Kit's Last Name???

Okay, I always thought Kit's last name was "Rodriguez"... However, in A Wizard Abroad, it's spelled Rodrigues. What happened there???

Okay, I always thought Kit's last name was "Rodriguez"... However, in A Wizard Abroad, it's spelled Rodrigues. What happened there???

[squashlittle]

Hey Lexi, thanks for bringing this up... I forgot that I had noticed this too.

I did some off-the-cuff research for the answer. What I found out doesn't exactly solve the dilemma, but kind of relates anyway.

Here's what the Internet told me:
- Spanish spelling was only standardized within the last 150-200 years or so, thus there are lots of names with multiple spellings still around. Lots of other cultures' names seem to be this way too. My own has at least six spelling variations.
- According to several pronunciation guides, the Spanish "s" can sometimes be pronounced like "z," but the Spanish "z" is pretty much always pronounced as "s!" So spelling-wise, they're a bit interchangeable.

Here's what my phone book told me:
- We have both Rodrigues and Rodriguez in the listings. There is one whole column of Rodrigues, and nine whole pages of Rodriguez. Here in Central Florida, our Spanish-speakers mostly come from Puerto Rico, and Rodriguez is a very common Puerto Rican last name.

Here's what my own experience tells me:
- I have a student whose Spanish surname seems to be spelled either with a final "s" or a final "z," depending on which document in the records I'm looking at.
- While I did notice that Kit's name was spelled differently, it didn't surprise me, because I've seen that kind of thing before.

In the end though, my guess is that only Diane and the publishers will have the definitive answer on this one! Hope my rambling on didn't bore you too much!

Squash

[EWizard11]

No, actually, that was very interesting. I had noticed that as well.

*Ella*
"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."
--George W. Bush

[Sita]

Read one of the very first page of So You Want to Be a Wizard. One of them says every book must have something wrong with them-well, there you go.

[bassethoundbeagle]

I think it's a spelling error. And also, Kit's last name is also spelled Rodrigue in Abroad(?? I am not sure which book). I think that's one too.

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ah, i have 10 of garcia, 5 of rodriguez, 8 of garza

i'm the queen of insanity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hsa9574]

I allways thought I saw it say Rodrigez without any u, but I may be mistaken

I can think of nothing right now

Oh wow, I never noticed that....

Well i dont really know how to really spell his name and frankly his last doesnt come up very often in the books. and yes, hallie, you are the queen of insanity.

In Death there is Life and in Life there is Death.
-kd