[Subdude]

Welcome to 'TEH-jas,' Land of the Alamo and the Cowboy
By SIMON ROMERO

Published: January 2, 2005


ACINTO CITY, Tex. — FORGET the Alamo. It is the letter "J" that is under siege in Texas, at least to Mike Jackson, the mayor of this town near the old shipyards and oil refineries of Houston. Nearly everyday, Mr. Jackson told The Houston Chronicle, he corrects people who he thinks are mispronouncing the word "Jacinto."

To Mr. Jackson, who grew up here, it is "Juh-SIN-tuh." To others, including many newcomers who are part of the city's Hispanic population, which now constitutes nearly 80 percent of the total, it is "Ha-SEEN-to." Jacinto, after all, was originally a Spanish word, so why not pronounce it properly in the language of Cervantes?

The pronunciation of place names is one of those quiet conflicts that are played out everyday throughout the Southwest as the numbers of Hispanics in areas originally colonized by Spain and Mexico continue to grow - and in some cases nudge Anglos into the minority.

Texas is full of place names whose pronunciations confound Hispanics but sound natural to others. Palacios is pronounced "Puh-LAY-shus" instead of "Pa-LA-see-os." Manchaca is "MAN-shack" instead of "Man-CHA-ka." Pedernales is "PER-dan-al-is" instead of "Peh-der-NA-les" and so on. Even Texas should be "TEH-jas," according to some traditionalists.

Jacinto is a particularly sensitive example since it was at the Battle of San Jacinto, in 1836, that a group of secessionists led by Anglo immigrants from the United States defeated the Mexican army, paving the way for Texas to secede from Mexico. Since then, Anglos have mostly dictated the teaching of Texas history and the pronunciation of the names of its towns and cities.

But that grip might be weakening as the Hispanic population grows. The United States Census Bureau reported in 2004 that Anglos had become a minority in Texas for the first time in more than a century and a half, representing 49.5 percent of the population. At the same time, the number of Hispanics has soared 13.3 percentage points from 2000 to 2003, to at least 32 percent of the Texas population and perhaps higher, given the large number of undocumented - and often uncounted - residents.

Texas, of course, is not alone in its surging Hispanic population. By 2050, Hispanics are expected to be 24.4 percent of the population of the United States, up from about 12.6 percent today.

Still, old habits die hard. After The Houston Chronicle described Mr. Jackson's decision to stick to his guns in pronouncing Jacinto, the paper received numerous letters on the issue. Some readers, citing the history of discrimination against Mexican-Americans in Texas, favored the return of the Spanish pronunciation. Others disagreed.

"I have no beef with whatever language people want to speak at home," wrote A. W. Mohle Jr. of Houston, "but if you're going to live here, then by speaking 'American' in public, you will have a much better opportunity of being accepted as American."

Linguists studying the evolution of English and Spanish in the Southwest say that this sentiment is fading. Maryellen Garcia, a professor of linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, noted that many newscasters in Texas now pronounce Hispanic names in the Spanish manner, a habit, she said, that was growing in prestige.

"It's a bit puzzling," Dr. Garcia said. "Even as the Hispanic middle class uses less Spanish, the rest of society is not as threatened by Spanish, perhaps because of the very emergence and recognition of that middle class."

No one knows exactly where the intermingling of Spanish and English in the Southwest will lead. Some young Hispanics in Texas pronounce place names in the Spanish way among themselves, but use the Texan pronunciation when speaking with Anglos. That may be one model.

Linguists say that pronunciation standards will probably continue to differ from state to state and city to city, much as they do in other parts of the country. This even goes for English pronunciations. How, otherwise, to explain that New Yorkers call their Houston Street, HOW-ston, when, at least to a Texan, it's clearly HEW-ston?

Link to NYTimes story

[Heights2Bastrop]

I think Mr. HACK-son is just trying to stir people up.

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[jm1fd]

tw2ntyse7en, on Sunday, January 2nd, 2005 @ 5:37pm, said:

This is as almost as retarded as "Umm-ble". It you didn't want the "H", waht did you add it??

Glen

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL I think Welcome to Umble would look pretty damn retarded....as bad as Sacul and Recklaw (yes, names of real cities in Texas).

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[MidtownCoog]

Quote

So why not pronounce it properly in the language of Cervantes?

Becuase we handed Santa Anna his own arse to him, that's why.

To the victor go the spoils....

And FWIW, it's also San Jacinto College, not Ha-SEEN-to College.

Oy Vey, and don't forget San Felipe!

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[MidtownCoog]

Tu-am, or Tuam, Elgin, or El-GIN

Yankee, or Yonkee...

[ssullivan]

tw2ntyse7en, on Monday, January 3rd, 2005 @ 10:54am, said:

San Fill-ipp-ae or San Feel-ip-pee for San Felipe?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's also another pronounciation I've heard before, but thankfully it seems to be dying out. San Fill-EEP, similar to how some Austin residents pronounce Guadalupe "Guad-a-LOOP".

I personally prefer the Spanish pronounciations of those words. However I do usually say "Jacinto" in the Texan way because around here most people wouldn't have a clue as to where I was talking about.

MidtownCoog mentioned one that makes my skin curl when I hear it. I can't stand it when people say "Tu-am" as two syllables. I've known two people in my life with that name as a last name, and it's pronounced as one syllable. Think "TWAM" if you need help with it.

Elgin/El-GIN is debatable. I prefer the soft g sound (Elgin) to the hard g, but I hear it so often both ways I really have no clue which is considered correct.

[pineda]

Quote

Kuke-en-dale for Kuyendahl?

Never heard anyone say that before!

[UrbaNerd]

^^
Hehe
Some people pronounce it "kerk-ken-doll" for some reason!

[GovernorAggie]

Is Telge pronounced "Tel-GEE"? How about Mueschke? I've heard "Mewsh-KEE" for that one.

[pineda]

Telge is with a hard "g" sound.
Mueschke is the way you said it.
Kuykendahl is "kirk-en-doll".
German ancestors settled this area, hence everything German.
Theiss is "Tiess", Schindewolf, Mittlestaedt, Hildebrandt, Klein, etc.

[The Great Hizzy!]

What about Groeschke, huh? How do you pronounce IT, Mr. Smarty Britches?

[pineda]

Groeschke is "gra-skee" like "gracias" said in espanol and skee like "to ski".
BTW, you didn't mean me when you said Mr. Smarty Britches, did you?

[Subdude]

At one point it was generally "San Fill-uppy" but now it seems like you hear the Spanish pronunciation more. I don't think there's any real reason to conform pronunciation to whatever language originated the word. That would be like calling Paris Texas "Paree"!

[pineda]

or Paree, Tejas!
My favorite one out here is Haude Elementary School off Louetta.
It's pronounced "Howdy!"

[MidtownCoog]

Quote

Think "TWAM" if you need help with it.

That's not how I say it! It's TU-AM according to this native!

On a realted note, our Elgin (el-gin) is prnounced (eg-gen) is Vancouver, after Lord Elgin.

[HeightsGuy]

What a fun topic....

First of all, Humble is umble because it was named after a family, not an adjective.

With it's Spanish and French influences, we are lucky in Houston to have such a wonderful bastardization of local pronunciation. If you are new to Houston, it's natural for you to use the proper pronunciation for San Jacinto, but eventually you'll get around to using the "correct" one for Houston. For those of you who would like to erase all Spanish influence from Houston (you know who you are), why don't you start calling it Saint Hayacinth instead (look up the proper translation). That said, I'll continue to use the native Houstonian San JAcinto (and San Fill-uppy) pronunciation t.y.v.m.

[GovernorAggie]

I think one of the most unique names here is "Kickapoo Rd." in NW Harris.

Also, every time I see "Binford Rd.", I think of the TV show "Home Inprovement"...."Tool Time with Tim 'the Toolman' Taylor presented by Binford Tools"

[The Great Hizzy!]

Kuykendahl was definitely the one that got me when I first moved here.

"KIRK-en-Dahl? WTF are you on? Can you read?!?!"

[GovernorAggie]

When I lived in Charlotte, we had a Kuykendahl and I think it was pronounced the exact same way.