Posted on 09/21/2011 9:05:11 PM PDT by stolinsky
P.C. Pronunciation in Mexifornia
David C. Stolinsky
Sept. 22, 2011
Mexifornia is a term coined by Victor Davis Hanson. It may be an exaggeration, but it is becoming less of one as time passes. One way to describe Mexifornia is a place where P.C. pronunciation is practiced.
If you live in Southern California, you know that some newscasters pronounce the names of American people and places as if they were in Mexico. So long as the names are of Hispanic origin, they are pronounced as if the reporter were speaking Spanish, not English. Women are no longer named Linda but “Leenda.” San Francisco is pronounced “Sahn Frahnceesco.”
But we are speaking American English, not Latin-American Spanish – or a mixture of the two called Spanglish. Besides, Saint Francis was Italian. If one insists on a non-English version, it should be his real name, Francesco, pronounced “Frahnchesco.”
Newscasters also pronounce the names of Latino criminals, even murderers, with a Spanish intonation. So the intent is not to honor the person, but to convey a message − that the Southwest was, or should be, or actually is part of Mexico.
The problem is not foreign accents. Some of my relatives had accents. Foreign accents remind us that we are all descended from immigrants. The problem is that people who speak unaccented English feel pressure to pronounce words of Spanish origin as if they were speaking Spanish.
Newspapers now use the tilde, the little wiggle over the “ñ,” in some Spanish words. George Casteneda is now Jorge Casteñeda, pronounced (more-or-less) “Horhe Cahstenyeda.”
I enjoy languages. I speak passable French and some Spanish and German. I was taught to speak one language at a time, and avoid mixing and confusing them. But political correctness now requires us to pronounce words of Spanish origin as if they were still in Spanish.
Even then there’s a problem. A town near Los Angeles is named Calabasas. I heard a man with a Hispanic name correct a woman who pronounced the word as it is written. He insisted that she pronounce it “Cahlahvasas.” But that’s Latin-American Spanish. In pure Castilian Spanish, it would be “Cahlahvashash.” If the lady was wrong for not pronouncing the word as it would be pronounced in Mexico City, he was equally wrong for not pronouncing it as it would be in Spain’s capital, Madrid. If we must be purists, let’s be real purists.
But Spanish-speaking purists would call a pickup a “camioneta,” not a “troque.” They would use genuine Spanish words. People who speak Spanglish are in a poor position to insist that English speakers use “correct” pronunciation.
Of course, this insistence on pronouncing names of persons and places as if they were in Mexico is a not-so-subtle way of implying that the Southwest should “go back” to Mexico, to which it “belonged” before we “stole” it. Really?
The Southwest belonged to the local Indian tribes, who probably had taken it from other tribes. Aztecs or Mayans have no more business in Los Angeles than do Celts or Slavs. Spain conquered the area by force. Mexico revolted and achieved independence in 1821. Texas revolted and achieved independence in 1836. Mexico controlled Texas for 15 years. Texas was an independent republic, which then sought admission to the United States. If Texans had no right to independence, neither did Mexicans. If Texas belongs to Mexico, Mexico belongs to Spain.
Californians revolted and raised the Bear Flag in 1846, during the Mexican War. Mexico thus controlled California for 25 years. The argument that the Southwest “belongs” to Mexico is reminiscent of Bin Laden’s argument that Spain “belongs” to Muslims, who conquered much of it in the Middle Ages.
Spain ejected the Muslims in 1492 after centuries of fighting. But Muslim extremists claim that any area they ever occupied "belongs" to them forever, regardless of who was there before, or who is there now. We see an example of this in the current strife over a Palestinian state. The Jews were there before, and the Jews are there now, but that doesn’t matter − the Muslims were there in the interval, so it “belongs” to them.
But what happens if we carry this argument to its conclusion? If the Southwest “belongs” to Mexico, then Mexico “belongs” to Spain, but Spain “belongs” to the Muslims. And judging from the bombings in Madrid, they may be preparing to take it “back.” Such arguments are illogical and fundamentally racist.
What about “diversity” and “fairness”? If newspapers use “ñ” in words of Spanish origin, they should be consistent and print all words of foreign origin with the accent marks that would appear in the original language. The front of a building must be a “façade,” a man with his head in the clouds must show “naïveté,” and a part we play must be a “rôle.” We mustn’t disrespect the French. They are very proud.
And what about German? We must pronounce the name of the former governor of California “Ahrnold Shvahrtzeneggah.” The “r” is pronounced with a slight gargle − unless you’re in Southern Germany or Arnold’s native Austria, when the “r” may be rolled as in Italian. And if a newspaper reports his election by declaring “Arnold uber alles,” it must be spelled “über Alles,” with the Umlaut (the two dots) over the “ü,” and “Alles” capitalized, like all German nouns. The former German chancellor must be “Schröder,” not Schroder. Oh, I almost forgot, some (not all) double-ss must be written “ß.” We mustn’t insult the Germans. In the past that caused big trouble.
Danes are particularly nice people. We must use Æ, Ø and Å for Danish words. And what about Icelandic? It requires Ð and Þ for the “th” sounds in “these” and “thorn,” respectively. Czech words require a “č” with a small “v” over it, but some computer fonts don’t have this character – a clear case of “ethnic insensitivity.” And I’m just getting started.
If San Francisco is “Sahn Frahnceesco,” then the capital of Idaho can’t be Boise but “Bwazay,” meaning “wooded” in French. Havre, a town in Montana, can’t be called “Have-er,” as residents say it, but “Ahv,” as in French. Of course, if you ask a Montanan the way to “Ahv,” you’ll get a blank stare – or worse. But getting lost is a small price to pay for political correctness.
The University of Idaho is located in “Moskva.” We mustn’t insult the Russians by calling the city Moscow. And the city in New Hampshire can’t be Manchester but “Mahnchestah,” as a native of the British city would say it. Surely we can’t slight our British allies.
Speaking of cities, my father’s family came from the Polish city of Łodz. But there’s a serious problem here. In Polish, there is a diagonal slash across the “Ł” indicating that it’s pronounced something like a “w,” so the city is pronounced roughly “Woozh.”
Perhaps I should sue every newspaper, magazine, and website that ever published my articles, for insulting my “ethnic heritage” by not spelling “correctly” the city where my father’s family originated. But some computer fonts do not have “Ł” with the slash. Perhaps I should sue computer manufacturers and software companies as well. I’m sure Microsoft could spare a few dollars.
If I must call the city where I used to live “Sahn Frahnceesco,” I insist that the place I lived before that must be called “Bwazay,” and that the city my father’s family came from be called “Woozh.” If I must be politically correct, so must you. Put that diagonal slash across the “Ł” and be quick about it.
Or we could save ourselves a lot of trouble and just go back to speaking American English − you know, the language of our nation. Now there’s a radical idea. But it wouldn’t suit those who want to divide and weaken us for their own purposes. No, it wouldn’t suit them at all.
A prior version of this article appeared in 2004. Dr. Stolinsky writes on political and social issues. Contact: dstol@prodigy.net.
If your confused on how to pronounce things in California, don’t even try getting around southern Loosiana. Some of those places around Nawlins are pronounced French, some English, but many have a pronunciation all their own.
as does Norfolk, when it’s in Virginia...
Nice piece. Right on the money.
Good article.
I remember seeing a comedian on TV a few years ago who made fun of this by pretending to be a newscaster pronouncing Irish names, with a heavy Irish acent like “O’ Leeereeee.”
And a lot of those names are Indian in origin.
Fine, I’ll agree with you when newscasters report that Sarkozy is president of “Frahnce,” that Merkel is chancellor of “Deutschland,” that Putin (pronounced sort of “Putyin”) is prime minister of “Rossya,” or that the capital of Scotland is “Edinburrah” (with a rolled “r”). Until all foreign names are pronounced as they would be in their native tongues, and not just Latin American ones, I’ll keep plugging away.
We have a whole hell of a lot more important problems in our nation than how a TV personality pronounces an ethnic name.
I think we should all pronounce Hispanic names like the lady on the Garman does. L Conqwistadoor. Valedjo.
NPR reporters are especially bad (or good, if you’re a liberal) about using the ethnic pronunciation. I wonder if there’s an actual written policy that guides them on which pronunciation to use. My guess is that it’s unwritten because they’re liberals and they know the rules by instinct.
A name gets the native treatment when it’s owned by someone who associates or should associate with a minority group that’s been subject to dominance, or indifference, or anything other than total appreciation for its otherness by an anglophone nation at any point in its history. On the other hand, names that belong to white bread flyover types will be pronounced according to the standard rules of American English.
Actually, to be honest, my guess is that their policy is simply to ask people how they would like their name to be pronounced and to be studious about actually using that pronunciation, and that since they have a bias towards interviewing people who use the ethnic pronunciation, there is a high likelihood that the ethnic pronunciation will be used. But of course this doesn’t account for things like town names where it’s up to the reporter to decide how to pronounce.
Another interesting case is Obama and his ingratiating use of Pahkeestahn and Tahleebahn. The media totally accepted his leadership on that one and fell right into line. Again I wonder if the change made it into their style book or if it became policy strictly by instinct.
Trying to figure out the rules of PC is always an interesting business. What you realize if you’re paying attention is that there really are no rules, nothing that can be consistently applied. And this gets at something fundamental about liberalism, which is that it relies on an arbitrary, situational understanding of justice, and thus has lawlessness as a *requirement*. PC name pronunciation is the perfect example, with its bucking of the consistent “law” of standard English for the sake of righting historical injustices.
Ask a Mexican why do they speak Spanish instead of Mexican?
This is complete ignorant rubbish. If a name is Spanish in origin why would you use English phonetics to pronounce it? Spain, not Mexico, left its linguistic imprint on the American Southwest and the Spanish language has never gone out of use here.
It’s true about the newscasters, and not just in LA, the hispanic ones in Chicago do a bit of that stuff do. I joke about it, doing a normal “caucasian” style newscaster voice talking about something, then at the end saying in a extravagant Latin accent “this is Juan Valdez San Miguel Villalobos signing off!”
So I suppose you pronounce Des Moines as Day Mowen, Saint Louis as San Louise, and Detroit as Daytwah?
Scheißkopfen!
In the past that caused big trouble.
What was that Churchill quote? Something about at your feet or at your throat? Ah, here it is ...
The proud German army has by its sudden collapse, sudden crumbling and breaking up, unexpected to all of us, the proud German army has once again proves the truth of the saying "The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet".
Before a joint session of the US Congress, 19 May 1943.
Mexico never could get over that great-grandad brought Santa Ana to Sam Houston after the Battle of San Jacinto. I'll pronounce it an America J anyday, thank you very much.
Spanish spoken in California is called Chicano-
Chicano is the slurry version of Mexican Spanish- just as Quebec French is all slurred together-
Chicano has no ``Tingle`` to it as the consonants are not sharp at all and all the words are run together.
Just call an operator in Mexico City D.F. and you will hear real Mexican Spanish, every word is crystal clear- Chicano is porridge from the pot-
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