Showing posts with label english to spanish translation. Show all posts

Thursday, 13 February 2014
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X, Y and Z

X, Y, Z The final three letters of the Roman alphabet and yet again there are discrepancies between their pronunciation in both the Spanish and Portuguese alphabets.

Spanish pronounces X as "eh-keess" but this letter is pronounced differently depending on where it appears in a word. For instance, it follows the English "eggs" sound of "exam" when the Spanish equivalent "examen" is spoken. However, "experto" likewise follows the English "expert" by using the softer sounding "ecks", or even in the Spanish word for "sixth", "sexto".

Of course, depending on where the Spanish speaker is from there may be more consistent pronunciation of the "eggs" sound and the "ecks" sound throughout the spoken language. Spanish also has a further pronunciation of X and that is the same as the Spanish letter J which requires the guttural "ch" sound like that in many Scottish words.

In the Portuguese alphabet the letter "x" is "sheesh", however Portuguese pronunciation of the alphabet goes a little further than Spanish or English with 'x' having four primary sounds. Firstly, in 'xícara', Portuguese for cup, x is pronounced as "sh" as in "shop", the word xícara being pronounced shee-kah-rah with emphasis on the first syllable.

However, the letter does adopt a more familiar sound, that of "ecks" in a word such as "fênix" or "fénix", meaning phoenix. The "ecks" sound of the Portuguese "x" is softened somewhat when it precedes a consonant and "contexto" is an example of this. This softer pronunciation is also heard in some other words such as the Portuguese for "next" which is "próximo".

Translations2u is a uk based translation company specialising in Portuguese to English translation, as well as English to Portuguese services, in addition to providing English to Spanish translation or a Spanish to English translator for all our clients' business and legal requirements.
Monday, 10 February 2014
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A "B" sound that doesn't quite touch the lips

Here is the penultimate instalment in the line of our little mini-series on the pronunciation of the Spanish and Portuguese alphabets. 

 The next letter is V and this letter has a pronunciation that will frequently reveal the status of non-native Spanish speaker. You see the Spanish v is pronounced as a soft b sound in that it the speaker's lips don't quite touch.when saying unlike the letter b which requires the lips to touch completely. It could be thought of as an aspirate b but care must be taken by the non-Spanish speaker nto ensure this  gap between the lips does not sound like a p. The best way to conceive of the differences is simply to practise making the relevant sounds. 

 In Spanish, particularly that spoken in Spain, v is typically pronounced "oo-veh", remembering that soft b sound. However, some other Spanish speakers and very often those from Latin American Spanish speaking countries,tend to refer to this letter as "b pequena" or "b chica". In other words, "little b". This starts to make sense once you are aware of how v is pronounced. Readers will be pleased to know that Portuguese speakers are more consistent by simply pronouncing this letter as "vay" with the v sound being that expected in English and other languages. 

 Moving on to w and the Portuguese alphabet will no doubt again curry favour among non-native Spanish and Portuguese speakers wishing to familiarise themselves with these languages. This is because w is simply pronounced "dawbel-yoo" or "dahbel-yoo" by Portuguese speakers. In Spanish, the soft b sound of v is again required as this letter is typically pronounced "dawbleh-oovay" with emphasis on the "oo". There are instances among Spanish speakers both from Spain and other countries where "dawbleh-vay" is heard with the pronunciation of v being as expected to the anglophone ear. Interesting that the pronunciations in both these languages of "double v" (double vee) is closer to the appearance of this letter than the English which describes it as "double u".

 #Translations2u is a legal translation specialist working between many languages that include the offer of English to Portuguese and English to Spanish translation for all continents. For a Portuguese to English or Spanish to English translator, Translations2u has the specialist knowledge to ensure 100% accuracy. 
Monday, 27 January 2014
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Not just in English

Here are some terms that are exactly the same in English as they are in a few other languages.

First of all, to describe something as banal is to express the sentiment that the object of your conversation is to some extent trivial, rather mundane or indeed commonplace or lacking any form of originality. Banal is written exactly the same way but with minor pronunciation differences in Spanish, Portuguese, German and French, and it is the latter language that not only gave us this word in the first place but also its definition of commonplace. In French, the term referred to military service which was mandatory throughout France and thus applied to every citizen. Hence its use to describe something as commonplace.

Another term common to more than just English, and also derived from French, more specifically Middle French, is suave. It is used to refer to someone, typically a male, who has a smooth and sophisticated manner about him, and generally has the meaning of agreeable or polite. When it originally entered the language from Middle French, which itself derived from the Latin suavis, it meant gracious or kindly. This word is exactly the same in Spanish, Portuguese and modern French, with only Spanish pronouncing the final “e” to create a second syllable.

Our third term is verbal and this too is exactly the same not only in French, Spanish and Portuguese but also in German. Verbal refers to something consisting of, expressed in, or pertaining to words. Furthermore, in grammar, verbal is used to denote that something is derived from or pertains to a verb. The word also has another sense, as in word for word or verbatim.


Finally, a cheque, albeit “check” in US English, is the same word in Spanish, French and Portuguese and each of these languages equally use it to refer to that piece of paper you complete and sign to draw funds from a back account or to place money into an account. Interestingly, in Australia and New Zealand, a cheque can be a worker’s wages or the total payment for contracted labour. 

Translations2u is a specialist provider of French translation, German translation, Portuguese to English and English to Portuguese, as well as Spanish to English and English to Spanish translation in addition to numerous other language pairs.