Proper Pronunciation of "Colorado" (dog, history, program)

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Coincident with that, the ethnic makeup of Colorado, and southern Colorado in particular, began to change rapidly, and what was a Hispanic ethnic majority in much of southern Colorado soon became and Anglo majority in many places. The state was flooded with white immigrants, many from the East, South, and Midwest. Many of these people had no previous contact with the Spanish language and many of them, quite frankly, were openly racist against the Hispanic residents of Colorado. So, from a combination of ignorance and/or outright hostility, many of those Anglo people mispronounced many of Colorado's Spanish placenames--even the state name itself--with a sloppy English phonetic pronunciation of the Spanish names. In many cases, that sloppy and linguistically incorrect pronunciation is what has "stuck" over the years. Many, if not most, of the people who mispronounce the Spanish names yet today don't even know that they are doing it because, like their ancestors, they were never really exposed to the Spanish language..

So how do you pronounce Durango?

[ryanek9freak]

Originally Posted by jim9251

I've heard Col-a-rad-A a lot in these parts. Now try Uncompaghre, Montrose, or Ouray.

Uh, yup. That's the right way.

[rushhournewb]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Might as well give another Colorado history lesson. As most people should know (but many don't), what is now the state of Colorado south of the Arkansas River or west of the Continental Divide was originally claimed by Spain and later was part of Mexico until the Mexican Cession of 1848. So, not surprisingly, a lot of Colorado place names in the southern and western parts of Colorado are of Spanish origin, as is the name of the state itself. A lot of Indian names for places in Colorado are Spanish phonetic spellings of Ute words or proper names. Some examples, are Saguache, Tabeguache, Sapinero, Dotsero, etc.

Another bunch of Spanish place names came with the building of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. General William Jackson Palmer, the founder of the D&RG, originally envisioned building a north-south narrow-gauge railroad from Denver to Mexico City, Mexico following the Front Range south, thence over Raton Pass into New Mexico and eventually following the Rio Grande River to the Mexican border and points south. He envisioned strong trade ties with Old Mexico and, as a result, directed that hundreds of sidings, railroad water tank locations, and railroad-sponsored and developed settlements along the D&RG in Colorado be given Spanish names. Prominent Colorado towns of today that Palmer so named in include Salida, Alamosa, and Durango. When the D&RG lost the Royal Gorge "War" with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in 1878, the D&RG was prohibited from building any farther south in New Mexico than (eventually) Santa Fe, and the D&RG's fortunes turned forever westward toward the Colorado mining camps and Utah.

Coincident with that, the ethnic makeup of Colorado, and southern Colorado in particular, began to change rapidly, and what was a Hispanic ethnic majority in much of southern Colorado soon became and Anglo majority in many places. The state was flooded with white immigrants, many from the East, South, and Midwest. Many of these people had no previous contact with the Spanish language and many of them, quite frankly, were openly racist against the Hispanic residents of Colorado. So, from a combination of ignorance and/or outright hostility, many of those Anglo people mispronounced many of Colorado's Spanish placenames--even the state name itself--with a sloppy English phonetic pronunciation of the Spanish names. In many cases, that sloppy and linguistically incorrect pronunciation is what has "stuck" over the years. Many, if not most, of the people who mispronounce the Spanish names yet today don't even know that they are doing it because, like their ancestors, they were never really exposed to the Spanish language.

The one untruth that keeps being perpetrated in this thread is that long-time Coloradans do not pronounce the state name using the Spanish pronunciation. THAT IS PURE CRAP. Certainly, nearly all of Colorado's native Hispanic population uses the Spanish pronunciation, as do many Colorado-born Anglos. You won't hear the Spanish pronunciation as much in northern, eastern, and metro Colorado because far more of that population is either descended from, or relatively recently transplanted from the Midwest and East. It seems that most of the posters who continually harp that "Colorado" pronounced with the short "a" is correct are in the bunch of Midwest/East Anglo crowd from eastern Colorado, northern Colorado, or the Front Range.

All that sounds just great. But it's not pronounced "Tejas", I'm not speaking Spanish when I say "Colorado", it's not "Vuena Bista" it's "Byoona Vista" by the people who live in Buena Vista. It's not "Pyoo-Ay-Vlo" by those who live in Pueblo.

Saying Colorado is pronounced as if someone is speaking Spanish, so it's "Co-lo-rah-do", is ridiculous. The only people who pronounce it that way are transplants, plain and simple. And wrong!

You mention "native Hispanic population". Now we're going back hundreds of years. So some "natives" in San Luis still pronounce it "Co-lo-rah-do" while they're speaking Spanish. Great. So do I when I'm speaking Spanish.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by rushhournewb

Saying Colorado is pronounced as if someone is speaking Spanish, so it's "Co-lo-rah-do", is ridiculous. The only people who pronounce it that way are transplants, plain and simple. And wrong!

So, the many third and fourth-generation Colorado natives that I know who pronounce Colorado with the Spanish pronunciation must be lying transplants. You are the one that is wrong with such a blanket statement as the one above--plain and simple.

[CosmicWizard]

I'm betting that even those who seriously care about the correct pronunciation of Colorado, ALWAYS know what the speaker is talking about, even with the worse possible pronunciation of Colorado. In essence, the speaker EFFECTIVELY communicated that Colorado was part of the topic, totally at peace in his/her ignorance, while the pronunciation nazi is all tied up in a self imposed knot. So, who is really the ignorant fool!

[Melanzana92]

Both ways are right. Seriously.

[rushhournewb]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

So, the many third and fourth-generation Colorado natives that I know who pronounce Colorado with the Spanish pronunciation must be lying transplants. You are the one that is wrong with such a blanket statement as the one above--plain and simple.

"lying transplants" LOL

[CAVA1990]

Here's another theory: pronunciations are often handed down generation to generation. If your ancestors were English like mine perhaps you're more likely to say "rad", but if German (lots of those settled in CO) more likely "rod" since "a" in that language is pronounced "ah'. Sort of how some people say "ayy-men" and others "ahh-men" when praying.

[CosmicWizard]

CAVA1990 wrote:

Sort of how some people say "ayy-men" and others "ahh-men" when praying.

So which group goes to heaven and which group goes to hell?

[ryanek9freak]

Seriously, I've heard it pronounced "Colorada" by more natives than anything else.