This chart presents a comprehensive overview of the phonemes used in Spanish, covering both Castilian Spanish (es-ES) and U.S. Spanish (es-US). Each entry includes the IPA and X-SAMPA phoneme symbols, an example word, and the full phonetic transcription of that word in both systems.
While both dialects share a core set of consonants, vowels, and diphthongs, U.S. Spanish reflects influence from American English, introducing additional phonemes such as /v/, /z/, /ʃ/, /dʒ/, /ɹ/, and /ə/. These are typically heard in borrowed words or bilingual speech contexts. This chart is ideal for learners, linguists, educators, and developers interested in pronunciation patterns across Spanish-speaking regions. A reference for stress notation and syllable boundaries is included at the end.
Spanish (Spain) – es-ES
| X-SAMPA | IPA | Example Word | X-SAMPA Transcription | IPA Transcription |
|---|
| p | p | pelo | "pelo | ˈpelo |
| t | t | tela | "tela | ˈtela |
| k | k | casa | "kasa | ˈkasa |
| b | b | bobo | "bobo | ˈbobo |
| d | d | dedo | "dedo | ˈdedo |
| g | ɡ | gagá | ga"ga | gaˈga |
| f | f | foca | "foka | ˈfoka |
| T | θ | cielo | "Tjelo | ˈθjelo |
| s | s | soso | "soso | ˈsoso |
| j | j | yo | "jo | ˈjo |
| x | x | jota | "xota | ˈxota |
| tS | ʧ | churro | "tSuro | ˈtʃuro |
| l | l | lento | "lento | ˈlento |
| L | ʎ | lluvia | "Lubja | ˈʎubja |
| m | m | mano | "mano | ˈmano |
| n | n | mano | "mano | ˈmano |
| J | ɲ | ñoño | "JoJo | ˈɲoɲo |
| 4 | ɾ | pero / dar | "pe4o / "da4 | ˈpeɾo / ˈdaɾ |
| r | r | rata / perro | "rata / "pero | ˈrata / ˈpero |
| a | a | cala | "kala | ˈkala |
| e | e | tele | "tele | ˈtele |
| i | i | pirueta | pi4"weta | piɾˈweta |
| o | o | cordura | ko4"du4a | koɾˈduɾa |
| u | u | documentar | dokumen"ta4 | dokumenˈtaɾ |
| ai | ai | jamaicanos | xamai"kanos | xamaiˈkanos |
| au | au | restaurante | restau"4ante | restauˈɾante |
| ei | ei | aceituna | aTei"tuna | aθeiˈtuna |
| eu | eu | euro | "eu4o | ˈeuɾo |
| oi | oi | hoy | "oi | ˈoi |
| ou | ou | roupeiro | rou"pei4o | rouˈpeiɾo |
Spanish (United States) – es-US
| X-SAMPA | IPA | Example Word | X-SAMPA Transcription | IPA Transcription |
|---|
| p | p | pelo | "pelo | ˈpelo |
| t | t | tela | "tela | ˈtela |
| k | k | casa | "kasa | ˈkasa |
| b | b | bobo | "bobo | ˈbobo |
| d | d | dedo | "dedo | ˈdedo |
| g | g | gagá | ga"ga | gaˈga |
| f | f | foca | "foka | ˈfoka |
| v | v | voice | "vois | ˈvois |
| s | s | soso / cielo | "soso / "sjelo | ˈsoso / ˈsjelo |
| z | z | president / zoo | "pr\ezid@nt | ˈpɹezidənt |
| S | ʃ | shopping | "SopiN | ˈʃopiŋ |
| T | θ | thorn | "Tor\n | ˈθoɹn |
| D | ð | father | "faD@r\ | ˈfaðəɹ |
| x | x | jota | "xota | ˈxota |
| dZ | dʒ | jennifer | "dZenif@r\ | ˈdʒenifəɹ |
| tS | ʧ | churro | "tSuro | ˈtʃuro |
| l | l | lento | "lento | ˈlento |
| m | m | mano | "mano | ˈmano |
| n | n | mano | "mano | ˈmano |
| J | ɲ | ñoño | "JoJo | ˈɲoɲo |
| N | ŋ | song | "soN | ˈsoŋ |
| 4 | ɾ | pero / dar | "pe4o / "da4 | ˈpeɾo / ˈdaɾ |
| r | r | rata / perro | "rata / "pero | ˈrata / ˈpero |
| r\ | ɹ | car | "kar\ | ˈkaɹ |
| j | j | yo | "jo | ˈjo |
| w | w | water | "wot@r\ | ˈwotəɹ |
| @ | ə | google | "gug@l | ˈgugəl |
| a | a | cala | "kala | ˈkala |
| e | e | tele | "tele | ˈtele |
| i | i | pirueta | pi4"weta | piɾˈweta |
| o | o | cordura | ko4"du4a | koɾˈduɾa |
| u | u | documentar | dokumen"ta4 | dokumenˈtaɾ |
| ai | ai | hay | xamai"kanos | xamaiˈkanos |
| au | au | pausa | restau"4ante | restauˈɾante |
| ei | ei | aceituna | asei"tuna | aθeiˈtuna |
| eu | eu | euro | "eu4o | ˈeuɾo |
| oi | oi | hoy | "oi | ˈoi |
| ou | ou | roupeiro | rou"pei4o | rouˈpeiɾo |
Stress Symbols
| Function | IPA | X-SAMPA |
|---|
| Primary stress | ˈ | " |
| Syllable boundary | . | . |