Mispronounced Localities in NM

[WasSoggyInSeattle]

I think a lot of Texans ("Tejanos" in my book) purposely mispronounce Spanish names because of some still smoldering deep-seated prejudices against Mexico--something to do with the Alamo, maybe? It's not like they haven't been around the Spanish language, like, forever. As for the Easterners and Midwesterners, well, they haven't been around Spanish much at all, usually, so ignorance is probably their excuse.

Being an ex-Texan, I don't think this is entirely true - obviously I can't speak for the entire state but... It isn't a matter of hatred - really, the Alamo? Most of us has moved on... Part may be the dialect or accent, some is laziness, some I think is cultural. My parents (Dad - New Mexican; Mom - Okie) pronounce stuff completely different from others (& each other) and I picked up words, intonation, etc from them and others that I was rasied with.

In Seattle, almost everything we pronounced was "wrong" to them but wouldn't be out of place down south or in TX/NM. Alki is not al-key (like the drunk) but Al-khi (Native American). Oh the giggles I elicited everytime I said i was going to Alki (al-key) Beach. And town - not sure how they thought I was pronouncing it but whatever it was, laughter was usually the response. It wasn't so much that I was mis-pronouncing it - it was my accent.

I think most of us do what we can to learn the correct pronunciation of localities, some are quicker to learn than others but instead of poking fun or criticizing harshly, I think we should try to gently correct them. Some will accept it & others will say "this is how we say it where I come from" & continue to say it the way they want. We call Rome, Rome - when in its native language it is Roma and you don't see the Italians pitching a hissy.

I guess I just think there are more important things for us to worry about than if we get the accent in the right place... I'm sure I'll get toasted for that comment but there it is.

But with that being said - I do love this thread. I want to do my best in pronouncing the cities/locations of my new home state correctly. But I cannot for the life of me roll an R so... that's one everyone it going to have to overlook, or talk about what a bad person I am because I can't roll my R's when I say certain words. Their choice.

[hopeful transplant]

Hey Soggy, well said. I used to live in Seattle as well and it took me awhile to get some of the towns pronounced correctly. Some of them are very tricky. I'll never forget the first time I heard someone say "PileUp" instead of 'Puyallup'... I originally came from Canada and my first few years in the US were pretty brutal.. talk 'aboot' saying things wrong. It was all I could do to quit being humiliated and try and change my accent. I did change it and unfortunately, I have very little Canadian accent left. Only the occasional word and somebody will catch it. I sure wish I hadn't been so insecure that I felt I had to change my native tongue in order to fit in. That was decades ago and have since learned the important things in life. Accent is not one of them. Hopefully, we will have a chance to appreciate the beauty of NM, and also do our best fitting in and learning the correct pronunciation of the towns/cities. Will keep everybody posted if it all works out or not.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by jsc23

I gotta agree with you on this... with a note to malamute that "prejudice" isn't the same as "hatred"...
A major street in Austin is named Guadalupe- most Anglo Austinites pronounce it "gwah-duh-loop" and most local Hispanics find this pronunciation insulting. The Anglos aren't motivated by hate, they just don't give a "culo raton"...

Aside: Boca Raton- Rat's Mouth- is notorious as a hub for telemarketing/internet scam and spam artists... geography is destiny?

I think it's silly to expect people to pronounce every city or town name "correctly" whatever that means and without any regional American accent or to suspect their motives in not pronouncing it exactly as native Spanish speakers would. For example, I don't have a Texas accent but I like the way it sounds and I don't condemn them for pronouncing words like Ruidoso differently.

In fact I've met quite a number of New Mexicans -- including "hispanics" who resent the fact that people see New Mexico as some foreign country where English isn't spoken and to me this overemphasis on pronouncing everything like it would be pronounced in Mexico City just adds to that perception. After all -- New Mexico is generally called "New Mexico" in the USA, and "Nuevo Mejico" in Mexico. I don't see the big deal with that but why would everyone in the USA start using Nuevo Mejico? Just like my example with "Rio Grande" -- I find it funny when some gringos make a big effort to pronounce it the way they think Mexicans would want them to -- never even realizing that the Mexicans don't call it that at all, it has an entirely different name in Mexico.

I think it would also be silly to expect the people of Mexico to pronounce every American city's name the same way we would especially when speaking with one another. If they say Mee see see pee, (for Mississippi) I don't think it's that they don't give a rats rear end or anything like that. They simply have their own way of pronouncing. Same would go for anyone.

[uggabugga]

Originally Posted by desert sun

it sounds like everyone pronounces Ruidoso -roo-ee-do-so, I guess Im the only one on here that pronounces it Ree-uh-do-so, anyone on here from Ruidoso that can tell us how the local say it.

i pronounce it the same as you. that's how i always heard it pronounced in farmington, anyway.

[uggabugga]

Some other good names, not necessarily mispronounced-
Dahlia and Dilia
Tajique and Chilili
Jemez and Chimayo

The worst butchering of a place name: after moving to the Houston area some years ago, I kept hearing the talking heads on the local news referring to sanjuh-sinna. Well, that's what it sounded like anyway. It took me an embarassingly long time to figure out they were referring to San Jacinto