D d — de
«de» is a consonant of Valencian, the “the Valencian Latin alphabet” script, read as “d as in "door"; t at the end of a word”. An ordinary d. Word-final it devoices: Madrid comes out "Madrit". For example, in the word “dia” — day. The Valencian alphabet has 35 letters in total. Between vowels it softens almost to a dz: cada is closer to "kadzeh". It appears, for example, in the word “bon dia” — good morning.
In short
| Character | D d |
| Name | de |
| Sound | d as in "door"; t at the end of a word |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 5th of 35: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ç and e, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How it sounds
An ordinary d. Word-final it devoices: Madrid comes out "Madrit"
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- diaday
The character in the “read as they look” group
Nothing to learn: the sound is exactly the one you expect.
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «de» it is “d as in "door"; t at the end of a word”, as in the word “dia”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 35 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Valencian character d read?
As “d as in "door"; t at the end of a word” — it is a consonant of the “the Valencian Latin alphabet” script. An ordinary d. Word-final it devoices: Madrid comes out "Madrit". For example, in the word “dia” — day.
What is the letter d called?
De. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Valencian script: it is called “de” and reads as “d as in "door"; t at the end of a word”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can d be confused with?
Between vowels it softens almost to a dz: cada is closer to "kadzeh". Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.