Context
Populate this narrative with historical background, geography, and transliteration details. Use Supabase joins to link ancestor/descendant alphabets.
TODO: Render sibling alphabets and timeline metadata.
Contemporary (post-2010 RAE reform)
Modern Spanish Alphabet
The Modern Spanish alphabet, or 'abecedario', is a 27-letter system derived from the Latin script. Its current form was standardized by the Real Academia Española (RAE) in a significant 2010 reform. This update officially removed the digraphs 'ch' (che) and 'll' (elle) from the list of individual letters, reclassifying them as two-letter combinations that represent single sounds, similar to 'th' in English. This change simplified alphabetization to align with international standards. A hallmark of the Spanish alphabet is the letter 'ñ' (eñe), which originated in medieval monasteries as a scribal abbreviation for a double 'nn' and represents a distinct palatal nasal sound /ɲ/. This letter is unique to Spanish and a few other languages and has become an iconic symbol of the Spanish language. Spanish also uses diacritics, such as the acute accent (á, é, í, ó, ú) to indicate lexical stress or differentiate homophones (e.g., 'si' vs. 'sí', 'el' vs. 'él'), and the diaeresis (ü) to signal the pronunciation of 'u' in combinations like 'güe' and 'güi' (e.g., 'pingüino'). These marks are crucial for pronunciation and meaning but do not create separate letters. The Spanish orthographic system is notably more phonemic than French or English, with relatively consistent letter-to-sound correspondences, though dialectal variations exist (such as 'seseo' in Latin America, where /θ/ and /s/ merge, and 'yeísmo', where /ʎ/ and /ʝ/ merge).
Total Letters:54
Base Letters:51
Diacritics & Accented Letters:3
Letters
Letters organized by type. Data is sourced from the `letters` table with `alphabet_id` filter; mock fixtures ensure layout when Supabase is offline.
Base Letters
51 lettersFundamental letters without diacritical marks
Modern Spanish Alphabet
t
te
Modern Spanish Alphabet
u
u
Modern Spanish Alphabet
a
a
Modern Spanish Alphabet
b
be
Modern Spanish Alphabet
c
ce
Modern Spanish Alphabet
d
de
Modern Spanish Alphabet
e
e
Modern Spanish Alphabet
f
efe
Modern Spanish Alphabet
g
ge
Modern Spanish Alphabet
h
hache
Modern Spanish Alphabet
i
i
Modern Spanish Alphabet
j
jota
Modern Spanish Alphabet
b
B
Modern Spanish Alphabet
c
C
Modern Spanish Alphabet
d
D
Modern Spanish Alphabet
e
E
Modern Spanish Alphabet
f
F
Modern Spanish Alphabet
g
G
Modern Spanish Alphabet
h
H
Modern Spanish Alphabet
i
I
Modern Spanish Alphabet
j
J
Modern Spanish Alphabet
k
K
Modern Spanish Alphabet
l
L
Modern Spanish Alphabet
m
M
Modern Spanish Alphabet
n
N
Modern Spanish Alphabet
o
O
Modern Spanish Alphabet
p
P
Modern Spanish Alphabet
q
Q
Modern Spanish Alphabet
r
R
Modern Spanish Alphabet
s
S
Modern Spanish Alphabet
t
T
Modern Spanish Alphabet
u
U
Modern Spanish Alphabet
v
V
Modern Spanish Alphabet
w
W
Modern Spanish Alphabet
x
X
Modern Spanish Alphabet
y
Y
Modern Spanish Alphabet
z
Z
Modern Spanish Alphabet
k
ka
Modern Spanish Alphabet
l
ele
Modern Spanish Alphabet
m
eme
Modern Spanish Alphabet
n
ene
Modern Spanish Alphabet
o
o
Modern Spanish Alphabet
p
pe
Modern Spanish Alphabet
q
cu
Modern Spanish Alphabet
r
erre
Modern Spanish Alphabet
s
ese
Modern Spanish Alphabet
v
uve
Modern Spanish Alphabet
w
uve doble
Modern Spanish Alphabet
x
equis
Modern Spanish Alphabet
y
ye
Modern Spanish Alphabet
z
zeta
Diacritics & Accented Letters
3 lettersLetters with accent marks and diacritical modifications