Pronunciation of "x"

[Glen]

Having been to a few pronunciation sites already I'm still at a loss for how to say Necaxa as in Don Ramón's catchphrase Yo le voy al Necaxa. My DVD is not that clear-sounding when he says it. Could someone please spell it phonetically? I'm tempted to think Neh-cah-hah because of the way "x" is pronounced in the word México. Am I right?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

There are many ways to pronounce "x": /sh/, /j/, /s/, /ks/, and the /j/; I don't know any rules for that. ;(

[Glen]

So I'd be alright with the sound of /j/ then?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Oh no!
My fault. I had written the phonetics but I somehow deleted it when I reworded my post. Sorry. :duh:

/nekaksa/ Like the "x" of "axe" in English.

[Glen]

Got it now. An "x" like the the English way of pronouncing "Mexico." Thanks! Even so, since El Chavo is a Mexican program then I wonder why it's not with a "j" like they say Méjico.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

As I said, there are many ways to pronounce "x" sounds here, and there are no clear rules for that. Most of the words with "x" come from different pre Hispanic languages, so they obey to specific sounds in the original language and to the different variations the Spaniards introduced when they couldn't pronounce them all.

[pjt33]

Just to add to Angélica's comment about pre-Hispanic languages, in Iberian languages, x is pronounced as a sh sound except in Spanish. However, the change in Spanish is more recent than Spanish colonisation of the Americas. The x in México comes from the name of the Mexica people, pronounced roughly Mesh-i-ka and spelt Mexica because that's how the conquistadores romanised the Nahuatl name.

[pinosilano]

Por mucho tiempo yo sabía que el país, en castellano, se llamaba 'Méjico" y que los Nordamericanos lo llamaban Mexico.