On January 22, 2025, in Madrid, Spanish linguist Elena Herraiz discussed the historical evolution of the names of letters in the Spanish alphabet, emphasizing that these names are not random but rooted in Latin.
Herraiz, an expert featured in the television program 'Cifras y Letras' and a linguistic communicator on social media, elaborated on the origins of the current letter names in a recent video. She explained that the names derive from Latin and adhered to a simple rule: each letter's name should represent its sound.
Vowels were straightforward: A, E, I, O, U. However, consonants added an E, placed according to the type of consonant. For occlusive consonants, where the mouth closes to produce the sound, the E follows the consonant, as in B (be), D (de), and T (te). In contrast, for non-occlusive or nasal consonants, the E precedes the consonant, as seen in M (eme), N (ene), or F (efe).
Herraiz noted that this pattern was not common in Spanish, leading to the addition of an E at the end for clarity. The letter V (uve) follows the same naming convention, but due to the similar pronunciation of V and B in Spanish, the vowel U was chosen to distinguish it from B (be), preventing confusion.
In everyday speech, alternative terms like 'B larga' (long B) and 'B corta' (short B) have emerged for practical differentiation. The video also touched on letters such as C (ce), K (ka), and Q (cu), which share similar sounds.