Why is the j in jalapeno peppers pronounced like an h ?

Question

It's perplexing.

LA Kind of Guy your a contender of the 10 points informative response. Thankyou for taking the time.

Answer 1

Other spanish words with j's pronounced like an h

Fajita (fa-HEE-ta)
Naranja (na-RAN-ha) [orange]
The months Junio (hoo-nee-o) and Julio (hoo-lee-o)
hijo (hee-ho) [son] and hija (hee-ha) [daughter]

You might find it interesting to know that the entire spanish alphabet, while it *looks* similar to the English alphabet, is pronounced differently. I found this out while I was on vacation in Mexico, and was trying to spell my name for the airline clerk. While she could speak to me in English, when I was spelling my name, and told her to type the letter 'A', she typed the letter 'E'. I later found out that, in Spanish, the letter 'A' is pronounced 'ah', the letter 'E' is pronounced 'eh', and the letter 'I' is pronounced 'eee'. Not knowing this at the time, I had to physically reach across the ticket counter and type my name into the computer myself.

Answer 2

for the same reason Jose Conseco is pronounced hike hosay. It's Spanish! Who says a J cannot be pronounce like an H? Letters only take on the sound we have assigned to them in our respective tongues. Same goes with numbers. For example, "4" has no value in itself. It was just a scribble until someone gave it it's value.

Answer 3

Because j in Spanish is pronounced like an h in English.

Answer 4

It's the basic Spanish Language, incorporated into our American World. I love it. We aren't alone you know. Diversity is the Spice of life. Keeps us from being the same every day, a challenge if you must.

Answer 5

Because they are from Mexico and in spanish, J is pronounced H

Answer 6

I believe that it is a Spanish word and in that language the pronunciation of letters, or letter parings, are always the same, like 'ja' would always be pronunciation like an 'h'

Answer 7

It is Spanish. J is always pronounced H in Spanish.

Answer 8

Porque es una palabra hispana.

And, Snipps, tell me, how did the word jalapeno get shortened?
You still have to pronounce the first syllable whether it's with a "j" or an "h". DUH!!! The English language has a lot of shortened words like - "won't", "shouldn't", "can't, and like "YOU're THE LAZY ONE!!!

Answer 9

because it's spanish. the j is always pronounced like a h in spanish.

Answer 10

because the early spaniards were too lazy to pronounce the j, so they shortened it up they thought by putting a h in there.