Is the Mexican State of Sonora Really Sonorous?
The Mexican state of Sonora, in that country’s northwest along the US-Mexico border and right to the south of Arizona, shares almost all of the same letters with words like “sonore” (in French), “sonoro”/“sonora” (in Spanish and Portuguese), “sonorous” (in English), etc. These words especially refer to a deep and resonant sound or — except in English — have to do with sound more generally.
The aforementioned words all come from the Latin word “sonōrus”, with the same meaning, and that is in turn derived from “sonor”, which — in the poetic sense — simply means a sound that one hears. (The more general Latin word for sound is “sonus”.)
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However, Sonora in Mexico probably has a totally different etymology. For that, there are a few prevailing theories. One is that it’s derived from the indigenous words “sonot” or “xunuta” which mean either wells (of water) or the reed huts that a number of the indigenous peoples lived in. Other theories ascribe “Nuestra Señora” (Our Lady — cf. Notre Dame in French) either as a place name applied by the Spanish explorers to the region or the image of a saint carried on cloth by other such explorers. According to those theories, the Señora part was changed ultimately to Sonora partly because the indigenous peoples couldn’t pronounce the Spanish “ñ”.
For more on that, see the following:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonora#Etymology
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonora#Toponimia (in Spanish)
If you’re from Sonora or from Mexico generally, or you’re just curious or feel like saying something, feel free to leave a comment or question as always.
