> Date: Mon, 2 Nov 92 13:39:03 PST
> From: berry@athos.pei.com (Berry Kercheval)
> To: british-cars@autox.team.net
> Subject: Jagwar or Jag-you-are.
>
>
> During the Gulf War the british correspondents kept calling the
> aircraft "Jag-you-er" too.
>
> I think only the animal is still "jag-warr".
>
I believe jaguar is the Spanish spelling of an indigenous native word.
The Spanish diphthong ua is sort of a wa sound. BBC announcers do the
same thing to the pronunciation of Nicaragua. The American English
pronunciation of these words is probably due to our proximity to Latin
America. And isn't garage of French origin. I believe the British
pronunciation is closer to the French. Probably for the same reason:
proximity; not to mention the influence of the French language on
English.
Roland
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