Page:The Tourist's California by Wood, Ruth Kedzie.djvu/43

 GENERAL INFORMATION 25 The Oak Pass, El Paso de Robles; the Fisher- beach, Pescadero; The Chest, El Cajon; Pleasant View, Linda Vista; Of the Sea, Del Mar; Black Peak, Loma Prieta; Little Willow, Sausalito. Hotels choose Spanish names signifying On the Hill-top, House of the Desert, In the Forest, The Crowned. Here we call a dry river-bed an arroyo; a lake, a laguna; a plain, a vega; a plateau, a mesa; a river, a rio; a measure of 33 inches, a vara; a wharf, an embarcadero; a cow-boy, a vaquero; a priest, a padre; a fort, a presidio; a festival, a fiesta; a town, a pueblo; a court, a patio; a city square, a plaza; a ravine, a canyada; a gorge, a canyon; a farm, a ranclieria; a corn-meal dump- ling, a tamale; a red bean, a frijole; a house, a casa; a clay house, an adobe. To properly pronounce names which commonly arise one must know that the Spanish j and x are aspirated (San Joce = San Hosa; frijole = frihola ; Calexico = Calehico). As in all Latin languages, i is pronounced ee (camino = cameeno) ; a is broadened to ah (Capistrano = Capistrahno) ; e preceding a vowel or at the end of a word becomes a (Mateo = Matao ; adobe = adoba) ; u is pronounced as oo (laguna = lagoonah). The letter g is gutturally aspirated after a manner possible only to the Latin throat (Los Angeles = Los An'kheles, never Los