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0 pointsthe_gipsy5y ago0 comments

It's either Mexico and Texas, or Méjico and Tejas. Someone might mix across languages, but that does not mean that there is actually a formal exception to the rule.

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ternaryoperator5y ago· 2 in thread

Not at all. In Mexico, it's written México and pronounced Méjico. So that is definitely an exception to the pronunciation of x as a ks sound.

The spelling rule you imply is not correct either: the same Spanish speakers who write Texas for the state, write Tejano for the Latin music originating there--both of those spellings being the most widespread in both Texas and Mexico.

the_gipsyOP5y ago

So I dug this up a bit, because I'm accustomed to the form "Méjico" in Spain.

You are right that México is written with an X but pronounced with a jota. However it has a special status of topónimo (place name), which sometimes don't have a translation (thank god).

E.g. "Washington" is not pronounced with a sharp S, it's just pronounced as in the original language. Or Wyoming is pronounced as "uaióming", not "bioming". Which is exactly what happens with México, in old spanish the X was pronounced as jota.

https://www.rae.es/dpd/M%C3%A9xico

ternaryoperator5y ago

Yup, it's historical--like almost everything in languages ;-)

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