Well in Spanish the J's are pronounced like H's So Josefina is pronounced Hosefina because she is Spanish. Did I answer your Question or did you ask a totally different Question?
*~Keri~*
Okay, I finally have to ask if this bugs anyone else...
Why did they name the book "Just Josefina" if Josefina is supposed to be pronounced "Hosefina"? It's not a very descriptive title and it seems like they want it to be "catchy" by using the two J's...even though it's not how it should be pronounced.
Well in Spanish the J's are pronounced like H's So Josefina is pronounced Hosefina because she is Spanish. Did I answer your Question or did you ask a totally different Question?
*~Keri~*
I agree with you...pretty silly to alliterate something that isn't really alliterated! Whenever people say her name I hear it as "Josefina." When my Little Sister got her Josefina pin the helper at Hallmark said "Okay, here is Josie-feena's pin." My friend turned to me with her eyebrow raised. [img]biggrin.gif[/img] Putting the word "Just" in front of her name probably contributes to more people mispronouncing it. They think it's like the American name Josephine.
I think (perish the thought) they should have named Josefina a name that gringos can pronounce, that is spelled the way it looks to us. But that is difficult since in Spanish the vowels are also pronounced differently. For example, a friend I had in my junior high school years named Ana had to teach me how to say her name correctly. And even then she said I never said it right, even though I speak some Spanish and thought I had a good accent. [img]eek.gif[/img] In other words, they would have had a hard time coming up with any name that we would have pronounced correctly. Good thing they kept away from Rs or I would have been tongue-tied! And names really change--Stephen is Esteban! So any name would have been mispronounced.
<font color="#020176" size="1">[ August 13, 2003 05:04 PM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>
I absolutely love the sound of the Spanish language! Especially names! I would have loved it if they named her Raquel! I love the sound of an "R" rolling slightly off the tongue! When I was a kid, my best friend and I spent alot of time saying "Ruffles have ridges!" [img]tongue.gif[/img] I haven't read any of Josefina's books, but I wonder if they tell you how to pronounce her name in them. I'm glad they didn't give her an English name..it just wouldn't be right! Maybe they need to make titles like "Hang on.. Josefina's or Josefina's Hope. Anyway, I agree with you! [img]smile.gif[/img]
Oh, I agree, I don't think she should have an American name! I meant that they could have picked one that's more easily pronounced, which would help those who don't know Spanish pronounciation. For example, I think most of us pronounce Maria, Ramona, and Guadalupe pretty closely to the way Hispanic people pronounce them, yet they are still Spanish names.
The books tell how to pronounce Josefina's name, but it seems that the people who don't know how to say it haven't read her books. Also, children that have been ingrained with how to pronounce consonants and vowels seem to have a hard time understanding that other cultures can pronounce them differently and still be "right." [img]wink.gif[/img] Even in my college second level Spanish, my professors cringed at the mispronounciation of Spanish, and in high school my professor ended up telling my entire class that "everyone is stupid except Andrea" -- they just couldn't stop talking with the pronounciations they had learned. (Thankfully, the name I was using in class was Andrea, or I would have gone home crying my eyes out! [img]wink.gif[/img] ) Yet when I tried to learn how to read Old English last year, I felt very stupid in my class, so I won't pretend to be adept at different pronounciations!
...and when I read Josefina's books I tend to think with the hard J sound--it's just easier for me to say. But out loud I say "Hosefina."
The hardest name for me has been Kaya's. I thought it was pronounced kuh-YAY for the longest time.
<font color="#020176" size="1">[ August 13, 2003 07:35 PM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>
lol, "Hust Hosefina!".
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">LOL!Heehee [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img]Originally posted by Queen Elizabeth III:
lol, "Hust Hosefina!".
Okay I don't kno how to work this thing LOL! hm...
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">LOL that's Funny! you made me laugh!Hust Hosefina!
I think truthfully if her name was Marie or Romona the book would still be called Just (whatever) since the book is about how Josefina just wants to be herself and her Grandma wants her to be just like her mother since out of all the sisters she looks the most like her mother. Although I remeber looking for her story collection in Borders and asking for "Hosefina's story collection." and them looking at the computer arguing they couldn't find it then read of and got to "Josefina's story collection," I said, "That's it!" and must have blushed to a bright shinny red color. Sometimes it is really hard to act mature about things.
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