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Re: Att. Lumia and other Spaniards! XAVIER/JAVIER
in reply to a message by Eva
My answer isn't going to be so onomastically excellent, but I'd like to contribute what I know nonetheless. I have lots of family in Ecuador, and there are Xaviers pronounced Javier everywhere. Tons. Recently born, too. This was actually going to be my middle name if I were a boy. I have never been able to distinguish the first sound from the normal J sound in Spanish (i.e. an h sound).
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Spelling of first names in Spanish-speaking countriesIn Spanish-speaking countries, it is very usual to find first names spelled incorrectly (Gustabo, Migel...) and English (Joshua, Michel...) or pseudo-English (Deici, Leidi...) first names.
And it is usual, too, to choose the English form of a first name instead of the Spanish form. (If you are interested about the phenomenon of the use of foreign names, I can search for some links of articles about this, because it is a subject very annotated by Spanish linguist and Spanish names experts.)But this doesn't mean that this forms are legit Spanish names. There is a lot of Joshuas in Spanish-speaking countries, but the Spanish form is Josué, Joshua still be a foreign form (an English form).Nowadays, the only correct form of the name in Spanish is Javier, with J and V.Remind: in Spanish, first names are subject to RAE (Academy) spelling rules and the possible graphical variants of a first name are very limited. So, in Spanish (as in other languages as Basque, Catalan, etc.), there are some correct forms of names and some incorrect forms. Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com

This message was edited 11/17/2005, 7:37 AM

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My doubt, LumiaDear Friend... tell me if i'm wrong: isn't Javier the "aféresis" of surname Etcheverry?. Saludos.
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Etxeberri: from etxe, "house", and berri, "new".Etcheverry is a French adaptation of the surname Etxeberri.Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
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How do you pronouce "Etxeberri"?
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Thanks to both of you!
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et cheh BEH ree
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In Basque, more or lesseh-tcheh-BEH-rree
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
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