Pitmans Commercial Spanish Grammar

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pitman's Commercial Spanish Grammar (2nd ed.), by C. A. Toledano
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Title: Pitman's Commercial Spanish Grammar (2nd ed.)
Author: C. A. Toledano
Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15127]
Language: English and Spanish
Character set encoding: ASCII
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PITMAN'S COMMERCIAL SPANISH GRAMMAR
BY
C. A. TOLEDANO
1917
PREFACE
With the best intention of justifying Messrs. PITMAN'S confidence in entrusting me with the compilation of a Spanish Grammar to form part of the series of "Commercial Grammars," I set to work to produce a book which, while avoiding pedantry and the agglomeration of superfluous and intricate rules which puzzle the student, should equally avoid falling into the extreme of coarseness which debases the subject under study, or the scrappiness resulting in gaps that perplex and discourage him. I have tried to be brief and clear in the rules given.
The vocabulary has been chosen carefully, avoiding the artificiality of too much commercial technology, but keeping constantly in view the object of the Series, viz., to produce grammars specially suitable for students preparing for a commercial career.
Whether I have succeeded in my efforts it is for the public to judge. I can only say that, after more than twenty-five years' teaching of Spanish in all its stages, privately, at the Manchester University and in the large classes of our public Institutions, I have tried my best to give the fruits of my experience to any interested young people who may be eager to learn a language beautiful, noble, and most useful.
I do not claim to have reached perfection. I only trust the book, such as it presents itself, will be of real help to the student.
C.A. TOLEDANO.
MANCHESTER, 1911.
COMMERCIAL SPANISH GRAMMAR
ALPHABET.
A (_a_) G (ge) M (eme) Rr (erre)?B (be) H (hache) N (ene) S (ese)?C (ce) I (_i_) N (ene) T (te)?Ch (che) J (jota) O (_o_) U (_u_)?D (de) K (ka) P (pe) V (ve)?E (_e_) L (ele) Q (cu) X (equis)?F (efe) Ll (elle) R (ere) Y (y griega_ or _ye) Z (zeta)
K (ka) and W (doble ve) are only found in foreign words used in Spanish.
PRONUNCIATION OF VOWELS.
a_ as English a in f_ather?_e_[1] " a " f_a_te[2]?i_ " i " magaz_ine?_o_[1] " o " n_o_te[2]?u_ " u " r_ule
These five sounds never vary, except that they are a little longer when they are stressed and shorter when they are not, as Yo amo (I love),[3] Amigo (friend), El cielo (heaven), Celeste (heavenly), Un recibo (a receipt), Interes (interest), Yo como (I eat), Contar (to count), Un buque (a ship), Una butaca (an armchair).
Y_ is considered a vowel in the conjunction _y (and), and at the end of a word, as Rey (king), Hoy (to-day).
[Footnote 1: E_ and _o are sounded a little more open when they form a diphthong with i_ and when they precede _r followed by a consonant or r_ or _l final, as Fernando (Ferdinand), Un tercio (a third), El tercer ano (the third year), Porfiar (to insist), Amor (love), Espanol (Spanish).]
[Footnote 2: The a_ and _o_ of "fate" and "note" are not pure vowel sounds_. In English the a is distinctly pronounced a-ee and o is pronounced o-oo.
In Spanish the first part only of the two sounds is permissible.]
[Footnote 3: The examples given with their English equivalents should be learnt.
DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS.
There are no Diphthongs or Triphthongs in the English sense of two or three vowels meeting in one syllable and blending into a different sound, as "pause," "plough."
Every vowel is pronounced separately and each with its alphabetical sound, only the two or three vowels occurring in one syllable are pronounced rapidly, as Pausa (pause), Reino (kingdom), Cuenta (account), Buey (ox).
A, E_ and _O never form diphthongs together. They may form diphthongs and triphthongs only in combination with I_ and _U.
CONSONANTS.
The Consonants are pronounced as in English with the following exceptions:
B is pronounced much more lightly than in English, with no pressure of the lips, as Libro (book), Brevedad (brevity).
C before E_ and _I_--_th in "theatre," as La Cena (the supper), La Cerveza (the beer). Otherwise pronounced _K_ as in English, as Caja (case, box), Color (colour), Cubico (cubic).
Ch always_ as _ch in "church" (never hard as in "monarch"), as Chocolate (chocolate), Charla (prattle).
D at the end of a word or after a vowel is pronounced very softly