By Bonny Chu
When Bob Bueher first arrived at Austin in 1971, he said he first learned to pronounce Guadalupe Street as “Gwad-ah-LOOP.” Now 46 years later, the 69-year-old returning student at the University of Texas said that he thinks this pronunciation might not be the most correct.
For much of Austin’s history, Guadalupe Street, which runs along the west side of campus, has stirred a long, heated debate over its pronunciation. While many Austin residents pronounce it as “Gwad-ah-LOOP,” the traditional Spanish pronunciation sounds more like “Gwad-ah-LOOP-ay.” With an increase of around 61 percent of Austin’s Hispanic population since the 1990, people are becoming more aware of Latino culture and its language. Many like Beuher said that they are reconsidering how this Spanish word should be pronounced.
“When I first arrived in Austin, everyone around me pronounced the street as ‘Gwad-ah-LOOP,’” Beuher said in a recent interview at the Flawn Academic Center. “I also pronounce it that way, too. But recently, I started to pronounce it as ‘Gwad-ah-LOOP-ay’ instead just because I feel that it’s more correct as the original Spanish word.”
Jennifer Gonzalez, a UT sophomore, agrees that the traditional pronunciation should be used.
“I think it should be pronounced as its original Spanish term,” Gonzalez said in an interview recently. “When I first arrived in Austin, I was a little thrown off by the other pronunciation of ‘Gwad-ah-LOOP’ since I’m familiar with Spanish.”
Being of Hispanic heritage, Gonzalez added that it’s slightly culturally insensitive to pronounce the street as “Gwad-ah-LOOP.”
“I usually hear the other version from non-Hispanics, and I think it’s a bit culturally insensitive,” she continued. “While many Spanish words have a unique American pronunciation, ‘Gwad-ah-LOOP’ is not Spanglish. It’s just a completely different word.”
Even for Austin’s Capital Metro, its public transit announces Guadalupe as the original Spanish word.
Martha Menchaca, a Mexican American studies expert, said that this pronunciation rose from possible anglicization, or being altered into an English form.
“Allegedly, it was mispronounced because of a preference to anglicize the term,” Menchaca said in an email interview recently. “But people especially of younger generations are now pronouncing the street as the original Spanish term because they are more culturally sensitive.”
Menchaca said people have also mispronounced her name differently due to another differently pronounced Austin road: Manchaca Road. While many native Austin residents say “Man-shack,” others argue that it is “Man-shock-ah.” Because of this native pronunciation of the road, Menchaca said her German name was often also mispronounced as “Man-shak,” but in recent years, she said they began to pronounce her name correctly as “Men-shock-ah.”
“People no longer mispronounce my last name,” Menchaca said. “But when I first got to Texas 30 years ago, they did. I understand why they used to mispronounce it, since most people do not know its history. Over the years, there has been a lot of media debate over the correct pronunciation because of how important the Menchaca family were to Texas history, so people have learned the correct pronunciation. You’re supposed to pronounce it exactly as it is written.”
Kathryn Holbert, an Austin born UT student, said that these Austin pronunciations are not spoken completely out of cultural insensitivity, but as a developed unique lingo native to Austin.
“‘Gwad-ah-LOOP’ is wrong, but I think it’s also right,” Holbert said in an interview at the Flawn Academic Center recently. “It might sound uneducated to outsiders of Austin, but I learned it from other Austin natives and it’s just a unique trademark to Austin. Whenever people call me out on it, I would agree with them about its original Spanish pronunciation, but still it’s a unique native lingo to Austin. It’s not from disrespect.”
While “Gwad-ah-LOOP” remains a native pronunciation to Austin, people like Beuher are beginning to pronounce this street more as the original Spanish term.
“I think most people still say ‘Gwad-ah-LOOP,’ but I’m glad everyone else is saying it the other way,” Beuher said. “I think this pronunciation is more correct and is somewhat a rhetorical win for Spanish.”
