X y J... Español europeo y americano...
Ayer mi profe de español y yo hablabamos cuando me dijo 'existir' y no la entendí. No fue porque no sabía la palabra, sino porque no pude entender su acento porque dice 'eSistir' en lugar de 'eKSistir'. ¿ Es normal en español o solo en el idioma como se habla en Europa ?
Yesterday my Spanish tutor and I were chatting when she used the ord 'existir' and I didn't understand her. It wasn't that I didn't know the word, but that I couldn't understand her accent because she says 'eSistir' instead of 'eXistir'. Is this normal in Spanish or only in the language as spoken in Europe ?
Esto provocó una habla sobre las letras X y J en España y América Latina. Porque escucho discos de español de América Latina, me preguntó cómo los actores dicen X, y dije que es más cerca de H en inglés, y lo mismo en lo que respecta J, mientras ella dice J más cerca de KH como en alemán 'Nacht' or escoces 'loch' o 'nicht'.
This led to a chat about the letters X and J in Spain and Latin America. Because I listen to Latin American discs, she asked me how the actors say X. and I told her it's closer to English H, and similarly for J, whereas she says J more like KH as in German 'Nacht' or Scots 'loch' or 'nicht'.
Ella y yo estamos de acuerdo que por lo general J en español europeo se dice más fuerte.
She and I agree that, generally, J in European Spanish is pronounced more harshly.
Luego esto provocó una habla sobre Don Quijote y escribí el titulo como 'Don QuiXote', lo que ella me dijo es equivocado en español y debería ser con J en lugar de X. He verificado esto y ella tiene razón pero no entiendo porque el nombre se escribe con X en inglés. En inglés se dice todavía 'Don Kee-H-oh-tay'.
Then this led to a chat about Don Quixote and I wrote the title with that spelling (<---), which she told me is wrong in Spanish where it takes a J in the place of the X. I've checked this and she's right, but I don't understand why the name is spelled with an X in English. In English it's still pronounced 'Don Kee-H-oh-tay'.
¿ Tengo razón en lo que respecta estos sonidos en los países diferentes ? ¿ Y por qué el cambio en la ortografía del titulo del libro ?
Am I correct regarding these sounds in different countries ? And why the change in spelling in the title of the book ?
4 Answers
The sound J in Spanish was X in the old times. If you look for the cover of the first Quijote printed you can see that it was written with X.
Probably the first translations to English were done from the original one. After years Spanish evolves but the translations in other languages not.
I'm not sure but this could be the same that happens with the name of the country: Mexico. In Spanish is Mejico but in other places they used the X.
PERSONAL OPINION: About to choose which kind of Spanish learn, I always say the same: if you learn Spanish from Spain you can be understood probably in all the Spanish speaker countries. If you learn Spanish from other places could be more difficult. Here, we can understand easily Uruguayan, Argentinian or Venezolan Spanish and Mexican (when they dont use slang) but for me is easier to understand English than center America Spanish or US Spanish (this is the worst).
Having studied literature in Sweden, Don Quijote was always spelt with 'x', Don Quixote and I thought it to be pronounced Don Quicksotte... But I agree with Tuxta, Qujote, Méjico, etc are just older spellings.
I guess we just need to accept there are diferent ways to pronounce this letters, and there's no right or wrong answer here. So we have to adapt to use the pronounciation of the country / people we have more contact with. This happens with some sounds in English as well.
As a native-English speaker learning Spanish since late last summer, and for whom circumstances dictate a self-tuition program for the main part, my experience is that in the UK it's much easier to access Latin American self-tuition resources. Of course, there are self-tuition resources based on European Spanish, but they tend to take the learner less far, e.g. tourist level language.
Accordingly, if I watch a DVD in Latin American Spanish, I can understand it much better than if I listen to it in European Spanish (on first listening I would say the ratio is a great as 20% / 5%; and on re-listening sometimes I can boost my comprehension of the Latin American form higher than 50%, whereas my comprehension of the European form barely improves at all). I suspect there may be a number of factors at play here: (1) I'm more accustomed to the sounds of Latin American Spanish; (2) Perhaps Latin American speakers speak more slowly; (3) Perhaps Latin American Spanish is objectively clearer.
Therefore, I'm not sure I can agree that choosing European Spanish as a default is necessarily the best option. For me, being able to make relatively fast progress in Latin American Spanish has helped my confidence, and although when I try to use it to understand European Spanish and sometimes feel like I'm hitting a brick wall, nonetheless, it's still a way in.
Whereas, if I had chosen European Spanish as a default at the outset, I may not have made such fast progress, and might have become frustrated and disheartened, and given up.
I have to say I think some languages, dialects and accents are objectively clearer. For example, when I hear German, although I don't understand what the words mean, nonetheless I find it much easier to pick out individual words and repeat them, i.e. I can tell when words begin and end. I still find this hard in Spanish, particularly European Spanish, which often sounds kind of slurry. I've also heard it said that Italian is much clearer than Spanish in terms of its phonic transparency.
To compare and contrast Latin American and European Spanish, for example the word 'ciudades' = 'see-oo-da-des' or 'thee-oo-dha-dhes'. For me at least (and perhaps objectively too), the former pronunciation is much clearer, and indeed the first time I heard the second pronunciation I had no idea what was being said despite being well acquainted with the word 'ciudades' in written form and when given its Latin American pronunciation. With respect, 'thee-oo-dha-dhes' is sonic mush to my ears.
Another difficulty with European Spanish is the whole business of the 'vosotros' form, which I haven't even really begun to tackle in any meaningful way yet, and which is virtually impossible to learn from Latin American self-tuition resources...
I live in quiet fear of being 'vosotrosed'... 
