rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (10/27/83)
Could someone please explain this: The word "Granada" (grah-nah'-dah) is a Spanish word meaning something or other. (Also the name of what the Ford company insists is a car.) The country which was just invaded is called "Grenada" with an 'e'. Two questions. 1) Why is it that because the first syllable has an 'e' instead of an 'a', the news media pronounce the name as "greh-nay'-dah", changing the pronunciation of the SECOND syllable? 2) Was this country invaded because they spell their name wrong? (I spoke to a Spanish speaking friend of mine who said there is no such word in the Spanish language, unless it means 'grenade'. Perhaps the root of the name is not Spanish...)
leichter@yale-com.UUCP (Jerry Leichter) (10/28/83)
Grenada is pronounced "greh NAY dah" because that's the way people there think it should be pronounced. You've made a fundamental error in thinking that Spanish has anything to do with the pronounciation. The Spanish never colonized most of the Caribean [spelling all wrong, blah!] islands; rather it was (very early on) the French, and then the British. Grenada is populated almost entirely by descendents of black slaves brought over by the British; the small Caribbe Indian indiginous population, I guess, was pretty much wiped out over time. (Actually, they may still be there but be totally out- numbered.) -- Jerry decvax!yale-comix!leichter leichter@yale BTW, the language spoken throughout much of the Caribbean [there, got it that time] is English. The easily recognizable accent is due to the West African tradition of most of the speakers. The native languages of many of the slaves brought over were spoken with the back of the tongue depressed. Try speaking English that way and you, too, can sound as if you come from Jamaica. -- J
riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (10/28/83)
I can't help you with the origin of the spelling of Granada/Grenada, but
as for the pronunciation, I have the impression that the Grenadians them-
selves call the place "Greh-NAY-duh". Remember, they don't speak Spanish
on Grenada; they speak (depending on social class and education, I assume)
a more-or-less creolized, more-or-less British form of English. The British
are notoriously bad about mangling the pronunciation of Spanish. (Everyone
has noticed, I'm sure, that BBC reporters all say "Nih-car-AAGH-you-uh".)
This really shouldn't be surprising to us; nobody bats an eye, after all,
when Bardados is pronounced "Bar-BAY-dohss", even though I assume it was
originally a Spanish name pronounced "Bar-BAH-thoss".
----
Prentiss Riddle
{ihnp4,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle
riddle@ut-sally.UUCPptw@vaxine.UUCP (P. T. Withington) (10/28/83)
Was it Cole Porter who said: "You say Grenada, I say Granada; Let's call the whole thing off." ? Yours in yuks, 't` --Tucker (ptw@vaxine.UUCP) ~
ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (10/29/83)
Grenada is affiliated with Britain (part of the Commonwealth, I think), and in Britain it is more common to retain the spelling of a foreign word but pronounce it as if it was an English word spelled the same way. Thus `garage' may sound something like `GARRidge' (no r-coloring in the a, please), and even if Grenada is a Spanish word or name it would likely be pronounced to rhyme with Ada.
walsh@ihuxi.UUCP (10/31/83)
I read something in the Sunday paper about this, but cannot remember EVERY
fact; here's what I can remember:
1) Columbus sighted the island and apparently named it the Spanish 'Granada'
(pronounced grah-nah-dah).
2) When the British took over rule of the island as a colony, they pronounced
it Gren-ayd-ah. (I don't know if the spelling changed or who changed it.)
3) Not only the news media, but Grenadans pronounce it Gren-ayd-ah. It has
become the accepted, and hence, proper pronunciation since the English
changed it.
B. Walshcwb@cbneb.UUCP (11/03/83)
Perhaps Grenada is spelled with an 'e' because it is in the Grenadines? But, I suppose, the Grenadines could be spelled with an 'e' because they contain Grenada. Any ideas?
CSvax:Pucc-H:Pucc-I:Pucc-K:ags@pur-ee.UUCP (11/04/83)
Heard on the floor of Congress during the debate over the invasion: (I didn't recognize the speaker) "You say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to. You say Greh-nay-dah, I say Greh-nah-dah. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, Greh-nay-dah, Greh-nah-dah. Let's call the whole thing off." Dave Seaman