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oa-(k)ste-PEC - oakstepéc (or the attack of the nested parenthesis)

Yes, you can surely tell I am no guru when it comes to describing sounds - maybe that’s because in Spanish every letter has one, or at most two, sounds? Anyway, Christian, that’s the way to say it - The O sometimes sounds a little bit U-ish, in some places you could see this same sound (coming from Náhuatl, Mexico’s main indigenous language) as huaks. The k (in the x) is usually pronounced, but quite soft - sometimes we just refer to the place as “Oastepec”, and nobody gets hurt (or worse, sent to Oaxaca (Huajaka - yes, the X is the only letter whose sound truly changes (and that is because Spaniards used it as a wildcard for S, KS, SH, J - In fact, México is pronounced Méjico, but never (EVER) spelt that way besides what other Spanish speakers say. The original sound, though, was closer to Méshico))) And, yes, I am also one of many thousands of people longing to ride through the Copper Canyon. It’s supposed to be really, really beautiful. Too bad Chihuahua is ~20 hours away from Mexico City :( And about Oaxtepec’s location: It’s 60km south of Mexico City, not of Downtown Mexico (that would still be out of the city, but not by that much). The best route is not straight, so from my house (in South-Western Mexico City, ~15m away from where the Cuernavaca highway begins) it’s about 90 minutes. The highway is very good and safe, don’t worry. I do expect people coming by car from the USA. Here you have a good map of Morelos state. Oaxtepec is on the third column, second row, near Cuautla. Just for completeness sake, just North of Morelos you have Distrito Federal, where Mexico City (partly) lies. The airport, where most of you will arrive is again in the second row, third column (hmmm… A pattern starts to emerge! Lets see what that means…) - We are working so we don’t have to explain to you all how to get from there to Oaxtepec, I hope we can provide buses covering the route, at least in the days with most arrivals.

Comments

Guido Trotter 2005-12-14 21:50:34

RE: oa-(k)ste-PEC - oakstepéc (or the attack of the nested paren

Hi Gunnar!

How about a digital recording of you (or someone else who knows the right pronunciation) pronouncing it! I think it might be easier for everybody to emulate that! :)

Thanks!

Guido

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