To know how to pronounce vowels
in Catalan, is necessary to know the strong syllable of the word. a, i,
o change if are in the strong syllable or a weak one.
a
like 'a' in "apple" if in the strong
syllable or 'e' in "over" if in a weak syllable
e
like 'e' in "bed" or 'ea' in "bear"
if in the strong syllable or 'e' in "over" if in a weak syllable
i
like 'ee' in "bee"
o
like the first component of the diphthong 'ow'
in "low" or 'o' in "bond" if in the strong syllable
or 'oo' in "hoop" if in a weak syllable
u
like 'oo' in "hoop"
In the case of e and o in a strong syllable, you can only know how it
sounds if has the accent sign. è sounds always as 'e' in "bed",
é sounds as 'ea' in "bear", ò sounds as 'o' in "bond"
and ó sounds as the first component of the diphthong 'ow' in "low".
