farmacia

[Vinyasa]

am i missing something here?
If the emphasis is not on the final 'i' as it would be in cafeteria, cerveceria etc, why is there not an accent on the second 'a'??

 

[Chirimoya]

As far as I know there is no fixed rule for words ending with cia - many are not accented - not just farmacia: others include ambulancia, abundancia, ciencia, constancia, conciencia, denuncia, ganancia, justicia, creencia, inercia, Francia, resonancia, estancia, ganancia, urgencia.

If there is a general rule that names for establishments like barber?a, cafeter?a, ferreter?a, mercer?a, papeler?a, etc. should have that final stress, note they all have ria at the end, unlike farmacia.

My sister, a Spanish teacher, mentioned that this is a mistake she often has to correct, students pronouncing it "farmac?a".

 

[bob saunders]

Is it not a rule in Spanish that in a three syllable word the emphasis is always on the middle syllable unless there is an accent on another syllable?

 

[WorldCitizenDC]

The rules of Spanish pronunciation are quite predictable and regular. Words ending in a vowel are stressed on the penultimate (next-to-last) syllable. In this case, that rule is "complicated" by the combination of what is called the combination of a "weak" vowel (i) and a "strong" vowel (a), which together constitutes a diphthong and a single syllable. So, the next-to-the-last syllable (farMAcia) would receive the stress. Any accent mark overrides any other rule of Spanish pronunciation; hence, Mar?a, barber?a, cafeter?a, etc., all of which require an accent mark in order to place the stress on the "i".

 

[b?rbaro]

This is a bit complex.

Mar?a, cafeter?a, barber?a and other words form an hiatus.

an hiatus is formed by 2 vowels that belong to different syllables. Ma-r?-a, bar-be-r?-a vs far-ma-cia(dipthong)

there are different types of vowels (a, e, o are open vowels, i and u are closed vowels)

hence there are different types of hiatus:
2 same vowels > follow general rules of accentuation
2 open vowels > follow general rules of accentuation
closed stressed vowel+ unstressed open vowel or the other way round > always receive the accent mark on the closed vowel (Mar?a, Ra?l....)

 

[Vinyasa]

The rules of Spanish pronunciation are quite predictable and regular. Words ending in a vowel are stressed on the penultimate (next-to-last) syllable. In this case, that rule is "complicated" by the combination of what is called the combination of a "weak" vowel (i) and a "strong" vowel (a), which together constitutes a diphthong and a single syllable. So, the next-to-the-last syllable (farMAcia) would receive the stress. Any accent mark overrides any other rule of Spanish pronunciation; hence, Mar?a, barber?a, cafeter?a, etc., all of which require an accent mark in order to place the stress on the "i".

Im guessing that this is the true reason as i always believed that Spanish always followed the rule. Though i must admit that this is the first time i have heard of two vowels actually being one

 

[b?rbaro]

am i missing something here?
If the emphasis is not on the final 'i' as it would be in cafeteria, cerveceria etc, why is there not an accent on the second 'a'??

ooops missed the first post.

4 types of words in Spanish regarding stress:

agudas: receive stress in the last syllable Accent mark when they end in: -n, -s or -vowel > bal?n, caf?
llanas: receive stress in the second-to-last syllable. Accent mark when they don't end in -n, -s or -vowel > c?rcel, az?car
esdr?julas: receive stress in the third-from-last. Accent mark always > mec?nica, c?modo
sobresdr?julas: stress in the fourth from last. Accent mark always > c?metelo

These are the basics, then diphthongs, hiatus and triphthongs apply