Readers' questions about .....Zefferino, Zeferino,
Zeffirino, Ceferino, and so on and so forth
ROME: 9th November 2007 -- It would be no surprise to readers
of austraLasia that its
coordinator spends more time answering readers' questions or reactions
than he does putting together the daily news item - the news item is
but the public, visible part, like the iceberg. Underneath that
is the daily correspondence, the real 'flow' (not 'floe'!) of news.
One set of questions recently has been in reference
to the Salesian student originally from Chimpay, Argentina, to be
beatified this coming Sunday 11th November. How are we to write
his name? Is it Zefferino, Zeferino, Zefirino or Ceferino?
Let me preface this response by insisting that his
real name is none of these! At home he was known as Morales, but
as he was leaving Chimpay in accordance with his father's wish, and his
own for that matter, his father said: "You will no longer call yourself
Morales, but Ceferino". This was his baptismal name of course......
But back to the question - how should we spell the
name in English? I put it to Fr Pascual Chávez, a few
hours before he departed for Chimpay and the Beatification. Here
is his response:
"I think the best spelling to adopt in English is as
in Spanish - Ceferino. I can understand the spelling 'Zefferino' in
Italian, first because he lived in Italy and then because of the way
the sound ('C') is transferred into Italian ('Z'). We should maintain
the original".
So there you have it! The Spanish spelling is simple
- no double letters, no confusion between 'e' and 'i'. Once we move the
name away from its original form and let it loose in Italian (or
English for that matter) it begins to stray, orthographically
speaking. Let's keep it at 'Ceferino'.
Incidentally, and in answer to another question -
has there been a recent bio in English of Ceferino? We recall
Aronica's Chief of the Andes, and Lappin's Bury me Deep,
but no, there has not to my knowledge been a recent bio in
English. There is some good material in Spanish however!
One example is a very recent item from Imprenta Salesiana in Peru: a
pamphlet, really, simply called Ceferino Namancurá (and
that's the other thing - don't forget the acute accent on the
á), cleverly put together as an interview with CN, plus other
information on his life and an acceptable, less over-the-top
interpretation of things (hagiography can be a real pain at times).
ISBN 978-603-45106-0-9 or contact boletin@salesianos.edu.pe. _________________ AustraLasia is an
email
service
for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions
as an
agency for ANS based in
Rome.
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