Hello. Although I'm familiar with the Spanish word niña, I am not so familiar with Spanish that I can say with confidence that there is not also a word nena that means the same thing. But Nena's autobiography, Willst du mit mir gehn, states that the word that older children used to refer to her when she was a three-year-old visiting Spain on vacation was niña, and to her at the time it sounded like "nena", and she decided to adopt that name for herself. Michael Hardy (talk) 20:35, 19 July 2008 (UTC)Reply

Nena word in the RAE's dictionary

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The dictionary of the "Real Academia de la Lengua Española" says about the word "nena" [1]:

nene, na. (Voz infantil). 1. m. y f. coloq. Niño de corta edad. 2. m. y f. coloq. U. como expresión de cariño para personas de más edad, sobre todo en la terminación femenina. 3. m. irón. Hombre muy temible por sus fechorías.

Into English:

nene, na. (infantile word). 1. m. and f. coloq. Young boy or girl. 2. m. and f. coloq. As an expression of affection for people of more age, mainly in the female. (Like "baby" in English). 3. m. ironically. Very frightful man by its misdeeds.

Ascosphaera (talk) 09:54, 3 September 2008 (UTC)Reply

Jornada del Muerto

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The name "Jornada del Muerto" was given to that land in the 1700s by the inhabitants of New Mexico. They did not speak modern Spanish. Their descendants don't speak the Spanish of Castille or even Mexico. Many of the words that are used have vanished from modern Spanish usage. What would you like to call it if not "archaic"? My point was that using standard modern meanings for the words would be inappropriate. --Bejnar (talk) 22:02, 1 December 2008 (UTC)Reply

'Jornada' would be archaic if it was no longer in use, which is not the case. It has certainly not "vanished from modern Spanish usage": it still exists and keeps the same meaning as in the 1700s. Regards. --Will vm (talk) 10:23, 2 December 2008 (UTC)Reply
The word does not have to disappear, just the nuanced meaning in order for a usage to be archaic. Prehaps you would prefer the word "medieval" Spanish, as quoted from The name translates from the medieval Spanish as "Route of the Dead Men (sic)," page 310 in Crumpler, L. S., and J. C. Aubele, (1990), "Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico", in Wood, C. A. and Kienle, J. (eds.) Volcanoes of North AmericaCambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 309-310. No less a scholar than historian Fray Angélico Chávez of Santa Fe, NM, a native New Mexican Spanish speaker has said that "Jornada del Muerto" translates as "Route of the Dead Man." Simmons, Marc (1978) Taos to Tomé: True Tales of Hispanic New Mexico Adobe Press, Albuquerque, N.M., page 28, ISBN 0-933004-04-4. How does that agree with those Wikipedia editors who insist on translating "jornada" as "day" or "working day", claiming that that is what the word means in Spanish? Does the word jornada in modern Spanish have a connotation of ruta? --Bejnar (talk) 16:14, 2 December 2008 (UTC)Reply
Yes, it does: [2]:
3. f. Camino que se anda regularmente en un día de viaje. (Route regularly walked in a single day of journey).
4. f. Camino o viaje, aunque pase de un día. (Route or journey, even when it takes longer than a day).
--Will vm (talk) 16:38, 2 December 2008 (UTC)Reply
Thank you. Then the article is fixed appropriately, and the meanings "day" or "working day" have been eliminated in the translation of the meaning of "Jornada del Muerto" as applied to that area in New Mexico. --Bejnar (talk) 16:48, 2 December 2008 (UTC)Reply