San Jose
1
2.3
- proper noun
- /sæn hoʊˈzeɪ/
- Located 130 kilometers south of the capital of San Jose, Perez Zeledon is one of the fastest-growing coffee-producing regions in Costa Rica, although coffee arrived relatively late in this valley.
- San Jose, Costa Rica
- the capital of San Jose
Examples
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(San Jose, Costa Rica: DEI, 1991), 36-40.
Academic text (1996) -
#4 "Beginning Photoshop(R)" Julieanne Kost -- San Jose, CA.
Academic text (2001) -
We woke at 2 a.m. to begin our travels back to our home, which has been in storage for four months in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Blog text (13) -
After landing in Costa Rica, we drove straight to San Jose, the vibrant capital city.
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Many travelers find that San Jose is the perfect starting point for exploring Costa Rica's natural beauty.
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The conference will be held in San Jose, the largest city in Costa Rica, next month.
Surface Forms
Morphology
San + Jose
This is a toponym (proper name) composed of Spanish elements 'San' (Saint) and 'Jose' (Joseph), but knowing those constituents does not allow a learner to infer the specific referent or the fact that it is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica. Place names are conventional, arbitrary labels rather than compositional expressions, so the meaning is not derivable from the parts.
Etymology
San Jose in Costa Rica was also named for the Christian saint 'Saint Joseph' by Spanish settlers. A local church or chapel was dedicated to the saint and the growing town took the same name, so the capital keeps the name San Jose today.