Pronunciation of Jerez

[Pup]

Not sure how F1-related this is, but with the test coming up, I thought it might be worth getting a definitive answer to a question which has vexed many an F1 fan.

I've heard it pronounced every conceivable way, and a few inconceivable ones, by F1 commentators, team principals, etc.:

1. Jerez, with a hard J and a Z, just like it's spelled
2. Zherez, soft J and a Z - this is how I pronounce it
3. Sheresh or Sherish, possibly the correct way, at least according to Wikipedia
4. Heref, not sure where the F comes from, Portuguese?
5. Hereth, Arabic???
6. Zerez, with two Z's
7. Yerez, yikes!
8. Werez, I guess that's like Juarez, but in Spain
9. Any and all combinations of the above.

And to add to the confusion, I've also seen it spelled Jeres, Xerez and Xeres.

Anyone know for sure, or should we all just refer to it as "That Place Where the First Test is Done"?

[CMSMJ1]

it matters not mate.

Depends on where you are from innit....?

For me, Herreth, or czerez

The Spanish will all say it differently..so us Anglophones can say it as close to how we like it as possible.

I mean..I doubt you talk anything like I do - tha dunt, a'can tell thi...

[oT v1]

number 5 was always my interpretation. My dad has been there a few times for bike track days and has heard it at least 2 different ways though...

[flynfrog]

HereZ but that would be from my American ear trying to pick up a pronunciation form Spaniard.

[Mika1]

I always hear ''Gerez'', not Jerez.

[FoxHound]

Spanish pronounciation is region dependant.
So I guess it is where you are from, innit.

Portuguese pronounciation is similar to French in that J and Z are said in the J-aques and Z-ero manner.
Portuguese and Spanish sound very different.

[Richard]

Don't forget the spanish lisp - ie "s" is pronounced "th" ... except in Barcelona where they proudly pronounce s to differentiate their catalan origins.

I think of Jerez as "herreth"

[Blackout]

AFAIR, the 'J' is like the 'J' of 'Juan Pablo', it's guttural. And they pronouce the 'z' like the 'th' of 'three' for example... it's difficult to explain : P
Listen to this
http://translate.google.de/#en/es/jerez%0Ajuan

[Pup]

Well, at least no one is using click consonants.

[mikeerfol]

I'm sure it's 5.

[Jonnycraig]

'Hereth'

[xpensive]

My spanish mistress tells me that it's "Jeez...(baby)"

[SectorOne]

Hereth number 5.
Arabic origination yes. (Xerex or Xerez, something like that)

[Blackout]

Listen to this (0:05, 0:11, 0:20 etc)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEeOY7OpCdY

[hollus]

Spanish guy here. Official spanish (castillian) pronunciation is Jerez as in your option 1, the J as in Juan (Pablo Montoya), the z more or less as the english "th" or zig-zag. The video above is a good example (national sport news).
But the local accent will make most locals pronounce the same word as Here' with what I guess is a glottal stop, would sound in English. In both cases stress is in the final E, both vowels clearly pronounced. In the local dialect "z" is converted to "s" and all "s" are dutifully swallowed, so the consonant is lost but marked with a weird pause I cannot describe in writing.
Now, to make it more complicated, south americans would use the sound of either Jeres ot Heres.
I have also seen "Xerez" used, but I think mostly for a soccer team.
Edit: local (not official spanish) pronunciation at 1:13 and 1:33 in this video: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L69hp5gpR04[/youtube]
Edit2: Apologies to any other spaniards here for posting a video from Manolo Escobar