Javier (name)
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Javier (hav-YEHR, HA-Vee-air) is the Spanish version of the masculine name, Xavier in French, Catalan and English. The name has Basque roots, etymologically originating in the word exaberri (etxe berri in standard spelling, meaning "new house"). It also has Arabic roots meaning "bright". It has been phonetically influenced by Latin and has evolved along with other Castilian words. Other variations of this name includes Xabier, Xaverius, Xaver, Xever, Saverio, Giaffar, and Jaffar. The feminine Javiera, Saveria, Zaviera, and Saverina are less common.
Etxebarri, Chávarri, Etxeberria are other versions of the word, used as surnames.
Its diffusion may be due mainly to the castle of Javier in Navarre, Spain. The Jesuit priest and missionary Saint Francis Xavier (Spanish: San Francisco Javier) was a member of the local noble family and when he was canonized, places and people were named after him which popularized the name. Contemporary use of the name Javier is commonly found in Spain and Latin American countries where the name is popular.
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[edit] From Exaberri to Javier
- Loss of the initial e
- Loss of the ending i
- Middle, accentuated, e became the diphthongized form ie
- Old Spanish X was pronounced as in Basque, like an English SH /ʃ/. Old Spanish /ʃ/ then merged with J (then pronounced the English and later the French way) into /x/, which is now spelled J and pronounced like Scottish or German ch or the English h.
Portuguese kept the pronunciation of "x" as the English "sh". Therefore, in Portuguese the name is still spelled Xavier and maintains the original "sh" pronunciation.
People unfamiliar with the form Xavier, when faced with reading it, have sometimes resorted to pronouncing it "ex-avier", though one would have expected its pronunciation as one would pronounce the word "xylophone" to have offered a more reasonable solution. This has resulted in some popular fictional Xaviers getting saddled with the "Ex-avier" pronunciation, as with Charles Xavier, leader of the fictional X-Men.
Compare with the evolution of the placename Ilunberri to Lumbier.
[edit] Municipalities and towns
- Javier, Leyte, Philippines
- Etxebarri, Biscay, Spain
- Etxebarria, Biscay, Spain
- Etcheverry, a French variant
- Chávarri, Echevarría, Echeverría, Spanish variants
- San Javier (several places)
[edit] See also
- Chauna chavaria, a bird named after one Chávarri.
- Xavier
