Sándwich
 

Hi,

It always sounds like sandwích, though; why? This is not the only word where the explicit stress doesn't sound like one would expect it to sound. I can't see the system, though it's there, probably :)

This might be a regional thing, like "vídeo"/"video", "fútbol"/"futbol", "fríjol"/"frijol", but I really don't know anyone who would pronounce "sandwích". Not even on TV programs from foreign countries. :thinking:


Here, "hypercorrect" people pronounce the "d" (like "sánduich"), but most people just say "sánwich" or "sánwish", or even "chánwis", but the accent is always in the same place. :D

This is my uneducated ear, most certainly :)

último, teléfono, centímetro, fútbol, autobús and almost everything else sounds right.

béisbol and especially sándwich sound wrong by a syllable. On Duolingo, at least, which should not be particularly "regional".

Could it be some kind of my ignorance about what a Spanish unstressed syllable really is?

I don't know if this helps, but there are very specific accent rules. Generally, if the accent of a word lands on the second to last syllable when a word ends with a consonant other than n or s, and no diacritical mark is needed. In cases, such as the word calidad, the accent lands on the last syllable unless the accent mark is used. Often in words borrowed from English, such as sandwich, the Spanish language must apply the accent mark in order to more closely conform to the pronunciation of the word in its original language.

This is not about rules. It's why I sometimes hear the wrong thing. And it's me, not the other side.

The stressed syllable in a word (and there can sometimes be two or more of them) will be emphasized more than the other syllables. In a clause full of words, it should be more distinguishable.

You're not the only one who doesn't perceive stressed syllables. I know several.

When the Academy looked at adding the loan word sandwich to their dictionary (look it up here), you'll see the following:
The word sandwich appears twice, italicized to indicate that it isn't Spanish, and carryiing no accent mark (which matches our English spelling). A native speaker of Spanish may have mispronounced the English word (because it doesn't end in a vowel), and that may have been the start of a whole bunch of native speakers learning it that way.
The Academy added an accent mark, however, to indicate how we English speakers pronounce the word. All well and good, but that didn't stop how some people may have already been pronouncing it wrong. Over time, the Academy may list two entries, just as they have done for fútbol (and futbol) and béisbol (and beisbol), and other words that DO have two pronunciations (and this based on the fact that not everyone in the Spanish-speaking world says the words the same way).