QuilotoaMar 14

Why, in Spanish, is saint sometimes San and sometimes Santa for naming cities?

https://lemmy.ca/post/61778515

Why, in Spanish, is saint sometimes San and sometimes Santa for naming cities? - Lemmy.ca

Lemmy

Show threadVenia SilenteMar 14

It’s because nouns in Spanish carry gender! Which is crazy but it works.

“San Francisco” → Francisco is a male name.

“Santa Bárbara” → Baŕbara is a female name.

Show threadzaphod
Masculine form would be santo like in Santo Domingo. San seems to be an abbreviated form of that.
Mar 14 at 12:46pmWeb
Show threadVenia SilenteMar 14
Yeah, “Santo” is the better example. I’m actually not sure if there’s any particular distinction for why sme place names are “San” and other are “Santo”, perhaps it comes from historical baggage from whichever branches of explorers / conquerers founded each town.
Show threadFloMoMar 14

To the best if my knowledge, Santo is used to clarify the difference between the title and the name.

Santo Tomás being the simplest example I can think of, as “San Tomás” can be confused as as “Santo Más”.

Everything else is pretty spot on and an excellent explanation!

Show threadquediuspayuMar 14
All masculine saint names use the form San except those names that start with the syllables to- and do-.
Show threadordnance_qf_17_pounderMar 14
SANTO FRANCISCO, THE EVEN GAYER SAN FRANCISCO 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️❤️
Show threadDaMonsterKneesMar 14
This might be the most important comment ever. I’m honored to have been here.
Show threadFinjaminPoachMar 14
Macho
Show threadquediuspayuMar 14
San is the apocope of santo (masculine form of saint), all masculine names use the form San except those that start with the syllables to- or do-.
Show threadanomnomMar 15
See? English isn’t the only language with semi-arbitrarily pointless rules