By Barb Owings
You’ve heard everyone talking about their Bucket List these days. You know, deciding places to see, things to do and things to learn before they die.
Well, hoping to be around for a long time, let me tell you about my Arizona List, developed many years before the above fad began. It was composed of things and places common to the state – how to pronounce them to fit in with my new environment, since I was a “Snow Bird” who landed in Arizona for good.
Many of the words were new to me and had come from Spanish and Indian cultures and I learned early on that I was pronouncing them incorrectly. So I began to ask the natives how to pronounce them since I didn’t want to see sly facial expressions of others when I “butchered” the language.
My “to do” Arizona List was born. I would start a notebook of words I was having difficulty pronouncing and use them in my Arizona conversations. I decided that my list might not be as professional as those who worked with words would develop but decided that they would have to work for me.
I started my list with names/pronunciations of things in my immediate environment – javelina (HAVE-A-LEENA), gila monster (HE-LA MONSTER), the Conenose bug called Walapi Tiger (WALL-A-PIE TIGER), cholla (CHOY-AH), yucca (YUCK-AH), mesquite (MESS KEET), jojoba (HO-HO-BAH), cowboys/vaquaros (VA-CARE-OS).
Next came some places – Fort Huachuca (FORT WA-CHOO-KA), Prescott (PRESS-CUT, according to the local residents), Canyon De Chelly (CANYON DE SHAY), Aja (AH-HO), Mission San Xavier Del Bae ( TO-HO-NO- O’ODHAM).
A famous Rim that encompasses the state up north and that is at a higher altitude, with cooler weather temperatures – Mogollon Rim (MUG-E-ON RIM).
Some Indian names/villages – Chihuahua (CHEER-AH-COW-AH), Zunis (ZOO-NEES), Hopi (HOE-PEE), Quijota (KEY-HO-TOE-AH), Havasupai(HAVE-AH-SUE-PIE), Quechan Tribe (KWUH-TSAN TRIBE).
A popular name – Sahuaro (SAW-WAR-0) included a ranch, lake and National Park. It is a labor of love to be able to almost pronounce correctly things I come into contact with in Arizona but I do keep my list handy, even after all of these years. You never know, someday my list might make it easier for a “newbie” to Arizona to fit in faster.
Yep, no Bucket List for me. I’m too busy seeing more of Arizona and making additions to my list.
I need all of the help I can get!
Barb Owings is a resident of Cave Creek, a frequent contributor to The Peak, and a past winner of The Peak’s Summer Fun Write Stuff Contest.
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