# Pronounciation of "jalapeno" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853 "2011-01-16T19:35:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/1 "2011-01-16T19:35:57Z")
Keep hearing this word in various commercials and whatnot, and it bugs me when people pronounce it using English phonics rules, which I find rather strange. A French speaker might get a little miffed if us Americans said “horz dee ovress” for hors d’oeuvres-so why the long e and the lack of the “rolled” n every time I hear jalapeno in American television? One complicating factor is that the vowel in question, which is ostensibly an e, kind of ends up sounding like an English long a because of the wavy n that follows. What makes it even weirder is that the “j” is said the correct way (as an English “h” sound). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/2 "2011-01-16T19:40:28Z")
On a stick! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/3 "2011-01-16T19:42:29Z")
Other. Ha-la-PEY- **nyo**. There’s a tilde over the ‘n’ (_eñe_ – ‘enya’). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/4 "2011-01-16T19:44:58Z")
Neither of your choices are correct. As **Johnny L.A.** says, it’s hahl-ah-pey-nyo. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/5 "2011-01-16T19:48:14Z")
ha-lah-pain-yo ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/6 "2011-01-16T19:48:35Z")
ja-la-PEH-nyo. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/7 "2011-01-16T19:54:48Z")
5 minute window my ass. Pretend my ‘j’ is an ‘h.’ I can’t help but to read them as the same thing, even though in English, they are not. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/8 "2011-01-16T20:10:51Z")
hal-a-pen(enya)-o ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/9 "2011-01-16T21:39:15Z")
You’d be surprised how many people here pronounce it as it’s spelt: jala-pen-o. Here being the Land of Eternal Rain, otherwise known as the UK. I’ve heard this all up and down the country, from people of all ethnic backgrounds. It used to make my SO at the time (who was American) cringe every time she heard it. Mine: hahl-ah-pey-nyo ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/10 "2011-01-16T21:46:45Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > You’d be surprised how many people here pronounce it as it’s spelt: jala-pen-o. Here being the Land of Eternal Rain, otherwise known as the UK. I’ve heard this all up and down the country, from people of all ethnic backgrounds. It used to make my SO at the time (who was American) cringe every time she heard it. As an American in Ireland, I have to fight the urge to correct the staff in the burrito bar every time I go there. (Admittedly, I don’t always fight it as hard as I probably should :o ) And if you think their mangling of “jalapeños” is bad, you should hear what they do to “quesadilla”… ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/11 "2011-01-16T22:05:32Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Keep hearing this word in various commercials and whatnot, and it bugs me when people pronounce it using English phonics rules, which I find rather strange. A French speaker might get a little miffed if us Americans said “horz dee ovress” for hors d’oeuvres-so why the long e and the lack of the “rolled” n every time I hear jalapeno in American television? One complicating factor is that the vowel in question, which is ostensibly an e, kind of ends up sounding like an English long a because of the wavy n that follows. What makes it even weirder is that the “j” is said the correct way (as an English “h” sound). Might I point you toward the nearest loony bin, if you’re going to insist on applying logic to the English language? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Doctor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/12 "2011-01-16T22:14:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Other. Ha-la-PEY- **nyo**. There’s a tilde over the ‘n’ (_eñe_ – ‘enya’). As a current LA resident, I’ve got to agree with **Johnny L.A.** ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/13 "2011-01-16T22:15:25Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Might I point you toward the nearest loony bin, if you’re going to insist on applying logic to the English language? You do realize that the word “jalapeño” is Spanish and not English, right? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/14 "2011-01-16T22:23:34Z")
Okay, since clearly the OP’s intent was to see how we pronounce second-to-last syllable, let’s forget about the ñ for now. That said, am I the only one who does not pronounce it “pee” or “pey”? It’s “peh.” ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/15 "2011-01-16T22:26:14Z")
Another vote for Ha-la-PEY- **nyo** ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/16 "2011-01-16T22:26:55Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > You do realize that the word “jalapeño” is Spanish and not English, right? Yes and no. It has entered common English at this point. List to what the Merriam-Webster editor says about a word that enters English from a foreign language around 1:18 of [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFyY2mK8pxk) video. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/17 "2011-01-16T22:37:26Z")
Eh…nitpicking…It is clear to me that the “h” is not really pronounced the same as it is in English…more like “(h…) Al-eh-pen-hyo” than either of the options, but the second in the poll came pretty close. These subtle aspects…I am a native of Houston, Texas, and there have been rabid debates between natives (and others) re’ the “correct” pronounciation; some insist it is HOOston, others YUUston (either of which is ridiculous if taken at face value). Hello, it is BOTH…HYUSTON… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/18 "2011-01-16T22:41:23Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Yes and no. It has entered common English at this point. List to what the Merriam-Webster editor says about a word that enters English from a foreign language around 1:18 of [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFyY2mK8pxk) video. We-ellll, I would argue that “jalapeño” is less a new English word and more what Alan Bliss would call a _foreign word in current English usage_, which operates under somewhat different rules. It hasn’t really been fully assimilated the way “octopus” (from your example, which is really about grammatical manipulation rather than pronunciation anyway) has, and in particular the pronunciation of the “ñ” isn’t negotiable yet. I will concede that here in Texas I hear the “e” pronounced in a variety of ways, although going with the long E does make the person saying it sound like a gringo. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/19 "2011-01-16T22:46:51Z")
It’s a Spanish word, so I pronounce it as it is pronounced in Spanish: [xalaˈpeɲo]. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/20 "2011-01-16T22:48:00Z")
A few years ago, I started pronouncing “jalapeno” like it was a regular English word as a bit of a joke. It’s something like dʒəˈlæpɨnoʊ (juh-LAP-in-no). And now it’s pretty much become the way I always pronounce it, except when I think about it, which I almost never do. I’ve done the same thing with the street names here in Santa Barbara. It’s not helpful when I’m trying to give directions. Not at all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853.md?page=2)