The Extremaduran Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Digraphs & Accented Letters

Q: How many letters are in the Extremaduran alphabet?

The Extremaduran alphabet has 29 letters from the Latin script [1] . This includes 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 24 consonants, notably including two digraphs: ch (counted as one letter) and ll (counted as one letter), plus ñ (n with tilde).

Q: What are the special features of the Extremaduran alphabet?

The Extremaduran alphabet has several unique characteristics : • Digraph ch - represents the "ch" sound as in "chair" • Digraph ll - represents a palatal sound like "y" in "yes" • Letter ñ - represents the "ny" sound as in "canyon" • Letter x - represents the "sh" sound (unique feature!) • Uses ü (diaeresis) to mark pronunciation in "gue" and "gui" • Inverted punctuation marks (¿, ¡) like Spanish

Q: Where is Extremaduran spoken?

Extremaduran is spoken in northwestern Spain : • Principality of Asturias - the main region • Parts of León and Zamora provinces • 100,000-600,000 speakers (including second-language speakers) • Officially recognized and protected regional language • Celtic heritage influences the culture and some vocabulary

Q: How is Extremaduran different from Spanish?

While both are Romance languages, Extremaduran has distinct characteristics : • The letter x sounds like "sh" instead of "ks" • The digraph ll has a palatal sound • Different verb conjugations and grammar structures • Preserves Celtic substrate vocabulary and features • Uses article+noun+adjective order more freely • Part of the Astur-Leonese language family

Q: How do you pronounce Extremaduran special letters?

Extremaduran has distinctive pronunciation features : • Ch ch - pronounced like "ch" in "chair" • Ll ll - pronounced like "y" in "yes" or palatal lateral • Ñ ñ - pronounced like "ny" in "canyon" • X x - pronounced like "sh" in "ship" (key feature!) • Ü ü - marks that "u" is pronounced in "güe" and "güi" • R r - trilled or tapped, especially at word beginnings These sounds make Extremaduran phonetically unique !

Q: What is the cultural significance of Extremaduran?

Extremaduran has deep cultural and historical importance : • Ancient language with Celtic substrate influences • Standardized by the Academia de la Llingua Extremadurana • Protected by Extremaduran government law • Rich oral tradition of poetry and folklore • Used in education, media, and cultural events • Symbol of Extremaduran identity and pride • Growing presence in digital media and online platforms!

Extremaduran Alphabet at a Glance

29 letters: 5 vowels and 24 consonants
Spoken by approximately 200,000-500,000 people in Extremadura, Spain
Regional language in the autonomous community of Extremadura
Uses Latin script for writing ^[1]
Features distinctive letter ñ and digraphs ch and ll
Western Romance language of the Ibero-Romance branch
Recognized by UNESCO as a definitely endangered language ^[2]

Spanish Vowels (Uppercase)

[ah]

[eh]

[ee]

[oh]

[oo]

Spanish Vowels (Lowercase)

[ah]

[eh]

[ee]

[oh]

[oo]

Spanish Consonants (Uppercase)

[beh]

[theh]

[de]

[eh-feh]

[heh]

[aah-cheh]

[hoh-tah]

[kah]

[eh-leh]

[eh-meh]

[eh-neh]

[enye]

[peh]

[coo]

[eh-reh]

[eh-seh]

[teh]

[oo-beh]

[oh-beh-doh-bleh]

[eh-kees]

[ee-gree-a-gah]

[theh-tah]

[beh]

Uppercase B - voiced bilabial plosive

[theh]

Uppercase C - velar or dental fricative

[de]

Uppercase D - voiced dental plosive

[eh-feh]

Uppercase F - voiceless labiodental fricative

[heh]

Uppercase G - voiced velar or voiceless velar fricative

[aah-cheh]

Uppercase H - silent letter

[hoh-tah]

Uppercase J - voiceless velar fricative

[kah]

Uppercase K - voiceless velar plosive

[eh-leh]

Uppercase L - voiced alveolar lateral

[eh-meh]

Uppercase M - voiced bilabial nasal

[eh-neh]

Uppercase N - voiced alveolar nasal

[enye]

Uppercase Ñ - voiced palatal nasal

[peh]

Uppercase P - voiceless bilabial plosive

[coo]

Uppercase Q - always followed by u

[eh-reh]

Uppercase R - alveolar tap or trill

[eh-seh]

Uppercase S - voiceless alveolar fricative

[teh]

Uppercase T - voiceless dental plosive

[oo-beh]

Uppercase V - pronounced as B

[oh-beh-doh-bleh]

Uppercase W - used in foreign words

[eh-kees]

Uppercase X - voiceless velar fricative

[ee-gree-a-gah]

Uppercase Y - palatal approximant

[theh-tah]

Uppercase Z - voiceless dental fricative

Spanish Consonants (Lowercase)

[beh]

[theh]

[de]

[eh-feh]

[heh]

[aah-cheh]

[hoh-tah]

[kah]

[eh-leh]

[eh-meh]

[eh-neh]

[enye]

[peh]

[coo]

[eh-reh]

[eh-seh]

[teh]

[oo-beh]

[oh-beh-doh-bleh]

[eh-kees]

[ee-gree-a-gah]

[theh-tah]

[beh]

Voiced bilabial plosive /b/ - as in "bueno" (good), or fricative [β] between vowels

[theh]

Voiceless velar /k/ before a,o,u or voiceless dental /θ/ before e,i - "casa", "cinco"

[de]

Voiced dental plosive /d/ - as in "día" (day), or fricative [ð] between vowels

[eh-feh]

Voiceless labiodental fricative /f/ - as in "fácil" (easy), same as English

[heh]

Voiced velar /ɡ/ before a,o,u or voiceless velar /x/ before e,i - "gato", "gente"

[aah-cheh]

Silent letter - no sound /∅/ - as in "hora" (hour), never pronounced in Spanish

[hoh-tah]

Voiceless velar fricative /x/ - as in "joven" (young), like German "ach"

[kah]

Voiceless velar plosive /k/ - rare, used in foreign words like "kilo"

[eh-leh]

Voiced alveolar lateral /l/ - as in "lado" (side), clearer than English "l"

[eh-meh]

Voiced bilabial nasal /m/ - as in "madre" (mother), same as English

[eh-neh]

Voiced alveolar nasal /n/ - as in "noche" (night), same as English

[enye]

Voiced palatal nasal /ɲ/ - as in "niño" (child), unique Spanish sound

[peh]

Voiceless bilabial plosive /p/ - as in "padre" (father), less aspirated than English

[coo]

Always followed by "u" /k/ - as in "queso" (cheese), "u" is silent

[eh-reh]

Alveolar tap /ɾ/ or trill /r/ - single tap in "caro", multiple trill word-initially

[eh-seh]

Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ - as in "sol" (sun), always voiceless unlike English

[teh]

Voiceless dental plosive /t/ - as in "tiempo" (time), tongue touches teeth

[oo-beh]

Pronounced as /b/ - as in "vino" (wine), no distinction from "b" in Spanish

[oh-beh-doh-bleh]

Rare, used in foreign words /w/ - as in "whisky", pronunciation varies

[eh-kees]

Voiceless velar fricative /ks/ or /x/ - "examen" vs "México" (sometimes /x/)

[ee-gree-a-gah]

Palatal approximant /ʝ/ - as in "yo" (I), can be fricative [ʒ] in some dialects

[theh-tah]

Voiceless dental fricative /θ/ - as in "zapato" (shoe), like English "th" in "think"

[AH]

[BEH]

[THEH]

[DEH]

[EH]

[EH-FEH]

[HEH]

[AH-CHEH]

[EE]

[HOH-TAH]

[KAH]

[EH-LEH]

[EH-MEH]

[EH-NEH]

[EH-NI-EH]

[OH]

[PEH]

[COOH]

[EH-REH]

[EH-SEH]

[TEH]

[OOH]

[OOH-BEH]

[OH-BEH-DOH-BLEH]

[EH-KEES]

[EE-GREE-A-GAH]

[THEH-TAH]

[ah]

[AH]

[eh]

[EH]

[ee]

[EE]

[oh]

[OH]

[ooh]

[OOH]

[oo]

[OO]

[eh ni eh]

[EH NI EH]

[ah]

Lowercase a with acute accent - stressed "a" sound.

[AH]

Uppercase A with acute accent - stressed "a" sound.

[eh]

Lowercase e with acute accent - stressed "e" sound.

[EH]

Uppercase E with acute accent - stressed "e" sound.

[ee]

Lowercase i with acute accent - stressed "i" sound.

[EE]

Uppercase I with acute accent - stressed "i" sound.

[oh]

Lowercase o with acute accent - stressed "o" sound.

[OH]

Uppercase O with acute accent - stressed "o" sound.

[ooh]

Lowercase u with acute accent - stressed "u" sound.

[OOH]

Uppercase U with acute accent - stressed "u" sound.

[oo]

Lowercase u with diaeresis - indicates pronunciation in "güe", "güi" combinations.

[OO]

Uppercase U with diaeresis - indicates pronunciation in "güe", "güi" combinations.

[eh ni eh]

Lowercase eñe - represents palatal nasal /ɲ/ sound, as in "año" (year).

[EH NI EH]

Uppercase eñe - represents palatal nasal /ɲ/ sound, considered a separate letter in Spanish alphabet.

[SEH-roh]

[OO-noh]

[dohs]

[trehs]

[KWAH-troh]

[SEEN-koh]

[sehs]

[see-EH-teh]

[OH-choh]

[NWEH-beh]

[SEH-roh]

Zero in Extremaduran, from Arabic ṣifr

[OO-noh]

One - becomes "un" before masculine nouns in Extremaduran

[dohs]

Two in Extremaduran, same form for masculine and feminine

[trehs]

Three in Extremaduran

[KWAH-troh]

Four in Extremaduran

[SEEN-koh]

Five in Extremaduran

[sehs]

Six in Extremaduran

[see-EH-teh]

Seven in Extremaduran

[OH-choh]

Eight in Extremaduran

[NWEH-beh]

Nine in Extremaduran

–

—

€

Period - sentence ending punctuation

Comma - used for pauses and lists

Vertical bar - used as separator

Inverted question mark - opens interrogative sentences in Spanish

Question mark - closes interrogative sentences

Masculine ordinal indicator - used after numbers like 1º

Feminine ordinal indicator - used after numbers like 1ª

Opening angle quotes - Spanish quotation mark

Closing angle quotes - Spanish quotation mark

–

En dash - indicates ranges

—

Em dash - used for dialogue and breaks

Equals sign - indicates equality

€

Euro symbol - currency symbol

Ampersand - means "and"

Percent symbol

Dollar sign - currency symbol

Exclamation mark - closes exclamatory sentences

Inverted exclamation mark - opens exclamatory sentences in Spanish

Quotation mark - used for direct speech

[ah]

[eh]

[ee]

[oh]

[ooh]

[ni]

[h]

[y]

[ch]

[rr]

c+e/i

[th/s]

c+a/o/u

[k]

g+e/i

[h]

g+a/o/u

[g]

[silent]

[k]

[th/s]

[ah]

Pronounced like "a" in "father"

[eh]

Pronounced like "e" in "met"

[ee]

Pronounced like "ee" in "meet"

[oh]

Pronounced like "o" in "note"

[ooh]

Pronounced like "oo" in "boot"

[ni]

Palatal nasal - like "ny" in "canyon"

[h]

Voiceless velar fricative - like "h" in "hot" but stronger

[y]

Traditionally palatal lateral, now often pronounced like "y" in "yes"

[ch]

Voiceless postalveolar affricate - like "ch" in "church"

[rr]

Alveolar trill - strongly rolled "r" sound

c+e/i

[th/s]

Before e/i: "th" in Castilian Spanish, "s" in Extremaduran dialectal variation

c+a/o/u

[k]

Before a/o/u: "k" sound as in "cat"

g+e/i

[h]

Before e/i: like "h" in "hot" but stronger (same as j)

g+a/o/u

[g]

Before a/o/u: "g" sound as in "go"

[silent]

Always silent in Extremaduran

[k]

Before e/i: "k" sound, the u is silent

[th/s]

"th" sound in Castilian Spanish, "s" in Extremaduran dialectal variation

Expand All Collapse All

How many letters are in the Extremaduran alphabet?

What are the special features of the Extremaduran alphabet?

Where is Extremaduran spoken?

How is Extremaduran different from Spanish?

How do you pronounce Extremaduran special letters?

What is the cultural significance of Extremaduran?

References:

[1] Unicode Consortium. "Basic Latin Unicode Block (U+0000-U+007F)". Retrieved from Unicode Basic Latin
[2] UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. "Extremaduran Language Status". Retrieved from UNESCO Languages Atlas