Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST
Date: 13 May 15 - 10:17 AM

About 40 years ago in a pub in Aberystwyth I remember some locals laughing about how a guy from Cardigan pronounced Penparcau (a housing estate on the edge of the town). I couldn't tell the difference between they way they said it and the way thy claimed that he did.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 13 May 15 - 10:19 AM

The suburb of Victoria BC alluded to in the post of 12 May 15 - 01:15 PM is not Esquimaux but ESQUIMALT, which, according to Professor Wiki, means "place of shoaling water" in Straits Salish. Esquimalt is pronounced as written.

Foreigners (Ontarians and the like) pronounce the name of the BC town "Quesnel" either French-style as "keNEL" or English-style as "KWEZnel", but locals know the secret true pronunciation: "KWEnel".

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST
Date: 13 May 15 - 10:33 AM

PO-KA-tello. Mispronounce "Pocatello" as PO-CATTLE-oh and they'll laugh at you and make you buy for the bar.

Inkom is prounced INK-um.

Boise is proncounced "BOY-see" and not as the French would.

Quincy is pronounced "KWIN-zee" on in the same state as BOSS-ton. Everywhere else in the US -- Illinois, Indiana, California, Washington -- it's pronounced "KWIN-see".

It's not "MISS-ur-ee" but "MISS-ur-ah." It's "Ill-uh-noy" and not "Ill-uh-noise."

Of course, up in Canada they're having Nunavut.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Padre
Date: 13 May 15 - 11:17 AM

Here in Virginia, we have a few:

Botetourt County is "BOT-UH-TOT' not BOTETOORT

Buena Vista is 'BYOONA-VISTA' not BWAYNA VISTA

Buchanan is 'BUCKANNON' not BYOOCANNON

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: theleveller
Date: 13 May 15 - 11:39 AM

"Belvoir in Rutland (Belvoir Castle, Belvoir Hunt etc.) is correctly pronounced Beaver."

Right pronunciation, wrong county - it's in Leicestershire.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: akenaton
Date: 13 May 15 - 12:09 PM

Launceston is pronounced "Laan ston"! got that from a 95 year old native :0).....one Audrey Maynard, who has a painting of her fathers sloop "Jessica" on her wall....sailed out of BUDE.
Painting by a Mr Rueben Chappell of Goole.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 13 May 15 - 12:13 PM

On of my pets is the street in Chicago named Go-ee-thee (Goethe).

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST
Date: 13 May 15 - 05:47 PM

Examples abound here in Massachusetts, US.
Woburn = WOO burn or WOO bin
Haverhill = HAYVrill

"My friends live in SWAMPscott," I said to a former GF's uncle, who sniffed, "I can tell you're not from around here" at me. "It's SWAMPsc[u?]t."

Various "ham" endings confuse the uninitiated:
Sometimes the "ham" is pronounced like the meat; other times it's an "um"-like sound. For example, EASTham has the full ham sound, while DEDham sounds more like "DEDum." Many non MAers trip over Framingham, with its first "a' being a long one, followed by the full ham. Even within MA, I have heard many fumble the formidable Ashburnham, which is pronounced ASH'burn ham, not "ash BURN um."

When I visited the UK, I was delighted to hear, on a train, "CHELTnum" (that's how I heard it). There isn't one of these in Massachusetts; it's possible pronunciation here is speculative.

As an aside, the weather event now commonly called a "nor'easter" is more properly a "nawth EAST uh," which is rarely heard these days.

Slow end of the day here at work...great thread...thank you.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Brian Peters
Date: 13 May 15 - 06:22 PM

In these parts, Tintwistle is often (though not always) pronounced 'Tinzel' by locals.

Citizens of Connecticut insist on sounding the 'W' in their town of 'Norwich'. Not sure which is older.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 13 May 15 - 06:36 PM

On the UK Norwich, I say "Norridge". Like the man in the moon coming down and winding up eating cold plum porridge.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 13 May 15 - 06:39 PM

Re Shrewsbury: we lived there for a good few years, and the local paper. the Shropshire Star, did conduct a survey on how the town's name should was pronounced : seemed the commonest pronunciation for true Salopians was to leave out the first r - so it's SHOOSBRIE.
Megan and DTM have covered some of the Scottish ones, but there's also a change of emphasis in some names such as DunBAR and DunLOP (English people tend to emphasise the DUN, whereas Scots emphasise the second syllable). And of course, all those lovely stretches of water are Lohhhhhs, not Locks!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: An Pluiméir Ceolmhar
Date: 13 May 15 - 07:01 PM

Oh yes.

Just on the basis of my modest reactions to this thread so far, it could become a structural, epic, mega- permathread.

Just for starters, I commented on the phenomenon to the lady of the house in a nice B&B in a not very exotic part of England a couple of years ago.

I can't even remember exactly where it was, but I think it was in the general vicinity of Kenilworth. I made some joke about the fact that I was probably mispronouncing the name of the place, because e.g. Kenilworth was probably something like "Kudge" or "Kort" to the locals.

She had been a teacher, and shot back the retort that she had struggled throughout her career with Irish pupils who were all Maedhbhs and Sadhbhs. Touché!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Mr Red
Date: 13 May 15 - 07:24 PM

I'm surprised no one has tried to phoneticise Machynlleth

But just to get the ball rolling and wake up those who sairad Cymraig

Ma* hunth leth (* is a barely voiced, breathy (non-sibilant) c)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST,alex s no cookie
Date: 13 May 15 - 07:35 PM

Barnoldswick=Barnick

No -it's BarLick
And the inhabitants are Barlickers

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Janie
Date: 14 May 15 - 12:04 AM

Mr. Red and LadyJean, I'm a native West Virginian, who lived and worked in Morgantown for several years. Even so, I can get my brain and my tongue confused between Monongalia County and Monongahela River and National Forest. Especially since the Monongahela River runs through Monongalia County.

As is the case in Illinois, Cairo, WV (Ritchie Co.) is pronounced KAYro.

The beautiful valley and ski resort in WV, Canaan Valley, is pronounced can-NAIN.

I live in Mebane, NC. Pronounced MEBB-in. Named after a revolutionary war colonel. On NPR (when running thru credits on, I think, Weekend Addition where some one with that last name was or is an associate producer,) and on genealogy websites, some folks in other parts of the country pronounce it MEE-BANE.
Hurricane, WV is pronounced HUR-ri-cuhn.

As far as I am concerned, and I think any person from the Appalachian mountains or plateau would agree, the correct pronunciation is App-a-LATCH-un or App-a-LATCH-uh. Saying App-a-LAY-shian (or chian) or App-a-LAY-shia is a dead give away that neither you, your parents, nor your grandparents were from there:>)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 14 May 15 - 02:25 AM

Corstorphine in Edinburgh, pronounced, Ker-stof-an. This confuses people who don't know when looking for it.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 14 May 15 - 03:08 AM

Mr Red suggests phoneticising Machynlleth as "Ma* hunth leth (* is a barely voiced, breathy (non-sibilant) c)"

The * is plausible, but surely it's only some English who turn the unvoiced Welsh L, written as "LL", into "TH" + voiced L.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: BobL
Date: 14 May 15 - 03:42 AM

No mention yet of the Cornish fishing village known as "Mowzle" since before anyone in that part of the world could read and write, let alone spell. A cartographer with a sense of humour decided it should be written "Mousehole".

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Ged Fox
Date: 14 May 15 - 04:37 AM

This game is at least as old as the 1820s when Cobbett complained about the contrast between Hampshire names as pronounced by map-makers and locals - Hurstbourne Tarrant known locally as Uphusband etc.

I think Southwick near Hove is Southwick, but Southwick, near Portsmouth, is Suthik (with voiced 'th'.) The neighbouring village of Boarhunt is commonly called Borrunt.

The Worthies seem to be worthy in Hampshire, but in West Somerset & North Devon they are usually 'ery.' So Badgery & Pinkery where the map has Badgworthy and Pinkery.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Thompson
Date: 14 May 15 - 04:51 AM

And simple, normal words in one country may be unknown in another. I've often been asked by Americans how to find the kways, and what this word mean - quay, pronounced key, is a perfectly ordinary word for a dockside on this side of the Atlantic.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Penny S.
Date: 14 May 15 - 04:53 AM

I would argue with the OP about Burwash. My lot called it Burruhsh - with an abbreviated schwa sound - can't write it.

The "ham" like meat, "uhm" with that schwa again confusion is to do with geography. The meaty hams lie in meanders, where the land looks like a pig's backside. The others were once someone's home. In Old English, the first was written "hamm", the second "ham" - I think.

It may help visitors to assume that where there's a "th" in the middle (Eltham, Streatham), the "t" belongs to the first part and is not part of a "th" sound. Elt'm, Strett'm. That way you won't get laughed at like prospective MP's or Bob Hope (who came from Eltham). On the other hand, Lewisham is not Lewis'm, it's Lewi-sham.

Then there's:
Deptford - Detf'd
Greenwich - Grenitch
Peckham - Peck'm
Dulwich - Dullitch
Wrotham - Root'm
Trottiscliffe - Trosley
Shipbourne - Shibburn
Meopham - you should be able to work out that the p belongs to the beginning, not an f sound. Mep'm.
Eynsford - Aynsf'd

And I never got to bottom of Cirencester, which has multiple other versions. Cicester, Cister, Ciceter, Ciren (almost Zoiren) - which seem to have class distinctions. The first three go with an upper accent, the last more rural. I decided, when my parents lived over there, to stick to the full name to avoid problems.

A lot of variations are to do with omitting bits of names - economical speech, versions like Jo'burg for Johannesburg. And that habit has been round for ages. It is known that in late Roman Britain, Rochester - Durobrivae - was pronounced Robri, which became Robrichester, and so what it is now. Something similar happened with York, once Eboracum.

Back to Will Fly's Sussex, I've a dialect book written by an upper middle class woman with a condescending attitude to those further down in society who tells how the doctor really couldn't understand that the local who wanted him to go to an emergency in I Urstood was referring to High Hurstwood.

My grandfather came from Lambrurst (Lamberhurst), and his sister lived in Wodurst (Wadhurst). And there was Crowbruh - Crowborough.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST,OldNicKilby
Date: 14 May 15 - 07:59 AM

Don't forget Penny S that Ightham is I-tum and I think that Shipbourne is Shi-bun 'cause that is how my old Aunts and Uncles and Cousins called it

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 14 May 15 - 08:10 AM

Quay is key in England, but in "Dublin in the rare auld times" it is rhymed with stay.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 14 May 15 - 08:37 AM

I always thought the wiches were idges.
Grenidge,

I don't think Eboracum evolved into anything. The Vikings named it Jorvik (Yorvik) which slides easily into Yorrik and then York.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Thompson
Date: 14 May 15 - 08:44 AM

Ah, but then in Dublin the rare oul' times tea was rhymed with tay, sea with say, key with kay - an 18th-century pronunciation that hung on later in Ireland than in England.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST
Date: 14 May 15 - 10:09 AM

There's a tiny hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire named Aike. Of course that's pronounced Yakka. To further identify it (it is very small) people will tell you it's just beyond Arram. So its known as Yakka bakka Arram.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Will Fly
Date: 14 May 15 - 11:15 AM

Bosham in Sussex is pronounced "BOZZ-am", but Cosham in Hampshire, just down the coast, is pronounced "COSH-am".

As for Burwash - "Burrush" or "Burrish" - very similar if said quickly! :-)

Going back to my Lancashire teens, Great Harwood used to be known colloquially as "Snuffy Harrod"...

... and folks from "Westhoughton" in Lancashire were known as "Hofners" - and sometimes "Cow-yeds". The latter because a farmer in Westhoughton had a cow whose head got stuck in a gate. The gate was worth more than the cow, so he cut the cow's head off to free it.

By, we had a reet gradely do in them days!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 14 May 15 - 12:10 PM

I was brought up in Suffolk, where o sounds get turned into oo. We lived near Stoomaaak't. (Stowmarket).
Felixstowe was something like Filixstoo.
Also, Suffolk people don't do anything with a "yoo" sound in it such as tube (tyoob): they would say toob. They couldn't pronounce our son's name, Ewan - Ooan to them Yooan to us!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: The Sandman
Date: 14 May 15 - 12:38 PM

towcester is toaster, wymondham is windham, uttoxeter is utoxiter, southwell is not south well but suthall.
anyone that calls it south well is some posh jockey, like that stupid hayley turner, everyone in nottinghamshire when i lived there called it suthall, apart from that silly jockey.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Michael
Date: 14 May 15 - 12:48 PM

Where I hail from in Derbyshire,Bolsover: posh = Bolzover, proper = Bo'zer
Pleasley= Plezley and Houghton = Hufton or Huf'n
Whaley = Warley
Tideswell = Tidser, Ashover = Asher.
And Bolsover has Castle Estate,built as Council and NCB houses in the 50's and known as 'Wimps' as it was built by George Wimpey

Mike

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST,Guest: Wordless Woman
Date: 14 May 15 - 02:15 PM

Contrary to what some (ahem) comedians would have you think, New Jersey is not pronounced New Joisey.   However, some longtime residents across the river in Philadelphia pronounce their home town Fluffya.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 May 15 - 03:02 PM

Of course all of the above 'examples' may be a conspiracy to get tourists to out ourselves by using Mudcat pronunciation! ;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Anne Lister
Date: 14 May 15 - 06:04 PM

Welsh pronunciation could be (and is) the subject of a book rather than a post on a thread, but the place names are frequently pronounced in ways you wouldn't expect unless you were local. Near here we have Blaenavon, for example, which should be Bl-eye-navon but which is normally Bluhnavon for locals. Similar things happen to Caerphilly (Kuhfilly instead of K-eye-rfilly ...and for those who can pronounce the ll in Welsh please note the Welsh spelling of the town name puts a single l in there, so no need to show off!) and Caerleon (Kuhlee-on instead of K-eye-rleeon). But my personal favourite is the village of Fleur-de-Lys which is normally known simply as "Flower". Another village is Beddau, which should be Beth-eye with a hard "th" but which is generally known as "Baythuh".
When I lived in London (in Wapping, pronounced of course Woppping and for all lovers of Burger King the real home of the Whopper ... as convicted pirates were hanged and then left on Wapping Old Stairs for three tides of the Thames to wash over the corpse and make it swell up to a whopping size ..or so we were told) I knew friends who delighted in attempting to convince tourists of the wrong pronunciations. So that Keyappsiddee was Cheapside, for example, instead of the way you might normally pronounce those two words separately and Vozeall was Vauxhall (sorry - Voxhall is how it's normally said).

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 15 May 15 - 05:29 AM

Michael Marra used to joke about the mis-pronunciation of Dundee United's football ground at Tannadice. He'd heard someone (Italian?) ask for Tannadeechay!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Jack Campin
Date: 15 May 15 - 05:44 AM

Anstruther = AIN-stur

I tried that when I went there once and they looked at me like I was from Mars.

Hawick = Hike

Not quite. I'm not too sure how to write it, though; more like "HOY-ick", with the second syllable vowel almost inaudible.


Newtongrange = NITT-in

People from other villages in Midlothian call it Nitten. I live there, and locally it's nearly always "Newtongrange", exactly as spelt.


Corstorphine in Edinburgh, pronounced, Ker-stof-an

It's kor-STORE-fin, the second r is clearly pronounced.

They named a suburb of Dunedin in New Zealand after it. The locals there call it "CORE-ster-fine".

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 15 May 15 - 05:53 AM

Place just north of Wolverhampton, BREWOOD, I used to pronounce BRIE WOOD, until I found it was simply pronounced BROOD Bit like when first came to England, I though Leicester was pronounced LIE SESSTER

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: CupOfTea
Date: 15 May 15 - 09:46 AM

My favorite Ohio place name peculiarities are:

A-thens, downstate home of Ohio University sounding nothing like Greek

and

Lima, pronounced like lima beans, not Lima, Peru.

I'm fascinated by the vernacular pronounciations of English place-names as most of the streets in my suburb are distinctly English (Scarborough, Essex, Oxford, Dartmoor, Canterbury, etc) and I wonder how much that was part responsible for my own Anglophile tendencies.

Joanne in Cleveland Heights

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Jack Campin
Date: 15 May 15 - 09:52 AM

Lima, pronounced like lima beans, not Lima, Peru.

I'm not quite sure what lima beans are, but I've seen the word in print many times and always assumed it was pronounced lee-ma, like the capital of Peru. The OED agrees with me and says the name of the bean is derived from the name of the city.

Where are you, and how widepread is whatever different pronunciation you use?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: bubblyrat
Date: 15 May 15 - 05:01 PM

Growing up in West Sussex,I went to primary school in Easebourne , pronounced "Ezzbourne ". Near Henley -on-Thames ,where I was born, is a village called Pishill , but known locally as Pishle , not, sadly, Piss Hill. In Somereset ,near Yeovilton, lies Tintinhull, pronounced "Tintnull"; sadly, Herge had no say in the matter.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Janie
Date: 15 May 15 - 06:07 PM

CupofTea is in Ohio, USA, and as she said, she lives near Cleveland, up on or near Lake Erie.   The name of town in Ohio spelled Lima is pronounce LIE-ma.

In the UK, all lima beans may perhaps be referred to as butter beans. Not sure. In the USA, only some varieties of lima beans are called butter beans, or possibly broad beans. In the southern USA, the big, tougher varieties that are sold as dry beans as well as canned beans, and occasionally frozen, are called butter beans. They are a pale greenish tan to yellowish tan in color and taste very different from what we call lima beans, which are small, tender, green and not as starchy in taste and texture. In the southern USA, what we call lima beans are never sold dry, may be available fresh, but more likely available frozen, occasionally canned.

In the USA, the differences in regional accents result in some variation, but the differences in accents have to do almost entirely with regional differences in how vowels are sounded, or whether or not consonants get dropped or softened at the end of a word. (goin' vs going, for example.) A long vowel spoken by a person from New England will sound different from a long vowel spoken by a southerner, but both are recognized as the long vowel sound for that region, as another example. Regardless of what a dictionary may say, in the USA, the local regional pronunciation regarding the accented syllable, and whether it is a short or long vowel, is generally considered the correct pronunciation of the place name, regardless of what the dictionary says.

So, regardless of where one is from, to pronounce Lima, Ohio the same as Lima, Peru, would be a pronunciation, albeit understandable and forgivable the first few times one pronounced it incorrectly after being corrected. Ditto places like the place I mentioned upstream, Canaan Valley, WV. To pronounce it the same way one pronounces the biblical referenced place after which it is named, is an incorrect pronunciation. The USA is full of such place names.

There is a quite populated unincorporated area near me named Bahama. When I moved here many years ago, I pronounced it the same as I pronounce the Bahamas (as in the southern Atlantic islands.) Wrong, wrong, wrong. Bahama, NC is pronounced ba-HAY ma. Founded circa 1750, it's name was made from three prominent families who settled there, taking the first two letters of each of their surnames. (Ba)ll, (HA)rris, and (Ma)ngum.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Tangledwood
Date: 15 May 15 - 07:18 PM

There is an area north of Brisbane which was populated by soldier-settlers after WW1. Most of the districts have French names, one giving its name to the highway. I wonder how French speakers feel about D'aguilar being pronounced Dee-ag-you-lah.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 May 15 - 08:04 PM

Launceston in Cornwall is pronounced Lanson, contrary to what some others here have said.

Also in Kernow we have Polzeath ("Polzeth") and St Teath ("St Teth"). My house overlooks Widemouth Bay ("Widmuth"). A bit further down there's Bosinney ("BosINNey"). Just outside Bude there's Poughill ("Poffle"). You could go for a nice walk up Kernow's second highest bill, Rough Tor ("Rowter").

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: PHJim
Date: 15 May 15 - 10:24 PM

"Toronto" is more often pronounced "Trawna" and one of the major east west avenues "Eglinton" is almost always pronounced EglinGton".

A village between Oshawa and Bowmanville in Southern Ontario is called "Courtice", but is pronounced as "Curtis".

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 16 May 15 - 11:58 AM

Gillingham in Kent - Jillingham
Gillingham in Dorset - Guillingham

Whenever I've been to Wiveliscombe it was pronounced Wivel-ISScombe (or just Wivvey), none of that Wivelscum business, which reminds me of the American dipplemat (diplomat).

And then there is Congresbury in North Somerset, pronounced Congsbury, not the mealy-mouthed Coomsbury you get from elderly aunts.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 16 May 15 - 03:33 PM

Surprised nobody has so far mentioned Arkansas -- or did I miss it?

≈M≈

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Mark Ross
Date: 16 May 15 - 06:23 PM

When I lived in Wichita Kansas I found that the river running through town was pronounced R-Kansas, none of the locals called it the ArkanSAW River.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Fred Maslan
Date: 16 May 15 - 07:31 PM

Newly arrived reporters on TV or Radio in Washington State were given news reports from Sequim or Puyallup. Sequim pronounced skwim and Puyallup pronounced pyoo-AL-up.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 May 15 - 11:34 PM

Two of my favorite Atlantic Coast towns are Beaufort, South Carolina [BEW-fert]; and Beaufort, North Carolina [BOH-fert]. I guess the South Carolina town is a bit prettier, but the North Carolina town is gateway to the spectacular Cape Lookout National Seashore. Cape Lookout has an Argyle-patterned lighthouse, dontchaknow....

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 17 May 15 - 01:23 AM

And the English university city near which I live, and its Mass namesake, of course cannot be pronounced as they are by any possible rule of spelling --

'came-bridge', forsooth; with the long 'a' preceding, not one, not two, but THREE whole consonants...

≈M≈


...(unless Child #2 is going to be about a came-brick shirt instead)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Local place names - local pronunciation
From: Mr Red
Date: 17 May 15 - 04:41 AM

near Dursley (which ex-wifey pronounced Durzle) there is an area called Cam (pronounced Cam), and just to confuse down the road where the river runs is Cambridge (came bridge)!
Eynsham near Oxford (pronounced Oxford!) is pronounced En-sham

And as for Welsh pronunciations - Gog Gymraig (or is that Cymraig Gog?) would pronounce with accents that can remind you of a Teutonic Tinge, whereas in South Wales (look-see) it is a bit more to the lyrical end of the spectrum. I have heard Cymraigophones pronounce Caerphilly and Caerleon distinctly Cai-r-lee-on etc. I know not whence the pronouncers originated.
And my Aunt married a Knighton-ite (pronounced neye ton) which is almost as English as Monmouth which I was assured by a lass there was pronounced Munmuth (two short close syllables) and she insisted they didn't say "look you" it was "look see"

So the Machynlleth interpretation comes from Knighton.

Presteign? Press-teen and Penmaenmawr Pen-mine-mou-er (ish) where there was a boot maker in the 20's. Uncle had a shoeshop.