A question about Latin American culture

The letter "X" doesn't exist in the Spanish alphabet yet Mexico is still spelled with the "X". Is this a salute to the Aztecs who dominated the country long before the Spanish showed up? Why don't they spell it Mehico because that is how they pronounce it?

on official documents or is what you are seeing that hs it spelled that way common everyday items that have been effeceted by American culture

Xavier is an Spanish name, where the X is pronounced as an "h". And words like "exito" and "examen" are frequently used. And let's not forget Dos X beer.

They consider "LL", pronounced like a "y" a separate letter, as well as "rr", and "ch" and the "n" with the little thingie on top that I don't know how to do on this post.

it is pronounced "equis" (like the beer "Dos Equis").

on edit: spelling

I had to whip out my 20 + spanish text book. Here is the question, it is an Englist to Spanish translation. So, there is no X right? Equis is the English translation, so is it emeeequisceo, or Mexico?

Man, I over think things, but I think we have someone who beats me. Seriously, maybe, English, has effected changes to the names of a lot of countries. That is interesting.

Just an after thought, when in Italia, Rome is Roma, Venice is Venizia (sp.) and Florence is (Fierenzia). This is really something to ponder.

do you say 'hatchotel'?

'eks' is the english pronunciation of the name of the letter 'x' in english, just as 'equis' is the spanish pronunciation of the name of the letter 'x' in spanish.

and about the rome/roma, venice/venizia thing, you are just saying english names for italian places. they already have names, they were just altered by english speakers for english speakers so we don't struggle hopelessly when trying to talk about them. trust me, we had no influence on their pronunciation of the city for them.

just like tokyo should be pronounced toukyou, and how the japanese pronounce what we call india, indo, and what the spanish call new york, nueva york (barely pronounce the last 'k', if at all).

and it's funny, to this day people conflate the greek letters with improper phonemes if seen from the greek perspective. 'psi' definitely has a p-stop beginning, whereas in english we often slur it into just 's'.

that the SOUND represented by the letter "X" in ENGLISH doesn't exist in the Spanish language. And in Castilian, "X" and "J" were interchangable up till a few centuries ago. Hence the pronunciation of "Mexico", which could be written "Mejico" and still pronounced identically.

Does the Mexican government use the anglo spelling, Mexico, or, is used by English speaking people to refer to the way you spelled it?

it's NOT an "Anglo" spelling...it's written "Mexico", but pronounced differently to the orthographic representation, because Mexico was named when "x" and "j" were interchangeable letters in Spanish.

maya, olmec, zapotec, mixtec, toltec, aztec, and yaqui further up north...its just that 'the 400 families' will not let go.

http://www.azteca.net/aztec/nahuatl/index.shtml

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/63october/well.htm

Moreover, the original spelling of Mexico was Mejico, which was replaced in the course of the 19th century for Mexico... and the ofifical name of Mexico is Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Statse of Mexico)

Oh my credentials...

MA in history

Born and RAISED in Mexico.

Oh and the MA, emphasis in Mexican Enlightenment History.

Asking for info, not to be a know it all, was the change from Mejico to Mexico to accommodate the English pronunciation of the word or to facilitate the correct pronunciation of the name of the country?

and the 'j' sound is just part of the shared phoneme between the two letters, 'j' and 'x'. there is a slight difference, just as there is a slight difference between 'y' and 'll', but for most speakers it is slurred into one phoneme. it was introduced because the native languages of america use the 'x' sound *a lot* and the closest approximation castillano had at the time was 'j', eventually they just adopted the 'x' like other alphabets. most alphabets are a process, just like language, things get added, things get dropped.

i believe the 'x' in mexico has to do with respect to the original native terms for the land, so they just updated the name with the new spelling. 'x' in many of the native tongues of meso-america has more of a "ch'" sound, almost sounding like a "sh" sound to americans; think of the british 'ch' like 'schedule' with an uptone and glottal stop. not an easy sound to make, let alone differenciate, for most english or spanish speakers, so it was adopted to sound like the phoneme of the letter 'jota.'

Xochithil (aztec name meaning goddess of flowers, or something similar)

Sochee-theel (very little 'h' in that last syllable)

xochy for short... so-chee

at least that's how my friend with that name pronounced it...her family is from Mexico.

sounds familiar to Xochipilli, god of luck and chance, "Lord of Flowers." wonder if there's any cultural relation? too bad too much of meso-american pre-columbian history has been wiped away by colonization. to think of all those books they burned in the beginning of the conquest... makes me angry to think of it.

it is a true loss what happened there.

I hear that they don't like each other

I think, somtimes postings come off like I know it all. That is why I asked the question. It is so cool to know and care about how things come about. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain. Thanks again.

PS I love Mexico!!

and one of her middle names was Ximena - and she spelled it with an "X."

pronounced with a "sh" sound; as in Xcaret is pronounced Ish-kuh-ret.

The words and names are a blend of spanish and mayan languages.

Such as the word Axiote, a spice widely used... pronounced Ah she oatee.

Keep in mind, it's not latin america, it's Mexico. They aren't hispanics, They aren't latin. They're actually native americans much related to all the other tribes in this hemisphere, from the Inuits in Alaska to all of the USA tribes, on down through Chile... all the tribes of the Americas are inter-related.

Fascinating to see the striking similarities in cultures and genetics throughout the hemisphere.