Case in point: When I first moved to Austin, Texas I discovered one of the main streets was named “Manchaca”. Now, growing up one of my friends was named David Menchaca (almost identical spelling) and he pronounced his name the way you would expect- “men-CHA-kah.” So naturally when I moved to Austin, I pronounced the street name the way that 99% of Mexico would—”mahn-CHA-kah.” The first time I did, I got a blank stare.

Again I repeated: “Can you tell me the way to mahn-CHA-kah street?”
Finally: “Ohhh…you mean ‘MAN-shack’!” (Pronounced as if it’s a place out back where the men are kept).

Seriously.

I have no idea where this strange pronunciation came from, but it has taken hold and will not budge. It pained me every time I had to pronounce it that way, but otherwise I wouldn’t be understood (the whole point of communication, right?).

It didn’t change once I moved to California.

Just north of San Francisco is a city named San Rafael. Anyone possessing a meager familiarity with Spanish would know how this should be pronounced: sahn rah-fah-EL. Just like Austin’s Manchaca, I received dumbfounded confusion when I referred to this city by its proper pronunciation. In the fourteen years since then, I’ve come to accept and use the painful, colloquial version, “SAN ruffell.” Yuck.

Maybe foreign words are the bugaboo? What got me thinking about this whole subject was the mention of another local city nearby, Santa Cruz. This one isn’t so much about pronunciation as it is enunciation. To me, logic would dictate that the emphasis be placed on the “Cruz” part (santa CRUZ). The reason for this is to distinguish from all of the other “saints” that have been referenced in naming California locales (San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, etc.).

Instead, the locals put the emphasis on the first word (SANTA cruz). I don’t get it. As if there are multitudinous “Cruz”s around and we have to identify the “saintly” one.

Sigh.

But speaking Japanese with its adoption and modification of foreign words has taught me a valuable lesson: you can stick to your correct pronunciation guns, but if no-one understands you when you speak, what’s the point?

Jeff Starr is a San Francisco-based Expressionist oil painter who concentrates on themes of Japan, Dreams, Europe and California.

http://www.jeffreydalestarr.com/