Why do we spell Brazil with a Z?

[jackswstd]

Because 'Murica that's why

 

[George's Dilemma]

never understood this....somebody break the science down

Why "Filipinos" live in the "Philippines."

The Philippines have only been called the Philippines (with a "Ph") since the United States bought the country from Spain around the turn of the 20th century, after the Spanish-American War. Under Spanish colonial rule—which extended back to the 16thcentury—the country had been called "Las Islas Filipinas," after King Felipe II. For Americans, Felipe was Phillip, so LasFilipinas became the Philippines. While the name of the country changed, the name of the nationality did not. Those who lived in the renamed Philippines were still called Filipinos.

The term "Pilipino" derives from the convoluted story of how the Philippines got its national language. There was no official, native language under Spanish and American control. Those living on the islands could be divided into as many as 120 different groups, each with its own way of talking. The desire to create a mother tongue increased when the United States pulled out of the country and the Philippines became a commonwealth in the 1930s. A national institute was given the task of making one of the native languages official.

The institute eventually decided on Tagalog. Speakers of the other languages felt marginalized, and the national language was renamed Pilipino in 1959. Although officially based on Tagalog, Pilipino incorporated elements of the country's other native languages. (The question of whether it's too much like Tagalog is still a source of controversy.)

Why "Pilipino" and not "Filipino"? The developers of the mother tongue looked back to the alphabet that was used before the Spaniards took over (and in the early years of Spanish rule). The native script, called "Baybayin," had fewer than two dozen letters and didn't include the sound for "F." Though the letter "F" had been incorporated into the language during the centuries of Spanish influence, the country's post-colonial leadership chose to return to the original alphabet. Foreign words that used "non-native" sounds were respelled to fit the Baybayin-based alphabet. C's became K's, X's turned into SK's, and the letter F became a P. Filipinos who spoke Tagalog became Pilipinos who spoke Pilipino.

The debate over the national language continued for decades. A constitution written in the early 1970s (drawn up as Ferdinand Marcos instituted an eight-year stretch of martial law) promised to create a new national language called "Filipino." The next constitution, from 1987, made the change official, designating Filipino—which uses a larger alphabet and incorporates foreign sounds—as the national language. With the letter "F" restored, presumably those who speak the national language are now, once again, Filipinos.

 

[OfTheCross]

When an 's' is between two vowels it's pronounced like a z in Portuguese

 

[StickStickly]

Anglicization.

Same reason why we say Munich instead of Munchen
Rome instead of Roma
Cologne instead of Klon
Moscow instead of Moskva
etc

Germany instead of Deutschland.

 

[dennis roadman]

pretty simple right

An "L" on the end of a syllable also takes an "ooh" sound, so "Brasil" is actually pronounced "Bd-ah-zee-ooh"

Most Americans try to be cute and say "braseel"

The more crehs know

 

[Denzel_Saucegton]

Delete

 

[Box Cutta]

Cac instead of white person.

 

[Yehuda]

Cac instead of white person.