A town by any other name...

Maybe it's because of my musical background.

Or maybe I'm just a little odd.

During a trip to Mexico in late April, I found myself repeating the names of certain towns and cities of our southern neighbor over and over to myself, savoring the way they sounded as I whispered them under my breath (so people wouldn't think I was crazy).

I liked the way the names of these three towns roll off the tongue like a cascading waterfall, long and elegant streams of sound:

Guanajuato (Juan -a-hwato) (start the "h" like you're checking your breath)
Guadalajara (the "j" sounds like an "h")
Cuernavaca ("v" sounds like a "b")

And the short, militant-sounding names of:

Oaxaca (Wha-hock-a)
Taxco (Tasko)
Pachuca (Pah-chew-ka)

(I can just imagine native tribes conversing when I hear these gutteral sounds.)

Or the way some end on a strong note, like in:

Yucatan ("You-co-tan" -- emphasis on the last "a" )
Cancun (I think you probably know how to say this one, buy try it more like "Kahn-Koon," emphasizing the "u" at the end)
Tepotzlan (accent on the last "a") (te-poat-slon)-- I especially like the "tzl" consonant cluster in this one

Then you get one like Teotihuacan that combines the best of the two categories above. "Teh-oh-tee-wha-kan" (accent on "kan")

Or the up-and-down, back-and-forth rocking rhythm of these two:

Zacatecas ("c" sounds like a "k") (Zah-cah-teh-kas)
Queretero (Ca-reh-teh-row)

Yeah, it's a little strange that I think about these things. But don't you ever like how a word sounds? The, what's it called -- onomatopoeia -- of words like "plop" "crack" "sip" "bam"?

If you pay attention, you'll start to realize how much language -- whether it be English, Spanish, Quechua or whatever -- is like one big musical score.

What's your favorite?