How to pronounce Guacamole?
d...@austin.ibm.com
pronunciation is "uacamole" with a silent g. This is because it's
really a Spanish word...
I say it's pronounced like it looks. And it looks like from the dictionary,
that the Spanish word is ahuacamolli. I'm not a Spanish expert, but
wouldn't that be pronounced something like "a-wa-ca-mol-ee?"
Alan Stephens
I can't believe I'm posting a follow-up, but...
If your dictionary shows "ahuacamolli", then I'd bet my eyeteeth that it's
derived from a Spanish spelling of a Native American word. And, your
pronunciation of "ahuacamolli" is off. The letter "ll" is prononuced similarly
to the English "y" (the consonant, not the vowel). Thus, it would be
pronounced "ah-wha-cah-MO-yee."
Now, for an attempt at an answer to your original question. "Guacamole" is
pronounced with a "hard g" sound. HOWEVER, in Spanish, almost ALL consonants
are much softer than their English counterparts. Thus, the "hard g" is very
faint, and formed with the tounge placed farther back against the roof of your
mouth than in English. Confusing enough? Now account for regional dialects.
Some dialects of Spanish are more "slouches" about initial hard consonants,
especially "g", than others, thus making its pronunciation almost truly silent.
Other dialects enunciate the consonant more clearly. YMMV.
--Alan Stephens
LAN Server Ultimedia Development
IBM Personal Software Products, Austin
I don't speak for IBM, and, believe me, IBM *certainly* doesn't speak for me!
Mark Bornheimer
I pronunce it like it tastes: "guc`k a mole e"
Juan A. Trujillo
>In <Crp8p...@austin.ibm.com>, d...@austin.ibm.com () writes:
>>Please settle an important issue for me :-)...my girlfriend says the correct
>>pronunciation is "uacamole" with a silent g. This is because it's
>>really a Spanish word...
The Native American guess is right. The Spanish word GUACAMOLE comes from
the Aztec (Nahuatl) word AHUACAMOLLI. Which in turn is really two
words: ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (stew/soup/prepared food concoction).
>>
>>I say it's pronounced like it looks. And it looks like from the dictionary,
>>that the Spanish word is ahuacamolli. I'm not a Spanish expert, but
>>wouldn't that be pronounced something like "a-wa-ca-mol-ee?"
Yeah, this would be the correct Nahuatl pronunciation.
(stuff cut)
And, your
>pronunciation of "ahuacamolli" is off. The letter "ll" is prononuced similarly
>to the English "y" (the consonant, not the vowel). Thus, it would be
>pronounced "ah-wha-cah-MO-yee."
In Spanish it's like a y, but in Aztec it's like an l.
>
>Now, for an attempt at an answer to your original question. "Guacamole" is
>pronounced with a "hard g" sound. HOWEVER, in Spanish, almost ALL consonants
>are much softer than their English counterparts. Thus, the "hard g" is very
>faint, and formed with the tounge placed farther back against the roof of your
>mouth than in English. Confusing enough? Now account for regional dialects.
>Some dialects of Spanish are more "slouches" about initial hard consonants,
>especially "g", than others, thus making its pronunciation almost truly silent.
>Other dialects enunciate the consonant more clearly. YMMV.
It depends on the position in the breath group. At the beginning of a breath
group, it is a "hard" g, like English. Between vowels and most other places,
the back of the toungue *brushes against* but does not form a tight occlusion
with the back of the throat. But the place of occlusion is the same for
Spanish and English.
As far as regional variations, the general rule is fairly universal. It's
a matter of degree, and I'd say that the variation is not based necessarily
on region, but on social situation, economic class, and gender as well.
I'd say that oughtta cover it, right?
Juan A. Trujillo
UT Austin
Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese
Charles Brendan Callaway
After consulting my unabridged dictionary (what, you don't have one in _your_
office? :) I discovered the interesting fact that "guacamole" is not even in
the English language. Following your suggestion, I looked for anything
resembling "ahuacamolli". Conveniently, I found the word "aguacate" which
means "the avacado tree" or "an avacado" in Spanish. The dictionary didn't
say, but I'm pretty sure that it's a concatenation of "agua" and "cat-".
Unfortunately I didn't bring my Spanish dictionary with me today, but I
do know that "cate" in Old French means "delicious food". Okay, so it's
rather spurious, I know, but whaddya expect from a free response? :-)
Perhaps "guacamole" is a mole made mostly from avacados? (Although in Texas
it doesn't seemed to be used the same way that traditional moles are used:
guacamole is for dips and covering cold things like lettuce/tomatoes, mole
is for covering hot foods like enchiladas.)
Anyway, my best guess would be that a long time ago, it was spelled with an
"a" in front, but that it gradually dropped off. Perhaps in interior Mexico
it's still spelled that way. Wherever I've been in Texas, however it's
always spelled "guacamole" and pronounced "wa-ca-mo-le".
Hope this helps. :-)
-Charles Callaway
R. Michael Litchfield
who has the best in town? I like chuy;s
-Michael
Hung Michael Nguyen
(maybe taught is too generous...after 3 semesters of UT Spanish, I can
barely comprehend, much less speak w/ any kind of accuracy).
Mike.
--
--- Hung Michael Nguyen
---- email: miker@{ccwf,utxvms}.cc.utexas.edu
----- mi...@orion.med.bcm.tmc.edu
------ mi...@hebe.cs.rice.edu
Cyberspace Buddha
>who has the best in town? I like chuy;s
nuts to that... get a recipie and make your own. ;)
cheers,
cb
--
Cyberspace Buddha
c...@bga.com
--
R. Michael Litchfield
>R. Michael Litchfield <li...@bga.com> wrote:
>>who has the best in town? I like chuy;s
>nuts to that... get a recipie and make your own. ;)
nuts? you put nuts in you guac? pine nuts maybe but ....
>cb
-Mcihael
John Iacoletti
I would say that when you're in Austin, you should say GWOK-A-MOLL.
--
John Iacoletti IBM RISC System/6000 Division joh...@austin.ibm.com
My opinions do not reflect the views of the IBM Corporation
"La Quinta" is an old Spanish word meaning "behind Denny's"
Juan A. Trujillo
Whoa! Let's not get into linguistic politics over a bowl of mashed
avocado!
On the lighter side, I forgot to mention earlier that the first part of the
Nahuatl word AHUACAMOLLI, that is the "ahuacatl" part, is also the word for
the male anatomical part it most resembles (excluding the green color, at least
in my case).
JAT
Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese
UT Austin
Steve Crossland
: Then again, in the town that gives us such pronunciation gems as GWAD-A-LOOP,
: I would say that when you're in Austin, you should say GWOK-A-MOLL.
Speaking of street names, anyone know why we pronounce Manchaca="Man-shack"?
--
Regards,
Steve Crossland
Ste...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
Robert Buckner
I pronounce it gag-a-moli...
Craig Becker
truj...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Juan A. Trujillo) writes:
...
> >d...@austin.ibm.com () writes:
> >>Please settle an important issue for me :-)...my girlfriend says the correct
> >>pronunciation is "uacamole" with a silent g. This is because it's
> >>really a Spanish word...
[definitive answer deleted]
...
> I'd say that oughtta cover it, right?
>
> Juan A. Trujillo
> UT Austin
> Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese
Okay. Now how does one pronounce "Trujillo"?
:-)
Craig
--
-- Craig Becker, Object Technology Products (512) 838-8068 Austin, TX USA --
-- Internet: (work) jlpi...@austin.ibm.com (home) jlpi...@bga.com --
-- IBM TR: jlpi...@woofer.austin.ibm.com IBM VNET: JLPICARD at AUSVM1 --
-- it's okay it goes this way the line it twists it twists away --
Kent Anderson
JI> Then again, in the town that gives us such pronunciation gems as
JI> GWAD-A-LOOP, I would say that when you're in Austin, you should say
JI> GWOK-A-MOLL.
John,
Aw, we ain't so bad. I knew a Rhode Islander who moved down here, and
he always called San Jacinto St. San Jackintoe. When he ran across the
name of Muleshoe, Tx, it came out Mulesshow, with the accent on the
second syllable. Trinity was Trynitty. Many others, but you get the
drift.
Kent,
... Life was simpler when Dad paid the bills.
--
|Fidonet: Kent Anderson 1:382/1201
|Internet: kand...@ima.infomail.com
|
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
Kent Anderson
SC> Speaking of street names, anyone know why we pronounce
SC> Manchaca="Man-shack"? --
Steve,
Texas vernacular?
Kent,
... It's the little stuff that gets me fubar.
Kent Anderson
> Juan A. Trujillo
> UT Austin
> Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese
CB> Okay. Now how does one pronounce "Trujillo"?
Craig,
I pronounce it "Troo hee' yo." Correct?
Kent,
... I never choose between two evils. I look at five or six.
Juan A. Trujillo
> CB> Okay. Now how does one pronounce "Trujillo"?
>
>Craig,
>
>I pronounce it "Troo hee' yo." Correct?
>
That's how *I* say it!
But I've heard tons of variations.
All this Gwadaloop, Mancheck, Goe-valley stuff would be less
painful if so many of the descendants of the guys who named
the stuff didn't still live here -- but Austin is nearly 25%
Hispanic. Frankly, I'm surprised that we don't get at least
a few ads or at least a weekly column in Spanish in the
city's daily paper. Texas is known nationwide for having a
prominent Hispanic community, but I think Hispanics have a
more visible presence (linguistically, anyway) OUTSIDE of
Texas. Go figure.
JAT
Rusty Osborne
Back to the original thread, Àwhere is Big Rikki when we need her?
--
Rusty Osborne
r.os...@mbs.telesys.utexas.edu
B. Garcia
Trujillo is ALMOST like 'troo-hee'-yo', but you're
even closer if you try 'thru-hee'-yo' with the 'thru'
syllable rushed. Manchaca for that matter is more like
'mahn-chaw-kaw'.. well, all the a's should sound like the
'o' in stop, not the 'a' in cat. It's a Spanish name for
crying out loud; I don't know what is wrong with this city!
And you don't realize the pain in my ears when I hear
Guadalupe mangled into guad-a-loop. Gwah-dah-loo-peh!!!
I couldn't stand it anymore.
-Belinda Garcia
bga...@vnet.ibm.com
"All expressed opinions are my own."
Juan A. Trujillo
>
>Trujillo is ALMOST like 'troo-hee'-yo', but you're
>even closer if you try 'thru-hee'-yo' with the 'thru'
>syllable rushed. Manchaca for that matter is more like
>'mahn-chaw-kaw'.. well, all the a's should sound like the
>'o' in stop, not the 'a' in cat. It's a Spanish name for
>crying out loud; I don't know what is wrong with this city!
>And you don't realize the pain in my ears when I hear
>Guadalupe mangled into guad-a-loop. Gwah-dah-loo-peh!!!
>
>I couldn't stand it anymore.
Gee, a whole usenet thread about my last name! Do I have
to count this against my 15-minute-of-fame allowance?
But back to business. The letter 't' in English is
pronounced with the blade of the tongue pressed against
the hard ridge on the palate (the "alveolar ridge").
In Spanish, it is pronounced with the tip of the tongue pressed
into the corner formed where the front teeth meet the
gums.
The English "th" is pronunced with the tip of the tongue
protruding between the upper and lower teeth. Mexican/Texan
Spanish does not have a voiceless "th" sound (like in 'thin').
Which leads me to the other point: One reason I have found
that incorrect pronunciations get propagated here is that
Tejano speakers consider their language variety to be
*incorrect* Spanish, and thus do not consider themselves
expert enough to correct anyone. This is tragic, because
it's totally unfounded. Texas Spanish is in many ways a
very, very conservative form of Spanish--not at all
"ruined" by its contact with English or the fact that the
means of transmission has been in the home, and not in the
classroom.
JAT
Michael R. M. Cheselka
B. Garcia <bel...@austin.ibm.com> wrote:
>crying out loud; I don't know what is wrong with this city!
Or Houston, which should be pronounced House-ton, not Youse-ton. BTW,
people used to chuckle when I'd say GuadaluPE; so I gave it up.
--
ches...@donna.rtf.utexas.edu N5UVV Michael R. M. Cheselka
ches...@cactus.org Hangs out on 145.21mhz 400 W. 34th. St. #103
o...@gnu.ai.mit.edu and 147.18mhz Austin, TX 78705-1331
o...@bga.com W (512) 472-9549v 4pm-6pm,M-F H (512) 452-9412v 24hrs
Mike Thacker
: Please settle an important issue for me :-)...my girlfriend says the correct
How about some guacamole recipes? Please NO mayonase this ain't New
York City.
--
Mike Thacker mtha...@netcom.com
"I can resist anything but temptation." Somebody
Ellen Webster
: How about some guacamole recipes? Please NO mayonase this ain't New
: York City.
The key to good quacamole is lots of lemon juice and/or
lime juice.
--
Ellen M. Webster "I do not like Green Cards and Spam,
eweb...@bga.com I do not like them, Sam I am."
Austin, Texas --Albert Nurick
Donald E. Blais
>Guadalupe mangled into guad-a-loop. Gwah-dah-loo-peh!!!
As to its etymology, it is composed of Arabic and Latin dialect...
wadi al-lupe, "valley of the wolf"
--
Donald E. Blais Internet: bl...@utexas.edu
UTexas Computation Center UUCP: uunet!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!blais
Austin, TX 78712 Phone: +1 512-471-6387 +1 512-471-3241
Eddie Ibarra
(Kent Anderson) wrote:
> -=> On 21 Jun 94 05:47:40, Steve Crossland said this to All
>
> SC> Speaking of street names, anyone know why we pronounce
> SC> Manchaca="Man-shack"? --
>
OK. So does it bother anyone to hear that TV commerical for "Ellis and
Salazar (sah LAY zer)"? Up until I moved to Austin, I had always heard
Salazar pronounced "sah lah ZAR".
Eddie Ibarra
ed...@che.utexas.edu
Eddie Ibarra
> -=> On 21 Jun 94 05:47:40, Steve Crossland said this to All
>
> SC> Speaking of street names, anyone know why we pronounce
> SC> Manchaca="Man-shack"? --
>
Ok, what about "Ellis & Salazar (suh LAY zer)"? Ugh! I know it's
pronounced sah lah ZAHR.
Eddie Ibarra
Patricia M. Burson
>Ok, what about "Ellis & Salazar (suh LAY zer)"? Ugh! I know it's
>pronounced sah lah ZAHR.
That one really bugs me! I have cousins named Salazar (pronounced correctly).
Why would someone *choose* to mangle their own name? I guess I believe in
being proud of one's heritage (the "good" parts, needless to say :). So, to
me, Colombian Gold will *always* mean coffee!
-Patricia Mari'a Burson Ayerbe
(yes, that's an accent on the i)
-pat...@cs.utexas
Darren Lilie
>Ok, what about "Ellis & Salazar (suh LAY zer)"? Ugh! I know it's
>pronounced sah lah ZAHR.
>
hi-tech sound with "laser" instead of pronouncing it the way it should be.
Actually, its a pretty good idea being that its a auto paint and body shop
(or is it a auto repair place?).
John Burton
For those of you who are new to Austin, the Salazar side of the subject
partnership pronounces his own name "suh LAY zer." They have been in
business here for donkey's years.
--
A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support
of Paul -- George Bernard Shaw