1. The vowels in Spanish have each invariably their peculiar sound; not as in English, where each has two or more sounds, making them in fact so distinct as strictly requiring to be designated by different characters, or after the manner of the Hebrew points. Thus _a_ has always the broad open sound found in the English words _arm_, _arrack_. _e_, long or short, as in the English words _ere_, _ever_. _i_ and _y_, as in _machine_, _syntax_. _o_, long or short, as in _ore_, _host_, _hostage_. _u_ has uniformly the sound of _oo_ in _food_. The Celtic sound of this vowel, preserved in France and Portugal, is unknown in Spain, and also in the Basque or Biscayan language. 2. Of the consonants, _b_ has a softer sound than in English, and approaches to _v_, which again is made to sound like _b_. Thus the city of the Havana is, in Spanish spelling, La Habana, and the river Bidasoa is written Vidasoa. _c_, before _a_, _o_, _u_, is to be pronounced hard, as in English; before _e_ or _i_, it is to be sounded like _th_ in _thin_, though in the provinces this pronunciation is giving way to the French and English mode of sounding the letter. Thus the name of the great Roman orator is pronounced Thithero. _ch_ has always the soft sound it usually has in English, as in _chat_, _check_, _chin_, _choke_, _chum_. _d_, at the end of a word, is generally pronounced like _th_: thus Madrid is Madrith; _ciudad_, a city, is pronounced _thiudath_; otherwise, both _d_ and _t_ are spoken as in English, or slightly more dentally. _f_ has the same sound as in English. _g_ is an aspirate, like our _h_, more or less guttural, according to the word. The soft sound of this letter, as in _gem_, left by the Celts in Italy and Portugal, is unknown in Spain, as is also the soft sound of the letter _j_. _h_ may be said to be invariably a silent letter, and seems only used to prevent two vowels running into each other, so as to form a diphthong. _j_ is a very harsh guttural, like the Hebrew _Cheth_. Thus Juan (John) is to be pronounced strongly, Hwan; Josè (Joseph) also strongly, Hosè. The letters _k_, _l_, _m_, _n_, _p_, are the same as in English. _q_ or _qu_ has the sound of our _k_: thus _que_ (that) is the same as the Italian _che_. _r_, _s_, _t_ have the same sounds as in English, except that the first has one somewhat rougher, especially when two come together. _x_ is a strong guttural, for which _j_ is now generally used, as Don Quijote. _z_ is pronounced as _th_: thus Cadiz is sounded Cadith.