[jtauber]

I haven't seen anyone else explain why Django is spelled with a D. All I've seen is people reiterate the reason for the pronunciation given the spelling as "the D is silent" rather than the more insightful fact that, far from being silent, the D was necessary for Django Reinhardt to express the pronunciation of his nickname in his native language.

[jlgreco]

I fail to see how pash's comment does not explain that:

"the English "j" and the French "dj" represent the same sound"

[jtauber]

Well, firstly that comment postdates your initial comment that "everybody else in this thread" explains it better and you added the "(such as has pash's sibling comment)" after I'd responded.

Secondly, I wanted to dive in a bit more and explain the relationship between the "j" in English vs French and hence the role of the "d" in the French spelling (as that's kind of the whole point).

[pash]

Ah, I think you've hit on the major point of confusion.

Phoneticists commonly represent the English "j" sound as the amalgam of two separate sounds:

(a) English "d", a common enough sound; and

(b) the somewhat less common "zh" sound, the second consonant sound in "beige".

In French†, these two sounds are separately written as "d" and "j", and combined (try it—speak quickly) they make the English "j" sound.

This is what everyone has been trying to explain with the unfortunately obscure IPA references.

† – Likewise in other languages, per my examples above. For example, in Russian, the two sounds are separately denoted "д" and "ж" and combine to form the English "j" sound, as in "Джугашвили" (which is Georgian, really: "ჯუღაშვილი").

[jtauber]

I'm not sure what the confusion is. I agree with what you've said above.

Basically: 1. "d" in French is pronounced "d". 2. "j" in French is pronounced "zh". 3. "dj" in French is pronounced as the same affricate you get by combining "d" and "zh". 4. This is a better explanation for the "dj" in Django rather than saying the "j" is an affricate and the "d" is silent.