Why do Spanish and Latin Americans pronounce Z and C differently? This is a question that I have been asked a thousand times, and to which in most cases followed: “But which one is correct?” In this post I’m going to try to answer why we Latin Americans pronounce these sounds differently from the Spanish.
I’ll start by telling you what seseo is. We call seseo the phonetic phenomenon typical of the Spanish language that consists of substituting the sound of z or c before the vowels e, i (according to peninsular Castilian /θ/), by the sound of s (/s/). For this reason, it can sometimes be difficult for a Spanish student to distinguish the pronunciation between s and z and c during a conversation.
How did all this start? Why, in the land where Castilian was born, do they pronounce these sounds differently from the regions where they were taken with colonization? Many things have been said and the truth is that it’s a subject that has fascinated different specialists.
- Since times past, people have been commenting on a legend that says this difference is due to the lisp (/ θ /) that affected a king or prince when he spoke, and since people loved him very much, began to imitate him. But, as cute as it may seem to us, it is just a legend that does not have documents to prove it.
- Could it not have been the fault of the indigenous? The theory of the linguist Rodolfo Lenztam says that towards the end of the 19th century people began to reflect on the idea that Latin America speaks differently from Spain because the language changed thanks to the influence of the indigenous languages that, of course, already existed on the continent, before Columbus arrived and “discovered” them. The scientific basis of this theory has not been considered solid enough either, but it is also true that it is believed that this pronunciation of Z and C as an S has been adopted for practicality. Unifying phonemes made it easier for indigenous people to learn Spanish. Surely it was louder and more comfortable to pronounce an S than a C or a Z.
- The most accepted theory today is that the Z and C sounds of Spanish simply never came to be pronounced in America because they never got on board, taking into account that when the colonization of America occurred there were already two ways of speaking Spanish in Spain: the speech of the north (Castile) and the speech of the south (Andalusia). And it is in Seville, as is currently the case, that the Z and the C were already pronounced in a way very similar to the S. And it is also from Seville that the link with the “New World” was produced. As the American historian Peter Boyd-Bowman mentions in his studies, almost 40% of the first settlers who left for America came from Seville and other regions of Andalusia. As for writing, the one that triumphed in America was that of northern Castilian spoken in Madrid, considered more prestigious for being the place where the king, the Court and the nobility met.
It is difficult to establish whether what I have just told you really responds to the differences in pronunciation between Spain and Latin America, because there is not much empirical work done to date. The educated norm in Latin America is to pronounce the Z and the C as an S, something that is generalized because it is what the speakers of the place do, and it is the people themselves who create the language.
If you listen to a Spanish and a Latin American speak, you will surely notice this difference. Spanish people cecean (pronouncing the syllables ZA-CE-CI-ZO-ZU like the English “th” sound) and Latin Americans sesean, pronouncing the same syllables like an S.
At this point, you may be wondering “what is the correct pronunciation?” Well, I very much agree with the linguist Guiomar Ciapuscio who says that both forms are correct. This was what she answered to the British network BBC, adding that at the moment and in her opinion, there is no correct or incorrect way to pronounce Z or S.
So… “Now what do I do?”, “How do I pronounce these sounds?” I personally use seseo, but in my classes I always teach both modes and let my students freely decide which one to use. What I do tell them is that it’s important not to mix them. I insist that, from the beginning, they choose the form that is best for them and that they always use it. Listening to a person who use ceceo and seseo at the same time is not natural. Therefore, if you want to sound as close to native as possible, I recommend choosing the form you prefer and sticking to it. In my experience, my Italian students choose to pronounce with the S because in the Italian language they do not have the /θ/ sound, and it’s easier for them; but perhaps, English speakers do not care, because they do have that sound in their language.
And you? Which way is best for you? I would love for you to tell me.
Greetings and see you soon!