TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 429 



stowed in the sixteenth century, by Spanish navigators, npon 

 Lower California, the southern point of which reaches into the 

 tropics ; and being a dry, treeless, bare, and desolate country, 

 it may well have appeared to them to be hot as a furnace. 

 Some persons, however, suppose the word to be of Indian 

 origin. The Spaniards and Mexicans called the peninsula Boja 

 California^ or Low California ; also, Antigua California^ or 

 Old California; and the coast further north, Alta California^ 

 or High California; also, JSFueva California, or Xew Califor- 

 nia. The two were called Las Calif ornias^ or the Californias. 

 The state constitution was framed in 1849, and commences, 

 " We, the people of California," etc. This, therefore, is the 

 California, and the peninsula south of us is not meant or thought 

 of, unless we use the adjective prefix, and say Lov> ji- Cali- 

 fornia. 



§ 305. Pronunciation of N^ames. — In the pronunciation 

 of the names of Spanish and Indian origin, the letters have 

 usually the Spanish sounds. A is like "a" in far ; e like " a" in 

 fare ; i like " ee" in meet ; o like " o" in go ; u like " oo" in 

 fool, ^is silent ; j and g^ before e and ^, have a sound similar 

 to that of the English " h ;" s never has the sound of 2, but 

 is always like " ss" in hiss. Qu^ before e and *, is like " k." 

 X^, is "Hi" in William; li is like " ni" in union. There are 

 no diphthongs in Spanish. Every vowel is sounded separately. 

 Words ending in a vowel in the singular, have the accent on 

 the syllable next the last ; those ending in a consonant, on the 

 last. In case any vowel has an accent marked over it, then 

 that vowel has the accent. The Spaniards of old Spain pro- 

 nounce the z before all vowels, and the c before e and ^, like 

 " th" in thick ; but the Mexicans give them the sound of s. 



The errors w4iich Americans most frequently commit in 

 pronouncing Spanish words are, in giving to a the English 

 sounds of " a" in fat and fate ; giving to s the sound of " z ;" 

 to j and g^ before e and 2, the same sounds as in English ; to 

 gu the sound of the English " w ;" and in putting the accent 

 on the first syllable — English fashion. The following may 



