Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
When did the spelling of spanish numbers change?
When I learned Spanish in high school (not more than 8 years ago), the numbers 16-19 were spelled like this:
Diez y seis
Diez y siete
Diez y ocho
Diez y nueve
Now, I am studying it again, but the numbers are spelled like this:
Dieciseis (ignore lack of accent mark)
Diecisiete
Dieciocho
Diecinueve
Can someone explain when and why it changed?
Just to note, I am taking a class for this, but the teacher is younger than I am and just barely remembers it being taught the way I learned it.
3 Answers
- LoganLv 46 years ago
It's still accepted as both, but I think they teach the lumped version for convenience. My spanish class allows the spelling either way, but they're pronounced the same way. That's what counts, according to my Spanish teacher.
- 6 years ago
Dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, dicecinueve is the correct way, because phonology, what do I mean?
Words like treinta y uno have two strong vowels or diphthong trEInta y Uno but words like dieciséis and diecisiete have only one, diecisÉIs.
What is a strong vowel? (because I don't know the term in English) example in English -pErson- -hUman-
Of course it can change among dialects, and some people might be confused because this sound change is almost unhearable. But the standard way says like I said. "dieciséis, diecisiete etc"
