|
14 Aug 16 - 01:09 PM (#3805070) Subject: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: GUEST,Patricia Averill I've heard there are regional differences in how the word "kumbaya" is pronounced. Wondered if people could share how they say it. What syllable do you stress when you say it? (It may be different than how you sing it). How do you say the first syllable? Is it koom, comb, or kum? Does it rhyme with room, roam, or rum? Or something else? |
|
14 Aug 16 - 01:25 PM (#3805073) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: bubblyrat Coom (as in the Welsh Cwm) ; By (as in bye ) : AAgh as in "Are you enjoying the evening,Mrs Lincoln ?" . |
|
14 Aug 16 - 02:23 PM (#3805084) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: GUEST,Senoufou It depends on which origin one accepts. One is that it originated from the Gullah people (African-origin slaves on an island off S.Carolina) and the other is that it was taught by a missionary to Angolans, from whence it made its may back to the West. If the former, then koom-buy-ah. If the latter, then come-by-ya ('come by here', asking the Lord to come and help) But Gullah is a Creole, and has English as its origin. So one wonders just how the first syllable changed from come to koom. My (admittedly limited!) experience of a few W African languages has been that there is no sound equivalent to the vowel in 'come'. But many, many words have 'oom' in them. For instance, 'tumbu' a nasty insect that lays its egg under your skin and hatches out from a hole like Alien. It's pronounced 'toom-boo' I would therefore pronounce this as Koom-by-yah. |
|
14 Aug 16 - 07:30 PM (#3805140) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: McGrath of Harlow In whatever way seems natural. We don't all speak the same way, and it's a word that has entered into our culture, with all its variations. |
|
16 Aug 16 - 12:44 PM (#3805391) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: GUEST,Desi C COME or CUM-BY-YAH |
|
16 Aug 16 - 02:43 PM (#3805408) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: Mo the caller None of that answers the 'regional variation' part of the question. I agree "COME or CUM-BY-YAH". I'm originally from London, but probably learnt it in the 60s when I lived in the North of England. Potteries, then Tees-side then Cheshire. Probably Tees-side. |
|
16 Aug 16 - 04:24 PM (#3805430) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: JohnH = Come by here. |
|
16 Aug 16 - 04:26 PM (#3805431) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: GUEST I've only heard it as "koom-bye-ah" then again, I know some people who pronounce "come" so that to my ears it sounds like "koom" |
|
02 Jul 19 - 01:44 AM (#3998795) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: Mrrzy I have always [till tonight] sung and heard coom but I was watching a Nordic show and someone sang Kum, so I came here for info. Love this place. Senoufou, we called them Tumble flies. |
|
02 Jul 19 - 03:37 AM (#3998808) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: GUEST,Mark The answer to the question is "infrequently, but impeccably". |
|
02 Jul 19 - 11:56 AM (#3998871) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: leeneia Here's the Soweto Gospel choir singing a song with kumbaya in it. Follow their example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz2PtcU6SxM |
|
02 Jul 19 - 01:12 PM (#3998883) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: meself Never heard the 'kum' pronounced as 'come' - alway 'koom', rhymes with 'broom'. |
|
02 Jul 19 - 01:54 PM (#3998889) Subject: RE: How Do You Pronounce 'Kumbaya'? From: Tattie Bogle We used to sing it in Girl Guides as a campfire song (in Suffolk): as Bubblyrat (14.08.16) and Guest (16.08.16) said. |