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Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote'
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Subject: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: freightdawg Date: 22 Feb 08 - 06:21 PM I was watching one out my kitchen window this morning, and the thought occured to me, depending on how you pronounce the word it could have a lot of different usages in songs (i.e. rhyming possibilities). I prefer what I consider to be the more "traditional" pronunciation, if I can spell it correctly it would be - "ko-YO-tay". However, the most popular pronunciation around these parts, at least, is - "kai-YO-tee" or its derivation, "KAI-yote". Me thinks that if you sang it "ko-YO-tay" in a song, no one would know which varmit you were talking about. (BTW, I think they are beautiful animals in their own right, and would love to incorporate some of the beauty of their songs in the songs I sing. If you've ever heard a pack of coyotes sing right at dawn or dusk you know what I mean.) As a follow-up question, what are some songs that involve coyotes? I'd like to form a list. Freightdawg |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: catspaw49 Date: 22 Feb 08 - 06:24 PM Merriam-Webster Some other online thing Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Bill D Date: 22 Feb 08 - 06:25 PM I have heard it 'mostly' "kai-yo-tee" ..with very little emphasis on any syllable. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Rapparee Date: 22 Feb 08 - 06:28 PM I pronounce it "ky-oat" but will accept however you pronounce it. Nor will I get involved in these "potato/potahto" wars. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Rapparee Date: 22 Feb 08 - 06:29 PM After all, only unwashed heathen pronounce it in some way other than the way I do. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Amos Date: 22 Feb 08 - 06:47 PM Watch the mon, Hangin' in the sky. Hum a tune, Prairie lullaby. Peaceful wind, Old Kai-Yo-tee cry, A song of home, Sweet Wyoming home. A |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: GUEST,Val Date: 22 Feb 08 - 06:48 PM Growin' up in Oklahoma, we always said "kai-ote" when talkin' 'bout the critter. With some new-age-y city-folks referencing the Trickster totem, it's "ko-YO-tay". Then there's those who just call 'em "yodel-puppies". Val |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Sorcha Date: 22 Feb 08 - 07:07 PM Kansas, New Mexico and Wyoming...Ki ote. Easterners say kee yo tee. Gods Dogs. Love em. Seems like no matter what Man throws at them they overcome it. Known a few 'coy dogs'...half breeds too. Quite nice actually. No, 'coy/koi' dog and Ki Ote dont' make sense but...oh well. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Alice Date: 22 Feb 08 - 07:15 PM KI'-ote in Montana. Ask the Old Coyote family of the Crow Indian tribe. Old Coyote family We don't pronounce it in a Spanish way up here in the north. It is KI'-ote. In fact, you can tell someone has moved here from somewhere else if they pronounce it differently. Alice |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: GUEST,Chicken Charlie Date: 22 Feb 08 - 07:23 PM BTW, it's an Aztec (Nahuatl) word, ko-yo-t'l. Another nifty Nahatl-to-English loan word is pay-yot'l, which we call pay-yo-te (peyote). Nobody ever says pay-yote, that I'm aware of. Whether you say it kai-yo-tee or kai-yote just depends on where you were brought up (kai-yo-tee), or where you was brung up (kai-yote). Not everybody west of the Pecos says kai-yote, either. Chicken Charlie |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: GUEST,Observer Date: 22 Feb 08 - 08:21 PM I'm surprised about your answer, Spaw; I'd have thought you would have said it is called a "Big ffing dog." |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Jeanie Date: 22 Feb 08 - 08:26 PM Now there's a coincidence ! "You see, Mama, she's crazy like a coyote !" I'm hearing that said rather a lot at the moment, it's a line in Tennessee William's "Suddenly Last Summer", and although I don't have to say it, the pronunciation of that and many other words is of great interest to me and my 6 companions at the moment as we Valiant Brits rehearse and get our tongues, teeth etc. around the extraordinary (to us) New Orleans accent. Our George (or, should I say, Jaw-edge), and the George on the sample recording we have, is pronouncing it "kai-odi". We've been given lots of sound archives to listen to - and it's fascinating to hear different pronunciations in the samples, even within the New Orleans ones. My brain goes into automatic pilot, thinking that because it is American I must pronounce the "r" in words like "her" and "garden" - but I'm finding the New Orleans to be surprisingly more like English (posh English): her is "huh", garden is "gawdn" and summer is "summuh". Sorry for the (slight) thread creep, but I couldn't resist. I'm finding the New Orleans accent fascinating. Are any of you from that area ? Yours, very truly, Mrs. Violet Venable a.k.a. Jeanie |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Jeanie Date: 22 Feb 08 - 08:29 PM Sorry - I should have policed my apostrophes before sending: Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly Last Summer". Off now into the elevator to feed Violet's Venus flytrap.... - jeanie |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 22 Feb 08 - 08:42 PM Gringos like myself (well, 3/4 gringo) agree with Sorcha and Alice, but Hispanics usually pronounce the three syllables, co-yo'tay, the Spanish pronunciation (the tay usu. very softly). Chicken Charlie, since the Rio Pecos rises in the Sangre de Cristos near Santa Fe, in an area first settled by Spanish and Zapotecs in the early 1600s, and flows south through New Mexico, "west of the Pecos" has a nice sound, but the Pecos is not a linguistic boundary. The upper reaches are great for native trout. Texans call it the Pecos River after it crosses the border into Texas. The Yaquis have a Coyote Dance, danced by three men, which may last all night. Often held after the fiesta for a patron saint, it also is performed upon the death of a soldier, chief or Matachine dancer. At dawn, when the dance is ending, three plates of meat are placed between the dancers and the drum. Each man picks up a plate of meat with his teeth and brings it to the drum. One of my favorite critters. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Slag Date: 22 Feb 08 - 08:53 PM Rapaire pretty much has it right. Accent is in descending order. The "t" is barely audible and could even be taken for a soft "d" sound and as Rap said, the "ee" part is left off as much as on. I knew a couple of old timers who called them Song Dogs. I live in mountainous country and when they come prowling around the house at night while I'm trying to sleep and start "singing" I call them other names that I won't repeat here. I usually grab my gun and step out and fire a round off into the hillside in a safe direction. I wouldn't want to hurt them as they are wonderful rodent and pest control and all around neat creatures. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: freightdawg Date: 22 Feb 08 - 09:17 PM Took me a while to find it... Last line of 2nd verse of John Denver's "Song of Wyoming" "Up on a hill, there's a coyote singing a song of Wyoming for me." Pretty much has to be Kai-yo-tee, at least in this song. Keep 'em coming! Freightdawg |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Sandy Mc Lean Date: 22 Feb 08 - 10:21 PM In Cape Breton most people say "coy-oat" but a few say "coy-oat-ee." About 30 or so years ago there were none here but they are quite plentiful now. They are much bigger than the prairie species because they have cross bred with wolves on their way east. They also will hunt in packs like the wolf and are about the size of a German Shepherd. They live mostly on rabbits and partridge and sometimes deer but domestic cats are considered a treat as well as sheep. They are not very welcome but seem to have come to stay. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 22 Feb 08 - 10:32 PM All coyote lovers (and who regard Columbus as one of many invading villains) should read King and Monkman, 1992, "A Coyote Columbus Story," Groundwood. Great fun, and the illustrations are fantastic. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Alice Date: 22 Feb 08 - 10:48 PM American Regional English discusses the regional pronunciation of coyote |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Slag Date: 23 Feb 08 - 02:10 AM Coyotee was a common "Trickster" character in many American Indian myths. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Joe Offer Date: 23 Feb 08 - 02:50 AM Here in Northern California, it's usually kai-YO-tee - but in a Native American or Mexican-American context, it's "ko-YO-tay." I haven't seen any around lately, but we usually see one in the yard about once a month. Something canine has been marking my driveway with feces - I suppose it's a coyote. They look like they could be beautiful animals if fed and groomed and cared for - but most of the ones I see, look like sickly dogs. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Richard Bridge Date: 23 Feb 08 - 03:07 AM Not that many people talk about them in South East England (and when they do, nearly always prefixed with "wily" and followed by references to the Roadrunner, beep beep), but I'd expect three fairly evenly accented syllables, slight stress oon the first: - coy (to thyme with boy and toy or indeed goy) oh (as in "the Big O"" [Roy Orbison], or Obadiah, to thyme with dough and throw and show) tea (as in taken at 4 pm, no matter what battle is proceeding, rhyming with both flea and flee and with sea and see) |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: open mike Date: 23 Feb 08 - 03:13 AM then there are those characters who are paid to smuggle people across the border. as for the canine critter I love the "yodel puppy" name! the best, absolute best, song is k.d.lang's Coyote (Full Moon Full of Love) Coyote, oh coyote can you tell me why everytime the big moon shines you sit right down and cry he says 'it's not because i'm sad that i sing all night long, i'm looking for someone to love and this is my love song' Oooooooooooooo, oh i go crazy when that moooooooooooon shines above Oooooooooooooo won't someone save me from that full moon full of love Baby, oh sweet baby can you explain this everytime the big moon shines i finally get a kiss you said it's just the moonbeams that make you do these things well, i think that i'll just sit right here and let that coyote sing OOOOOOOooooooooo oh i go crazy when that Mooooooooooooon shines above Ooooooooooooo won't someone save me from that full moon full of love |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Backwoodsman Date: 23 Feb 08 - 07:02 AM Prairie Wolf's a lot easier to pronounce (for an Englishman). :-) |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Rapparee Date: 23 Feb 08 - 09:21 AM Growing up in West Central Illinois we pronounced it "ki-ote." Then the unwashed heathen brought in "ki-yo-tee" and we all used that for a while. About twenty years ago it all changed back to the way God intended. From folks I've talked to, whether you like 'em or hate 'em depends upon how your lambing and calving goes. My concern about ki-dogs is the endemic rabies in the US. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's unplugged Apprentice Date: 23 Feb 08 - 12:49 PM " regional pronunciation" "all changed back to the way God intended" It is a regional thing, there is no one way of pronouncing coyote... Charlotte (the view from Ma and Pa's piano stool) |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: GUEST,Chicken Charlie Date: 23 Feb 08 - 12:58 PM Dear Q-- My point exactly. Someone earlier implied that three syllables is an eastern US thing and two is a western. What I am saying is that since I live in California and pronounce it with three, things ain't that simple. I didn't claim the Pecos as a linguistic boundary; and I know where it is, thanks anyway. :) Chicken Charlie |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: fumblefingers Date: 23 Feb 08 - 01:11 PM "Ky oat" on the Red River, Texas/Oklahoma border. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Becca72 Date: 23 Feb 08 - 01:20 PM Ky-Oh-Tee here in Southern Maine And route is pronounced "root" not "rowt" :-) |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 23 Feb 08 - 03:13 PM Oh, my, that root-rowt again. The song was always "Root 66." (And there are those who say 'rut.') |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Greg B Date: 23 Feb 08 - 03:19 PM "Decorative barbed wire fence hanging?" |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Joybell Date: 23 Feb 08 - 04:15 PM I heard them sing in New Mexico. I'll never forget the sound. Most beautiful song I've ever heard. Mind you howler monkeys can do amazing harmonies too. "Cattle Call" mentions "ky-oats" - but howling doesn't come close to a description of their songs. Cheers, Joy |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Ross Campbell Date: 23 Feb 08 - 07:25 PM Track 4 (Cowboy Lullaby) on Desert Silver Blue by Theresa Coyle, Laura Partch, & Laurie Patton has a great line in the chorus:- "The coyote's nothin' skeery, she's cryin'for her dearie" Pronounced with two syllables here (coy-oat). Ross |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Ross Campbell Date: 23 Feb 08 - 07:34 PM Cowboy Lullaby also known as Roundup Lullaby (Badger Clark) is in the DT. Ross |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: pdq Date: 23 Feb 08 - 07:43 PM I am also a native of the good ol' West and I pronounce it "ky-OH-tee". A good friend (who is half Indian) always calls them "trickster" or "the trickster". |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: open mike Date: 23 Feb 08 - 07:43 PM the song i posted uses the 3 syl-a-ble pro-nounce and k.d.lang is from canada----sis-catch-a-juan i think--maybe moose jaw? oh yes--another song---what is it with these canadians, eh? Coyote is a survivor--Ian Tyson (ki-yote 2 syl-bles) The coyote is a survivor. I reckon he's got to be. He lives in the snow at 40 below and at Malibu by the sea... |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 23 Feb 08 - 07:53 PM sis-catch-a-juan? What did sis want with Juan? Poor man! Current cases of rabies involving coyotes are rare. The worst area was along the south Texas-Mexico border. Don't know if it is still a problem there. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: open mike Date: 23 Feb 08 - 08:00 PM i can't foind the rest of the lyrics to ian tys9ns song bu6t i do see this thread about how the coyote got its name http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=31094#404175 i see also several mentions of the song claude dallas by tom russell. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Celtaddict Date: 23 Feb 08 - 08:26 PM In Oklahoma when I grew up it was always 'KY-oat' except in the cartoons in which the critter after Roadrunner was 'Wile E kiYOtee' which we thought was comical. I did not hear 'ky-OH-tee' except from visitors until I moved to Connecticut. Don Edwards recorded 'Coyotes' on "Going Back to Texas" and "Best of Don Edwards" about an old cowboy, lamenting the changes of the West he knew. Now the longhorns are gone, And the drovers are gone. . . And the lion is gone, And the red wolf is gone. . . and eventually the cowboy disappears without a word, but that night One more coyote was heard. It has a very haunting chorus that rather yodels after the fashion of the coyote call. Naturally he sings it 'KI-oat." |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 23 Feb 08 - 08:57 PM Jeri and Art Thieme posted "Coyote," by Al Grierson, a fine poem. See thread 27367: Goodbye Al Grierson Badger Clark wrote "The Coyote," which I haven't seen set to music. His "A Roundup Lullaby" is mentioned above. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Melissa Date: 23 Feb 08 - 09:03 PM My generation: Ky oat My grandparent's generation: Ky oatee |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Backwoodsman Date: 24 Feb 08 - 03:40 AM "The song was always "Root 66." Wow, I'd never noticed that! So why sing 'Root' and say 'Rowt'? Just wondering. :-) |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Jon Bartlett Date: 24 Feb 08 - 03:54 AM O bury me not on the lone prairie Where the wild coyote would howl over me O grant will you my dying plea And bury me not on the lone prairie. Jon Bartlett |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: topical tom Date: 24 Feb 08 - 09:46 AM In Quebec it's generally pronounced kai-yote though kai-oh-tee can also be heard.For some reason I personally prefer kai-oh-tee. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: pdq Date: 24 Feb 08 - 11:28 AM open mike, On the record Cowboyography, Ian Tyson pronounces the name "ky-oat" at least twice in the song "Claude Dallas". He does the same throughout the song "The Cowboy & The Coyote", except in the line "who's the dumber son-of-a-bitch, the little 'ky-OAT-ee' or me", which repeats at least once. The latter fits better in the song's meter. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Alice Date: 24 Feb 08 - 11:40 AM I never heard ki-o-tee instead of ki-ote until I was old enough to see a cowboy actor on tv saying it that way. I thought it was a mistake, that actors didn't know how to pronounce it. I was looking for a map online yesterday that may show the regional pronunciation. It seems like Canada, northern rockies and the midwest say KI-ote and California, the south and the east coast say ki-O-tee. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Rog Peek Date: 24 Feb 08 - 12:48 PM Try Pete Seeger. Coyote My Little Brother Rog |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Feb 08 - 01:31 PM I grew up with several pronunciations, context and poetic license being the primary factors in choosing the name to use. I think the coy-o-tee/coy-ote variance is similar to creek/crick in some areas. SRS |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: kendall Date: 24 Feb 08 - 01:33 PM Ki out |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: PHJim Date: 31 Aug 23 - 11:09 PM The most common in Southern Ontario seems to be ky-YO-tee, but I have heard KY-oat. They seem to be much more common along the north shore of Lake Ontario than they were 2 or 3 decades ago. They sometimes are called "bush wolves" or "brush wolves", but it is thought that this is because "I shot a Bush wolf," sounds braver than, "I shot a coyote." I've heard them called "prairie wolves" in western Canada. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: DaveRo Date: 01 Sep 23 - 02:30 AM No regrets CoyoteCanada or California? Coyote |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 02 Sep 23 - 02:24 PM There is no 'correct' way to pronounce it. It's been loaned and stolen through so many European languages, for so long, its neolithic North American origins predate an alphabet. Sing it whichever way it works for your song. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: GUEST,paperback Date: 02 Sep 23 - 02:36 PM In Portland Oregon they pronounce it Call-off-your-old-tired-ethics I always said coy-o-tee until I got a confused look from someone one day, (who corrected me), but what do you expect from people whe called off-road motorcycle riding - cycle riding - (pronounced as in bi-cycle) I got called on that one too from a lady from California looking out for my best interests. She said it made me sound stupid ) - : |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Thompson Date: 08 Sep 23 - 02:47 PM Name seems to have changed since my childhood, when it was kye-oh-tay. This was in San Diego (and Los Angeles, always pronounced by locals then with a hard g). |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 02 Sep 23 - 02:24 PM There is no 'correct' way to pronounce it. It's been loaned and stolen through so many European languages, for so long, its neolithic North American origins predate an alphabet. Sing it whichever way it works for your song. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: GUEST,paperback Date: 02 Sep 23 - 02:36 PM In Portland Oregon they pronounce it Call-off-your-old-tired-ethics I always said coy-o-tee until I got a confused look from someone one day, (who corrected me), but what do you expect from people whe called off-road motorcycle riding - cycle riding - (pronounced as in bi-cycle) I got called on that one too from a lady from California looking out for my best interests. She said it made me sound stupid ) - : |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: Thompson Date: 08 Sep 23 - 02:47 PM Name seems to have changed since my childhood, when it was kye-oh-tay. This was in San Diego (and Los Angeles, always pronounced by locals then with a hard g). |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: PHJim Date: 31 Aug 23 - 11:09 PM The most common in Southern Ontario seems to be ky-YO-tee, but I have heard KY-oat. They seem to be much more common along the north shore of Lake Ontario than they were 2 or 3 decades ago. They sometimes are called "bush wolves" or "brush wolves", but it is thought that this is because "I shot a Bush wolf," sounds braver than, "I shot a coyote." I've heard them called "prairie wolves" in western Canada. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: How do you pronounce 'coyote' From: DaveRo Date: 01 Sep 23 - 02:30 AM No regrets CoyoteCanada or California? Coyote |
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