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From: leichter@yale-com.UUCP (Jerry Leichter)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Pronunciation of Granada/Grenada
Message-ID: <2269@yale-com.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 28-Oct-83 09:33:59 EST
Article-I.D.: yale-com.2269
Posted: Fri Oct 28 09:33:59 1983
Date-Received: Mon, 31-Oct-83 21:17:59 EST
References: <246@ut-sally.UUCP> <161@pyuxnn.UUCP> pyuxn.330
Lines: 18

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