MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Americans mispronouncing Puerto Rico

Americans mispronouncing Puerto Rico


They say "pe-where-ah Reeco" or "pe-where-toe Reeco".

Although spanish is hard to pronounce, they could at least say it as:

Pe-whair-though Reeco".

Even though it's not perfect, it's so much closer.


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Question: Why is it ok for non English speakers to mutilate the English language but other languages seem sacred?

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It's not a foreign word per se if it's America territory, but it should be pronounced closer to how those who live there pronounce it.

Each language has its own set of sounds called phonemes. English has 44, spanish has 24.


So we have more sounds to master if you're learning, and without speech therapy, most adults can't make the transition.

So the trick is to create a closest match.

Pe-whair-though Reeco is easy to say, constructed of English sounds.

Puerto rico means rich port, but as most Americans say it, they're saying rich door (puerta instead of puerto).


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It's still based on the Spanish language though.

I'm sticking with how I say it.

If it's American territory than the Porto Rican's need to adapt to American ways.

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It's SPANISH.
Most Americans do NOT speak SPANISH.

How fucking hard is that to get.

Yes, I can pronounce Puerto Rico properly but who gives a F.

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I'm English and I say "porto rico".

We all pronounce it this way where I'm from.

I am Sorry.

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I'm Australian and I say "porta Rico"

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That's rich door, puerto rico means rich port.

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Puerto Ricans pronounce door (puerta):

pwehl-tah

The R is pronounced like an L

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I'm Uschayan and I say "paw duh reek oh", so sue me.

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I've also heard "porta rico" and even sometimes I've heard the name run together so it sounds like "porter-rico."

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Yeah, now that you write it this way, this is how I say it. Porter Rico.

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I'm English and I say "porto rico".

We all pronounce it this way where I'm from.

We do indeed!

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I thought it was "pwer-toe ree-ko", and not the "porter ree-ko" that most Americans use.

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Same here. With a Spanish r, of course.

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You don't roll the single r. It is the double rr that gets the tongue roll. Actual different letters in the Spanish alphabet.

I don't know about this "L" pronunciation though. News to me. Skeptical.

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Uhm, no. It's not exactly the same as a 'r' at the beginning of a word, but still no "th".

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Is this thread a war of dialect? Select 4 people from Mexico in places 100 miles from each other and see if they agree on this topic.

All I have is 2 years of Spanish in high school and growing up around California Mexicans. So I'm no expert. But I'm reading a lot of Spain style language rules and other angles on the Spanish language that don't scan for me.

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Mexican Spanish isn't real Spanish anyway!

Sure, if you're an American who has trouble rolling the r, you can go with a 'd' to come as close as possible. But all r's are definitely rolled in Spanish.

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No. "r" is "ere" in the Spanish alphabet. "rr" is "erre." "rr" is rolled. "r" is hard at start of a word but sometimes has a soft d sound in some words. What you are hearing isn't a shortcut for those whom can't roll their Rs. The rolled r is ONLY called for when the letter rr is present.

What if you aren't American and have trouble rolling your Rs? Somehow different?

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Are you deaf or something?

https://youtu.be/4rs35jYMZC4

https://youtu.be/74IzIRkx-7E

https://youtu.be/iJiFPQdX0yM

https://youtu.be/wJgEUr4Ka0c

https://youtu.be/Z7W5yzb76yE

I just assumed you were American.🤷‍♀️

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Why didn't you say "A person who has trouble rolling their Rs?"

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Because some other languages also have a rolled 'r'. I was simply talking from an American perspective, because I thought you were American. That's all.

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OK, after some research in hopes of finding data supporting my lessons from 35 years ago, I discovered that while I was right about rr, I did not remember that one trills the single r when it is at the beginning of a word as well. (and sometimes at end)

So I was wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkPMSWJbF1M

You may kill one out of every ten of my men but please do not salt my fields.

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Time to leave work. I'll have to continue this sword fight on Monday. See ya then!

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you don't have internet at home?

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Sure I do. I don't come here on the weekends. Only on off time at work.

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Not toe because you'll use the roof of your mouth for that T sound. If you say Though you're using your teeth for the break in sound like Latinos do.

To their ears, Toe sounds like Roe, because their RS come off of the roof of their mouth.

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It must be difficult having your RS come off the roof of your mouth.

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and then she gagged on my diphthong

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When it comes to pronunciation of words in languages I don't speak, I'm willing to settle for "Well, better than most Americans".

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Are you American?

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I thought Puerto was only two syllables, pronounced "pwair-toe." Is it supposed to have three syllables? And is the T pronounced closer to the English TH?

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The Irish- Australian guy is just talking nonsense again.

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Yeah if you can move it to Pwair that's good. I was trying to describe the P sound.

Their Ts and D's and N come off of their front teeth.

The closest T sound we have is the TH in though, as it's a very short TH sound.

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Okay. Thanks.

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I like the island Manhattan.

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I know you do!

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Smoke on your pipe and put that in!

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Buying on credit is so nice.

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I remember in the 1980s American newscasters pronouncing Nicaragua with a Spanish accent to show how woke they were, before "woke" was a term.

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Recently a newsreader was using latino pronunciation for american towns/cities with spanish names. People complained.

I actually think that things should be pronounced as the viewers like it. For example, pasadena. (Pass-ah-dee-nah). It sounds weird if someone were to say "pah-sah-deh-nah".

But Americans completely mispronounce Puerto Rico, saying rich door instead of rich port, so it should be remedied.

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Los Angeles Times at one point was printing words like "taco" and "churro" in italics because they were exotic Spanish words. Stupid AF. Must have been for the benefit of transplanted New Yorkers and such.

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"benefit of transplanted New Yorkers and such."

Huh? New Yorkers eat tacos and churros.

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Then I guess I should pronounce Germany - Deutschland because that is what the country is called in Germany.

Or examples in Italy:

Roma is the Italian name (and spelling) and Rome is the English name. Many cities have different English spellings to their originals, for example: Firenze is Florence.



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Nippon for Japan as well.

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But Puerto Rico isn't a different word, it just needs to be pronounced better especially given that it is US territory and a candidate for a future state.

Pwair-though Ree-co.

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No - I don't think I should try to sound like a native Spanish speaker. Just like Louisville, KY - people in the area pronounce it Loo-uh-vul and outside of the region it's Loo-ee-vil.

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Americans are so far off with their pronunciation they're saying different words.

Pwair-though Rico, easy to say and isn't 100% like a native speaker, just a whole lot better.

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Either way - Life will go on........

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The northern European country of Suomi is called Finland in English. How did they come up with that?

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What about Costa Rica??? I've never heard a Costa Rican say Coasta Rica, yet I hear it from Americans and Canadians all the time.

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In Spanish it would be more like :
corh-sta Reecah,

so it's a strong O sound like the start of the word Core.

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Have you been to Costa Rica?

Or Puerto Rico for that matter?

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No, I've done south america however.

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