pronunciation of Belize

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

The Spanish pronunciation is "Bay-lee-say"; the English pronunciantion is
"Bay-leeze." This stems from the "war" between Guatemala and England that has
been going on for 25 years about whether the country is "Belise" or "Belize."

You could have found this information in a standard Encyclopedia.

In a message dated 3/14/2001 4:37:30 PM, you wrote:

<<My sister-in-law and her family are natives of Belize, Mayan Indians from
the
Toledo district in the south, and they pronounce the name of the country with
/s/ not /z/ at the end, and make fun of us when we don't follow suit (cf.
Oregon /gan/  vs. /g at n/).    Don't know how widespread this is within the
country or if the phonology forbids voicing in this word-final position.
Anyone know?

Dale Coye
The College of NJ

--------------------
My sister-in-law and her family are natives of Belize, Mayan Indians from the

Toledo district in the south, and they pronounce the name of the country with

/s/ not /z/ at the end, and make fun of us when we don't follow suit (cf.

Oregon /gan/  vs. /g at n/).    Don't know how widespread this is within the

country or if the phonology forbids voicing in this word-final position.

Anyone know?>>