Comments on: How to run words together! and other fun topics...

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I was really enjoying the tent sleeps five example. the scales were falling from my eyes as JP explained how in english we can create new words simply by moving them into a different place in the sentence. i was begining to see how shakespere can throw in bizarre verbs like" to shark" with impunity and why spanish doesnt share this predeliction for verb noun ambiguiity, and then it stopped. :-(

¡que lastima!. the grammar lesson cant come soon enough but please bear in mind that a lot of us did no grammar at school. easy on the professional jargon por favor. This lesson, like the tent, was pitched just right. more of the same please.

thanks again guys.

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Si alguien quiere otro ejemplo de la vida real de la omisión de la D en el español del caribe, aquí está un video de un grupo puertorriqueño se llama Khriz y Angel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgF1kUb6eE4

He trata(d)o, de conquistar a la vecina,

y he opta(d)o, por tirarme de rodillas.

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Fun for all! I've never seen Alejandro look as good as he does in that video. I liked the chorus written out like that, JP. I've always tried to follow the chorus and have noticed the same with how vowel sounds blend into each other, especially in that song. It's so fast though, I needed to listen to it several times while trying to read the words in perfect timing w/ Alejandro.

Good lesson on the pronunciation of the letter D. How about letters "v" and "b" next? For the most part, it seems that glottal stops are minimal, and the language in general has a certain softness (or is it that I only get the opportunity of hearing "nice" people speaking Spanish)? And...unless of course you are Antonio Banderas and most syllables are spoken ¡FUERTE!

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Jodibean

The rules for when the sounds of v and b change are very similar to the rules which govern the sound of the letter d. But if you would like a source which is considerable more reliable then I and some audio examples check out the link below.

Steve

http://www.studyspanish.com/pronunciation/letter_bv.htm

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Steve - Thanks for the link. It'll come in handy, because I can think of more letter sounds I'd like to hear, like g/j/ll, and c/z/s.

Qué tengas un buen viernes.

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thanks but, im still confused. I appreciate there probably arent hard and fast rules but could i possibly trouble you guys for a few more examples of this repetition emphasis technique at work. for instance, how would one say

quickly, cut the GREEN wire
or
it is obvious that YOU are responsible for the whole fiasco
or
it only cost 2 dollars for a haircut.

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Jp: Sú video no abrio, pero el video de donperigo abrio. Buena musica, esa de Shakira.

Salud para todos de spanishpod.

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I hear the word "mercado" spoken as "mercao", the "d" is dropped

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The whole dropped "d" thing is new to me, but now much so more makes sense. I like the song "Papeles Mojado," by Chambao, and I wondered why she sang what sounded like "mojao" and "cansao" (cansado). I thought maybe there was a mixture of Portuguese in there somewhere, but now I know :)

¡Siempre estoy aprendiendo cosas nuevas aquí!

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thank you very much, JP... you solved a life long mistery for me. a long time ago one friend told me that gringos pronounced Rio de Janeiro's "de" in a very funny way, I had no clue why you spoke like that.

The thing is you Americans think it should be pronounced like in spanish, so the "de" sounds not like in portuguese. Now I know why it sounded like "the". Portuguese "d" either sounds like "djee" (brazil) or a very light "deh" (portugal), sometimes indicated by "δ" (actually there are other dialectal variants, but this is not portuguese pod).

Next time you say Rio de Janeiro, say it like in english, it sounds better.