All About the Spanish Letter ‘T’

The t is the 21st letter of the Spanish alphabet and has far more similarities to the English letter "t" than differences.

Pronunciation of the T in Spanish

The Spanish t and the English "t" are pronounced much alike, but there is a subtle difference that isn't noticeable to most speakers of the two languages without paying close attention. In Spanish, the t is typically pronounced with the tongue touching the top teeth, while in English the tongue typically touches the roof of the mouth. As a result, the Spanish t is softer or less explosive than the "t" in English usually is. The "t" in a word such as "stop" is close in sound to the t of Spanish. Note how the "t" in "stop" has a slightly different sound than the "t" in "top."

In technical terms the Spanish t is a plosive dental voiceless consonant. These terms mean:

• A plosive is a type of stop or occlusive sound. In other words, the airflow is temporarily obstructed just as it is with sounds such as the "p" and "k" in both languages. Spanish occlusive consonants are known as consonantes oclusivos.
• Dental sounds are those in which the tongue touches the teeth. An example of a dental sound in English is that of the "th." The Spanish word for "dental" also is dental, which has additional meanings similar to those of the English word.
• The vocal cords are inactive for voiceless consonants, known as consonantes sordos. (Sordo is also the word for "deaf.") The difference between the "b" and "p" sounds shows the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants, respectively.

The English "t" is a plosive alveolar voiceless consonant. "Alveolar" refers to the front of the roof of the mouth.

Both the English and Spanish sounds are represented by "t" in the International Phonetic Alphabet.

History of the Spanish T

Read More

Origin, Usage, and Pronunciation of the Spanish ‘E’

By Gerald Erichsen

The letter "t" has been around in roughly its current English and Spanish form for around 3,000 years. It appears to have originated with Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Phoenician and was adopted into Greek as the letter tau, written as Τ (upper case) or τ (lower case).

The earliest writings we have of the Latin alphabet date to around the sixth century BCE and always included a letter T. In classical Latin, the main forerunner of Spanish, it was the 19th letter.

Contrasting the Spanish and English ‘T’

The "t" is used far more often in English than in Spanish. In English, the "t" is used more than any other consonant and is surpassed only the "e" in overall usage. In Spanish, however, the t ranks 11th overall and is the sixth most-used consonant.

Differences in the use of the "t" between Spanish and English can be seen by comparing cognates of the two languages, words that have the same origins. In all the example below, the English word given is a valid translation, and usually the most common one, of the Spanish word.

Spanish T as the English ‘T’

In the overwhelming majority of cases, Spanish-English cognates that have "t" in one language also use it in the other. The words below are a tiny sampling:

• accidente, accident
• adulto, adult
• artista, artist
• cafetería, cafeteria
• centímetro, centimeter
• dentista, dentist
• costa, coast
• continente, continent
• elefante, elephant
• estéreo, stereo
• estómago, stomach
• hospital, hospital
• restaurante, restaurant
• televisión, television
• texto, text

Spanish T as the English ‘Th’

Most of the English-Spanish cognates that have "th" in English use t in Spanish. Probably the most common exception is asma, the word for asthma.

• atleta, athlete
• etilo, ethyl
• metano, methane
• método, method
• ritmo, rhythm
• teología, theology
• Tomás, Thomas
• tomillo, thyme
• tema, theme
• tórax, thorax
• tres, three

English ‘-tion’ as the Spanish -ción

Most of the English words ending in "-tion" have Spanish equivalents ending in -ción.

• fracción, fraction
• hospitalización, hospitalization
• nación, nation
• precaución, precaution
• sección, section
• vacación, vacation

Key Takeaways

• The English and Spanish "t" are pronounced similarly, although the sound in Spanish is softer and with the tongue placed lower.
• "T" in both alphabets comes via Latin from the Semitic family of languages.
• In words shared by the two languages, the Spanish t is usually "t," "th," or "c" in English.