Guatemalan Fruits: Nisperos or Misperos, that’s the question

After MO confirmed the spelling for Misperos which Nadia had used in reference to this yellow fruit known in the English language as naseberry or sapodilla, I became curious and next time I went to the market I asked a few people selling it. Many of the m/nispero vendors used the word mispero, but they had no problem understanding the word nispero. So it seems like the prefered spelling/pronunciation in Guatemala goes with initial m.

Two close spellings and/or pronunciation for the same item happens quite often between Guatemalan Spanish and other flavors of Spanish, especially Mexican Spanish. Another good example of this situation is the Spanish words for coriander in which most people in the Spanish-speaking world use “cilantro”, but in Guatemala some people still use “culantro”. I grew up hearing the latter and I had to learn to use the word cilantro later on while living abroad. I am happy to report that both words are in use now in Guatemala.

What other examples do you have of close spellings for the same words between Guatemalan Spanish and international Spanish?

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