For example, yesterday the small town of Alvarado, Texas, was in the news. This town is very close to Mansfield, Texas, where I was raised or reared or grew up or however you think I should say it. Amost everyone who mentioned the town on television news broadcasts mispronounced it. For the record, even though in Spanish Alvarado rhymes with bravado, and even though the town was named after Alvarado in the Mexican state of Veracruz, the correct pronunciation of the town in Texas rhymes with Play-Doh or Day-Glo or Laredo, take your pick. All day long on the news channel the people were saying 'al-vuh-RAH-doh' until 4 p.m., when Will Cain, a man who actually is from Texas and broadcasts from Texas, said 'al-vuh-RAY-do' and I felt vindicated. At 7 p.m. I heard Laura Ingraham say it correctly too, but everyone else was back to 'al-vuh-RAH-do'.
I have friends from California who become agitated when people say Paso Robles wrong. Robles does not rhyme with 'go blaze' but with the English word 'nobles'.
I guess it depends on whether you aim for Spanish purism or go with the flow of the local populace.
There is Spanish and then there is Spanish.
In Texas, the San Jacinto monument near Houston is pronounced 'san juh-SIN-toh' or even 'san juh-SIN-tuh'. But actress Betty White, who lived in California, referred to it once as 'san hah-CHEEN-to', which I guess is technically correct but made Texans everywhere roll their eyes.
I have the strange feeling we have discussed these things before, but I may be mistaken.
Waxahachie (another town in Texas) is not WACKS-uh-hatch-ee, it's WALKS-uh-hatch-ee.
The G in Nacogdoches is not pronounced. And the word sounds nothing like the town of Natchitoches a few miles away in Louisiana even though they are named for the same Native American tribe (I think). In Texas it's 'nack-uh-DOH-chiz' and in Louisiana it's 'NACK-uh-tish'. I'm not even kidding.
The Brazos River in Texas is 'BRAZZ-us', not 'BRAH-zose'.
People in Illinois do not pronounce the S in the name of their state but a lot of other people do.
In Florida, Boca Raton is not 'boh-ka ruh-TAHN', it's 'boh-ka ruh-TONE'. Trust me, I lived there for six years.
Don't even get me started on Mackinac Island, Michigan, or Sault Ste. Marie (also in Michigan), or Dahlonega, Georgia, or Poughkeepsie, New York, or Puyallup, Washington.
In North Carolina, the town of Beaufort is 'BOH-fort' but the South Carolina town of the same name is 'BEW-fert'.
Call me anything you like (and I've been called a lot of things), just don't call me late for dinner.
What place-name mispronunciations get your
You mentioned the silent s of Illinois. Across the river in Iowa is Des Moines. Neither s should be heard. Here in the northwest part of Iowa is Buena Vista. Rather than the Spanish pronunciation it is pronounced Bewna Vista. (Rhymes with tuna) I know the correct pronunciations of the Michigan locations because I lived in Michigan for years. Mackinac Island is one of my daughter's favorite vacation spots.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I overlooked Des Moines. My dad grew up in Cedar Rapids. I've never been to Mackinac Island but it looked beautiful in the movie Somewhere In Time.
Delete