Proper Pronunciation of "Colorado" (Denver, Saguache: title, radio, cities)
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It's not Boona Vista, rather it's Byoona Vista, often called Byoonie for short - and that's the way it's pronounced, not just by old timers.
If I use the full name of the town, I pronounce it with the correct Spanish pronunciation "Bwayna Veesta," but in normal conversation, it's just "B-yoonie" to me, too. Also, for years, the name "B-yoonie" would instill fear in lots of Colorado kids. Buena Vista was the home of the State Reformatory then (it's still a correctional facility), and if a kid was sent up to "B-yoonie"--that was, like, way bad.
That's even worse! I can't accept it. Every fiber of my being rebels against that horrible b#@#stardization of an easy to pronounce Spanish name.
Have you ever heard of Val-deez Alaska, or the Exxon Val-deez? . . .Another example of local pronunciation, notwithstanding the origin of the name, as is the obvious Los Angeles, that is not pronounced Los An-hell-es.
Have you ever heard of Val-deez Alaska, or the Exxon Val-deez? . . .Another example of local pronunciation, notwithstanding the origin of the name, as is the obvious Los Angeles, that is not pronounced Los An-hell-es.
But at least "Los Angeles" sounds alright. "Valdeez" and "Byoona Vista", OTOH, sound like a parody of somebody trying to pronounce a foreign language.
But at least "Los Angeles" sounds alright. "Valdeez" and "Byoona Vista", OTOH, sound like a parody of somebody trying to pronounce a foreign language.
Yeah, well your own newspaper up in Fort Collins is the "Coloradoan." That's a bastardization, too. Have you ever heard of a "Mexicoan?"
Here's another bastardization for you. Ever hear of "Questa", New Mexico? If it were pronounced in Spanish, it would be "Kay-stah," but the proper pronunciation is "Kway-stah." Why? Because the Anglos couldn't spell it right--it actually is "Cuesta"--which means "hill" in Spanish.
Probably the biggest mispronunciation in Colorado is of "Ouray." Most people say it "You-ray." This is actually incorrect. The Ute Indian chief, who was bi-lingual in Spanish and Ute, pronounced his name "Oo-ray." The Nuevo Mejicanos spelled it phonetically as "Uré," which duplicates the chief's pronunciation in Spanish. Numerous historical texts written in the 1880's and 1890's spell the chief's name this way, by the way. As was wont to happen in those days, the Anglos took the Spanish name and spelled it phonetically for themselves, and "Ouray" was the result--which nearly everybody mispronounced. As is the case with many a Colorado place name, the Anglicized (and wrong) pronunciation is what stuck--so we have "You-ray."
Lest someone think I'm making this up, I base my statement of information from some long-time family acquaintances whose ancestors knew the chief personally. They pronounce it "Oo-ray."
Numerous other Colorado place names are Spanish phonetic versions of Indian place names, including among them "Saguache" (if you don't know how to pronounce that correctly, you're not a real Coloradan, but just a "poser"), "Cochetopa" (correctly pronounced "Coach-uh-tope" with the "a" silent), "Tabegauche," "Sapinero," "Ignacio," and "Dotsero" (no, not named for a "Dot Zero" survey point as some legends say; interestingly when the D&RGW Railroad built the Dotsero Cutoff, with Dotsero at the southern end, they named the station point at the northern end "Orestod," which is "Dotsero" spelled backwards).
And, for a real mind bender, try to pronounce this Ute place name correctly: "Towaoc."
When I first came back to Colorado in '06, I was pronouncing Ouray as Oo-ray, but the locals kept correcting me to call it You-ray. So now I call Ouray, You-ray just like the long time locals.
I know it's not the correct pronunciation but I like to call Sagauche...Saga-watchie. That has a better ring to my ears than the way it is commonly pronounced.
When I go hiking on the Tabaguache Lunch Loop trails, I tell my wife that I'm going hiking in The Tabbie.
Yeah, well your own newspaper up in Fort Collins is the "Coloradoan." That's a bastardization, too. Have you ever heard of a "Mexicoan?"
Here's another bastardization for you. Ever hear of "Questa", New Mexico? If it were pronounced in Spanish, it would be "Kay-stah," but the proper pronunciation is "Kway-stah." Why? Because the Anglos couldn't spell it right--it actually is "Cuesta"--which means "hill" in Spanish.
Probably the biggest mispronunciation in Colorado is of "Ouray." Most people say it "You-ray." This is actually incorrect. The Ute Indian chief, who was bi-lingual in Spanish and Ute, pronounced his name "Oo-ray." The Nuevo Mejicanos spelled it phonetically as "Uré," which duplicates the chief's pronunciation in Spanish. Numerous historical texts written in the 1880's and 1890's spell the chief's name this way, by the way. As was wont to happen in those days, the Anglos took the Spanish name and spelled it phonetically for themselves, and "Ouray" was the result--which nearly everybody mispronounced. As is the case with many a Colorado place name, the Anglicized (and wrong) pronunciation is what stuck--so we have "You-ray."
Lest someone think I'm making this up, I base my statement of information from some long-time family acquaintances whose ancestors knew the chief personally. They pronounce it "Oo-ray."
Numerous other Colorado place names are Spanish phonetic versions of Indian place names, including among them "Saguache" (if you don't know how to pronounce that correctly, you're not a real Coloradan, but just a "poser"), "Cochetopa" (correctly pronounced "Coach-uh-tope" with the "a" silent), "Tabegauche," "Sapinero," "Ignacio," and "Dotsero" (no, not named for a "Dot Zero" survey point as some legends say; interestingly when the D&RGW Railroad built the Dotsero Cutoff, with Dotsero at the southern end, they named the station point at the northern end "Orestod," which is "Dotsero" spelled backwards).
And, for a real mind bender, try to pronounce this Ute place name correctly: "Towaoc."
It's "Toy-ock."
Its all about aesthetics. I'm not a pronunciation purist and couldn't care less about how Colorado is pronounced. But "Byoona Vista" just sounds ridiculous. But it's a free country, you call it what you want and I'll call it what I want.
... but I like to call Sagauche...Saga-watchie. That has a better ring to my ears than the way it is commonly pronounced.
Somewhere, you surely have a long lost cousin in Weeki Wachee, Florida.
s/Mike
CollowRoddy Springs
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Its all about aesthetics. I'm not a pronunciation purist and couldn't care less about how Colorado is pronounced. But "Byoona Vista" just sounds ridiculous. But it's a free country, you call it what you want and I'll call it what I want.
I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of aesthetics in word pronunciation. Do other words (that may or may not be Spanish in origin) that use the B-y combination bother you - words like beautiful or butte, for example?
I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of aesthetics in word pronunciation. Do other words (that may or may not be Spanish in origin) that use the B-y combination bother you - words like beautiful or butte, for example?
Perhaps it wouldn't sound so bad to me if I didn't know the Spanish pronunciation. However, I don't know of that the particular combination of sounds (that we've been writing as "byoon") existing in English. So (according to the history of BV) a woman named Alsina Dearheimer deliberately picked a Spanish name for the town but then deliberately changed the pronunciation to a combination of sounds not naturally found in English. It just goes to show that one person's endearing bit of local color is another person's "fingernails on chalkboard".
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