Re: [ranchos] Re: Name Variation Database

[Pacorro73@...]

Stupendous!!  

There you go, you got it.  Best analysis I've seen yet.  People, save this message.  Print it out and do all you can short of framing it have it handy.  Memorize it word for word, letter for letter.  Excellent breakdown Deena!!  

Everyone as soon as you integrate the INFININTE variations in name spellings, given the basic rules and guidelines that Deena has put together, the better.  Just accept it, and move on.  Your research will proceed at a faster pace once you understand and are open minded to the fact that spellings of names and simple common words was not standardized back in the old days.  Do not mentally restrain yourself when confronted with differences in spelling or grammar.

You have to understand that the letters that Deena has specified all relate to a specific sound or phoneme.  The letters B and V both produce the exact same sound.  In proper Spanish, there is no difference between "B de burro" y "V de vaca," as they say.  The sound produced in Spanish is a bilabial voiced obstruate, meaning with both lips pressed together as your vocal chords vibrate and push air between the lips.  The two letters are merely orthographic representations of the same phonemic articulation, whereas in English they are not.  Example of B/V interchange, one of my surnames, Valdivia:  Valdivia, Valdibia, Baldibia, Baldivia.

Same with the letters S, Z, and C before i and e.  In Spain, the letters Z and C (which sound like the English TH in "boTH") have a different sound than the letter S, which is normal.  But there is, however, regional dialectal variation.  Depending on where your ancestors came from, or from what region in Spain a group of settlers came from that settled a particular region in Mexico, they would bring with them their particular variant in accent and dialect of Castellano (Castilian Spanish).  Throughout most of Mexico, especially Nueva Galicia (now Jalisco, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, and Nayarit), the Extremaduran and Andalusian variation was, and now is, spoken.  These don't have the lisp that other Spaniards have.  That's not to say that the lisp (when saying Z or C) did not make it across the pond, as there were many Madrileños, Palencianos, Sorianos, Leoneses, Vizcaínos, etc, that came over.  It's all depending on the region where a particular scribe, priest, or official was from who happened to write down the document you see on microfilm.

To cite an example of another surname, Aceves, using both previous examples of B/V and S/Z/C variation, I present the following:  Aceves, Aseves, Azeves, Acebes, Asebes, Azebes, Acevez, Asevez, Azevez, Acebez, Asebez, Azebez.  Indeed I have seen each and every single one of the twelve variations out there.  Searching this name on the IGI is a real PAIN (PAYNE, PANE, PAINE, PAYN) because the IGI does not differentiate between all 12 variations on the name.

The letter H is indeed silent, so sometimes there was no need to even write it.  My last name itself had this same variation many times:  Hernández, Hernándes, Ernández, Ernándes.

I could go on and on forever trying to come up with a list of all the surnames that this happened to.  Just mind Deena's excellent advice and next time you see a variation in spelling, do not be shocked or surprised. That's just the way it was back then.

Steven F. Hernández


In a message dated 7/14/2003 8:50:53 AM Pacific Daylight Time, drortiz@verizon.net writes:

> For starters  ;-)
>
>     The name "Dionicio" and "Leonicio" appear to have been used
> interchangeably.
>
> Maria del Carmel called Carmel or Carmen
> Josefa and Sanjose
> Jose, Josef, Joseph
>
>     I had not thought of name variation in terms of spelling as there
> were no standardized spellings.  For example:
>
> Anything with an "s" could also be found with a "z" and sometimes a "c" or
> an "x."
> The letter "b" could always be substituted for "v."
> "F" was often spelled with "ph."
> The Spanish "ll" was frequently spelled with "y" or one "l" might be
> dropped:
> The "h" may or may not be there: Ortega/Hortega
> The letters "i" and "y" are interchanged; sometimes "hi" and "y" are
> interchanged:  Hilario/Ylario
> The letter "j" is frequently spelled with "x" or sometimes "g": Tejeda,
> Texeda, Tegeda
> The letter "t" is frequently interchanged with "th": Torres/Thorres or
> Marthin/Martin
> "U" is spelled with a "V": Ulloa/Vlloa
>
>     That said, I have found Xauregui spelled at least ten different
> ways; the same family may have used a shortened form of the spelling as in
> Xaure or Jaure while others spelled it Xauregui, Jauregui, Xaurigui,
> Jaurigui, Xaurigue, Jauregui, Hauregui, Haurigui, Xaurequi, Jaurequi,
> Xauriqui, Jauriqui, etc.
>
>     When I started my research, I was surprised to see that the accent
> marks and other punctation marks associated with Spanish were not used.
> Also, anything that could be abbreviated often was.
>
> ~Deena Ortiz~