Distinción, seseo, and ceceo: sibilant pronunciation in Spain

[@LMPV4]

I'm from southern Spain. I speak with ceceo to my mum, with seseo to some of my friends and with distiction most of the time. Basically, it depends on the person I'm talking to and what that person does.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for this insight! That's really interesting.

That’s impressive. I can barely do the ceceo.

[@jonathanma4206]

Would you consider this code switching? Has anyone ever said you don’t sound genuine because you change? I like speaking with distinción but I live in Miami.

[@TakittyLove]

Luisa María THAT is cool ! :D

[@LMPV4]

​@@jonathanma4206Well, some people from other areas of Spain think that if you speak with one of those characteristics you have to stick to it. Language doesn't work like that. All Andalusians are used to hearing different pronunciations for the same word, since we do not live enclosed inside our town. A village with seseo may be 25 km away from one with ceceo. I am surrounded by people doing ceceo, seseo and distinción. It's like hearing "either" being pronounced both /aider/ and /i:der/ all your life, and ending up using both, even if one of them is your first choice. Sometimes, I just prefer to say, for example, /grasia/ instead of gracias. Some words seem to stick to you and, since all pronunciations are valid, there is no reason to avoid it. All this happens unconsciously and it happens to many of us when we are surrounded by seseo, ceceo and distinción in our environment. Somehow you end up doing what you hear. I do not prefer one thing to another, even if I find seseo and ceceo more singular.

[@OliverVIII]

The best and clearest explanation of differences between seseo, ceceo and distincion I have found on the internet so far. Good job!

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for the kind comment.

[@andreasvictorious3991]

But you didn't mention ceceo in the pronunciation of the list of words. Are they all with the θ?​@@tenminutespanish

[@tenminutespanish]

@@andreasvictorious3991 I didn't demonstrate ceceo for a couple of reasons: 1) Ceceo is used by a tiny minority of Spaniards in southern Spain. Most of us will never meet someone who does it. 2) The sound they use is very similar to, but not exactly the same as theta, and I'm not sure how to pronounce it properly.

[@alfredogallegosrey7611]

Soy chileno de nacimiento y español por ascendencia materna. Es bonito poder ver las diferentes formas de pronunciar la misma palabra a uno y otro lado del Atlántico. Me crié de pequeño con la pronunciación hispanoamericana sin embargo creo que la pronunciación española que distingue entre la S ,la C y Z es mucho más práctica .Cuando la utilizas nunca tienes problemas de ortografía!!!

[@tenminutespanish]

Gracias por el comentario!

[@javiakiragm8079]

@@tenminutespanish "la pronunciación española que distingue entre la S ,la C y Z es mucho más práctica .Cuando la utilizas nunca tienes problemas de ortografía" Exacto :)

[@TheMC1215]

Bravo. Well done. As you, I am bilingual: North American English & Latin American Spanish. I have lived in LatAm and travelled throughout, and travelled many times to Europe, with some extended time in Spain. My father-in-law is a Spaniard. I have not seen a better explanation. And kudos for repeatedly pointing out to folks that you are not making a judgment with respect to what is right or better. Social prestige is what it is and varies geographically. In Spain it’s different than in, say, Argentina or Mexico. The easiest way to tell is by watching a national news program or serious documentary from a country. I think people get very defensive about this for no reason. Dialects are dialects. I don’t change my dialect when I travel to another state in the US (not much, at least). But there are always exceptions. I don’t speak the same way when I am making a legal argument in court as I do when I am speaking with an unsophisticated client. The point is communication. How can I best communicate to my audience? Again. Well done. Thanks.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for the kind words and you insightful comments.

[@samuelgomez9013]

Es increíble que el video mejor explicado sobre la distinción entre el seseo y el ceceo esté en inglés.

[@tenminutespanish]

Gracias por tu amable comentario.

[@piofernandez3301]

I was 'lectured' years ago by an American, & later by a Welsh friend, about our "lisping" in Spain and the stupid story of how It was adopted centuries ago by the people, in order to comfort a beloved Spanish Queen who had this pronunciation defect in her mouth. Even better, both of those guys could speak "Absolute Zero" Spanish, but that didn't seem to matter at all at the time of condescendingly explain to me why I could not properly articulate my 'S' sounds (¿!!?). ¡Graziaz, zeñorez!! Unbelievavable...!

[@tenminutespanish]

Absurd and more than a little offensive.

[@theknightswhosay]

People are told something enough times, and it becomes like a gospel truth. You can’t tell them otherwise.

[@JorgeGarcia-lw7vc]

I wish you had also included the Canary Islands since they are pretty much also another seseo part of Spain. Also the other part of the world where distincion spread to is Africa. Philippines Spanish was/is seseo. Nice video.

[@jimboats]

When I lived in the Canary Islands I never once heard the 'theta' sound spoken. It was all Seseo. I did a little research and apparently many of the early settlers in Latin America came from southern Spain (aka the Andalusian region where they speak largely with Seseo) and the Canary Islands.

[@JorgeGarcia-lw7vc]

@@jimboats i also hear that Canarians don't really use vosotros (I mean they learn about it in school and see it often on TV and films from the mainland), something that makes their Spanish even more similar to that of LA. What was your experience with vosotros when you were over there?

[@blulaktuko]

Hi @@JorgeGarcia-lw7vc. Not James, but a native Canarian Spanish speaker. We do use "ustedes" and not vosotros, and also seseo. Some other characteristics are also similar to LA Spanish. To me, some Venezuelan and other Caribean dialects seem very close to how I speak "at home", with some more vocabulary shared with mainland Spain (and a few other local words, of course).

[@JorgeGarcia-lw7vc]

@@blulaktuko Hey, thanks for the very informative comment and info. Does support my thoughts on Canarian Spanish which I've seen anecdotally over the years. I still long to visit the place. Wondering how much prestige the Canarian speech variety has vis-a-vis the peninsula, if it's under threat of exclusion/assimilation or strongly embraced, and whether there are city, island or demographic differences in its embracing.

[@asterborealis1417]

Listen to Marcha Nacional Filipina, you can hear distinción being used there

[@gabiiiuuu]

Loved it! Much more useful than 99% of the videos in spanish talking about this topic. Gracias!

[@tenminutespanish]

Glad to hear you liked the video.

[@OneAdam12Adam]

Flawless presentation. Most accurate on the interwebs. Thank you.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for your kind words.

[@RedBar3D]

Thanks for clarifying. I've found it hard to come by reliable information on this topic. I've been referring to distinción as ceceo.

[@jesssee9629]

This video is exactly what I was looking for. I’m learning Spanish from scratch and trying to figure out whether or not I want to implement distinción. Thank you

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy you found this discussion useful.

[@steliopapakonstantinou674]

Antaño el acento del español europeo no me sonaba muy bien, pero ahora la distinción me encanta. Aparte de ayudarte a escribir correctamente las palabras.

[@orfrisbee2121]

Best spanish teaching youtube channel! Muchas gracias por hacer estos videos!

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you!

[@georkost]

This is the most helpful and informative video about the accent in Spain. Thank you so much 😁😁

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy to hear you found it useful.

[@georkost]

@@tenminutespanish I was scared of moving on with learning, because I was afraid that something wrong about my accent will stuck with me forever... So I am very grateful ❤️

[@eliechavarria9408]

This man taught me in 4 minutes what my professor was trying to teach me in 2 weeks

[@tenminutespanish]

Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@ianlogan5415]

Thank you - Very clear explanation to a previously confusing area.

[@tenminutespanish]

You're welcome! I'm so glad you liked the video.

[@1234smileface]

Distinción sounds amazing! It sounds very like Greek. It's Beautiful!

[@samgaming5215]

Absolutely, I think the same.

[@tenminutespanish]

I agree, too. I like many different varieties of Spanish. I like colonial Mexican Spanish, Andean, Rioplatense, Chilean, Caribbean... and I particularly like north central Spain. They're sometimes quite different from one another. I like them all!

[@luisorozco4370]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/goGwoqJ-ha-tl8U

[@clarencehammer3556]

Absolutely. I love it.

[@vequite]

This was a very clear, fun, and to the point explanation. Thank you.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you. i'm glad you liked the video.

[@fonto8262]

Perfect explanation thank you! I've wondered myself about this issue since the first time I've heard spanish music - at that time I've heard some hits by Alejandro Sanz. Nowadays, you hardly hear anything like that anymore.

[@joavim]

Best video on the internet about this topic, both in English and Spanish! You're the first one I saw that mentions the diastratic nuances in seseo/ceceo/distinción in Andalusia. Just to note that this doesn't apply to the Canary Islands, where seseo is the only used form irrespective of social class or register. Also thanks for mentioning the difference between apical/laminal s. I've always found it interesting that, when Latin Americans (or native English speakers) try to imitate Spain's Spanish, they'll always go overboard with the "s" sound, making it sound too close to "sh". Similarly, but conversely, whenever Spaniards try to imitate the Latin American accent, they will use "seseo", but they will still pronounce the sound apically, because they don't realize they pronounce the "s" differently than Latin Americans do.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thanks! I'm very happy you liked the video. And thanks for adding your observations.

[@TheMaru666]

In areas of seseo in Spain and ceceo , usually s and z in the end of words or before consonant are done aspirated or just not pronunced. Even , in some rural varieties , a lot of s or z in any position will be done like an aspirated sound , it is known as heheo . In Canary Islands , usually they use a pure seseo , not alternating with distinción , unlike in Andalucía. I liked your video lot . Thank you !

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you so much for your contribution!

[@davidtuggyt]

Yes, in the variant I grew up with (rural Monagas, eastern Venezuela) final s/z was regularly phonetic h. It still sounds natural to me, though I have learned to pronounce s.

[@PeeGeeThirteen]

I'm a noob when trying to speak Spanish but I try my best to use Distinción when in Spain and Seseo when I'm in the Americas. it's all about trying to remember where the Z, Ci and Ce are in the word. My Portuguese brain gets in my way. Also what's cool about this is that you know by ear if a Spanish speaking tourist is from Spain or not.

[@JairoOrtizT]

Excelente explicación. Yo soy seseante de Sudamérica.

[@tenminutespanish]

Muchas gracias por el comentario. ¿De qué país en Sudamérica eres?

[@JairoOrtizT]

@@tenminutespanish del Perú.

[@tenminutespanish]

Ah, me gusta mucho el español peruano!

[@ammabee3693]

This is great! On the exercise, I found myself continually saying, “what’s that? Oh.” And I couldn’t see the spelling until the seseo + distinción. 😮😎

[@a.m.rifkia.3rd493]

thanks to English, now I can decide that the variety of Spanish I'm learning now is distinción.

[@tenminutespanish]

Very good! The Spanish of north central Spain is beautiful! I really like how it sounds

[@adrianwakeisland4710]

@@tenminutespanish mine, the spanish language I used and learn is the combination of pyrenean (especially central pyreness accent) and antarctic.

[@enekoeneko69]

@@adrianwakeisland4710, I guess it must be as exotic as my English from Mount Olympus ... from Mars. I hope people understand me on earth.

[@adrianwakeisland4710]

@@enekoeneko69 no one from mars can speak english. More spanish speak english than martians.

[@enekoeneko69]

@@adrianwakeisland4710, yes, I agree, especially in Antarctica ... recognized by the whole world as the "cradle of Castilian".

[@xolang]

Great video! The 8 sibilant in Old Spanish didn't develop into 2 in Distinción though. They ended up becoming 4 phoneme today instead since: a) /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ developed into /x/, and b) /t͡ʃ/ continues to be pronounced as such today. Neither did the old sibilants /t͡ʃ/ , /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ end up merging into 1 in areas of ceceo/seseo. Here the 8 sibilant developed into 3 phoneme: 1) /s/ or /θ/ written as s, z, ci or ce. 2) /t͡ʃ/ or /ʃ/ written as ch. 3) /x/ or /ç/ or /h/ written as j, gi or ge.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for your contribution. Of course you're right. But I'm sure you understand a simplified explanation would be easier to follow for beginners. Truthfully, I didn't even bother to refresh my own memory about the historical evolution of the sibilants, because I knew I wasn't going to get into it. There is one other good reason for not mentioning those other phonemes: they aren't strictly sibilants. The point of the video is to explain sibilants, not all phonemes derived from sibilants. While it's not true that the original 8 sibilant phonemes reduced to 2 phonemes in distinción, it IS true that the reduction resulted in only 2 SIBILANT phonemes. Similarly with seseo and ceceo. They didn't merge into one phoneme, but their merger left only one sibilant phoneme.

[@xolang]

@@tenminutespanish exactly. that's also the reason why I wrote phoneme instead of sibilant. to say that that the modern sibilants developed from old Spanish /t͡ʃ/, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are misleading though. anyway, I think you've made awesome videos, yet from reading practically all the comments and your reactions also in other videos it's apparent that you have a hard time admitting any mistake, which is unfortunate IMO. this will thus be my last comment in your channel. keep up the good work regardless. saludos from the equator.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@xolang I'm sorry you feel that way. I always thank people for their contributions to the discussion, as I did to you. Please observe that in my reply to you I acknowledged that you were correct. Nowhere did I say you were wrong. I try engage every meaningful comment on this channel with an equally meaningful response. I'm sorry you were unhappy with my reply.

[@davidtuggyt]

¿Do you have a version of this in Spanish? I’d like to recommend it.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm sorry, I don't.

[@tenminutespanish]

In this video I discuss in more detail the origin of the Spanish sibilants. You might find it interesting. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaC5l6SCpd-mgJY

[@anar.medina6855]

En español tienes este que lo explica muy bien. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZOQYWZ4es1-ns0si=OBTlJ3BTIqYqU6D3

[@SevenMilliFrog]

I have read a study and they mention how the Tagalog word "sabon" came from the Spanish word "jabón." The researchers say it seems that Spanish J spoken in the old times is more of an S. Pretty cool

[@tenminutespanish]

Yes, it's true. The modern Spanish "jabón" came from the old Spanish "sabone", and the s was probably pronounced a bit like sh. Some of the old Spanish sibilants took different paths, like becoming a j [x].

[@markobrien3278]

It’s also “savon” in French.

[@ro_odge]

I also read from a paper that the Tagalog word 'sugal' (meaning gamble, gambling) came from 'jugar'. It's pretty interesting to see the phenomenon of Spanish J turning into S in some Tagalog/Bisaya words (ex. tasa-tajar), and Rs into Ls like in PR Spanish (ex. of Filipino R to L: asukal-azucar, kasal-casar, pildi-perder, holmigas-hormigas).

[@tenminutespanish]

@Ir liz Very interesting. Basque must have borrowed that word centuries in the past, back when Spanish pronounced the first sound as "sh".

[@donot2786]

Very well explained. I have been spending several weeks a year in Andalucía/Málaga for years. Another very typical feature of this region is that people tend to leave out the S at the end of words or even in the middle of words. ¿Hola, cómo edáaa? ¿Hola, cómo estás? As a German, I have little experience with Latin American Spanish however, I took notice that the Spanish tend to speak extremely quickly and the Latin Americans rather more slowly.

[@tequilyps]

My iaia (bilingual in Catalan/ castellano and grew up and lived all I've south America) always told me how much she lived listening to ppl back in Spain... signed"classy" she said

[@kataesco]

perfectly explained... Gracias.. (in Latin American Spanish lol)

[@tenminutespanish]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@albayzinHCHO]

in your section on how people from southern spain may mix ceceo, seseo, and distincion, it's worth mentioning that in cities with ceceo like cadiz/malaga, the more educated will speak with "seseo" because it has more prestige than their native "ceceo". speaking in pure distincion is too difficult so they just switch to seseo

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for this contribution!

[@israelvelasco6158]

Letter S in most of Spain is pronounced as S in "suit" or "pseudonym" in British pronunciation, but said quickly.

[@rosca_21]

Ceceo also occurs in the Venezuelan Plains. I believe also in Eastern Venezuela to some extent

[@LOLquendoTV]

Very well produced vid, criminally underrated. My only nitpick is that you didnt mention the canary islands, were we also use seseo

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for the kind comment. Sorry for leaving out Canary Islands! I'll be more mindful in the future.

[@enekoeneko69]

In fact, the Canary Islands speak with the accent most similar to those spoken in Latin America (specifically Caribbean).

[@bramblebop1904]

Very tricky nuances! I have a feeling that the TH in cielo isn't quite the same as the TH in thick. Am I hallucinating?

[@tenminutespanish]

They are the same sound in their standard pronunciation. In other words, in the standard pronunciation of north central Spain and the standard pronunciation of North American English, the "th" in cielo and thick are the same sound.

[@bramblebop1904]

Thanks! I notice that Spanish speaker speak very rapidly. I am unable to articulate the normal English TH at that speed, at least that's what I feel, it is too distinct, heavy. Spaniards, OTOH, "pour forth" just fine, so fast, I can't even parse 80% of what they're saying. They must have a way to pronounce it more fleetingly, lighter....the whole language seems to be "optimised" for speed, thus all these "approximants" for b and g. Just speculating, of course - I've no idea what I'm talking about 😨. Very particular language. Far more quirky than Italian, though perhaps not as strange as Portuguese. Wonder why.

[@mattfitzpatrick4008]

Eye opener. Thanks for sharing!

[@tenminutespanish]

Glad you liked it!

[@ZeriAi]

Stellar video! I've been thinking Spanish /s/ sounded a little different from mine (I speak in seseo) but thanks to you I know why!

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for the kind words! I'm very happy you liked the video.

[@samgaming5215]

I far, far prefer Castilian Spanish, and love distincion- the variety I'm learning. I'd love to hear more ceceo, however. It's probably slightly hard to listen to.

[@buga4529]

Listen to gaditanos then

[@xolang]

the ceceo I've heard so far is actually easier to understand than some LatAm accents IMO. it's exactly like seseo but with all s sounding like theta (and with a lot of s/z simply "missing", especially at the end of the word, just like in Chilean Spanish.)

[@eustaquiorod4336]

@@buga4529 Seseo is used in Cadiz city. No has pisado cadiz en tu vida

[@buga4529]

@@eustaquiorod4336 La verdad es que no Eustaquio. Pero toda la gente que he escuchado hablar que son de allí lo hacen con un Ceceo importante.

[@eustaquiorod4336]

@@buga4529 Que mentiroso eres, gaditanos son los de la ciudad de Cadiz y allí se sesea, donde se cecea es en los pueblos y ciudades de la provincia de Cadiz, que no la ciudad de Cadiz

[@choicelyon2131]

What an awesome video! Thanks!!

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so glad you liked it!

[@fasttracklap8480]

i am algerian and when i heard spanish people talking spanish, i wanted to talk like that too, so i started to learn the language on youtube, and i noticed this very thing you talked about. i noticed that it doesn't sound like the native i heard. i didn't catch it easily, but then i finally did, and it was the c, and i also think about the letter d, sometimes spanish when they speak fast the letter d sounds different, like "thdhi". i tried searching this thing "c being pronounced as s or as a th" and it is hard to find the truth. fun fact, even google translate when you type a spanish word that has c, "servicio, afficionado..." and you tap to hear the voice speaking, it pronouces it as an "s"

[@tenminutespanish]

Well, i hope you found this video informative. Spanish /d/ in most contexts is pronounced exactly like English voiced "the" as in the words "weather" and "clothing". I have several videos that discuss this. You should check them out.

[@lingo4048]

Is seseo less prestigious in Sevilla?

[@tenminutespanish]

That's a tough question to give a straight answer to. People from Sevilla know that seseo is regionally specific, and that distinción is more prestigious most everywhere else.

[@theknightswhosay]

It’s also that we aren’t accustomed to hearing a th as in bath in the middle of a word. It usually changes the sound as in bathe or other. Also, it’s not always a clear th, sometimes it’s combined with an s sound. So it sounds more like a lisper trying to make an s sound in those cases.

[@chriskt45]

Thank you very much for the informative video! Do you happen to know how do the natives of Spain with distinción accent sing a latin song which is originally sung by the artist with seseo accent? Do they change their accent just for the song or do they still use distinción over seseo during the song? I like and I'm learning spanish with distinción accent, so I came across this problem when listening spanish songs for practice.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm glad you liked the video. That's a very interesting question, but I don't know the answer.

[@raxit1337]

Great video. Nice format.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you!

[@peznino1]

I would like to have heard the "ceceo" pronunciation too. On that one, I'm still a little confused as to how it's different than "distincion".

[@tenminutespanish]

Its main difference is that is also pronounced with a sound very similar to theta. So, all sibilants are like theta. How, exactly that sound differs from theta, I don't know.

[@reyrob]

I see that the majority of Andalucía uses the ceceo. How come Sevilla uses the seseo form? Thanks

[@pml8256]

Misterio.

[@JeremiahBelocura]

How come the "ci" in "distinción" isn't pronounced with θ?

[@tenminutespanish]

It is, in that accent. Since I don't speak with that accent, I don't pronounce it that way.

[@JeremiahBelocura]

@@tenminutespanish gotcha. Thanks for the clarification, and thank you for the very informative video!

[@tenminutespanish]

You're welcome. I'm so glad you liked the video. And good observation! I didn't even notice how I pronounced distinción. Good catch!

[@Uxoriouswidow]

Ok but how does the phoneme sound in ceceo? I've heard it being mentioned as similar but different from theta, but I can't find an example of it spoken.

[@tenminutespanish]

I didn't try to demonstrate it, because I have no confidence I can do it accurately. Almost everyone hears it as theta. Those people who accurately distinguish it from theta are mostly Spaniards who are familiar with it. I'm sorry, but I can't answer any better than that. I don't know for sure.

[@atbing2425]

I'm not sure, but it probably varies from place to place, person to person, and to who you speak to, but it's probably a th with your tongue in a position you would pronounce English s (alveolar) it can also be interdental s (s but your tongue is placed between your lower and upper teeth). The general idea is that there is a lot of variation.

[@LMPV4]

@@tenminutespanish As an Andalucian I make ceceo, seseo and distinción. I speak English as a foreign language. Well, when I pronounce the "th" sound in English, my tongue is more forward than when I make ceceo in Spanish. I mean the real ceceo, the ceceo in a word with an S in spelling, not the ce/ci/z sound in distinción. If I say "thank you", my tongue is quite forward between the teeth, and the blade or middle of the tongue touches de teeth. When I make ceceo, it's the tip of the tongue that goes between the teeth, or stays right behind them, and there is much more air coming out. When I make distinction, and actually with any word spelt with ce, ci or z, whether I make ceceo or distinción, the tongue is more forward than with the Andalusian ceceo for "s", but still more backwards than when I pronounce th in English. Basically, I pronounce th with my tongue quite forward because it's the way I hear it from Brittish speakers, I don't know if it's the case for American speakers of English, then it's a bit backwards when I pronounce ce, ci and z and still more backwards when I pronounce the s when I am doing ceceo. I don't know if it's the same with every speaker, since I hear some people with a very strong ceceo. But even for me, that strong ceceo, more similar to English th, stands out too much.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@LMPV4 Thanks for this insight.

[@thetickedoffpianoplayer4193]

@@tenminutespanish I'm from Southern US, and I hear a difference because I do have a lisp, which I'm very self-conscious of. When I listen to musicians like Il Divo who use Distinccion, they sound like me when I'm lisping. I have a bit of a concept with this accent because people used to immitate me when I was a kid, and they lisped the way I do. This is probably a weird psychological issue, but it's hard for me not to want to crawl under the floor when I hear this accent the way I did when they would make fun of me. Screw PTSD and screw bullies.

[@pathikvarh8424]

Hombre, debes seguir haciendo tantas video clases))) Gorgeous! Brilliant! No redundant details, everything is clear, intelligible and coherent! A very comprehensive report! I`ve been looking for such a thing for a very long time. Thank you a million! I did enjoy! Are you an American?

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm very happy you liked the video.

[@pathikvarh8424]

@@tenminutespanish )))) And where did you study Spanish? Do you teach Spanish?

[@tenminutespanish]

@@pathikvarh8424 When I was younger I lived, ate, breathed, and slept Spanish for about 15 years, including living in Latin America, getting a couple university degrees in Spanish studies, and teaching upper division university Spanish courses. My plan was to become a professor of Spanish linguistcs. Then I changed course and decided to become a dentist. Are you a university Spanish student? What are your interests?

[@pathikvarh8424]

@@tenminutespanish Sounds fascinating! And now? Has perdido el interes o no estas mas aficionado? Yo tambien solia estar aficionado al espanol! pero... you know different vicissitudes came over me and I dropped out of Spanish! Now I want to get back))) Vives en los Estados Unidos o en America Latina? Espero, que no te molesto con todas estas preguntas! And thank you for your answers!

[@tenminutespanish]

Of course I have remained interested in the culture and language. Dentistry has provided many more opportunities to travel than being a teacher ever would have. As it turns out, dentistry and Spanish go together very well. I live in the US, Arizona, near the border with Mexico. I have opportunities to speak Spanish every day.

[@dakit3]

im currently working in Spain any my Spanish is becoming an unholy mess. In hs i picked up on my teachers south American pronunciation (where y/ll = zh), but now i have a weird mix of ceceo and distincion being added to that.

[@Entropy825]

Good times. My accent has been blended at times, too. I've lived in the Andes, on the Pacific Coast of South America, and in the Caribbean, and I've spent the past 15 years on the Mexican border and visiting Mexico. It's a good education in dialectology, but it takes some practice to get your sounds so they sound like they all belong to a single coherent dialect.

[@jimboats]

great video. Really helpful. Thank you

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm very happy you liked it. Thank you.

[@Christiangjf]

You didn't mention the canary islands where seseo is the norm. Or Equatorial Guinea where distinción is used.

[@ShubhoBose]

It looks like any 's' after theta/c in castilian spanish is pronounced as an english "sh" sound too.

[@Luritsas]

Any examples?

[@pml8256]

Para nada.

[@thetickedoffpianoplayer4193]

I have a question. I actually do have a lisp, but there is a slight difference when I make a th sound like in the word thought and when I try to make the s sound but it comes out in a lisp. I've heard some speakers of this accent, mainly American speakers, who legit sound like they're lisping rather than saying a th sound, and I've even heard some people who sound like Silvester the cat from Loony Toons. Is it correct to do this, or is it just a normal th sound?

[@nellajara3326]

Excellent explanation. Very helpful! Thank you!

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so glad you found the video useful!

[@eb.3764]

I wish you did a comparison with ceceo.... I don't know what those words you read would sound like in Spanish.....

[@israelvelasco6158]

Actually, seseo is used in some places in Spain (whole Canary Islands and some regions in Andalusia, e.g. Seville and other cities in that autonomous community). Seville was the city with more influence over Hispanic America, including the way they speak Spanish.

[@clarencehammer3556]

Since I am not a native speaker I do have a strong preference for I was unfamiliar with that term until recently. I had thought the only two ways were ceceo and seseo. I thought ceceo was distinción. I am still a little unclear about ceceo. When I was in college one of my Spanish professors spoke with distinción. He happened to be Portuguese not Spanish. He spoke beautiful Spanish. I loved to hear that man speak. Many years laterI subscribed to a Spanish audio magazine. At first most of the speakers were speaking distinción. Later they started having speakers that spoke seseo. Most of my own speaking practice has been reading aloud. I began to practice distinción and soon it became automatic for me. Now seseo sounds strange to me. But I have wondered if maybe I should unlearn distinción to be more acceptable to Latin Americans. When I was in high school we learned seseo. They say that when a Latin American hears distinción they think your speech is “affected” and so probably have a lower opinion of you. I don’t have any actual conversations in Spanish with anyone though. I think distinción sounds more natural. My wife is Dominican and she says that I speak with the “zeta” pronounced “theta”. We do not speak Spanish together. She prefers English. She has four children whom she never taught to speak Spanish.

[@AnarchyEcho]

Great guide, cheers mate!

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you!

[@abcgera]

¡Interesante! buscando por qué Latam habla con "seseo" llegué aquí. It is curious that in Spain speaking with "seseo" is considered an under-educated population, while in Latam the opposite does not occur, that is, if you speak with "distinción". I would to add that since Latam people never pronounce "z" (or th sound) is hard for us to pronounce words contain the letters th in English.

[@LordAus123]

Does this mean that a distinción accent is considered more socially prestigious than any accent from South America?

[@tenminutespanish]

No. The situation with Spanish dialects is very comparable to English dialects. Dialects from Latin America are roughly comparable to dialects from the US, and dialects from Spain are roughly comparable to dialects from the UK. Would we say that a BBC British accent is more prestigious in the United States than standard American pronunciation? Probably not. It sounds "fancy", but it also sounds foreign. Americans don't adopt a BBC British accent when they want to sound intelligent or authoritative. We tend to adopt the characteristics of Standard American English. So, what is prestigious for the UK is not what is prestigious for the US. Similarly, standard Spain Spanish (distinción) sounds "fancy" to a Latin American ear, but it also sounds foreign. When Latin Americans want to sound intelligent or authoritative, they tend to gravitate toward standard Latin American Spanish (or versions that are standard for the broad region where they live). Trying to adopt a Spain accent wouldn't give their speech greater prestige, it would just make them sound foreign. What is prestigious on one side of the Atlantic is not necessarily prestigious on the other side.

[@phil73805]

Can I just ask, surely, in Central Spain it would be pronounced Distinθión?

[@tenminutespanish]

Indeed.

[@alejandrozebadua592]

Hablo con un chico de Malasia que aprende español ibérico, y si nota las diferencias entre en español ibérico, y el de México, incluso le dije que en Argentina usan en pronombre vos y pronuncian la y y ll como sh, y en latinoamerica es raro usar vosotros

[@jeanahandley]

this video is great - my confusion is cleared up

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you found the video helpful!

[@andreasamardzija1496]

Thank you. I was trying to figure out what the ceseo sound actual sounded like because the phonetic alphabet is all greek to me :')

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm very happy you found this video useful.

[@cabarete2003]

One comment I was hoping you'd made and didn't hear was that the reason we don't have distinction in LA is because of where the majority of the Spaniards were from in Spain...as I understand it. Also, on another note, the Caribbean accent comes from the immigrants from the Canary Islands.

[@tenminutespanish]

Ya, I didn't mention that in this video. I did talk about it in this other one, though. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaC5l6SCpd-mgJY

[@cabarete2003]

I remember the first time I spoke with a Spaniard...I had to sort of stop the conversation in my head and translate "spain words" into "latin american spanish."

[@alexanderpinchuk2866]

As a person from Russia, I'm surprised that in the US you guys think of LatAm Spanish as of normal and of Spanish of Spain is diverging. Here it's vice versa. At least in my university (but I suspect it's pretty much the same all over the country). Most of teachers will teach you Spanish of Spain or will tell you about Spain completely ignoring Latin America. Maybe it's because I personally study Spanish as the 2nd foreign language and English as the 1st (we have more practical and theoretical classes of English than of Spanish, at least not in the quarantine time). So when I chat with my Latin American friends online, sometimes they don't understand me because I use words and expressions from Spain without realizing it. At the classes of Theory of Spanish they talk about the phonetics, history etc. of Spanish of Spain presenting it as the only version. I learnt about where vos came from from these videos rather than from University. And yeah, the city where I live and study is in the middle of Siberia so it's far away from both Spain and Latin America. And I don't hate Spain or Spaniards. Of course Spain is an awesome country with rich culture and history. I'm just saying that if you teach Spanish you shouldn't regard only a small part of the Hispanic world. If I ever teach Spanish (I hope I will), I'll be teaching both Spanish from Spain and LatAm (that sounds much of a promise lol).

[@tenminutespanish]

Fascinating observations! Thank you for contributing. I find it very interesting how Spain tends to dismiss Latin America (at least within the culture of academia). I once knew a grad student from Spain who was studying Spanish literature, and she didn't even know the names of prominent Latin American authors, even those who had won the Nobel Prize in literature. How can you get a master's degree in Spanish literature and not even know the names of Spanish-language Nobel Prize winners? On the other hand, I have visited Spain on several occasions, and although I speak South American Spanish, I was always greeted with smiles and friendliness by Spaniards who appreciated very much that I spoke Spanish, and didn't judge me at all for speaking a Latin American variety. So maybe this phenomenon is limited mostly to academia. I don't know for sure.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@asideclaro You are definitely correct that Americans generally do not know the history, literature, culture, or geography of other countries. This is truly a shame and embarrassment. My experiences with Spaniards have all been positive. I have known many people from Spain (I had a conversation with a friend from Cadiz just yesterday) and I have only had positive experiences with them. And when I have traveled in Spain, I have found Spaniards to be welcoming, friendly, generous, and honest. And I have thoroughly enjoyed experiencing Spanish culture. Academia has it's own culture, and I don't attribute any faults in academia to Spain or Spaniards.

[@Uchihasasuk5]

Agreed. The elitism (from academia it seems) is not appreciated here.

[@avaorpilla]

It’s mostly because most native spanish speakers here in the US are from Latin America, so when they teach it to English speakers here, they teach LatAm Spanish because it’s what’s predominantly spoken here :)

[@alanwhite3154]

No sé de qué te sorprendes. ¿El inglés que aprendes en Rusia no es el británico?

[@LuisaPlantierMartins]

GREAT VIDEO, thank you!

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you! I'm so happy you liked it.

[@xavierrst5380]

This was brilliantly explained, bravo.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you. I'm so happy you liked the video.

[@fuedaseoyt]

I was enjoying the lesson until you said "neutral" south american accent. Come on, there's no such thing as neutral accents!

[@tenminutespanish]

Of course there are neutral accents. There are disagreements about how to define neutral, but very few sociolinguists argue that there's no such thing. I give an intro to my concept of neutral in the following video starting at about 3 minutes and 13 seconds into the video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5S2dKCVbpapiNE But there are many other ways of thinking of neutral. In American English we have a widely accepted dialectal concept referred to as Standard American English, which is sometimes defined as "not northern, eastern, or southern". In other words, it isn't defined by how it sounds, but by how it doesn't sound. It is effectively neutral, and people who speak Standard American English could be from Colorado, California, Washington, or wherever, and there's nothing particular about their accent that would tell a listener where they're from. Or they could be from someplace with a more distinctive regional accent and they've simply reduced or eliminated the diagnostic regional features of their pronunciation. Not all languages or regions have an exact parallel with Standard American English. For example, the concept of RP in the UK is not really the same thing as Standard American English in the US. RP functions as a standard in education and broadcasting, but certainly isn't regionally neutral. So the English language isn't the same in this regard on both sides of the Atlantic. Latin American Spanish does have something roughly equivalent to Standard American English. Not exactly the same, but roughly.

[@nnvbnn]

@@tenminutespanish you are wrong. "Neutral" accents are never really neutral, they are based on one single variant understood as more "prestigious" one.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@nnvbnn I have made a whole video on this topic. You can watch it here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4uZl4mBqNiZY7c. The gist is that there manifestly IS a system of dialectally unmarked phonology, and there's a good argument for teaching and learning it. My accent is mostly dialectally unmarked for Latin America, but with some South American features.

[@nnvbnn]

@@tenminutespanish you better go study linguistics, man.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@nnvbnn With respect, I have a master's degree in Structural Spanish Language and Linguistics. One of my areas of emphasis is sociolingustics and dialectology. I understand what you're saying, and you're not exactly wrong. But it's obvious you don't understand what I'm saying, and I'm not wrong either. There is a legitimate concept of neutrality in linguistics. It is derived from the concept of markedness. I recommend you watch the video I linked.

[@boricua_in_wa]

Why is desir spoken with theta?

[@tenminutespanish]

It is spelled 'decir'.

[@mahamaysam]

1:07 And cy.

[@channel395jfjsifkf]

Es lo que bueno, voy a continuar enseñarme español :]

[@joanferranllorenslopez437]

In Balearics, Catalonia, València... Castilian (Spanish) is the second language. In Catalan we don't have the sound th. We have learnt North Castilian.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@joanferranllorenslopez437 Thank you for this contribution.

[@blackpearl7665]

Interesting! I didn't know that.

[@420olof2]

Isn't latin american 's' pronounced the apical s?

[@tenminutespanish]

No. Apical s is the s of north central Spain.

[@wxbull-sr5sh]

I literally don't understand what's the difference between ceceo and distancion? He said non-linguists mix them together, what's the difference though?

[@tenminutespanish]

@@wxbull-sr5sh In distinción, s is pronounced as s. That's why it's called distinción. There's a distinction between s and c/z. In ceceo c,z, and s are all pronounced as a version of theta. All three are pronounced the same. No distinction between them.

[@wxbull-sr5sh]

@@tenminutespanish wow ok thanks a lot didn't expect you to respond haha, you're right I've always thought ceceo is like another way of describing distanción.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@wxbull-sr5sh I don't think anyone outside Spanish linguistics uses the word "distinción". I think native Spanish speakers say "ceceo" for all uses of theta in Spain.

[@soniafreiriaarevalo9239]

Thank you for this video! I'm from Spain but moved to England at a young age so I thought I had simply lost my Spanish accent!

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm really glad you liked the video. Why did you think you were losing your accent?

[@basilleaves5706]

Now I know that ceceo and distinción are different!

[@47crazed]

my opinion. Ceceo is the best sounding accent.

[@Noushie]

Soy de Inglaterra y hablo con distinción

[@fredericksquid2066]

Quality videos you have! I just realized that it seems you focus on pronunciation only. I didn't find "ser vs. estar" and "haber vs. tener" on your channel. Would have loved to hear that from you since you make it focused and well-structured.

[@tenminutespanish]

Frederick, thanks for your question. I haven't taught any basic grammar yet, because none of my subscribers has asked for it. I mostly focus on pronunciation and dialectology because that's what I like, and that's what my subscribers have asked for. Also, there is TONS of information on basic grammar all over the internet. I would basically just be repeating what everyone else is saying on subjects like "ser vs. estar" and whatnot..

[@bonusbronstein9172]

En portugués existe también la diferencia entre la lengua de Portugal y la lengua de Brasil. Yo hablo madrileño y no me ocupo mucho de la ce.

[@naufalasmar1230]

Thank you very much, Sir.. this helps a lot

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so glad to hear this helped you!

[@sergiantonisilvaylerin6592]

Practical case = Latam / South Spain: "Me voy de caSa" /Rest of Spain:Can you write it? 😂😂😂 I'm leaving home 🏠CASA or I'm going to hunt🦌🏹CAZA😜😉

[@pml8256]

En Andalucia, para los seseantes hay recursos lingüísticos que evitan la confusión. Dirían "me voy de cacería". Hay otros más complicados voy a cocer o voy a coser. En estos casos se añade el objeto directo, o sustituye la palabra cocer (por ejemplo un huevo), por hervir o coser por hacer costura.

[@vlleeom]

Amazing video! Very informative.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it.

[@LouieManza]

Interesting that most of the Conquistadors came from that small region un southern Spain. That explains why LATAM speaks a ceseo version. Weird.

[@tenminutespanish]

It isn't that the conquistadores all came from a small part of southern Spain. It's that the pronunciation that is now common in most of Spain originated in a small region and only later spread to most of Spain.

[@LouieManza]

@@tenminutespanish Thank you so much for that explicación. I never could get a straight answer to that mystery I'v had for most of my life. I was born in Colombia and always wondered why the Spanish sounded like that while LATAM didn't. You're a real gem!

[@elyhansen]

The way you pronounce the s, z, ce or ci does not indicate social status anymore (in Spain) but you might give away your origin (andalusian, for example) which is nice. If you live in a certain area you will be interested in imitating those sounds. You will start talking with their "accent". The same happens in the UK with British English. A person from Latin America can learn to imitate the z, ce, ci and s sounds (from Spain) in the same way that an adult English learner learns to do so. It depends on your level of perfectionism and the necessity. Thanks for the video.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for this insight.

[@nikolairocca8578]

I’m from Gibraltar which is in the south of the Iberian peninsula and no one there uses th it’s always seseo

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for this contribution.

[@theknightswhosay]

Some of Javier’s words sound more theta than others. For instance, decir is very clearly not an s sound, but acentos is barely different from Latin American Spanish.

[@daviddavidson1090]

It's simpler for Distinción speakers to imitate Seseo than vice versa. So if one wants to speak and understand both, I guess he should focus on Distinción.

[@charrovampiro]

I'm a native Latin American Spanish speaker and, personally, I don't have much of a trouble when imitating "distinción"... of course I've made mistakes, but a little bit of practice is all it takes.

[@bilbohob7179]

the worst word: "piscina" if you do it right, then you have not problems with distiction...

[@clarencehammer3556]

I thought Latin Americans hated distinción.

[@maorong801]

I have a question about the pronunciation which had haunted me for a few years: as we can hear in this video, Javier pronounces the ending "S" in "acentos"，"gracias" etc as "SH" （other than a distinguishable "s" ）I have heard this way of reading "s" in many TV shows/videos from Spain, while I have never heard this in latin american spanish. Is there any stories about this? I know "SH" in rarely seen in Spanish, thus, pronouncing it as "s" or "sh" doesn't cause confusion. But is it just something very optional or is it an accent from certain areas? (I am a new follower, if it was explained in other videos, forgive me and show me the way, please) Miles de gracias!

[@tenminutespanish]

Respectfully, he does not pronounce it as "sh". This sound is what is called "apical s". It is /s/ pronounced with the tongue in a little different shape. Instead of the airflow passing between the alveolar ridge and the dorsum of the tongue, as in normal /s/, the center of the tongue is depressed slightly and the tip of the tongue is curled back very slightly, so that the airflow passes between the alveolar ridge and the very tip of the tongue. This pronunciation is typical of Madrid, and has spread to varying degrees all throughout north central Spain.

[@maorong801]

@@tenminutespanish Thank you so much, Dan! Love all your videos, they are the best I have ever watched . Pardon me for my English, I am still learning it, too.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for your kind remarks. Your English is very good, my friend.

[@Torinna_]

I speak with both. I grew up in multiple parts of Spain so I had to change my accent

[@Unpainted_Huffhines]

Your example makes no sense. In English, "Th" is pronounced with a "th" sound, so words that contain "th" like "theater" and "with" are pronounced with a "th" sound. Words with "S" or soft "C", like "use" or "fossil" are not pronounced with a "th" sound (eg "uthe or "fothil"), so when you do, we call it a lisp, or "lithp". Of course, it isn't actually a lisp, it's just the way the language is pronounced. It just sounds like what English speakers would call a "lisp".

[@userlccc9000]

It takes the fact that Anglophones are calling it a lisp when that is just how the language works. That's why the English /th/ sound can be called a lisp too with that logic. It shows how wrong and stupid it is to call the Spanish soft /c/ and /z/ sound a "lisp".

[@Unpainted_Huffhines]

@userlccc9000 Yes, thank you for reiterating my last paragraph where I said it isn't actually a lisp, it's just how the language is pronounced, and it just sounds like that to English speakers. And, no, by that logic, English wouldn't also be a lisp language. A "lisp" in English is when the speaker pronounces the _"s"_ and soft _"c"_ with a _"th"_ sound. In English, the _"s"_ and soft _"c"_ are pronounced with an _"s"_ sound, and _"th"_ is pronounced with a _"th"_ sound, unlike Castillian Ceseo, where the _"c"_ and _"z"_ sounds are pronounced with a _"th"_ sound.

[@조준이-s6j]

드디어 의문점이 풀렸다...

[@davidtuggyt]

Excellent presentation. The user Astrocship, in a comment on my video kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3imn3Sued9mfdU, calls me out for using the word “ceceo” to refer to what you correctly call “distinción”. I had not been particularly aware of the pronunciation you call “ceceo” at all ― I just think of Spain-Spanish as using distinción, and am used to that being referred to as ceceo, but your terminology is more exact and I will try to use it from now on. I think I either agree with everything else you said, or learned it for the first time here (e.g. that “ceceo” is lowest on the social scale.) De todos modos, un trabajo excelente. Le felicito. Especialmente me llamó la explicación de cómo la [s] de “distinción” suele ser más apical y sibilante [ṣ] que la del seseo general. Me acuerdo de varios chistes de mi niñez donde se les echaba broma a los “peninsulares” pronunciando así la /s/ y luego, como dice ud., rociando una [θ] u otra por acá o por allá para dar la idea pero sin poner mucho cuidado para colocarlas dónde se escribe c/z.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you for your kind words. And your contribution to the discussion. To be clear, it is linguists who use the term "distinción" the way I do in this video. To the best of my knowledge, native Spanish speakers often use "ceceo" for both distinción and ceceo as I describe them in this video. So, ordinary folks usually have no idea what "distinción" refers to.

[@LEGIONARIO1970]

Excellent video again! Some Spaniards criticize us Latin-Americans and some Andalusians because of this, but they ignore that the "seseo" was still very common in the Andalusia of the XVI century, in other words that small green area in Andalusia in southern Spain was actually bigger back then. Many ignore too that 70% of the Spanish colonizers were from Andalusia and The Canary Islands, most of them from Seville, so they were the ones who brought the "seseo" to Latin-America, therefore it's not a deformation by us Latin-Americans we use the "seseo" because we were taught so by the Andalusians. With the time "zezeo" and "ceceo" became more widely spread in most of Spain and "seseo" was preserved in Latin-America just like the Andalusians taught us in the XVI century. Greetings from Mexico.

[@tenminutespanish]

You're right, of course, but there's even more to it than that. Modern Latin American Spanish does not descend from modern Spain Spanish. Rather, modern Latin American Spanish and modern Spain Spanish both descend from varieties of Spanish that were spoken centuries ago and are no longer spoken anywhere today. And the Spanish of Spain today is no more similar to the ancient ancestral Spanish than is modern Latin American Spanish. Regarding seseo and distinción, Spaniards generally assume that seseo is a simplification or derivation of distinción. It is not! Seseo and distinción are BOTH simplifications of a previously existing system that no longer exists anywhere. Distinción became the educated standard in Spain not because it was the original form, but because the people who spoke that way enjoyed more social, political, and economic power. It is merely a historical coincidence.

[@arkaitzetxeandia7542]

What is "zezeo"? That does not exist. There is only "ceceo", "seseo" ... and the distinction between both sounds called, for obvious reasons, "distinción".

[@eustaquiorod4336]

Yes, andalusians get mocked on TV by spanish media. Programa de maxima audiencia y el presentador burlandose del habla andaluza