# Correct pronunciation of "Don Juan"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895 "2007-04-13T01:45:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/1 "2007-04-13T01:45:53Z")
I have always assumed it was pronounced with “Juan” rhyming with “Don”. However, the other day on “Jeopardy!” there was a clue where Alex pronounced it like “JEW-an”. Where does that pronunciation derive from? Have I been saying it wrong all my life? ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/2 "2007-04-13T01:48:51Z")
Depends on the source. Byron intentionally rhymed it in odd ways in his poem, so if the question was about the fictional poem, yeah. [Source](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Juan_(Byron)#Humour) ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/3 "2007-04-13T01:52:11Z")
Just don’t pronounce w-h-i-p “hwip” ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/4 "2007-04-13T02:01:10Z")
[QUOTE=Shoeless] … there was a clue where Alex pronounced it like “JEW-an”. Where does that pronunciation derive from? Have I been saying it wrong all my life? [/QUOTE] If I can remember back to my college days, that’s Cuban Spanish, as opposed to Castilian Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/5 "2007-04-13T02:03:18Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Depends on the source. Byron intentionally rhymed it in odd ways in his poem, so if the question was about the fictional poem, yeah. [Source](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Juan_(Byron)#Humour) [/QUOTE] Actually, I think the category was about poetry, so yeah that’s probably it. ---
**Author:** ![EverLearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EverLearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EverLearner)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/6 "2007-04-13T02:04:59Z")
I thing the first letter in Juan is like the ch in yacht ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/7 "2007-04-13T02:08:18Z")
I just read this in Brit Lit and my professor pronounced it ‘jew-an.’ I’ll take her word for it because she’s a PhD in the subject and I’m sure as hell not. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/8 "2007-04-13T02:30:54Z")
Just before the next commercial break, [Kelly Miyahara](http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows/jeopardy/cluecrew_kelly.php) of the _Jeopardy!_ Clue Crew was featured in an insert explaining that Alex’s pronunciation of the poem’s title followed Lord Byron’s rhyming scheme. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/9 "2007-04-13T03:15:35Z")
Don Juan, in general, whether the fabled roue, the father of Spain’s present king, or the victor of Lepanto, is Dahn Hwahn, with a fairly emphatic H (though not the /kh/ sound). But Byron intentionally rendered it as Don Jew-uhn, more or less rhyming with “new one.” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/10 "2007-04-13T04:13:14Z")
As a guy who speaks the stuff almost since birth, I have to say the “JEW-an” really confuses me; in reality \*\*Polycarp \*\* is close, instead of “JEW-an” I would use “wHO-an” or “hoo-an” (close to the sound of an owl’s hoot) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/11 "2007-04-13T04:16:12Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] If I can remember back to my college days, that’s Cuban Spanish, as opposed to Castilian Spanish. [/QUOTE] I don’t think it’s any kind of real Spanish. Cuba has a distinct accent, but I am not aware that they pronounce Juan that way. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/12 "2007-04-13T09:30:05Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] If I can remember back to my college days, that’s Cuban Spanish, as opposed to Castilian Spanish. [/QUOTE] Uh… if the JEW is supposed to be like Jew, then it’s not any Spanish. I’ve never heard of regional variations on vowels. On consonant pronunciation and on which sillable gets stressed, yes. Juan in Spanish does not rhyme with Don. It’s two separate vowels (u like in “you” and a like in “cat”), but a single sillable, a dyptong. The a is the strongest vowel but it’s “juan”, not “ju-AN”. And never “JU-an.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/13 "2007-04-13T13:44:33Z")
See [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Juan_(Byron)#Humour) for an example & explanation of how the pronunciation is used in Byron’s poem. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/14 "2007-04-13T14:21:23Z")
If Don Juan were Manx rather than Spanish, his name would be pronounced like Byron pronounced it. (“Juan” is Manx Gaelic for “John”, and pronounced “Jewann”.) ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/15 "2007-04-13T14:40:12Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] I don’t think it’s any kind of real Spanish. Cuba has a distinct accent, but I am not aware that they pronounce Juan that way. [/QUOTE] We don’t, “who-AN” is the way it’s pronounced in Cuba, and anywhere Spanish is spoken as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/16 "2007-04-13T14:59:43Z")
Byron’s pronunciation Jew-an wasn’t odd, it was the standard English pronunciation of the day. Before the 20th century the English language unashamedly adapted foreign names to an English-style pronunciation, just as other countries did, and still do. Thus Don Quixote was pronounced Don Kwicksott in English, Don Quichotte in French. Don Juan was Don Jew-an, and a century before that, Don John. Shakespeare reflects this too - Jacques in As You Like It is pronounced Jake-wiss. In the 20th century the fashion changed and we began to pronounce names as we thought they should be pronounced in the language of origin - often ending up with a pronunciation that was at home nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/17 "2007-04-13T15:49:35Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] Just before the next commercial break, [Kelly Miyahara](http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows/jeopardy/cluecrew_kelly.php) of the _Jeopardy!_ Clue Crew was featured in an insert explaining that Alex’s pronunciation of the poem’s title followed Lord Byron’s rhyming scheme. [/QUOTE] Argh! I missed that… I must have run off to the kitchen too quickly! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/18 "2007-04-13T17:03:17Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] If I can remember back to my college days, that’s Cuban Spanish, as opposed to Castilian Spanish. [/QUOTE] I am guessing you have been out of college for a while. But. Cubans speak Spanish (Castellano) & they pronounce “Don Juan” like anywhere else where Spanish is spoken. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/19 "2007-04-13T21:33:13Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > If Don Juan were Manx rather than Spanish, his name would be pronounced like Byron pronounced it. > > (“Juan” is Manx Gaelic for “John”, and pronounced “Jewann”.) Interesting. [QUOTE=aldiboronti] Byron’s pronunciation Jew-an wasn’t odd, it was the standard English pronunciation of the day. Before the 20th century the English language unashamedly adapted foreign names to an English-style pronunciation, just as other countries did, and still do. Thus Don Quixote was pronounced Don Kwicksott in English, Don Quichotte in French. Don Juan was Don Jew-an, and a century before that, Don John. Shakespeare reflects this too - Jacques in As You Like It is pronounced Jake-wiss. In the 20th century the fashion changed and we began to pronounce names as we thought they should be pronounced in the language of origin - often ending up with a pronunciation that was at home nowhere. [/QUOTE] I listen to repeats of the BBC program “My Word”, which ran from 1957 to 1990. I have heard the panelists and the moderator say “Don Joo-an” and “Don Kwik-soat”. And of course you can hear the Brits call the car “JAG-yoo-ahr” today. OTOH, they pronounce French names and phrases correctly. I’ve wondered why words from the two languages are treated differently. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895/20 "2007-04-13T21:41:18Z")
[QUOTE=ChicanoRojo] I am guessing you have been out of college for a while. But. Cubans speak Spanish (Castellano) & they pronounce “Don Juan” like anywhere else where Spanish is spoken. [/QUOTE] Yes, I have been out of college for a while. My last Spanish professor was from Cuba and he attempted to teach us Castilian Spanish as well as Cuban Spanish. I can remember that all these years later because he took great pains to teach us the language as required by the curriculum as well as the version he grew up with and spoke. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronunciation-of-don-juan/399895.md?page=2)