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Towns that are not pronounced as they’re written

Started by roadman65, May 27, 2022, 10:15:26 AM

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Big John

Quote from: 1995hoo on May 28, 2022, 08:31:19 AM
Bumpass, Virginia, is not pronounced as though you're referring to a collision with someone's rear end; rather, it's pronounced like the last name of Ralphie's neighbors in the BB gun movie, the people whose dogs stole the turkey–"bump us."

Rio Road in Charlottesville is pronounced with a long "I"  sound, like "rye"  with an "o"  on the end. There are various explanations and nobody seems to know which one is true (if any).

I'm sure we've had this discussion before because I'm sure I've mentioned those two names.
This?  https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=13242.msg2000770#msg2000770


US 89

Quote from: skluth on May 27, 2022, 04:28:51 PM
Americans are really bad with French names.

This may be true as a general rule, but see Duchesne UT, which is pronounced exactly as it would be in French

Elsewhere in Utah... Hurricane is not pronounced like the storm, but with a much reduced third syllable (HUR-ih-kun). If you want to sound really local, make it two syllables by dropping the middle one.

Ouray is "YOU-ray" , just like in Colorado

Mantua is "MAN-uh-way"

Anything named Weber is pronounced with a long E - not like the grill brand (which really should be spelled Webber anyway). Same with Heber.

kernals12

Worcester (Wuss-ter) and Peabody (Pea-buh-dee) here in Mass.

Ted$8roadFan

Also in MA: Woburn. Can be pronounced as Whoa-burn or Woo-burn.

roadman65

Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on May 28, 2022, 10:05:59 AM
Also in MA: Woburn. Can be pronounced as Whoa-burn or Woo-burn.

Just like Baw ston is Bah Ston to Bostonians.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Takumi

Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

Rothman

Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on May 28, 2022, 10:05:59 AM
Also in MA: Woburn. Can be pronounced as Whoa-burn or Woo-burn.
Meh.  The MBTA says WHOA-bin.  That's what I go with.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Rothman

Quote from: roadman65 on May 28, 2022, 11:14:24 AM
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on May 28, 2022, 10:05:59 AM
Also in MA: Woburn. Can be pronounced as Whoa-burn or Woo-burn.

Just like Baw ston is Bah Ston to Bostonians.
Nah.  You're mixing Worcester and Boston accents on that one.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Rick Powell

Quote from: CtrlAltDel on May 27, 2022, 09:04:39 PM
To say nothing of the decidedly un-French pronunciation of Illinois. There are even people out there, literate and grown up and everything, that take it to the next level and pronounce the s.

By no means complete list of IL mispronunciations of place names.
Cairo = KAY-ro
Vienna = VY-enna
Teheran = Tuh-HERR-an
Eldorado = El-du-RAY-doe
San Jose = San JOE
Des Plaines = Dess Plains
Bourbonnais = Burr-bo-NAISE or Burr-BONE-iss
Marseilles = Marr-SALES
Joliet = JOE-lee-et or JOLLY-et
La Salle = LAY Sall

GaryV

Quote from: US 89 on May 28, 2022, 09:25:03 AM
Quote from: skluth on May 27, 2022, 04:28:51 PM
Americans are really bad with French names.
This may be true as a general rule, but see Duchesne UT, which is pronounced exactly as it would be in French
Probably doo-SHEN?

The French u does not have a corresponding sound in English. I was taught to purse your lips as if saying oo as in tooth, but then try to pronounce ee as in teeth.


-- US 175 --

Quote from: roadman65 on May 27, 2022, 10:49:29 AM
Also Bogota, NJ is not pronounced as it is in Columbia. It rhymes with Pagoda.

The TX town of Bogota is also like "pagoda".

TheHighwayMan3561

Monticello, as it refers to Thomas Jefferson's estate, is pronounced like the musical instrument. However, most cities named Monticello in the US seem to call themselves "Montisello".
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

-- US 175 --


-- US 175 --

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on May 28, 2022, 01:28:45 PM
Monticello, as it refers to Thomas Jefferson's estate, is pronounced like the musical instrument. However, most cities named Monticello in the US seem to call themselves "Montisello".

Including a small town in TX, and the fictional setting in the long-running daytime drama The Edge of Night.

Big John

Matteson IL is not matte-son, but mat-tes-on.  Easily confused with Madison.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: Rick Powell on May 28, 2022, 12:15:10 PM
By no means complete list of IL mispronunciations of place names.
Cairo = KAY-ro
Vienna = VY-enna
Teheran = Tuh-HERR-an
Eldorado = El-du-RAY-doe
San Jose = San JOE
Des Plaines = Dess Plains
Bourbonnais = Burr-bo-NAISE or Burr-BONE-iss
Marseilles = Marr-SALES
Joliet = JOE-lee-et or JOLLY-et
La Salle = LAY Sall


Hills = Flat

Ted$8roadFan

One of the most prominent examples in the US: Los Angeles.

CtrlAltDel

#67
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on May 28, 2022, 01:53:04 PM
One of the most prominent examples in the US: Los Angeles.

I don't know about this (and some of the other ones). It seems pretty straightforward as an English pronunciation. "Los" as is "lost" and so forth.

This thread is starting to turn into a discussion of which place names are not pronounced in the same way as their original language counterparts, which I don't think is the same thing.
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Techknow

Quote from: Rothman on May 28, 2022, 04:24:54 AM
San Rafael is San Ra-fai-el (not San Rafall or something like that).  E's not silent.
Vallejo is Val-ay-ho.  Not sure what you meant by the j being silent, but it isn't.  Just has the h sound.
I lived in Clayton and heard Ygnacio both ways, but sho was more common.
Concord is pronounced conquered in the East more frequently than Con-cord (e.g., better known cities like in MA and NH).  Concord, PA is a tiny backwater. If they say Con-cord, so be it.

<- *Does not speak Spanish at all*

For San Rafael, that is the correct pronunciation outside of the Bay Area. Besides Googling local news sources about this, I know at least one instance of Caltrans pronouncing San Rafael as "rah-fell" instead of the Spanish "raf-AYE-el", check 0:58 here:



I'm not sure what I mean by j being silent for Vallejo lol. But that is correct and again differs from the Spanish pronunciation (I edited my post now.)

Brandon

Quote from: Rick Powell on May 28, 2022, 12:15:10 PM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on May 27, 2022, 09:04:39 PM
To say nothing of the decidedly un-French pronunciation of Illinois. There are even people out there, literate and grown up and everything, that take it to the next level and pronounce the s.

By no means complete list of IL mispronunciations of place names.
Cairo = KAY-ro
Vienna = VY-enna
Teheran = Tuh-HERR-an
Eldorado = El-du-RAY-doe
San Jose = San JOE
Des Plaines = Dess Plains
Bourbonnais = Burr-bo-NAISE or Burr-BONE-iss
Marseilles = Marr-SALES
Joliet = JOE-lee-et or JOLLY-et
La Salle = LAY Sall


Joliet is actually pronounced how it would have been in 17th century French.  The family name was modernized to Joliette.

Bourbonnais is pronounced bour-bon-ay not as you have above.  All the Kankakee area folks I've spoken with pronounce it that way.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

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Rothman

Quote from: Techknow on May 28, 2022, 02:06:45 PM
Quote from: Rothman on May 28, 2022, 04:24:54 AM
San Rafael is San Ra-fai-el (not San Rafall or something like that).  E's not silent.
Vallejo is Val-ay-ho.  Not sure what you meant by the j being silent, but it isn't.  Just has the h sound.
I lived in Clayton and heard Ygnacio both ways, but sho was more common.
Concord is pronounced conquered in the East more frequently than Con-cord (e.g., better known cities like in MA and NH).  Concord, PA is a tiny backwater. If they say Con-cord, so be it.

<- *Does not speak Spanish at all*

For San Rafael, that is the correct pronunciation outside of the Bay Area. Besides Googling local news sources about this, I know at least one instance of Caltrans pronouncing San Rafael as "rah-fell" instead of the Spanish "raf-AYE-el", check 0:58 here:



I'm not sure what I mean by j being silent for Vallejo lol. But that is correct and again differs from the Spanish pronunciation (I edited my post now.)
Both my wife and I lived in the area (my wife right in Marin County).  I think I heard the vowels getting mushed together before, but it's still closer to the Spanish pronunciation than not.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

ilpt4u

Quote from: Rick Powell on May 28, 2022, 12:15:10 PM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on May 27, 2022, 09:04:39 PM
To say nothing of the decidedly un-French pronunciation of Illinois. There are even people out there, literate and grown up and everything, that take it to the next level and pronounce the s.

By no means complete list of IL mispronunciations of place names.
Cairo = KAY-ro
Vienna = VY-enna
Teheran = Tuh-HERR-an
Eldorado = El-du-RAY-doe
San Jose = San JOE
Des Plaines = Dess Plains
Bourbonnais = Burr-bo-NAISE or Burr-BONE-iss
Marseilles = Marr-SALES
Joliet = JOE-lee-et or JOLLY-et
La Salle = LAY Sall
You forgot:
New Athens: New A-thins (long A, as opposed to the Greek Ath-ins)
Steeleville: Still-ville

I have heard Borbonnais pronounced either way. Story I heard is some natives wanted to make it more "American"  and less "French"  hence the Burr-BONE-iss pronounciation

I find San Jose=San Joe hilarious (town is south of Peoria in west-central IL), because further east along I-74, just east of Champaign-Urbana in east-central IL, one runs into Saint Joseph, which is commonly called Saint Joe. San Joe and Saint Joe in the same state. That is Illinois for you!

tigerwings


roadman65

I heard on Bay Area Radio that Marin County north of SF is pronounced Mah Rin.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

mgk920




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