STUDIO CITY STREET SIGNS TO GET TILDES.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

STUDIO CITY - City officials plan to replace at least 115 street signs in Studio City in the next few weeks at a cost of $6,801 because they said misspelled Spanish names mislead motorists and disrespect the streets' namesakes.

The mistake? The tilde ([broken (vertical) bar]) was left off the ``n'' forming the Spanish letter n. That letter, called ``enye,'' is distinctly different from the Spanish letter ``n'' without a tilde.

As a result, the names of 25 streets, such as Dona Pegita Drive, are shown on the signs as ``Dona'' - pronounced like Donna - instead of ``Dona'' - pronounced Don-ya - the Spanish term of respect for a woman.

To Councilman Nick Pacheco, who requested the sign replacement in April, the lack of a tilde means a lack of respect that is worth $6,801 to correct.

``It's not a first name - it's Dona, it's a title - a term of respect,'' Pacheco said. ``Eighty or 100 years ago when these streets were named they were named with certain individuals in mind, and with a title of respect.

``This is meant to recognize and respect the history and heritage of the city, because it's part of our original language, Spanish, here in the city. The enye in that circumstance - the tilde - represents a very significant difference.''

The work to replace the signs for 25 streets should start within the next two weeks and be finished in September, according to officials in the city's Department of Transportation.

The DOT considered other options like painting the signs or attaching adhesive stickers with a tilde, but decided replacing them is the best long-term solution, said John Fisher, the agency's assistant general manager.

The department is not aware of any other signs in the city that have a similar problem with the enye, Fisher said.

``If we do and we encounter those, I think we'll try to be sensitive to the needs of having a tilde on top of the n,'' Fisher said. ``But we're not aware of any others right now.''

Some Spanish words and names, such as Cesar Chavez, have accents. But the city has no plans to immediately replace those signs, although Fisher said the department will try to remember to put the accents in when they need to be replaced.

The difference, Pacheco said, is that the tilde creates a whole new letter - and therefore a different word - while accent marks help with proper pronunciation.

Sometimes that tilde makes a huge difference. For example, Pacheco noted, the Spanish word ``ano'' with the tilde means ``year.'' Without the tilde, it translates to ``anus.''

Los Angeles officials said they are unaware of any mislabeled ``ano'' signs.