# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/21 "2011-01-16T22:48:40Z")
The case has been made already; I just want to point and laugh at the OP for complaining about people pronouncing it incorrectly when he didn’t even make the correct pronunciation one of the options (thus we can reasonably assume he didn’t even know what the correct pronunciation was). You should be properly shamed. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/22 "2011-01-16T22:57:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Other. Ha-la-PEY- **nyo**. There’s a tilde over the ‘n’ (_eñe_ – ‘enya’). What he said. Or, rather, what he typed. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/23 "2011-01-16T23:13:13Z")
[QUOTE=ruadh] …I have to fight the urge to correct the staff in the burrito bar every time I go there… [/quote] I wouldn’t begrudge someone in Ireland or England “mispronouncing” this word, much less _quesadilla_–but I assume everyone understands what they mean when they say it, right? > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > …ostensibly an e, kind of ends up sounding like an English long a… Which “a” is that? The one in _father_, the one in _hate_, or the one in _cat_? If we refer to English vowel sounds by standard (printed) letters–which have no intrinsic sound–it can get confusing. Even if you use terms like “long a, short a” etc., that falsely presumes that there are only 10 vowels in English, and ignores that word stress affects “vowel” production. Even if you want to pronounce the Spanish vowel in question here it can vary amongst speakers, ranging in openness between /Ɛ/ (the English vowel in _get_) and /ei/ (as in English _cake_). It makes sense that some English speakers might tend toward that later, as that phonology is probably more common in English, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/24 "2011-01-16T23:32:11Z")
Well, to get nitpicky, I pronounce it differently depending on if I am speaking English or Spanish. In English, I use the English “h” for “j,” and anglicize the vowels: first a is short as in “hat,” the e pronounced as a long English “ay.” Ha-luh-PAY-nyo. If I am speaking Spanish, I pronounce the"jota" with a bit of a guttural sound and use the proper Spanish vowels, which are more clipped than English vowels. (j)ah-lah-PEH-nyo. ---
**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/25 "2011-01-16T23:52:27Z")
> [@Almost everybody](#): > > Ha-lah-PEY-nyo. Why does everybody insist on putting a Y behind the E anyway? MeanOldLady is right. PEY, PAY, PEI etc. are all wrong. It’s PE. If you can pronunce words like BED or RED, then it shouldn’t be impossible for you to pronounce an /e/ without appending an /i/. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/26 "2011-01-16T23:54:23Z")
> [@Apollon](#): > > Why does everybody insist on putting a Y behind the E anyway? MeanOldLady is right. PEY, PAY, PEI etc. are all wrong. It’s PE. > If you can pronunce words like BED or RED, then it shouldn’t be impossible for you to pronounce an /e/ without appending an /i/. Because, by English vowels rules, if a vowel is left open (that is, not followed by a consonant), it is pronounced long. So “pe” is pronounced “pee,” like “he,” “she,” “be,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/27 "2011-01-16T23:56:38Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Pronounciation of “jalapeno” Better yet, what’s the pronunciation of “ **Pronounciation** ”? ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/28 "2011-01-17T00:00:17Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Other. Ha-la-PEY- **nyo**. There’s a tilde over the ‘n’ (_eñe_ – ‘enya’). 'nother vote for this one, which is about as closer as a gringo can be expected to get to the Mexican/spanish pronunciation. Interestingly, I had an elderly friend who hailed from Texas (northern Texas that is, a long way from the border). He always used the hillbilly pronunciation…jap-a-LEE-na. I guess that was the way he’d learned to say it. I have no idea whether that abomination is common usage in the midwest. SS ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/29 "2011-01-17T00:22:04Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > 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. Grr. My husband did the same thing, turning it into ja-LOP-pen-O. This was all fine and dandy until someone got hurt. Me. As we were standing in public and I used his stupid pronunciation and I think the whole store stopped just to look at the stupid woman who can’t pronounce jalapeno. Grr. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/30 "2011-01-17T00:38:29Z")
> [@xanthous](#): > > Another vote for Ha-la-PEY- **nyo** And another. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/31 "2011-01-17T01:01:30Z")
CHI pol TAY no really, hal-a pain-yo ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/32 "2011-01-17T01:20:05Z")
Other. Hal-ah-PEE-nyo. ---
**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 17, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/33 "2011-01-17T01:24:15Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > CHI pol TAY Chi-POTE-lay. 😉 ---
**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 17, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/34 "2011-01-17T01:31:31Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > The case has been made already; I just want to point and laugh at the OP for complaining about people pronouncing it incorrectly when he didn’t even make the correct pronunciation one of the options (thus we can reasonably assume he didn’t even know what the correct pronunciation was). You should be properly shamed. Well, _I_ knew how to correctly pronounce it, but wasn’t sure where to put the “y”, and all the while the \*&^%$#@ 5 minute timer was ticking. Sue me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/35 "2011-01-17T03:06:34Z")
ha la Pei nyo you forgot the tilde over the n ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Baks\_Noogiehead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@Bob\_Baks\_Noogiehead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Baks_Noogiehead)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/36 "2011-01-17T03:52:24Z")
Trailer Park Boys debate this very question: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/e0iqxzCAKWo/hqdefault.jpg "TPB - Jalapeno (Alternate Take)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0iqxzCAKWo) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/37 "2011-01-17T03:57:08Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > . . . it bugs me when people pronounce it using English phonics rules, which I find rather strange. This is exactly what you have done, in your two examples. It’s ha-la-PAY-nyo. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/38 "2011-01-17T04:04:31Z")
I’ve only ever heard Chipotle pronounced as something like “Chi-Pote-Ill”, but Australia and New Zealand aren’t noted for its Spanish-speaking population (or proximity to a significant Spanish-speaking country), which also probably explain the common (at least IME) presence of pronunciations like “Hal (or Jel)-a-Peen-O” and “Kwes-A-Dilla”. Yes, a disturbing number of people in this part of the world appear to have attended the Zap Brannigan School Of Foreign Languages. 😛 ---
**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 17, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/39 "2011-01-17T04:08:22Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > and “Kwes-A-Dilla”. > > Yes, a disturbing number of people in this part of the world appear to have attended the Zap Brannigan School Of Foreign Languages. 😛 I worked with a girl from Iowa who said ‘tor-till-ee-a’. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853/40 "2011-01-17T04:11:01Z")
As others have said, “Other” I tend to pronounce it either Hah-lah-pehnyo (last two sylables slurred together, versus the first two being distinct) or kHa-lah-pehnyo (same thing, but a harder “H” sound). It’s the ñ that trips the white folks up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-jalapeno/567853.md?page=3)