Los Angeles
When this work pop into my eyes, I was wondering maybe this is a Spanish word, or a Latin orgin word, is it plural for "el àngel"?
Just curious... ^__^
17 Answers
I think that I pronounce the last syllable in Los Angelos as "us" ...But I am living in Texas, not California. Maybe there are regional differences.
James Santiago said:
The rest of the story: The name Los Angeles is Spanish for The Angels. There is much more to this name, however. On Wednesday, August 2, 1769, Father Juan Crespi, a Franciscan priest accompanying the first European land expedition through California, led by Captain Fernando Rivera Y Moncado, described in his journal a "beautiful river from the northwest" located at "34 degrees 10 minutes." They named the river Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de la Porciúncula. In the Franciscan calendar, August 2 was the day of the celebration of the feast of the Perdono at the tiny Assisi chapel of St. Francis of Assisi. Early in St. Francis? life, the Benedictines had given him this tiny chapel for his use near Assisi. The chapel, ruined and in need of repair, was located on what the Italians called a porziuncola or "very small parcel of land." Painted on the wall behind the altar was a fresco of the Virgin Mary surrounded by angels. Now contained within a Basilica, the chapel was named Saint Mary of the Angels at the Little Portion. The newly discovered "beautiful river" was named in honor of this celebration and this chapel. In 1781, a new settlement was established along that river. The settlement came to be known as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula or The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion although its official name was simply El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles.
In English, it's pronounced as "loss ANN-jell-iss."
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James Santiago said:
There seem to be a number of accepted pronunciations. See this:
<http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp'Word=Appalachia>
My parents are from eastern Kentucky, and they both pronounced the second A long.
Incidentally, my mother's father spoke a dialect of English that was identified by an expert as being a direct descendant of Elizabethan English, which made my mother, who had been somewhat embarrassed by her father's speech, quite proud. He said things like "fenint the house" to mean "in front of the house." Apparently, the settlers where he lived were so isolated that the English they spoke didn't evolve along with that of the rest the country.
If memory serves, PBS (with Bill Moyers hosting) did an interesting series about ten years ago on English as spoken in various parts of the world (including reference to "fossilized" [my word, not theirs] variants of same, such as are found in isolated communities).
For the pronunciation of Appalachia, spent almost my entire life using the long 'a' pronunciation. However, a few years ago my brother who had had a classmate from Appalachia while in college told me that she always said (by way of correction) "Comin' at cha from Appalachia!". I found the phrase sufficiently charming that I changed my pronunciation on the spot.
There seem to be a number of accepted pronunciations. See this:
<http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp'Word=Appalachia>
My parents are from eastern Kentucky, and they both pronounced the second A long.
Incidentally, my mother's father spoke a dialect of English that was identified by an expert as being a direct descendant of Elizabethan English, which made my mother, who had been somewhat embarrassed by her father's speech, quite proud. He said things like "fenint the house" to mean "in front of the house." Apparently, the settlers where he lived were so isolated that the English they spoke didn't evolve along with that of the rest the country.
Natasha said:
In the movie Christy, set in Appalachia (Eastern U.S.), there is a town called El Pano. The more sophisticated travelers call it El Pano (close to Spanish pronunciation), but the hill-folk call it el PANE-oh (long a). I've wondered if the movie producers made the distinction deliberately.
And, of course, it´s Appalachia to rhyme with "comin' at cha" ("coming at you"). I only learned this one a few years ago.
P.S. In the recent election, I heard broadcasters (who should have checked their facts) pronouncing Sarah Palin's last name both with a long a and a short a. It just goes to show that you can't infer the pronunciation from the spelling, not in English.
My name is almost always mispronounced by Americans who are older than I am . . . a is a particularly troublesome letter.
In the movie Christy, set in Appalachia (Eastern U.S.), there is a town called El Pano. The more sophisticated travelers call it El Pano (close to Spanish pronunciation), but the hill-folk call it el PANE-oh (long a). I've wondered if the movie producers made the distinction deliberately.
My pharmacy prints out medicine labels which have the pronunciation on them. You wouldn't like this much, because they don't follow IPA or any other standard format -- more like the "gut feel" approach that James used.
James Santiago said:
lazarus1907 said:
Natasha said:
The double n makes it clear that the a is short, like the name Ann. With a single n, we wouldn't be sure how to say the a
Interesting. Do you have a similar trick to read chemical compounds, proteins, medicines and similar stuff? I always mispronounce them.
No, typically people have a hard time with those. I'm a chemistry translator, so I know them, but that isn't true for the average person.
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lazarus1907 said:
Natasha said:
The double n makes it clear that the a is short, like the name Ann. With a single n, we wouldn't be sure how to say the a
Interesting. Do you have a similar trick to read chemical compounds, proteins, medicines and similar stuff? I always mispronounce them.
No, typically people have a hard time with those. I'm a chemistry translator, so I know them, but that isn't true for the average person.
Natasha said:
The double n makes it clear that the a is short, like the name Ann. With a single n, we wouldn't be sure how to say the a
Interesting. Do you have a similar trick to read chemical compounds, proteins, medicines and similar stuff? I always mispronounce them.
lazarus1907 said:
James Santiago said:
In English, it's pronounced as "loss ANN-jell-iss."
How would the sound change if you used a single N, a single L and a single S? (AN-Jel-is) I've never understood the need for so many double consonants in English, if they don't change the sound. In Japanese, for example, the double consonant serves a purpose.
I used the double N to remove any confusion. Ann is a common name in English, and its pronunciation cannot really be mistaken. On the other hand a reader might conclude that the pronunciation of "an" is as it is in Spanish. When we write out a pronunciation in English, we usually use conventions such as these, that is, we try to use letter combinations whose pronunciation is relatively immutable and well known.
The double n makes it clear that the a is short, like the name Ann. With a single n, we wouldn't be sure how to say the a.
American short a, of course . . .
lazarus1907 said:
James Santiago said:
In English, it's pronounced as "loss ANN-jell-iss."
How would the sound change if you used a single N, a single L and a single S? (AN-Jel-is) I've never understood the need for so many double consonants in English, if they don't change the sound. In Japanese, for example, the double consonant serves a purpose.
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Thank you lazarus. My mistake.
'James' and 'Diego' May Share Common Origin
James Santiago said:
In English, it's pronounced as "loss ANN-jell-iss."
How would the sound change if you used a single N, a single L and a single S? (AN-Jel-is) I've never understood the need for so many double consonants in English, if they don't change the sound. In Japanese, for example, the double consonant serves a purpose.
The rest of the story:
The name Los Angeles is Spanish for The Angels. There is much more to this name, however. On Wednesday, August 2, 1769, Father Juan Crespi, a Franciscan priest accompanying the first European land expedition through California, led by Captain Fernando Rivera Y Moncado, described in his journal a "beautiful river from the northwest" located at "34 degrees 10 minutes." They named the river Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de la Porciúncula. In the Franciscan calendar, August 2 was the day of the celebration of the feast of the Perdono at the tiny Assisi chapel of St. Francis of Assisi. Early in St. Francis? life, the Benedictines had given him this tiny chapel for his use near Assisi. The chapel, ruined and in need of repair, was located on what the Italians called a porziuncola or "very small parcel of land." Painted on the wall behind the altar was a fresco of the Virgin Mary surrounded by angels. Now contained within a Basilica, the chapel was named Saint Mary of the Angels at the Little Portion. The newly discovered "beautiful river" was named in honor of this celebration and this chapel. In 1781, a new settlement was established along that river. The settlement came to be known as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula or The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion although its official name was simply El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles.
In English, it's pronounced as "loss ANN-jell-iss."
No, David and Diego have nothing to do. "Diego", if any, is related to "James", as they are "Santiago", "Yago" and "Jacob", "Tiago", and others.
Diego means David, at least I was pretty sure about that once upon a time. I know that David is David, but I think that Diego is another way to say it.
