Monday, January 6, 2014

Cacao!!!

Okay, so a heated debate erupted during Social Studies today (a good thing!)






                                                                 
Merriam Webster says the pronunciation goes like this:  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cacao

WHAT?!?!?

It was all about the pronunciation of one word, "cacao."  You see, we were studying the Columbian Exchange.  The cacao bean, which is used to make chocolate, was one of the goods being brought back to Europe from the Americas by different explorers.

However, several students claim they've been to chocolate factories where it is pronounced differently.

Sometimes, the same word (same spelling) is pronounced differently in different languages.

Who can solve this question once and for all?  How is cacao pronounced in English?

I encourage you to build off each other's responses, provide solid evidence, and prove that you are right!!!






39 comments:

  1. I think there are many ways to pronounce cacao. On this link, there are two American pronunciations. I think that everybody's correct in there own way. Everybody has there own way to pronounce it. So really, nobody's wrong or right.
    LINK:http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/pronunciation/american/cacao

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    1. I respectfully disagree with you sireen. I believe the English pronunciation is (Ca-Cow). This word is originated from the Maya's, who pronounced it as (Ka'-Kau').This name is coined by the Swedish Linneus, that merged the Greek words such as " Theo" god" Broma" food with the maya Cacao.
      LINK: http://www.authenticmaya.com/cacao.htm, http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kVSIkXL_Nmo&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DkVSIkXL_Nmo

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    2. I kind of agree, Dylan. When you said this, you kind of proved my point. You said it had two pronunciations, but each were at different times. I never said when my words were said.

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  2. I also think that there many ways to pronounce cocoa but I think it is pronounce ca-cay-o because I saw many websites saying that this is how you pronounce it, this is one of the websites we found that tells you how to pronounce it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt3X-WnWGcc. -Cam & Jack

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    1. I think that it is pronounced co cow because it has ao and that make the sound ow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVSIkXL_Nmo. another reaon is beacuse in the video the guy had an acsent this way it makes more sence. pran and david worked on this

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  3. My opinion on this argument about the pronounciation of cocoa is that there is no correct way to say it. There are 3 ways (that I know of) to pronounce it. The first one is pronounced ke-kau (like what a bird sounds like) the second one is is ka-kao (it sounds exactly the same as the correct spelling of the word) and the third is ka-cow. I think that there is no correct waty of saying it because many people have different ways of interpreting it and it has already become a trend to say the word these ways.
    Source: www.merriam-webster

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    1. I think cacao because that is the main English pronunciation

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    2. Yes, you can say it like that but there are many different ways as well

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    3. I respectfully disagree with your opinion Olivia, I think the third pronunciation is correct. You were right about how people say it differently, but they only say it differently because they might be from a different country like how mayans said it. ( Ka' Kau' ) is they way they pronounced it. In English the correct way of saying it is ( Ca-Cow ). I agree with your third way, but disagree with the other ones.

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    4. Okay, Dylan you have finally convinced me that the word is pronounced ca-cow. This was the original way to spell cacao but have become to be said many different ways.

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  4. There is no correct way of saying it because they have different ways of saying different things.I found that out on www.merrian-Webster.com.Everyone is correct in there own ways.

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    1. I respectfully disagree with you Amelia, there are many different ways to say cacao, but they are all in different languages. In english, it is pronounced ( Ca-Cow). Like the mayans pronounced it ( Ka' Kau' ).

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    2. Dylan, I respectfully disagree with you because we are looking for the American English pronunciation, which is "ka-kao". The Mayans may have pronounced it "ca-cow", but we are not looking for that pronunciation. I have been to many sites and many of them have shown an American and British pronunciation. The British was "ca-cow" but the American was "ka-kao".
      LINK: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cacao

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  5. We think cacao is pronounced "k-ka-o".Also when two vowels go walking the first one does the talking.You can check this link: http://www.merrian-Webster.com/dictionary/cacao
    By: Claire and Rita

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  6. I think it can be said 2 ways u can say it like ca-cow or ca-cao i think this because on http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cacao?show=0&t=1389116947

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  7. I think that cacao is pronounced (ka-kao) in American English. I have two links to show this. I also think that when explorers came over they pronounced it in their native languages, so the way it was said May have changed over time. On many of the sites I found it showed an American and British way of saying it. When I clicked on the American one, it was pronounced "ka-kao". Therefore, it's pronounced "ka-kao".
    Links:http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Cacao
    http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/cacao

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  8. Hi this is Allie and Taylor together! We think it's pronounced Ka_kay_oh. In British it's pronounced ka_kay_oooooo. The American English version is ca_cow. Which is adapted from the original version ka_kay_oh. We think it's ka_kay_oh beacause mr. Pestone showed us the first video and it was Pronouced Ka_kay_oh. Here's the link to the site that got the information about the languages.
    http://t.answers.com/answers/#!/entry/how-do-you-pronounce-cacao,4ff176bb7af68a84dcda9b97/2

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  9. I agree with Dylan because I think cacao sounds that way because he has a lot of information supporting his answer.

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  10. This is Allie at home. I agree with Rita because http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cacao is the best place to find pronunciations.

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  11. I do not think that many people are taking into account that american English and British English are 2 different languages. Are we asking for the american way or the British way. Also, since the British are culture smashers they may have changed the word to the way they wanted it.

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    1. Hi Jack,
      Just to clarify, we are looking for the American English pronunciation.

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    2. I agree with you Jack, the right way to pronounce cacao in english is (Ka-Kao) anyone who disagree's can be wrong the only english way to pronounce it is (Ka-Kao) my proof the merium webster ENGLISH dictionary www.merriam-webster

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  12. Hi Everyone,

    Great commenting so far! I love all the internet research going on, and it's quite impressive to see you analyzing each other's comments and providing feedback. Keep it up!

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  13. I think that it could be both ways because there's different people who think it's co-kay-o or ca-cou it could be either one we also just saw a different way it's says ka-ka everybody has a different way of saying it but the hard question is are there other ways of saying it?Ar none of us saying it right?Nobody really knows.

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    1. well there is a way to say it in english and in another language. but for now in english i think it is spelled cacao (k-ka-o).

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  14. hello this is jonathan i belive it is said like ca-ka-o because in this web site they provide a pernounciation you will find it at http://www.embedplus.com/dictionary/how-to-pronounce-cacao-and-use-it

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    1. Jonathan, I totally agree with you. Your way is the correct way in English.

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  15. I agree with Sireen because when I checked some websites and I listened to people say cacao and every website said it differently so I think every language speaks cacao differently

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  16. I agree with Sireen because I think people can say cacao differently. I also think every language speaks cacao differently.

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    1. yes but cacao is the way to say it in english

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    2. i went on many different websites and most of them said ''k-ka-o'' so i believe like Kieran said that the ENGLISH webster dictionary is the right way to say it in english (k-ka-o).

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  17. I went on a bunch of different websites to. I found that cacao is a color brown and that cocoa is how you spell the bean. But I do agree with Rita, I think there are two different ways to say cacao.

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  18. HI EVERYONE, HERE IS TAZA'S RESPONSE TO OUR EMAIL!

    Hello Mr Pestone's class!

    Thanks so much for reaching out to us about the pronunciation of cacao, we're thrilled you thought to think of us while researching the topic! Here at Taza Chocolate, we pronounce cacao as (KA-COW), not only as a matter of habit but also as it is defined in our handbooks. In fact, I have only heard people here say (ka-cow) and it wasn't until your question popped up that I looked back into our pronunciation guide to confirm this.

    Thank you also for sharing your classroom's blog with us, it's great to see how you all researched the pronunciation and can't wait to see what you pick for your next investigation. Please just let me know if we can answer any other questions about cacao or Taza Chocolate!
    Sincerely,
    Cara
    --
    Cara Peterson
    Customer Service Sales Associate
    Taza Chocolate
    t. 617 623 0804 x 10 f. 617 716 2085 e. cara@tazachocolate.com
    561 Windsor Street, Somerville, Massachusetts 02143 USA
    www.tazachocolate.com
    Stone Ground Organic Chocolate

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  19. Hey everyone....You're not gonna believe it! Check out this article: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/beverage1/a/Difference-Between-Cocoa-And-Cacao.htm

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  20. I have asked many people and almost no one knows about "Taza Chocolates"
    Why are we putting trust in a micro chocolatier instead of a big name company, such as Hershey's
    I hope you take this into consideration.

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    1. Hi Jack,

      I appreciate your concern, and I think you raise a valid point. Maybe we can write to Hersheys or Mars and inquire how they pronounce the word "cacao."

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