang|es|Appendix:Spanish numerals|treintaicinco}}'', ''{{wikt-lang|es|Appendix:Spanish numerals|trigesimoquinto}}'' are also accepted by the current {{lang|es|Ortografía}}.

Whole hundreds are also written as single words, e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cuatrocientos}}''.

Fractionary numbers such as ''{{wikt-lang|es|Appendix:Spanish numerals|cincuentaiseisavo}}'' are written as a single word.

Daytime is written in the 24-hour format, using the colon (18:45) or the point (18.45). Dates are expressed in the day-month-year format, with the following options possible: 8 de mayo de 2015; 8-5-2015; 8-5-15; 8/5/2015; 8.5.2015; 8-V-2015. Leading zeros in the day and the month (08.05.2015) are not used, except in computerized or bank documents.

Roman numerals (I, II, III, ...) are used for centuries (e. g. ''siglo {{Smallcaps|xxi}}'') and for [[regnal number]]s (e. g. ''Luis XIV''). Roman or Arabic numerals may be used for historical dynasties (e. g. ''la {{Smallcaps|xviii}} dinastía'' or ''la 18.ª dinastía''); volumes, chapters, or other parts of books (e. g. ''tomo {{Smallcaps|iii}}, tomo 3.º, 3.<sup>er</sup> tomo'', or ''tomo 3''); celebrations (e. g. ''XXIII Feria del Libro de Buenos Aires'', or ''23.ª Feria...'').<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=números |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=números |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref> Roman numerals are typeset in [[small capitals]] if they would not be capitalized when written in words.

==History==
The [[Royal Spanish Academy]] has reformed the orthographic rules of Spanish several times.

In [[Old Spanish]], {{angbr|x}} was used to represent the voiceless palatal sound {{IPA|/ʃ/}} (as in ''{{Wikt-lang|es|dixo}}'' 'he/she said'), while {{angbr|j}} represented the voiced palatal {{IPA|/ʒ/}} (as in ''{{Wikt-lang|es|fijo}}'' 'son'). With the [[History of Spanish#Modern development of the Old Spanish sibilants|changes of sibilants]] in the 16th century, the two sounds merged as {{IPA|/ʃ/}} (later to become velar {{IPA|/x/}}), and the letter {{angbr|j}} was chosen for the single resulting phoneme in 1815. This results in some words that originally contained {{angbr|x}} now containing {{angbr|j}}, most easily seen in the case of those with English cognates, such as ''ejercicio'', "exercise". When [[Miguel de Cervantes|Cervantes]] wrote ''[[Don Quixote]]'' he spelled the name in the old way (and English preserves the {{angbr|x}}), but modern editions in Spanish spell it with {{angbr|j}}. For the use of {{angbr|x}} in Mexico—and in the name ''México'' itself—see below.

The letter {{angbr|ç}} ([[c-cedilla]])—which was first used in Old Spanish—is now obsolete in Spanish, having merged with {{angbr|z}} in a process similar to that of {{angbr|x}} and {{angbr|j}}. Old Spanish ''{{Wikt-lang|es|coraçon}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cabeça}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|fuerça}}'' became modern ''{{Wikt-lang|es|corazón}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cabeza}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|fuerza}}''.

Words formerly spelled with {{angbr|ze}} or {{angbr|zi}} (such as ''{{Wikt-lang|es|catorze}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|dezir}}'', and ''{{Wikt-lang|es|vezino}}'') are now written with {{angbr|ce}} and {{angbr|ci}} (''{{Wikt-lang|es|catorce}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|decir}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|vecino}}'', respectively). The sequences {{angbr|ze}} and {{angbr|zi}} do not occur in modern Spanish except some loanwords: ''{{Wikt-lang|es|zeugma}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|zigurat}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|zipizape}}''; some borrowed words have double spellings: ''{{Wikt-lang|es|zinc}}/{{Wikt-lang|es|cinc}}''.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=c |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=c |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref> A notable case is the word ''{{Wikt-lang|es|enzima}}'' used in [[biochemistry]], meaning "[[enzyme]]", as different from ''{{Wikt-lang|es|encima}}'' meaning "on", "over" or "on top of" something.

The old spellings with {{angbr|ç}}, {{angbr|ze}}, and {{angbr|zi}} remained in use until the eighteenth century. They were replaced by {{angbr|z}}, {{angbr|ce}}, and {{angbr|ci}}, respectively in 1726.<ref name="ort1726">{{Cite book |title=Diccionario de autoridades |publisher=Real Academia Española |year=1726}}</ref> {{angbr|Ze}} and {{angbr|zi}} continued to be used in some words due to their etymology (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|zelo}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|zizaña}}''), but this usage was largely reduced during the 1860—1880s, so these words became ''{{Wikt-lang|es|celo}}'' and ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cizaña}}''. The letter {{angbr|x}} was replaced by {{angbr|j}} in 1815,<ref name="ort1815">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2cVAAAAYAAJ |title=Ortografía de la lengua castellana |publisher=Real Academia Española |year=1815 |edition=8th |location=Madrid |language=es |access-date=2015-05-22}}</ref> although word-final {{angbr|x}} remained until 1832 (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|relox}}'', now ''{{Wikt-lang|es|reloj}}'').<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qEvWAAAAMAAJ |title=Diccionario de la lengua castellana |publisher=Real Academia Española |year=1832 |edition=7th |location=Madrid |language=es}}</ref> The combinations {{angbr|je}} and {{angbr|ji}} were originally used only in a few etymological cases (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|Jesús}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|Jeremías}}'') and also in diminutives (''{{Wikt-lang|es|pajita}}''); in the {{lang|es|Ortografía}} of 1815, {{angbr|xe}} and {{angbr|xi}} were replaced by {{angbr|ge}} and {{angbr|gi}} in some words (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|egemplo}}'') but by {{angbr|je}} and {{angbr|ji}} in other words (e. g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|dije}}''); the ''Diccionario'' of 1817 used mostly {{angbr|je}} and {{angbr|ji}} (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|ejemplo}}'') but {{angbr|ge}} and {{angbr|gi}} word-initially (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|gefe}}''); in the ''Diccionario'' of 1832, {{angbr|ge}} and {{angbr|gi}} in words that did not have ''g'' in Latin were changed to {{angbr|je}}, {{angbr|ji}} (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|muger}}'', from Latin ''{{Wikt-lang|la|mulier}}'', became ''{{Wikt-lang|es|mujer}}''), but word-initial unetymological {{angbr|ge}} and {{angbr|gi}} remained; the ''Diccionario'' of 1837 stated explicitly that from then on, {{angbr|ge}} and {{angbr|gi}} were to be written only in words where they are justified by etymology.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-o5oX6qXdDEC |title=Diccionario de la lengua castellana |publisher=Real Academia Española |year=1837 |edition=8th |location=Madrid |language=es}}</ref>

Old Spanish used to distinguish /s/ and /z/ between vowels, and it distinguished them by using {{angbr|ss}} for the former and {{angbr|s}} for the latter, e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|osso}}'' ('bear') and ''{{Wikt-lang|es|oso}}'' ('I dare to'). In orthography, the distinction was suppressed in 1763.<ref name="ort1763">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wns--sK0UrgC |title=Ortografía de la lengua castellana |publisher=Real Academia Española |year=1763 |edition=3rd |location=Madrid |language=es |access-date=2015-05-22}}</ref>

Words spelled in modern Spanish with {{angbr|cua}}, {{angbr|cuo}} (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cuando}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cuatro}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|cuota}}'') were written with {{angbr|qua}}, {{angbr|quo}} up until 1815.<ref name="ort1815" /> In some words, {{angbr|co}} was written {{angbr|quo}} (e.g. {{Wikt-lang|es|quociente}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|cociente}}), and {{angbr|cue}} was written {{angbr|qüe}} (e.g. {{Wikt-lang|es|freqüente}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|frecuente}}). To distinguish {{angbr|quo}} pronounced {{angbr|co}} and {{angbr|cuo}}, sometimes {{angbr|qüo}} was used for the latter, e. g. {{Wikt-lang|es|iniqüo}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|propinqüo}} (these forms appeared in the {{lang|es|Ortografía}}, but the ''Diccionario'' did not put the diaeresis in these words).

[[File:Santiago de Parada, Nigrán, YGLESIA DE REFVGIO 1835.jpg|thumb|A church in [[Nigrán]], marked as {{smallcaps|YGLESIA DE REFVGIO}}, "sanctuary church".]]
In 1726, most double consonants were simplified (e.g. {{Wikt-lang|es|grammatica}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|gramática}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|addicion}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|adición}})<ref name="ort1726"/>—but the {{angbr|m}} of a prefix before the {{angbr|m}} of a root was differentiated to {{angbr|n}} in 1763 (e.g. "{{Wikt-lang|es|commover|co'''m'''mover}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|conmover|co'''n'''mover}}").<ref name="ort1763" /> And the Graeco-Latin digraphs {{angbr|ch}}, {{angbr|ph}}, {{angbr|(r)rh}} and {{angbr|th}} were reduced to {{angbr|c}}, {{angbr|f}}, {{angbr|(r)r}} and {{angbr|t}}, respectively (e.g. {{Wikt-lang|es|christiano}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|cristiano}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|triumpho}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|triunfo}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|myrrha}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|mirra}}, {{Wikt-lang|es|theatro}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|teatro}}). This was mostly done in 1754,<ref name="ort1754">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QeIrXiJkm3wC |title=Ortografía de la lengua castellana |publisher=Real Academia Española |year=1754 |edition=2nd |location=Madrid |language=es |access-date=2022-03-24}}</ref> but some exceptions persisted until 1803.<ref name="dicc1803"/>

An earlier usage had {{angbr|Y}} as a word initial {{angbr|I}}. It is only maintained in the archaic spelling of proper names like ''[[Yglesias]]'' or ''[[Ybarra]]''. Although the RAE has always used the word-initial ''I'' as needed, the use of ''Y'' is occasionally found in handwriting and inscriptions up to the middle of the 19th century. The usage of {{angbr|y}} for the vowel in words of Greek origin was abolished in 1754 (e.g. {{Wikt-lang|es|lyra}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|lira}}). The usage of {{angbr|y}} in non-word-final diphthongs was abolished in 1815 (e.g. {{Wikt-lang|es|ayre}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|aire}}).

[[File:Autoridades.jpg|thumb|Cover of the first volume of the [[Diccionario de autoridades]] (1726), showing obsolete usages like "Phelipe", "eſta", "Impreſsór".]]
In early printing, the [[long s]] {{angbr|ſ}} was a different version of {{angbr|s}} used at the beginning or in the middle of a word. In Spain, the change to use the familiar round ''s'' everywhere, as in the current usage, was mainly accomplished between the years 1760 and 1766; for example, the multi-volume ''[[España Sagrada]]'' made the switch with volume 16 (1762).

[[File:Facsimil estatutosrae.jpg|thumb|225px|A page of the first edition of the RAE statutes (1715), showing many obsolete spellings.]]
From 1741<ref name="ort1741">{{Cite book |url=http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/orthographia-espanola--0/html/ff8b41aa-82b1-11df-acc7-002185ce6064_194.htm |title=Orthographía española |publisher=Real Academia Española |year=1741 |edition=1st |location=Madrid |access-date=2015-05-22}}</ref> to 1815, the [[circumflex]] was used over vowels to indicate that preceding {{angbr|ch}} and {{angbr|x}} should be pronounced /k/ and /ks/ respectively and not /tʃ/ and /x/, e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|patriarchâ}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|exâctitud}}''.

The use of accent marks in printing varies by period, due to reforms successively promulgated by the [[Real Academia Española|Spanish Royal Academy]]. In early RAE publications (RAE statutes of 1715, ''Diccionario de autoridades'' of 1726), the acute accent was used extensively (e. g. ''Real Académia Españóla''), although it was not used in paroxytones with two or more consonants after the stressed vowel, in most two-syllable paroxytones, and in some other words. (However, the ''Diccionario de autoridades'', unlike the RAE statutes and later RAE publications, does not put accents on the capital letters.) In the ''Orthographía'' of 1741, the default stress is defined as paroxytone in words ending in {{angbr|a}}, {{angbr|e}}, {{angbr|o}}, or {{angbr|s}}, and in verbal forms ending in {{angbr|n}}, and as oxytone in words ending in {{angbr|i}}, {{angbr|u}}, or other consonants. Since the {{lang|es|Ortografía}} of 1754, the default stress is defined as paroxytone in words ending in vowels and oxytone in words ending in consonants, with some grammar-based exceptions, such as differential accents, plurals ending in {{angbr|s}}, and verbal forms ending in {{angbr|n}} or {{angbr|s}}; but other words ending in {{angbr|n}} or {{angbr|s}} were accented according to the general rule: ''capitan, jóven, demas, mártes''. In 1880,<ref name="gr1880">[https://bvpb.mcu.es/es/consulta/registro.do?id=576474 Gramática de la lengua castellana (1880.) - Real Academia Española.]</ref> the rules were simplified: grammatical considerations were no longer taken into account, except for differential accents. As a result, many words spelled previously without the accent gained it. These include words with final stress ending in ''-n'' (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|capitán}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|también}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|jardín}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|acción}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|común}}''—but future-tense verb forms like ''{{Wikt-lang|es|serán}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|tendrán}}'' had already been spelled with the accent); words ending in {{angbr|s}} which are not plurals (e. g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|francés}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|compás}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|demás}}''); verbs in the imperfect tense (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|tenía}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|vivían}}''); the possessives ''mío'' and ''mía'' and the word ''{{Wikt-lang|es|día}}''. On the other hand, some words lost their accent mark, e. g.  {{Wikt-lang|es|jóven}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|joven}},  {{Wikt-lang|es|mártes}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|martes}}. Meanwhile, one-letter words other than the conjunction ''y''—namely the preposition ''a'' and the conjunctions ''e'' (the form of ''y'' before an [i] sound), ''o'', and ''u'' (form of ''o'' before [o])—were written with the grave accent (''à, è, ò, ù'') in early RAE publications and with the acute accent (''á, é, ó, ú'') from 1741 to 1911.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marin |first=Juan Martinez |year=1991–1992 |title= La ortografía española: perspectivas historiográficas |url=http://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/cauce/pdf/cauce14-15/cauce14-15_11.pdf |journal=CAUCE |language=es |publisher=Editorial Universidad de Sevilla |volume=14-15}}</ref> The accent-marked infinitives such as ''{{Wikt-lang|es|oír}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|reír}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|sonreír}}'' began to outnumber the unaccented form around 1920,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=oir%2Co%C3%ADr&year_start=1700&year_end=1950&corpus=10&smoothing=3 |title=Google Ngram Viewer |access-date=2015-05-22}}</ref> dropped the accent mark again in 1952,<ref name="NN1952">[https://webfrl.rae.es/BRAE_DB_PDF/TOMO_XXXII/CXXXV/Casares_7_26.pdf Nuevas normas de prosodia y ortografia, 1952.]</ref> and regained it in 1959.<ref name="NN1959">[https://apps.rae.es/BRAE_DB_PDF/TOMO_XXXVIII/CLV/Casares_331_347.pdf Nuevas normas de prosodia y ortografia, 1959.]</ref> Monosyllabic preterite verb forms such as ''{{Wikt-lang|es|dio}}'' and ''{{Wikt-lang|es|fue}}'' were written with accent marks before 1952.<ref name="NN1952"/>

The {{lang|es|Ortografía}} 1754<ref name="ort1754"/> and later editions also stated that surnames ending in ''-ez'' are not accented, though pronounced as paroxytones, e. g. ''Perez, Enriquez''. The ''Prontuario'' 1853<ref name="pront1853"/> and later editions did not mention surnames ending in ''-ez'' explicitly (but ''Perez'' occurs in capitalization rules), but stated that oxytone surnames are accented (e. g. ''Ardanáz, Muñíz'') except when homonymous to nouns, adjectives, geographical names, or verb infinitives (e. g. ''Calderon, Leal, Teruel, Escalar''). The ''Gramática'' 1870<ref name="gr1870">[https://bvpb.mcu.es/es/consulta/registro.do?id=487845 Gramática de la lengua castellana (1870.) - Real Academia Española.]</ref> stated that surnames ending in consonant and traditionally written without the accent are sometimes pronounced as paroxytones (e. g. ''Gutierrez, Aristizabal'') and sometimes as oxytones (e. g. ''Ortiz'') and recommends following the general rule for accentuation of surnames. The ''Gramática'' 1880<ref name="gr1880"/> follows the general rule for accentuation of surnames: ''Enríquez, Fernández''.

Since 1952, the letter {{angbr|h}} is no longer considered an interruption between syllables, so the spellings such as ''{{Wikt-lang|es|buho}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|vahido}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|tahur}}'' became ''{{Wikt-lang|es|búho}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|vahído}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|tahúr}}''.<ref name="NN1952"/> The spelling ''{{Wikt-lang|es|desahucio}}'' was not changed, as pronouncing this word with a diphthong (/de.ˈsau.θjo/ instead of the former pronunciation /de.sa.ˈu.θjo/) came to be considered the norm.

History of differential accents:<ref>[https://www.fundeu.es/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Separata-La-tilde-en-solo-y-en-los-demostrativos.-1.pdf SOBRE LA TILDE EN ''SOLO'' Y EN LOS DEMOSTRATIVOS. BRAE, tomo xcvi, cuaderno cccxiv, julio-diciembre de 2016.]</ref>

* {{lang|es|Ortografía}} 1754: ''dé, sé, sí''.
* {{lang|es|Ortografía}} 1763: ''dé, sé, sí, él, mí''.
* The word ''tú'' is accented in the ''Diccionario'' since 1783.<ref name="dicc1783">''Diccionario de la lengua castellana compuesto por la Real Academia Española'' (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Madrid: Real Academia Española. 1783.</ref>
* Accented interrogatives appear in the ''Diccionario'' from 1817.<ref name="dicc1817">[http://www.archive.org/details/5eddiccionariode00acaduoft ''Diccionario de la lengua castellana compuesto por la Real Academia Española''] (in Spanish) (5th ed.). Madrid: Real Academia Española. 1817.</ref>
* The word ''té'' is accented in the ''Diccionario'' from 1832; the accent disappeared after 1880 and reappeared in 1925.
* The word ''más'' is accented in the ''Prontuario'' since 1853.<ref name="pront1853">Prontuario de ortografía de la lengua castellana. 4.ª ed. corregida y aumentada. Madrid: Imprenta Nacional. 1853.</ref>
* The ''Prontuario'' 1853 also added ''luégo'' (as an adverb) and the verb forms ''éntre, pára, sóbre''; the ''Gramática'' 1870 also added ''nós'' (as majestic 'we'), and the musical notes ''mí, lá, sí''. These accents were abolished by the ''Gramática'' 1880.
* The ''Gramática'' 1870 also mentions the obsolete pronoun ''ál'' ('another thing'), which is also mentioned in the ''Diccionario'' since 1869.
* The demonstrative pronouns ''éste, ése, aquél'' appear accented since the ''Prontuario'' 1853. However, the norms of 1952 stated that they may be not accented except in the case of ambiguity and also extended the possibility of accentuating to other similar words such as ''otro, algunos, pocos, muchos'';<ref name="NN1952"/> this extension was abolished by the revision of 1959.<ref name="NN1959"/>
* The adverb ''sólo'' is mentioned by the ''Prontuario'' 1853, but not by the ''Gramática'' 1870. The ''Gramática'' 1880 states that the word is accented "by the common usage" (''por costumbre''). The norms of 1952 made the accent on ''sólo'' mandatory,<ref name="NN1952"/> but their revision of 1959 stated the accent in ''sólo'' is not normally needed, but can be used in the cases of ambiguity.<ref name="NN1959"/> The {{lang|es|Ortografía}} 1999 states that the accent in ''sólo'' may be used, but it is necessary only in the cases of ambiguity. The {{lang|es|Ortografía}} 2010 recommends not to accent the demonstratives and ''solo'', but the ''DLE'' 2014 states that they may be accented in cases of ambiguity.<ref>[https://dle.rae.es/este?m=form "este", Diccionario de la lengua española, RAE, 2014].</ref><ref>[https://dle.rae.es/solo?m=form "solo", Diccionario de la lengua española, RAE, 2014].</ref>
* Additionally, the words {{Wikt-lang|es|aun}} (normally pronounced with a diphthong) and {{Wikt-lang|es|aún}} (normally pronounced with a hiatus) were originally not distinguished, but they appear in the ''Prontuario'' 1853 as ''áun'' and ''aún''. Since the ''Gramática'' 1880, they are spelled ''aun'' and ''aún''.

The names of numbers in the upper teens and the twenties were originally written as three words (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|diez}} {{Wikt-lang|es|y}} {{Wikt-lang|es|seis}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|veinte}} y {{Wikt-lang|es|nueve}}''), but nowadays they are spelled as a single word (e.g. ''{{Wikt-lang|es|dieciséis}}'', ''{{Wikt-lang|es|veintinueve}}''). For the numbers from 21 to 29, the "fused" forms are accepted since 1803<ref name="dicc1803">''Diccionario de la lengua castellana compuesto por la Real Academia Española'' (in Spanish) (4th ed.). Madrid: Real Academia Española. 1803.</ref> and became common over the second half of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=veinte+y+ocho%2Cveintiocho&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=10&smoothing=3 |title=Google Ngram Viewer |access-date=2015-05-22}}</ref> For those from 16 to 19, the one-word forms became accepted in 1925<ref>''Diccionario de la lengua española'' (in Spanish) (15th ed.). Madrid: Real Academia Española. 1925.</ref> and took the lead in the 1940s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=diez+y+ocho%2Cdieciocho&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=10&smoothing=3 |title=Google Ngram Viewer |access-date=2015-05-22}}</ref> The ''Diccionario panhispánico de dudas'' (2005) labeled the separate spelling as obsolete. Fusing of number-names above 30 (e.g. ''{{wikt-lang|es|Appendix:Spanish numerals|treintaicinco}}'', ''{{wikt-lang|es|Appendix:Spanish numerals|cuarentaiocho}}'') is rare, but accepted by the ''DPD'' 2005<ref name="cardinales">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=cardinales |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=cardinales |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref> and the {{lang|es|Ortografía}} 2010<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ortografía de la lengua española (2010) |publisher=Real Academia Española y Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española. |pages=670}}</ref> besides the usual separate spelling: ''{{wikt-lang|es|Appendix:Spanish numerals|treinta y cinco}}'', ''{{wikt-lang|es|Appendix:Spanish numerals|cuarenta y ocho}}''.

In the 18th century, the letter {{angbr|k}} was used in a few loanwords and also in the word ''kalendario'' (following the Latin spelling ''Kalendae''); however, the first edition of the ''Diccionario de la lengua castellana'' (1780) already spelled ''calendario''. The fourth edition of the ''Diccionario de la lengua castellana'' (1803) stated that {{angbr|k}} may be in any case replaced by {{angbr|c}} or {{angbr|qu}} and did not give any words beginning with {{angbr|k}}, while still including the letter in the alphabet. In the  eighth edition of the ''Ortografía de la lengua castellana'' (1815), the letter {{angbr|k}} was deleted from the Spanish alphabet. However, the letter was reinstated in the fourth edition of the ''Prontuario de ortografía de la lengua castellana'' (1853), and its use in loanwords was reallowed.

The letter {{angbr|w}} was formerly considered unneeded for writing Spanish. Previous RAE orthographies did not include {{angbr|w}} in the alphabet and restricted its use to foreign proper names and Visigothic names from Spanish history (the use of {{angbr|w}} in Visigothic names stems from the Middle Ages, although at that time {{angbr|w}} was not considered a letter but a ligature of two {{angbr|v}}s or {{angbr|u}}s). However, in the {{lang|es|Ortografía}} of 1969, RAE included {{angbr|w}} into the Spanish alphabet, allowing its use in loanwords.

In 1999, the written accent was added to a few words ending on the stressed diphthong ''au'' or ''eu'': {{Wikt-lang|es|marramau}} became {{Wikt-lang|es|marramáu}}. Before 1999, the combinations of accented verb forms with enclitic pronouns conserved the written accent, but now they do not if the general rules of accentuation do not require it: {{Wikt-lang|es|salióse}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|saliose}} ({{Wikt-lang|es|salió}} + {{Wikt-lang|es|se}}), {{Wikt-lang|es|déme}} → {{Wikt-lang|es|deme}} ({{Wikt-lang|es|dé}} + {{Wikt-lang|es|me}}).<ref name="ort1999">{{Cite web |url=https://lya.fciencias.unam.mx/gfgf/ga20111/material/Ortografia.pdf |title=Ortografía de la lengua española. RAE, 1999. |access-date=2022-03-31 |archive-date=2021-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721064919/https://lya.fciencias.unam.mx/gfgf/ga20111/material/Ortografia.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ortografía - Nuevas normas 1999 |url=http://hispanoteca.eu/Foro/ARCHIVO-Foro/Ortograf%C3%ADa-Nuevas%20normas%201999.htm |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=hispanoteca.eu}}</ref>

===Reform proposals===
{{see also|Bello orthography}}
In spite of the relatively regular orthography of Spanish, there have been several initiatives to [[spelling reform|simplify it further]]. [[Andrés Bello]] succeeded in making his proposal official in several South American countries, but they later returned to the standard set by the [[Real Academia Española]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spellingsociety.org/bulletins/b82/fall/spanish.php |title=The history of Spanish orthography, Andrea Bello's proposal and the Chilean attempt: Implications for a theory on spelling reform |publisher=The Simplified Spelling Society |author=Urdaneta, I. P. |year=1982 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927170150/http://www.spellingsociety.org/bulletins/b82/fall/spanish.php |archive-date=2006-09-27 }}</ref>
Another proposal, ''Ortografía R̃asional Ispanoamerikana'', remained a curiosity.<ref name="Australia">{{cite web|access-date=2020-07-14|title=El Zapata de las palabras{{pipe}} El Semanario Sin Límites|url=https://elsemanario.com/vida-y-cultura/el-zapata-de-las-palabras/|date=2018-06-01}}</ref><ref name="Bibliofilia">{{cite web|first1=Marco Fabrizio Ramírez|last1=Padilla|access-date=2020-07-14|title=Bibliofilia novohispana: Editorial Brambila y el Orto-gráfiko: periódico propagador de la ortografía rasional mejikana|url=https://marcofabr.blogspot.com/2015/04/editorial-brambila-y-el-orto-grafiko.html|date=2015-04-25}}</ref>
[[Juan Ramón Jiménez]] proposed changing {{angbr|ge}} and {{angbr|gi}} to {{angbr|je}} and {{angbr|ji}}, but this is only applied in editions of his works or those of his wife, [[Zenobia Camprubí]].
[[Gabriel García Márquez]] raised the issue of reform during the first [[International Conference of the Spanish Language]] held in [[Zacatecas, Zacatecas|Zacatecas]] in 1997, most notoriously advocating for the suppression of {{angbr|h}}, which is mute in Spanish, but, despite his prestige, no serious changes were adopted.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-03-02 |title=Adiós a la 'h' (Published 2018) |work=The New York Times |language=es-LA |url=https://www.nytimes.com/es/2018/03/02/espanol/opinion/opinion-stavans-adios-h-hache-espanol.html |access-date=2023-08-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Botella al mar para el dios de las palabras |url=https://congresosdelalengua.es/zacatecas/inauguracion/garcia-marquez.htm |website=Congresos Internacionales de la Lengua Española |access-date=31 August 2024 |language=Spanish}}</ref>
The Academies, however, from time to time have made minor changes in the orthography (see above).

A [[Mexican Spanish]] convention is to spell certain indigenous words with {{angbr|x}} rather than the {{angbr|j}} that would be the standard spelling in Spanish. This is generally due to the origin of the word (or the present pronunciation) containing the [[voiceless postalveolar fricative]] {{IPA|/ʃ/}} sound or another [[sibilant]] that is not used in modern standard Spanish. The most noticeable word with this feature is {{lang|es|México}} (see [[Toponymy of Mexico]]). The Real Academia Española recommends this spelling.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=México |encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas |publisher=Real Academia Española |url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=yw4cM0fJdD6eNgXK1j |date=2005 |edition=1st |language=es}}</ref> The [[Spanish language in the United States|American Spanish]] colloquial term {{lang|es|chicano}} is shortened from {{lang|es|mechicano}}, which uses {{IPA|/tʃ/}} in place of the {{IPA|/ʃ/}} of rural Mexican Spanish {{IPA|/meʃiˈkano/}}.<ref>[https://www.se.edu/native-american/wp-content/uploads/sites/49/2020/06/4.pdf Rolando J. Diaz. Mechica: Indigenous Origin of the Chicano Hybrid Identity.]</ref>

==Punctuation==
{{further|Inverted question and exclamation marks}}
Punctuation in Spanish is generally similar to punctuation in English and other European languages, but has some differences.

Spanish has the unusual feature of indicating the beginning of an interrogative or exclamatory sentence or phrase with [[Inverted question and exclamation marks|inverted variants of the question mark and exclamation mark]] ([¿] and [¡]), respectively. Most languages that use the Latin alphabet (including Spanish) use [[question mark|question]] and [[exclamation mark]]s at the end of sentences and clauses. These inverted forms appear additionally at the beginning of these sentences or clauses. For example, the English phrase "How old are you?" has just the final question mark, while the Spanish equivalent, {{lang|es|¿Cuántos años tienes?}} begins with an inverted question mark.

The inverted question and exclamation marks were gradually adopted following the Real Academia's recommendations in the second edition of the ''Ortografía de la lengua castellana'' in 1754. Originally, the usage of inverted marks at the beginning was recommended only for large sentences, but the ''Gramática'' of 1870 made them mandatory for all interrogative or exclamatory sentences.

The inverted question and exclamation marks may be used at the beginning of a clause in the middle of a sentence, for example: {{lang|es|Si no puedes ir con ellos, ¿quieres ir con nosotros?}} ('If you cannot go with them, would you like to go with us?').

Sentences that are interrogative and exclamative at the same time may be written with two signs on each side: ¿¡...!? or ¡¿...?! or with one sign on each side: ¡...? or ¿...!

However, parenthesized signs to show doubt or surprise are written as single signs: (?) (!). Doubtful dates may be written with single or double signs: 1576? or ¿1576?

The [[Full stop|period]] indicates the end of the sentence.

The [[comma]] is used for separating appositions, subordinate clauses, interjections, tags in tag questions, vocatives, and discursives. It is also used in enumerations, but the [[serial comma]] is not used in Spanish: {{lang|es|España, Francia y Portugal}} ('Spain, France(,) and Portugal'). There are some cases in which the comma after a coordinating conjunction, such as complex sentences. Circumstantial complements are usually not separated by a comma.

The [[semicolon]] is used for a more significant pause then the comma. It may mean an intermediate division between the comma and the period or separate parts of a sentence which already contain commas.

The [[colon (punctuation)|colon]] is used for generalizing words before enumerations, for exemplifications, before the direct speech. Sometimes it can be used for juxtaposing clauses (similar to the semicolon), after discursives, and in titles of the type "general: special". The colon is the standard mark in Spanish for addressing people in letters (''Estimado profesor:'', ''Querido amigo:''); using the comma in this case is considered nonstandard.

The [[parentheses]] are used to include parenthetical information. When an entire sentence is parenthesized, the period is placed after the parentheses: ''(Esta es una frase parentética)''.

The [[square brackets]] are used for writing editor's words inside citations and instead of parentheses inside parentheses.

The [[dash]] may be used to write direct speech in dialogues, as a [[Quotation mark#quotation dash|quotation dash]]. Two dashes can sometimes introduce parenthetical constructions. The dash can also be used as a marker in enumerations. The combination "period+dash" may be used to separate the name of the topic and other information, or to separate characters' names and their lines in theatrical works.

The [[quotation marks]] (for citations, direct speech, words in unusual form or meaning) are used in three styles: angled quotation marks (« ») for the outer level, double quotation marks (“ ”) for the inner level, single quotation marks (‘ ’) for the third level. This is the system preferred in Spain, whereas Hispanic American publications often do not use the angled quotation marks. When a closing quotation mark occurs together with another punctuation mark, it is placed after the quotation mark.

The [[ellipsis]] is used for marking a sudden pause or suspension in thought and for incomplete citations. The combination "ellipsis+period" is simplified to the ellipsis, but the abbreviation point remains before the ellipsis. When an ellipsis occurs together with another punctuation mark, then the comma, the semicolon, and the colon are placed after the ellipsis, but other punctuation marks may be placed before or after the ellipsis depending on the structure of the sentence.

==Arabic alphabet==
In the 15th and 16th centuries, dialectal Spanish (as well as [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Judeo-Spanish|Ladino]]) was sometimes written in the [[Arabic alphabet]] by [[Moriscos]]. This form of writing is called [[aljamiado]].

==See also==
* [[Inverted question and exclamation marks]]
* [[Spanish manual alphabet]]
* [[Chilean manual alphabet]]

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book
|last=Penny
|first=Ralph
|year=2002
|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofspanish0000penn
|url-access=registration
|title=A History of the Spanish Language
|place=Cambridge
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|isbn=0-521-01184-1
}}

*{{cite book
|last1=Butt
|first1=John
|last2=Benjamin
|first2=Carmen
|edition=5th
|year=2011
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZq0AAAAQBAJ&q=butt+benjamin
|title=A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish
|place=Oxford
|publisher=Routledge
|isbn=978-1-444-13769-9
}}

*{{citation
|last1 = Martínez Celdrán
|first1= Eugenio
|last2 = Fernández Planas
|first2= Ana Ma.
|last3 = Carrera Sabaté
|first3 = Josefina
|year= 2003
|title=Castilian Spanish
|journal=[[Journal of the International Phonetic Association]]
|volume=33
|issue=2
|pages=255–259
|doi = 10.1017/S0025100303001373
|doi-broken-date= 1 November 2024
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273382790
|doi-access= free
}}

*[http://aplica.rae.es/orweb/cgi-bin/buscar.cgi ''Ortografía de la lengua española''] published by the [[Real Academia Española]] (RAE).

==External links==
{{sister project links|d=Q3354926|commons=no|species=no|mw=no|n=no|m=no|q=no|b=Spanish/Pronunciation|v=Spanish 1/Chapter 1 (The Basics)|voy=no|wikt=Category:es:Orthography|s=no}}
*''[http://bdh.bne.es/bnesearch/detalle/bdh0000054742 A la nación española: Sobre reformas ortográficas]'', Mariano Cubí i Soler, Imprenta de Miguel i<!-- sic! --> Jaime Gaspar, Barcelona, 1852 (Biblioteca Digital Hispánica).
*[http://spanish.about.com/library/weekly/aa092099.htm#letters Collation in Spanish] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813160026/http://spanish.about.com/library/weekly/aa092099.htm#letters |date=2006-08-13 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091120202344/http://spanishmoment.com/introduction-to-the-spanish-language/ Spanish Alphabet Pronunciation]&nbsp;– simplified for beginners to Spanish letter pronunciation.
*{{lang|es|Ortografía de la lengua española: [https://www.rae.es/ortograf%C3%ADa/origen-y-evoluci%C3%B3n-del-sistema-ortogr%C3%A1fico-del-espa%C3%B1ol Origen y evolución del sistema ortográfico del español]}}

{{Language orthographies}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spanish Orthography}}
[[Category:Spanish language|Orthography]]
[[Category:Indo-European Latin-script orthographies]]