How do you pronounce these city names?

[national highway 1]

Unique local pronunciations of place names

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Try to pronounce the name of the Polish city ŁÃ³dź.

No, it's not what you think. It's something like 'Wutz'.

[Arkansastravelguy]

Nobody's said anything for Nebraska yet and while I think most are straightforward, some are not, or different from how other places with the same name are pronounced.
1. Norfolk- actually pronounced nor-FORK.  The city wanted to be Norfork, because it's on the North Fork of the Elkhorn River, but the postal service thought it was a mistake and called it Norfolk.  I hear nor-FOLK, but I believe most of them are people not from Nebraska.
2. Beatrice- Be-AT-riss, not like how you pronounce a person with the name
3. Louisville- Lou-IS-ville, essentially like how it looks, not like how the TV people pronounce the city in Kentucky
4. Plattsmouth- PLATTS-muth
5. Hooper- Hoo-per, with the short oo like in hooker

I worked in Norfolk for a short time and I will pronounce it the old English Nor-fuck till the day I die. Living a couple years in Columbus I realized if you ask 5 people you will get 5 variations.
I think another good one for Nebraska is Kearney. Is it k(ear)-nee or Car-nee


iPhone

[kurumi]

Try to pronounce the name of the Polish city ŁÃ³dź.

shuh-SHEF-ski?

Overlooked in the Seattle list was Sequim, pronounced "skwim" -- emphasis on the only syllable.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Nobody's said anything for Nebraska yet and while I think most are straightforward, some are not, or different from how other places with the same name are pronounced.
1. Norfolk- actually pronounced nor-FORK.  The city wanted to be Norfork, because it's on the North Fork of the Elkhorn River, but the postal service thought it was a mistake and called it Norfolk.  I hear nor-FOLK, but I believe most of them are people not from Nebraska.
2. Beatrice- Be-AT-riss, not like how you pronounce a person with the name
3. Louisville- Lou-IS-ville, essentially like how it looks, not like how the TV people pronounce the city in Kentucky
4. Plattsmouth- PLATTS-muth
5. Hooper- Hoo-per, with the short oo like in hooker

I worked in Norfolk for a short time and I will pronounce it the old English Nor-fuck till the day I die. Living a couple years in Columbus I realized if you ask 5 people you will get 5 variations.
I think another good one for Nebraska is Kearney. Is it k(ear)-nee or Car-nee


iPhone

Nebraska's Kearney is definitely "KAR-nee".

[bassoon1986]

Pikeville.  PIKEVUL.  One syllable.  Any ville is pronounced VUL, not VIL.

I have always had a theory when it comes to towns in Louisiana ending in "ville." The majority of places above Alexandria in the northern parts of the state pronounce these towns with a "VULL" sound.
Ex: Crowville, Farmerville, Rayville, Spearsville, Haynesville, Downsville, Bienville

Places below Alexandria typically pronounce it "VILL"
Ex: Abbeville, St. Martinville, Donaldsonville, Prairieville, Madisonville, Arnaudville

Pineville being in the center, I hear both ways.


Other fun Louisiana names:
Delhi: DELL-high
Vienna: Vie-IN-ah (not like the city in Austria)
Pontchartrain: PON-cha-train (you never hear the first 'r')
Lecompte: Luh-COUNT (one of my favorites to trip people up)
Anacoco: an-ah-Co-cah
Arabi: AIR-a-bee
Bastrop: BASS-drup (not like bass-drop in Texas)
Mamou: Mah-MOO
Bossier: BOH-zher
Choudrant: SHOE-drunt
Coushatta: the town is pronounced Cuh-SHAT-tah, the casino in Kinder is pronounced, Cush-AH-tah
Doyline: Doy-LEEN
Duson: DOO-sahn
Ferriday: I hear mostly FAIR-a-dee
Ioaw: i-uh-WAY
Keachi: KEY-chai (second syllable rhyming with eye)
Kinder: rhymes with "sender"
Many: rhymes with Danny, not Kenny
Natchitoches: NACK-uh-dish
Monroe: I tend to say MUN-row, but with it's sister city I say West Mun-ROW
Olla: AH-luh (like "ala" in the word koala)
Port Barre: Port BEAR-ee
Saline: suh-LEEN




Ones I'm not sure about:
Maringouin
Boeuf River (Buff or Beff?)

[agentsteel53]

Pikeville.  PIKEVUL.  One syllable.  Any ville is pronounced VUL, not VIL.

I'm trying to pronounce all of this as one syllable without it coming out as a grunt-sneeze.  how does it work?

[hbelkins]

If he was referring to Pikeville, Ky., I've heard it pronounced "packvul."

[pianocello]

Pontchartrain: PON-cha-train (you never hear the first 'r')

I had to go back and check the spelling of the name; I had never noticed 2 'r's before now.

Merrillville, IN, is pronounced "Mayr-uh-ville." If you pronounce the first double-l pair, you're taking too much time to say it.
If I'm not mistaken, the Milwaukee suburb of New Berlin is "New-BER-lin."

[6a]

In Columbus we have Alum Creek, and a nearby roadway called Alum Creek Drive.  I'm pretty sure that's pronounced AL-um, like the mineral, but some people say a-LUMM, like the stupid false singular form of "alumni" that people are starting to use.  Just...no.

Yep, AL-um is the way I've always known it. For New Albany it was newALL-buh-nee growing up but honestly there are so many newcomers in that area I don't even know any more.

One I haven't seen yet is Pataskala. A lot of people like to say Pat-uh-skah-la. Nope, it's puh-TA-skuh-luh.

[cl94]

A couple more:

Medina, NY: Meh-DYE-na (NOT the European Meh-DEE-na)
Suffolk St, Buffalo, NY: Su-FOLK (this irks the hell out of me)
Olean, NY: Oh-lee-ann