6

Is the country México or Méjico? addresses the spelling of the noun México. However, it does not address the pronunciation. I have heard México pronounced both as if it was written with a "x" (as English speakers pronounce it) and as if it were written with a "j". To make things more complicated, some old Spanish words written with an "x" were in fact pronounced as if they were written with a "j" (which is what was addressed by the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language that changed the spelling of words in 1754, as far as I understand).

So, my question is:

  1. In which countries people more predominantly pronounce México with the "x" sound and which ones pronounce it with a "j" sound, regardless of the spelling?
  2. How was the noun México pronounced historically? Was it originally pronounced with the "j" sound and then evolving, in some countries, to be pronounced with an "x" sound because of its spelling?
Improve this question
4
  • 1
    No Spanish-speaking country pronounces México/Méjico as /'meksiko/
    – user0721090601
    Commented Jun 17, 2018 at 21:53
  • @user, are you maybe thinking about some other uses of the letter X, that don't get pronounced the same as the letter J? For example, the woman's name Xóchitl, or the park, Xochimilco?
    – aparente001
    Commented Jun 19, 2018 at 3:13
  • Ah, thinking about this some more, I have a different conjecture. Perhaps someone spoke to you with the affectation of "I can speak English, let me show off my knowledge, and try to pronounce Mexico as it's pronounced in English" -- but their vowels still came out pure, as in Spanish; and you didn't realize their pronunciation was special for your benefit.
    – aparente001
    Commented Jun 24, 2018 at 5:27
  • One possibility is that you thought you were hearing them pronounce Mexico, the country or the city. But in fact they were talking about the Mexicas, better known as the Aztecs.
    – aris
    Commented May 8, 2019 at 4:32

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
8

Let's take a look at the etymology (forms with asterisks are hypothetical words to show the pronunciation of j at that time):

Language Pronunciation Hypothetical pronunciation with "j"
Nahuatl Mēxihco [meːˈʃiʔko] -
Old Spanish México [ˈmeʃiko] *Méjico [ˈmeʒiko]
15C Spanish México [ˈmeʃiko] *Méjico [ˈmeʃiko]
16C Spanish México [ˈmexiko] Méjico [ˈmexiko]

In modern Spanish the pronunciation of the 'x' will be slightly different in certain dialects of Spanish, but this is not specific to the word México, it is just a dialectal/contextual realisation of the phoneme /x/:

Pronunciation Regions
[ˈmexiko] Most Spanish dialects
[ˈmeçiko] Chile, Peruvian coast
[ˈmehiko] southern Mexico, the Caribbean, much of Central America, parts of South America, the Canary Islands, western Andalusia
[ˈmefiko] Amazonic Spanish

In no dialect of modern Spanish are México and Méjico pronounced differently.

In no dialect of Spanish is the 'x' in México pronounced like [ks].

Improve this answer
3
  • I probably simplified too much by limiting myself to two sounds, there is a bigger variety of sounds.
    – user
    Commented Jun 18, 2018 at 1:33
  • 2
    @user Those are just different ways to pronounce the phoneme. There are still others, like ['meχiko] which one might here from some Peninsular speakers
    – user0721090601
    Commented Jun 18, 2018 at 14:46
  • 3
    But ultimately, there is consistency in the sense that however someone pronounces the letter J (and GE/GI) will strictly dictate how they pronounce the X/J in Mexico
    – user0721090601
    Commented Jun 18, 2018 at 14:47

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.