The Myth of “Murciélago” in the Spanish Language
Many thanks to one of our listeners, Bill, for letting me know about this…
The famous Spanish writer Lucía Echevarría, winner of the “Planeta” literature prize, recently mentioned in an interview the much-held belief that “murciélago” is the ony word in the Spanish language that contains all 5 vowels.
An ABC reader, José Fernando Blanco Sánchez, sent the following letter to the newspaper, with the aim of “broadening her knowledge”:
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Carta al director del diario ABC
Acabo de ver en la televisión estatal a Lucía Echevarría diciendo que “murciélago” es la única palabra en nuestro idioma que tiene las cinco vocales.
Mi estimada señora, piense un poco y controle su “euforia“. Un “arquitecto” “escuálido“, llamado “Aurelio ” o “Eulalio“, dice que lo más “auténtico” es tener un ” abuelito” que lleve un traje “reticulado” y siga el “arquetipo” de aquel viejo ” reumático” y “repudiado“, que “consiguiera” en su tiempo, ser “esquilado” por un “comunicante“, que cometió “adulterio” con una “encubridora” cerca del ” estanquillo“, sin usar ” estimulador“.
Señora escritora, si el “peliagudo” “enunciado” de la “ecuación” la deja “irresoluta“, olvide su “menstruación” y piense de modo “jerárquico“.
No se atragante con esta “perturbación“, que no va con su “milonguera” y “meticulosa ” “educación“.
Y repita conmigo, como diría Cantinflas: ¡Lo que es la falta de “ignorancia”!
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Well, he pretty much put her in her place I think! Don’t worry if you don’t know all the 5-vowel words in the letter above, José Fernando Blanco Sánchez is obviously a bit of a word-smith!
Just stick with our free real Spanish audio conversations, and you’ll learn all the Spanish you need! And don’t forget that you can really see and dig deeper into all our conversations in the special accompanying worksheets.
Posted in: Spanish | Comments: 15
Comments:
Comment from Vivienne
Don’t worry Ben – I still prefer murciélago – it was the first impressive word I used – and still use whenever the opportunity arises!
Comment from Roger
In no way would I wish to express high DUDGEON over Joyce’s reflection that such phonetic elision marks a “difference in the languages,” but, of course, the same occurs in English pronunciation. Only a speaker of the precision of, say, Ian Richardson, would have articulated all three vocals in “dudgeon.”
Incidentally, there’s a lovely word that comes from “murcielago,” “murciglero,” prowling thief of the night!
Comment from deebee
I first came across the word murciélago when I was in Spain. There is a place near Córdoba where there is a famous cave of bats. I always find murciélago very difficult to remember. I use the name Murcia to remind me and the rest should follow. Hopefully. Thanks Ben for the little bits of information you feed us with. I am enjoying Gold very much..
Comment from Amy
I don’t think he’s talking about syllables, like a dipthong in abuelito with the ‘ue’, but more that it has all of the vowels in it. You hear them, too, whereas in English like someone said you have vowels in there that you don’t hear.
Comment from Terry
Ben,
¡No es para tanto! ¡Me hace reír cada vez que creemos que hemos llegado al nivel superior en el estudio de una lengua! Resulta que la palabra murciélago es mucho más divertido para los estudiantes de español en la secundaria! Es fatídico tratar de explicar el origen de cada caso. Yo siempre digo que hay pocas palabras que caben un una categoría. Gracias por todo lo que hacen ustedes, Ben.
Comment from Lee
I never knew murcielago was known for having all five vowels – it has just always been one of my favorite words in Spanish because it sounds so pretty. That, and mujeriego, but I try to avoid that one with high school students.
Lee
Comment from Chelby
I can see how some people would say that euforia, while it has all 5 vowels, is not an exact sample because -ia at the end creates a dipthong, thus creating only one syllable. However, once you put an accent on the weaker vowel, -i, it was be pronounced differently, more like eeya, instead of ya. I’ve studied linguistics all throughout my college experience, English and Spanish, and I do see how could say that because of the weakness of some vowels creating dipthongs, it’s just not the same.
Comment from Ann
Who knew?? I had never heard about that belief but I taught the word to my middle school students every Halloween for at least 20 years! They loved saying it, too, once they wrapped their tongues around it! My favorite Spanish word, however, is still “mariposa” – a beautiful word for a beautiful creature!!
Comment from Andrew
Yes, but it IS the only Spanish word (because the word for ‘bat’ in Italian is the same) that has been used to name a Lamborghini!! And THAT counts for more far more than anything else, so there! 
Cheers,
Andrew
Comment from Uriel
I seem to remember picking up “murcielago” from Dune (the Frank Herbert book) long before I knew anything about Spanish.
And I liked the Lamborghini thing, too.
Comment from Don
‘Murciélago’ remains my favourite Spanish word. The close second is ‘trabajábamos.’
Those words make one’s mouth mOoooOoooooOve.
Comment from Bill Vance
these words well above my intermediate level
Comment from sebastian
you are so good
Comment from DaViDze
Me gusta tambien trabalenguas comompor ejemplo:Bajame la jaula Jaime bajemala!
Comment from joyce
This gets to a point of contention for me. Both my native Spanish-speaking husband and teacher believe that some of these Spanish words with two vowels stuck together (abuelo, for example) result in one syllable, not two. This has been something I have chalked up to a difference in the languages.