So how does one properly pronounce PENNSY?
I always thought it was "penn-see" with a soft " s" sound but recently I heard "penn-zee" with a"z" sound.
So which is right?
Also, I always thought DRGW (Rio Grande) was "ree-oh" grand. But I have heard a couple of Colorado natives say "rye-oh" grand.
Have I been wrong all these years? Just curious.
Missouree, Missourah.
Madrid, NY is pronouced "ma-drid," with the emphasis on the first syllable.
Don't sweat the small stuff.
If there's one thing that's consistent in this country, it's our inconsistency in pronoucing words...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Say aloud "Pennsylvania"
Sounds like a "Z" to me.
ROAR
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Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I have always heard it pronounced pencil-vania. You get the "Z" with Pennzoil.
Pronunciations vary from place to place - deal with it. When you learn the local way of saying it - use it when you are in the locality.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
The man I knew who worked at Roper Yard in Salt Lake City said "Ree-o Grand."
Now, pronounce "Guyandotte" and "Ouachita."
Johnny
tree68 Missouree, Missourah. Madrid, NY is pronouced "ma-drid," with the emphasis on the first syllable. Don't sweat the small stuff. If there's one thing that's consistent in this country, it's our inconsistency in pronoucing words...
Yeppers!
, Larry is spot on! Regional accents and pronunciations abound.
There is the Brooklyn (NY) 'Earl' for oil.
Cairo, IL is locally pronounced 'Kay-roe'
People from Boston are dialectically marked for life by their words, as are folks from the Coastal North Carolina, and very Southeastern Virginia Coast....'Their's is what could be best described as an 'Elizabethan' pronounciation. The Downeaster accent of Maine. Even in Hew Hampshire and Vermont there are subtle differences, linguistically
Just made a trip over to the Piedmont of North Carolina... It is an easy listen to distinguish those folk of the Hills of Western North Carolina, from their geographical neighbors of East Tennessee.
Those are only a very few that immediately spring to mind. Born in West Tennessee, and lived a good deal of my life South of the Magnolia Curtain ( Mississippi, to y'all who are Yankees !) Married to a Native Kansan, and still finding myself trying to translate into English colloquialisms from her native tongue, 'Kanglish'.
And there is a different pronunciation for Penn (pen) and pin! This blew my Southern mind (I know, it doesn't take much). Pin-pen merger
I spoke with a fellow from around Wilmington, North Carolina who pronounced cow the same way you pronounce bow in "bow and arrow." Yet we take bows after performances.
Don't get me started on the pronunciation of Appalachian, either.
BroadwayLion Say aloud "Pennsylvania" Sounds like a "Z" to me.
I've lived here my whole life.
There is no Z.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
If you're in Boston and ask a native what something costs you're likely to get "anominalegg". Translated that means an arm and a leg.
Then there's Charlottet NC and Charlotte, MI. The carolinians accentuate the "Char" portion of the word and Michiganders accentuate "lotte".
In Texas, they speak a whole nuther language.
Norm
....wait till he tackles Pueblo....
bedell So how does one properly pronounce PENNSY? I always thought it was "penn-see" with a soft " s" sound but recently I heard "penn-zee" with a"z" sound. So which is right? Also, I always thought DRGW (Rio Grande) was "ree-oh" grand. But I have heard a couple of Colorado natives say "rye-oh" grand. Have I been wrong all these years? Just curious.
Answer one is yes and yes
Answer two is yes and yes
And answer three is NO.
There are so many regionalisms, dialects, sarcasms, spins, chides, and other pronunciation variations that you can't take time to count them all or worry...say what you know, what you're comfortable with, what is accepted where you are.
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zugmann BroadwayLion Say aloud "Pennsylvania" Sounds like a "Z" to me. I've lived here my whole life. There is no Z.
You should have heard the poor LION try to pronunce El Cajon.
bedell So how does one properly pronounce PENNSY? [snipped - PDN]
- Paul North.
Quoting Broadway Lion: "You should have heard the poor LION try to pronunce El Cajon."
This reminds me of the lady who had been visiting in San Jose. In telling of her visit, she pronounced the "J" as a "j." She was corrected, being told that the proper pronunciation is "San Hose," as the people there pronouce a "j' as though it were an "h." When asked when she was there, she replied, "In Hune and Huly."
I grew up in the South, and, somehow, acquired a southern accent (and, occasionally, someone will remark on it). For the benefit of those who have never traveled much in the South, let me say that there are many different Southern accents.
The summer before my last year in high school I spent two months in Baton Rouge with my brother and his family. When I returned home and detrained in Charlotte, N. C. (fifty miles from my home town), it seemed to me that the station master had one of the broadest accents I had ever heard--and I had heard him many times before I had gone to Louisiana.
I lived in Reform, Alabama, for almost nine years before moving here (Salt Lake valley)--and noticed that there was quite a difference in the way those native to Reform talked and the way those native to Columbus, Missssippi, talked--and less than thirty miles separated the two towns (the wives of two of the men I knew in Reform were from Columbus).
My wife was born in Evanston, Illinois, and grew up in Memphis--and never acquired the Memphian accent; she was often told, "You're not from here," when she began speaking with someone who did not know her. She could understand me, and I could understand her.
It is wonderful to go back to the South and visit with friends and relatives who know how to talk.
samfp1943 -
Cairo, GA is also pronounced "KAY-ro". None of the kids fresh out of journalism school hired by the local Nitwitness (TV) News can get that thru their thick heads.
Liked your phrase for Mississippi ("South of the Magnolia Curtain"). I'll have to remember that one - I try to collect and use vivid descriptive phrases.
deggesty-
In an earlier post I believe it was you who said the folks from NE North Carolina and SE Virginia had a very unique, almost Elizabethan pronunciation (my apologies to the actual author, if it wasn't you). Whomever said it, they were so right! I once worked with a guy from somewhere in the Tidewater, and he had a pretty good dose of the Old English in the way he pronounced words.
In your post above, you make the point that there are many "Southern" accents. Right again! I grew up in SE GA, but my mother had family in SW GA, where they have an accent different enough that it can be easily distinguished from that of SE GA. Back in the days when Phil Gramm was a U.S. Representative from Texas, some reporter on TV made a comment about his "Texas drawl". Hogwash!! Nearly hurt myself laughing at that, because it is obvious to anyone with the right ear that he learned to talk in SW GA. I believe his father was in the Army, but I know Gramm's family was living near Columbus, GA when he was little. When my wife and I (she's a Tallahassee, FL native) lived in Arkansas, we were asked thousands of times "Are you from Texas?" We spoke different enough from the Arkansawyers that it was obvious.
BroadwayLion You should have heard the poor LION try to pronunce El Cajon.
A good trick San Diego residents can play on visitors to pronounce a list of local place names: El Cajon, Jacumba, Jamacha, Jamul, La Jolla, Julian...
Note that El Cajon was on the San Diego, Cuyamaca and Eastern (now the El Cajon line of the SD Trolley) and Jacumba was on the San Diego and Arizona Eastern. Also note that the pass that hosts the AT&SF and UP Lines to L.A. plus the SP's Palmdale cutoff is Cajon Pass (no "El").
- Erik
Deggesty The man I knew who worked at Roper Yard in Salt Lake City said "Ree-o Grand." Now, pronounce "Guyandotte" and "Ouachita."
I'll leave the first one to someone who knows, but I've visited Arkansas many times, and I've always heard the latter pronounced "WASH-it-ah", which probably isn't too far from the how the French explorer might have said it himself.
As you may know, one of Rock Island's subsidiary companies was the Warren & Ouachita Valley, and in the company's last years it marked some new boxcars with W&OV.
SALfan samfp1943 - Cairo, GA is also pronounced "KAY-ro". None of the kids fresh out of journalism school hired by the local Nitwitness (TV) News can get that thru their thick heads. Liked your phrase for Mississippi ("South of the Magnolia Curtain"). I'll have to remember that one - I try to collect and use vivid descriptive phrases. deggesty- In an earlier post I believe it was you who said the folks from NE North Carolina and SE Virginia had a very unique, almost Elizabethan pronunciation (my apologies to the actual author, if it wasn't you). Whomever said it, they were so right! I once worked with a guy from somewhere in the Tidewater, and he had a pretty good dose of the Old English in the way he pronounced words. In your post above, you make the point that there are many "Southern" accents. Right again! I grew up in SE GA, but my mother had family in SW GA, where they have an accent different enough that it can be easily distinguished from that of SE GA. Back in the days when Phil Gramm was a U.S. Representative from Texas, some reporter on TV made a comment about his "Texas drawl". Hogwash!! Nearly hurt myself laughing at that, because it is obvious to anyone with the right ear that he learned to talk in SW GA. I believe his father was in the Army, but I know Gramm's family was living near Columbus, GA when he was little. When my wife and I (she's a Tallahassee, FL native) lived in Arkansas, we were asked thousands of times "Are you from Texas?" We spoke different enough from the Arkansawyers that it was obvious.
Lots of little errors creep into otherwise good movies we see, and a favorite screw-up of mine is in the very enjoyable film "MIDWAY", about the epic WW2 sea battle. One of the surviving heroes of that real-life clash was Ensign George Gay. Mr. Gay was a Texas Aggie, but in the movie was portrayed by an actor who sounded to me like he was from Virginia or the Carolina coast! Oh well, what's a thousand miles to one of these goofs out here in Hollywood?
Good thing my Texan mother never heard it.
mudchicken ....wait till he tackles Pueblo....
That came to mind for me, too.
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
Lots of German influence up here in Wisconsin. "And sohhhhhhww!" Many Indian names to trip you up, too. Also, Berlin, WI was bur "Linnn" before WWII; "Burrr" lin during and ever since.
And then there's the Chicago accent and pronunciations: My old neighborhood is pronounce HEG-wish, not HEDGE-wish Also, the suburban stop on the IC is MATT-uh-son with three syllables, not MATT-son with two.
Last night (10/14/12) History Channel's 'How the States got their shapes', the program was about the various pronounciation differences among the areas of the country. Very illuminating.
jclass Lots of German influence up here in Wisconsin. "And sohhhhhhww!" Many Indian names to trip you up, too. Also, Berlin, WI was bur "Linnn" before WWII; "Burrr" lin during and ever since.
There was a Berlin in Michigan, too, along the GTW. Before World War I it was pronounced "Bur-LINN"; after the "Great War" it was pronounced "Mahrn" (Marne)!My favorite specialty pronunciation was for Durand, Michigan. I think "Du-RAND" is the way you see and hear it almost all the time. But in my pre-railroading career on the GTW, that's where the crews originated, and I never knew of anyone who lived further away from there than Corunna. And they all said "DOO-rand"!Where I live is pronounced either "LAHM-bard" or "LUM-bard". A citizen such as I is often referred to as a "Lum-BAR-dian". But for the village, somewhere between the two is usually safe.I've also found that the locals of a one-time headquarters city in the east always said "BAL-timmer". The "t" is always in it, but the less it's dwelt on, the better.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
CShaveRR I've also found that the locals of a one-time headquarters city in the east always said "BAL-timmer". The "t" is always in it, but the less it's dwelt on, the better.
I've also found that the locals of a one-time headquarters city in the east always said "BAL-timmer". The "t" is always in it, but the less it's dwelt on, the better.
Sorry! The locals pronounciation is Bawl-mer! Hon! Only 'outsiders' put a T in it. Now, down on the Eastern Shore, some locals there highlight the T ... Bal - T - more.
Balt, I had heard, a little more than fifty years ago, from a Baltimorean, that it was "Bawl-more;" perhaps he was an aberration?
As to Ouachita, my father's mother was born in Ouachita county, Arkansas. She died before my parents were married, so I never heard her talk. I had a second cousin who knew how to pronounce it, but he did not know how to spell it.
As to Guyandotte, try "WYandot"--this, too is a French spelling (so far as I know). When I was quite young, I came across the French name "Guillaume"; I butchered the pronunciation horribly, and was corrected by my mother, told me it was gWEEome--the French equivalent of "William".
Growing up, I learned that a TRIbune was a newspaper, and that an ENsign was a naval officer or a flag. The people out here speak of the Salt Lake TriBUNE and their religious publication, the EnSIGN (there is also an EnSIGN Peak). Would those be western upstate New York pronunciations?
CopCarSS mudchicken ....wait till he tackles Pueblo.... That came to mind for me, too.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Buzz. Try again!
Now that’s funny, cause we think it be you’all that has the funny sounding accents…
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jclass Lots of German influence up here in Wisconsin. "And sohhhhhhww!" Many Indian names to trip you up, too. [snipped - PDN]
A few years ago I heard a radio talk-show program (Jim Bohannon) with a professor of linguistics on. He would ask callers to say a few particular words, and then guess where they were from. Aside from some 'transplants', he did pretty well. He said he could usually get within 25 miles or so on the East Coast, and within 100 miles in the western US - the spread-out states there as well as more uniform later settlement tended to make the accents and dialects the same for longer distances.
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