The Letter 'I' in Spanish
'I' is the ninth letter in the Spanish alphabet. It represents a vowel sound.
Uppercase form | I |
|---|---|
Lowercase form | i |
Letter name | i |
Phoneme | /i/ |
How to Pronounce 'I'
The letter 'i' is an unrounded vowel pronounced like the English 'ee' in words like 'see', but shorter. Here are some examples of Spanish words that include this letter.
vino → /bino/
wine
amigo → /amiɣo/
friend
guitarra → /ɡitara/
guitar
Diphthongs
The letter 'i' can form diphthongs with both weak (/u/) and strong vowels (/a/, /e/, /o/) in Spanish. In diphthongs, the presence of the other vowel might affect the pronunciation of 'i':
when 'i' is followed by another vowel, it is pronounced with a gliding quality, representing the sound /j/. For example:
tierra → /tjera/
earth
violín → /bjolin/
violin
diario → /djaɾjo/
daily
viudo → /bjuðo/
widower
if 'i' follows another vowel, its pronunciations is not affected by the other vowel. For example:
baile → /baile/
dance
reina → /reina/
queen
boina → /boina/
beret
cuidado → /kwiðaðo/
careful
Diphthong Break
When the letter 'i' carries an accent (í), the diphthong breaks, meaning 'i' is no longer pronounced as a glide, but as a stressed vowel. This happens because the two vowels belong to different syllables and each should be pronounced separately. For example:
río → /ri.o/
river
día → /di.a/
day
país → /pa.is/
country
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