The Jhonny myth
by PatBordersHelmet on Apr 9, 2008 11:12 PM EDT
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PrintIn honor of Jhonny's solo shot and hopes that his offense sticks around, I'd like to address something that's been eating at me for a couple of years now--the spelling of Jhonny Peralta's first name. As you may have noticed it's spelled Jhonny, which causes people pronounce it funny--and it's is exactly why it's spelled that way! You see, Jhonny is from the Dominican Republic. If he spelled it "Johnny," the locals would pronounce it "Yawn-Ee." Instead, Jhonny's parents decided to go with the more anglo version, hence the "J" followed by an "H" to keep it "Jaw-Knee." It's a common name. There are thousands of Jhonny's and they live in a continent near you if not the same one.
When the crack reporters from esteemed dailys such as the Plain Dealer noticed the funny spelling, their journalistic instincts took over and they questioned the young infielder as to how he received such an interesting misspelling of such a obvious name. Jhonny told the reporters (through an interpreter) that it was just the the way his dad spelled it on his birth certifcate. Hilarious and Quirky! Print It! That was 2005.
Unfortunately I keep hearing this story. The fact I met a guy in Ecuador named Jhonny prior to the "Jhonny origin" blurbs made me uncomfortable. Subsequently I've met a handful of Jhonny's--whose fathers have surprisingly never met. Currently there is a world class ranked bantamweight boxer from Mexico named Jhonny Gonzalez who was born a whole year prior to the alleged creative spelling incident at a Santiago, DR, hospital.
I'm all for baseball myth, but this one borders on ignorance. Are we pronouncing Johann Santana's first name "Joe-Han" because he didn't have the courtesy of using a "Y" and living in the U.S. t the same time? I'm sure someone pointed this out before, but I look forward to not having to hear the whole "misspelling" story regurgitated at the ballpark this season--although I'm sure you can set your watch to it showing up again in a Hoynes article.
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In fact, while Peralta is the only Jhonny in the history of major league baseball, or with any name starting with "Jh," there have been at least nine other minor leaguers named Jhonny, four of them active during 2007.
There have also been minor leaguers named Jhon (4), Jhonatan (4), Jhonathan, Jhonder, Jhonson, Jhonaldo, Jhaysson, Jhoan (3), Jhan, Jhoulys, Jhovany, Jhoe, Jhomar, Jhensy and Jhodecahedron.
Yeah, I made that last one up, but the others are real names.
Awesome. Thanks for that. I had no idea. I just checked to see if the myth was out there in print somewhere.
And of course, Wikipedia, which mentions an interview Peralta gave with a San Diego paper, but actually cites the above Chass article. WP does mention that Jh is sometimes used as explained above.
As Michael Scott says: "Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information."
I rather they took him behind the track and put him out of his misery.
by Stinky McDingus on Apr 10, 2008 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes, the proper pronunciation of Jhonny and Johnny is the same with a hard "J" sound--in English and Spanish. Therefore, I think we can agree that there is no reasonable need to shout "Juh-hawn-nee!" every time he comes up to bat. Please inform the people sitting near you next time you're at the park to drop the extra syllable or desist.
by PatBordersHelmet on Apr 10, 2008 9:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Yes, and it needs to stop! Proper language and high diction must always be observed at the ballpark. Next in my crosshairs is people eating food with their hands in public. Disgusting and uncivilized, if I may say. Despite what you hear, I have no problem with people beating their horses at the diamond. A man should be able to do with his property as he sees fit! Now back to my Gin Rickey, if you don't mind.
by PatBordersHelmet on Apr 10, 2008 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Is nothing sacred?
Seriously, this is pretty much what I've always suspected. But I've studied Spanish a little, and I don't understand why "Jho" would necessarily be pronounced "Jaw," given that the Spanish J sounds like an English Y, as in Jorge Julio, and the Spanish H is usually silent.
by ken from alexandria on Apr 10, 2008 8:33 AM EDT reply actions
Actually the vowell determines the sound a Spanish "j" makes to a degree. The true Spanish "j" sound is somewhere between an English H and Y sound with a gutteral emphasis not found in English. For example using common baseball names we can all pronounce:
Ja=H sound (as in Javier)
Je=H sound (as in Jesus)
Ji=H sound (as in Jimenez)
Ju=H sound (as in Julio)
Jo=Y sound (as in Johann)
As Jay pointed out above, "Jh" is commonly used in names, but there are no common Spanish words that start with "Jh." It is likely that the occurrence of "Jh" is solely a modern construct to add the hard "J" sound in order to approximate English names.
by PatBordersHelmet on Apr 10, 2008 9:55 AM EDT up reply actions
You're right, of course, about the role of the vowel in producing the H or the Y sound (though I can think of exceptions), and also about the rarity of the Jh construction. Your "modern construct" argument is, I think, persuasive. Thanks.
by ken from alexandria on Apr 10, 2008 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions
I've never heard about that. What is it?
Burn on, big river, burn on...
by Turkmenbashi on Apr 10, 2008 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions
The "story" that they've always told was that Ed had an aunt/great aunt/grandmother named Pearl (that much is supposedly true) of Native American descent who would make jelly/jam with peyote mixed in, and they named the band after that.
Eddie has since said that the tale is an example of "never letting the truth get in the way of a good story."
Stone mentioned in one interview in Europe a few years ago that he remembers it as a reference to a male bodily fluid and the band thought it would be funny to see a bunch of frat boys wearing t-shirts that said it on their chest.
The band was originally called Mookie Blaylock, but they changed it when they found out the real Mookie didn't like the fact they were named after him.
Sorry, I'm a bit of a PJ nut.
Il faut d'abord durer.
Ha ha, interesting. I used to be a huge PJ fan but for some reason, my interest has waned.
Burn on, big river, burn on...
by Turkmenbashi on Apr 10, 2008 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions
They're huge basketball fans in general. Jeff Ament, the bassist, is a Supersonics season ticket holder. Eddie is a Cubs fan, having grown up in Evanston, and still goes to a game about once a year and sings Take Me Out to the Ballgame. I've seen him do it twice.
Five Horizons is a site that used to be the be-all end-all encyclopedia of PJ info, though it is no longer updated and other sites have taken over that crown. But if you follow that link (their "Concert Chronology") and scroll down to 10/26/91, you'll see what I would have literally chewed off my left hand to have attended -- they played a pick up game of basketball at Normandy High against WMMS DJs and some Normandy students. I was in the fifth grade at the time and have no recollection of it (probably didn't own Ten yet), but that would have been awesome.
Sorry I'm so off topic. I'll try to stop.
Il faut d'abord durer.
more off-topic pearl jam info!
the more believable (in my opinion) version of the origin of the band name is that they were named after Earl The Pearl Monroe, who wore #10 (title of debut album). Then again, Mookie Blaylock also wore #10. For the record, the members of the band, nor their management, has ever released the origin of the name.
i collect pearl jam (and other) gigposters, and my username at the pearl jam poster site is Mrs. Sizemore. I'm not sure I should have told you that.
You know Selig? Ombudsman.
Rolub, you don't have the pseudo-Eval Kneivel one from the Gorge '06, do you? I was there and didn't get one. It's probably my all time favorite poster, the only ones that come close are the California "Stained-Glass" trilogy and maybe the Cleveland '03 with the baby listening to headphones.
Il faut d'abord durer.
ahhhh, sorry adam, i did have it, but sold it. them posters can be quite a profitable hobby if you play it right.
I've got between 70 and 80 posters, half of them pearl jam. with the exception of 2 framed, they sit in a box underneath my bed.
You know Selig? Ombudsman.
It's true! I was a freshman at Normandy that year. Unfortunately, I was totally out of it... "Pearl Jam? Who the heck is that?" I still remember that day; girl who sat next to me in homeroom was all decked out in a self-made Pearl Jam t-shirt. I thought she was nuts. Although Ten was released at the time, this was before it became massively popular. So I didn't even go to the event, which I very much regret, as they are now one of my favorite bands.
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