Catalan Phonetic Symbols and Pronunciation Reference

Catalan Vowel Sounds

• [i] High front vowel (cim, i, i, i)
• [u] High back vowel (fum, u, u, u)
• [e] Mid-high front vowel (Fuster, e, e)
• [o] Mid-high back vowel (camí, o, o, o)
• [ɛ] Mid-low front vowel (palla, e, e)
• [ɔ] Mid-low back vowel (donut, o, o)
• [a] Low central vowel (pal, a, a)

Catalan Consonant Sounds

Bilabial and Dental Consonants

• [p] Voiceless bilabial plosive (stop, p, b in dissabte)
• [b] Voiced bilabial plosive (ball, b, v)
• [β] Voiced bilabial approximant (esbart, between vowels or specific consonants)
• [t] Voiceless dental plosive (tancar, t, d in quiet)
• [d] Voiced dental plosive (dau, d)
• [ð] Voiced dental approximant (ajudar, between vowels or specific consonants)

Velar and Nasal Consonants

• [k] Voiceless velar plosive (cama, c, g, qu)
• [g] Voiced velar plosive (gat)
• [ɣ] Voiced velar approximant (amarg, between vowels)
• [m] Bilabial nasal (mare, m, n)
• [ɱ] Labiodental nasal (amfibi, before labiodental consonants)
• [n] Alveolar nasal (nit, n)
• [ɲ] Palatal nasal (nyap, ny)
• [ŋ] Velar nasal (rancor, before velar consonants)

Fricative and Affricate Consonants

• [f] Voiceless labiodental fricative (fred, f)
• [v] Voiced labiodental fricative (valls)
• [s] Voiceless alveolar fricative (sol, s, c, ç, ss)
• [z] Voiced alveolar fricative (zona, s in casa)
• [ʃ] Voiceless palatal fricative (xocolata, x, ix)
• [ʒ] Voiced palatal fricative (jardí, g in gerani, j)
• [ts] Voiceless alveolar affricate (pots, between vowels)
• [dz] Voiced alveolar affricate (dotze, between vowels)
• [tʃ] Voiceless palatal affricate (txec, tx, ig, g in mig)
• [dʒ] Voiced palatal affricate (metge, tg, tj)

Approximants and Liquids

• [j] Palatal approximant (iogurt, forming rising diphthongs)
• [w] Labio-velar approximant (web, forming rising diphthongs, u)
• [ɾ] Alveolar tap (cara, between vowels)
• [r] Alveolar trill (rosa, rr)
• [l] Alveolar lateral (literari, l)
• [ʎ] Palatal lateral (llauna, ll)