TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 429 
stowed in the sixteenth century, by Spanish navigators, upon: 
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 Baja 
California, or Low California; also, Antigua California, or 
Old California; and the coast further north, Alta California, 
or High California; also, Nueva California, or New Califor- 
nia. The two were called Las Californias, or the Californias. 
The state constitution was framed in 1849, and commences, 
“We, the people of California,” ete. 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 Low+: Cali- 
fornia. 
§ 305. Pronunciation of Names.—In the pronunciation 
of the names of Spanish and Indian origin, the letters have 
usually the Spanish sounds. A is like “a” in far ; ¢ like “a” in 
fare; 7 like ‘‘ee” in meet; o like “0” in go; wu like “oo” in 
fool. His silent; j and g, before e and 7, have a sound similar 
to that of the English “h;” s never has the sound of z, but 
is always like “ss” in hiss. Qu, before e and @, is like “k.” 
Zi, is “li” in William; # 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 3, like 
“th” in thick; but the Mexicans give them the sound of s. 
The errors which 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 ¢, 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 
