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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: ScouseBoy on Saturday 30 July 11 18:10 BST (UK)

Title: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: ScouseBoy on Saturday 30 July 11 18:10 BST (UK)
I am posting this  because of a discussion on another thread.

Some Place Names  are pronounced locally  differently from how they look.

Would it be possible  to list any of them?       Perhaps the BBC  has  an index for the benefit of news readers.

I will start you off with one or two.

Worsley Mesnes  is a district of Wigan.    Second word pronounced Mains.

How many transcription errors  are caused by these factors?
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: cati on Saturday 30 July 11 18:30 BST (UK)
Slaithwaite in West Yorkshire: pronounced Slough - it

Cati
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: rosiemagic on Saturday 30 July 11 19:13 BST (UK)
Here's another couple....

Heather in Leicestershire...pronounced Heether
Belvoir Castle...pronounced Beaver
Whitwick in Leicestershire...pronounced Wittick
Groby in Leicestershire...pronounced Grew-bee

RM :-)
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Kazlou on Saturday 30 July 11 19:47 BST (UK)
Another-

Trottiscliffe in Kent pronounced Tros-ley

 :)
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Viktoria on Saturday 30 July 11 21:32 BST (UK)
Ratlinghope in Shropshire pronounced Ratchup.

Bury in Lancashire pronounced Burry  locally  but by " outsiders" Berry.

Rawtenstall Lancashire pronounced Rottenstall locally.

                                                                                Viktoria.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: ScouseBoy on Saturday 30 July 11 21:39 BST (UK)
Still in that neck of the woods,   Is Darwen pronounced   as Darren  by the locals?

Then Kirkby  near Liverpool   has a silent second k   so Kirby.     
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: annaS on Saturday 30 July 11 22:22 BST (UK)
Just down the road we have Bosham pronounced - Boz um; but a bit further along in Hampshire there is Cosham pronounced Cosh hm.

Anna
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Lydart on Saturday 30 July 11 22:26 BST (UK)
Norfolk ...


Happisburgh pronounced Haze-brrr

Mundesley .... Munslee

Wymondham ... Wind-em      (wind as in breeze !)

Hunstanton ... Hunston
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: LindaJ1959 on Sunday 31 July 11 10:05 BST (UK)
Stourton Caundle in Dorset is pronounced Sturton Candle by the locals - or was when my dad was a child.

Linda
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: cavvytri on Sunday 31 July 11 10:54 BST (UK)
Three near me in Northumberland..

Cambois pronounced Cammus
Ulgham pronounced Uffum
Cowpen pronounced Coopn
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Lydart on Sunday 31 July 11 11:04 BST (UK)
Hautbois ... Suffolk  =  Hobbis
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: aghadowey on Sunday 31 July 11 11:32 BST (UK)
How about some Ulster ones?

Portglenone = Port glen own (not Port glen one- BBC newsreaders please take note)
Maghera = Ma her a ... but Magherafelt = Ma her felt
Camus = Cams
Articlave = Art i cliff
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: mshrmh on Sunday 31 July 11 11:49 BST (UK)
Greater Manchester area (all ones I've heard "alternatives" for on radio/TV)

Blackley  = Blake lee

Wythenshawe = With en shore

Audenshaw = Or den shore
Altrincham = Ol tring ham

Broughton = Bror ton

(I know about the Bury one posted earlier, but can honestly say I've never heard Burry except on discussions about pronounciation - is it fading away?)
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: behindthefrogs on Sunday 31 July 11 11:57 BST (UK)
Cogenhoe in Northamptonshire is pronounced Cook no.  This is obviously a long standing pronunciation as it appears as the place of birth in 1851 etc, censuses spelt Cookno or Cooknow.

Also interesting are how the names of rivers are pronounced.  For example the river Nene in Northamptonshire is pronounced to rhyme with men in Northampton but by the time it reaches Peterborough it rhymes with mean.  This completely confuses the traffic news presenters on the BBC who seem to randomly use the wrong pronunciation.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: BumbleB on Sunday 31 July 11 13:28 BST (UK)
Cholmondley in Cheshire is pronounced Chumley

BumbleB
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: BumbleB on Sunday 31 July 11 13:30 BST (UK)
Plaistow in the East End of London is pronounced Plah stoh

BumbleB
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: mrs.tenacious on Sunday 31 July 11 15:52 BST (UK)
Shipbourne, Kent - "Shibbun"

Boughton:  Nr Canterbury, Kent - "Borton"
                  Nr. Ollerton, Notts -     "Boo'en"
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Gan Yam on Sunday 31 July 11 16:52 BST (UK)
 
Burgh in Cumbria is pronounced Bruff
and
Torpenhow is Trpena
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Lisajj on Sunday 31 July 11 17:26 BST (UK)
Haverhill, Suffolk - A ver ill
Magdelene College in Cambridge - maudlin
In Coventry:
Styvechale - Sty chill
Cherylesmore - charles more
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Redroger on Sunday 31 July 11 17:43 BST (UK)
Must include my favourite Saltfleetby Lincs pronounced Sollerby

                                         Barnoldswick Yorks (Now Lancs -SHAME) Barlick
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Jean McGurn on Sunday 31 July 11 17:53 BST (UK)
In Sussex we have Steyning  pronounced Stenning but on TV I have heard it Stay-ning and many years ago when my brother and sister came down from Liverpool to stay she said she had enjoyed the visit to A-run-dle Took me quite a while to realise she meany Arun-del.   ;D ;D

Jean
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: BumbleB on Sunday 31 July 11 18:15 BST (UK)
I currently live in Tamworth in Staffordshire, which I am reliably informed is pronounced Tam'orth.  Plus, I am also reliably informed, a "moggie" is a mouse  :o

BumbleB
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Rishile on Sunday 31 July 11 18:50 BST (UK)
In Suffolk there is Walberswick - pronounced Wobbleswick

In Norfolk Costessey - pronounced Cossey

Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: cati on Sunday 31 July 11 20:11 BST (UK)
Staffordshire: Brewood is pronounced Brood
Yorkshire: Haworth is pronounced Howuth

Cati
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Jeuel on Monday 01 August 11 12:04 BST (UK)
Harrietsham in Kent is pronounced Harsham

I once worked in London with a chap who'd moved from Manchester and told me he was looking for a flat in Willesden, which he pronounced as its written.  I told him it was Wilsdun and he thought I was pulling his leg!  People often say Holborn instead of Hoburn too.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: new romantic on Monday 01 August 11 12:20 BST (UK)
and also in Northumberland
Newsham pron Newsm
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: cati on Monday 01 August 11 12:23 BST (UK)
"I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
On hiccough, thorough, slough, and through.
Well don't! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps.
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard but sounds like bird.
And dead: it's said like bed, not bead,
For goodness sake don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).
A moth is not a moth as in mother
Nor both as in bother, nor broth as in brother,
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear, for bear and pear.
And then there's dose and rose and lose--
Just look them up--and goose and choose
And cork and work and card and ward
And font and front and word and sword
And do and go, then thwart and cart,
Come, come! I've hardly made a start.
A dreadful Language? Why man alive!
I learned to talk it when I was five.
And yet to write it, the more I tried,
I hadn't learned it at fifty-five. "

Cati
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Lisajj on Monday 01 August 11 14:17 BST (UK)
What do you call a bread roll?
Where I live its called a "batch"
This is VERY local to Coventry, Bedworth & Nuneaton.
I don't think anywhere else calls it a batch!
I remember the first time away from home and visiting a chip shop.  I asked for a "chip batch please" and no one knew what I wanted!  I was quite confused!!
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Redroger on Monday 01 August 11 14:20 BST (UK)
What do you call a bread roll?
Where I live its called a "batch"
This is VERY local to Coventry, Bedworth & Nuneaton.
I don't think anywhere else calls it a batch!
I remember the first time away from home and visiting a chip shop.  I asked for a "chip batch please" and no one knew what I wanted!  I was quite confused!!

Does't tha mean a chip butty?
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: BumbleB on Monday 01 August 11 15:51 BST (UK)
I knew "batch" as "barm cake" when I lived in Cheshire.  Around Saddleworth area the same thing is a "bread cake".

BumbleB
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: rancegal on Monday 01 August 11 18:49 BST (UK)

  I was very confused when we lived in York and someone asked me to make some 'buns'. Here in Scenic East Northants, buns are made from sweet yeast dough with dried fruit in. In York, 'buns' are any small cakes. Then we visited OH's cousin in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and I found that 'buns' are bread rolls! No wonder foreigners get confused!

  Here we have Oundle which is often misheard as 'Arundel' if you pronounce it Ow as in brown but if you are a native of Northants, 'ou' is a sound difficult to write because it's like 'e' and 'a' and 'o' all rolled into one, followed by 'w', sort of 'eaowndle'
   Then there is Chelveston which use to be pronounced 'Chelsun' locally, but with so many 'incomers', the middle syllable has taken root more firmly.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: clayton bradley on Monday 01 August 11 19:29 BST (UK)
near here in Cheshire we have Mow Cop, to be spoken as if you stubbed your toe not cut the grass, clayton bradley
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Lisajj on Monday 01 August 11 19:43 BST (UK)
Luckily I am now fairly well travelled and know what to ask for in local chip shops!  Chip buttie in Lancashire, chip Cob in Leicestershire, and so on.  Although, I also have a very local accent which also confuses people!  However, I haven't been everywhere so would still like to know what others call it.

Bedworth = Bed'uth
Coventry = Cov
Tamworth = Tam'uth
Atherstone= Atherston
Hinckley = Hink lea
Manea = Mainey
Southwark = Suthuck
I'm sure I'll think of more!
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Jill on the A272 on Monday 01 August 11 19:51 BST (UK)
Up the road from me in Sussex is Horsted Keynes - as in canes, not as in Milton Keynes.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: cathaldus on Monday 01 August 11 19:59 BST (UK)
On BBC TV -

Pakistan -  Pakistaaaaaaaaaan
Afghanistan ---------------Afghanistaaaaaaaaaaaaan

Estuary English gone mad!!!
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Viktoria on Monday 01 August 11 21:17 BST (UK)
Hope I don`t offend anyone but a lot of southerners -- including Jeremy Paxman --say sickth instead of sixth, and fith instead of fifth.
 Viktoria.
 
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: ScouseBoy on Monday 01 August 11 21:20 BST (UK)
Hope I don`t offend anyone but a lot of southerners -- including Jeremy Paxman --say sickth instead of sixth, and fith instead of fifth.
 Viktoria.
 

And do they say   Baath   and not   Bath?
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Lydart on Monday 01 August 11 21:37 BST (UK)
My daughter-in-law-to-be comes from 'oop thar' and my son is picking it up from her ... 'bath', instead of his normal 'barth', and of course, 'path' instead of 'parth' ...
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: rancegal on Monday 01 August 11 21:50 BST (UK)

  .............and Twelth instead of Twelfth, strenth instead of strength (my mother's pet hate), Viktoria
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: mrs.tenacious on Monday 01 August 11 22:01 BST (UK)
Harrietsham in Kent is pronounced Harsham

Is it?  I've lived 5 minutes down the road from it for 20 years, and I've never heard it pronounced as such  ???
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: behindthefrogs on Monday 01 August 11 22:23 BST (UK)
Hope I don`t offend anyone but a lot of southerners -- including Jeremy Paxman --say sickth instead of sixth, and fith instead of fifth.
 Viktoria.
 

And do they say   Baath   and not   Bath?

Surely the correct pronunciation of a place name is the way the locals pronounce it.  Bath is thus one place name which northerners pronounce incorrectly even if they need to call the place they wash by a different name.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: ScouseBoy on Monday 01 August 11 22:35 BST (UK)
There needs to be  some uniformity  and good diction,  otherwise when people stopped to ask for directions  in a different region  to where they normally lived,  you would not be able to understand those directions.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Johnner Kid on Tuesday 02 August 11 09:33 BST (UK)
There needs to be  some uniformity  and good diction, 

DOOWAAH ?

Sy
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: KGarrad on Tuesday 02 August 11 10:40 BST (UK)
From near where I grew up in Somerset:
Congresbury - pronounced Congs-bree by locals!!
Naish Hill - Nash Hill - that's the hill on the M5 where the caravans cause problems!  ;D
Hatch Beauchamp - Hatch Beecham

And from where I then lived, Isle of Man, we have:

Ballaugh - pronounced Bal-laff
but Maughold - pronounced Mack-old?!
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: FosseWay on Tuesday 02 August 11 13:40 BST (UK)
Here's another couple....

Heather in Leicestershire...pronounced Heether
Belvoir Castle...pronounced Beaver
Whitwick in Leicestershire...pronounced Wittick
Groby in Leicestershire...pronounced Grew-bee

In the same neck of the woods, there's Zouch, just north of Loughborough, which is pronounced 'Zotch', unlike Ashby de la Zouch, where it's 'Zoosh'. And then there's Gotham on the bus route between Loughborough and Nottingham (can't remember whether it's in Leics or Notts), which is Goat-um, not like Gotham City. And you can always spot a local when they talk about Coalville, Leics -- they'll put the stress as CoalVILLE, whereas everyone else says COALville.

Then there's Loughborough itself, which always causes a headache when you're trying to say where you live to people who've never heard of it. Alongside the possibly apocryphal story of an Australian trying to buy a train ticket to 'Loogabarooga', I can personally vouch for the fact that an American asked me in all seriousness whether the town I lived in was really called 'Lowbrow'.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: FosseWay on Tuesday 02 August 11 13:46 BST (UK)
Surely the correct pronunciation of a place name is the way the locals pronounce it.  Bath is thus one place name which northerners pronounce incorrectly even if they need to call the place they wash by a different name.

In that case, we should all refer to Paree, Roma, Maskvá (with stress on second syllable) and so on, rather than Pariss, Rome and Moscow. And, with Moscow in particular, do we have to say 'This is Maskva', 'I live in Maskve', 'I'm travelling to Maskvu' and 'I'm from Maskvy'? If the only correct way to say it is like the locals do, then I guess we do.  ;)
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: behindthefrogs on Tuesday 02 August 11 14:03 BST (UK)
Surely the correct pronunciation of a place name is the way the locals pronounce it.  Bath is thus one place name which northerners pronounce incorrectly even if they need to call the place they wash by a different name.

In that case, we should all refer to Paree, Roma, Maskvá (with stress on second syllable) and so on, rather than Pariss, Rome and Moscow. And, with Moscow in particular, do we have to say 'This is Maskva', 'I live in Maskve', 'I'm travelling to Maskvu' and 'I'm from Maskvy'? If the only correct way to say it is like the locals do, then I guess we do.  ;)

It would save a huge number of problems if that convention were to be adopted.  However I was simply reacting to the continual assertion by northerners that the city of Bath should have its name pronounced their way even by southerners, as in the post by scouseboy to which I was objecting.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: KGarrad on Tuesday 02 August 11 14:06 BST (UK)
In Somerset, or at least the part I grew up in  ;D, its pronounced Bath with a short a.

Definitely not Baaath! or Barth!
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: behindthefrogs on Tuesday 02 August 11 14:19 BST (UK)
In Somerset, or at least the part I grew up in  ;D, its pronounced Bath with a short a.

Definitely not Baaath! or Barth!

A short "a" yes but surely not pronounced the same way as the "a" in "at".  My Somerset relatives just shorten the actual vowel without changing its pronunciation to the northern sound.  Whereas those from Brizzle (sorry Bristol) seem to lose the "a" altogether and just have a string of consonants pronounced Bth.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: KGarrad on Tuesday 02 August 11 14:28 BST (UK)
That's probably my problem, then!
Grew up in PortZ  ;D Or Portishead to non-Bristolians!
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Redroger on Tuesday 02 August 11 14:41 BST (UK)



Surely the correct pronunciation of a place name is the way the locals pronounce it.  Bath is thus one place name which northerners pronounce incorrectly even if they need to call the place they wash by a different name.

For information of the southerners THERE IS NO R IN  BATH!!! There may sometimes be a P, but we northerners leave that to southerners!
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Johnner Kid on Tuesday 02 August 11 15:26 BST (UK)
As a Scot I have got used to the English pronounciation of the word LOCH as LOCK. 
It is understandable that they just can't produce the correct CH sound.
But I can't understand why they tend to miss the second R from LIBRARY and the first R from FEBRUARY.
Can anyone explain it?
Sy
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: FosseWay on Tuesday 02 August 11 15:31 BST (UK)
Then there's always the county town of Norfolk, which according to the locals is pronounced Narch.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Redroger on Tuesday 02 August 11 16:02 BST (UK)

But I can't understand why they tend to miss the second R from LIBRARY and the first R from FEBRUARY.
Can anyone explain it?
Sy
Laziness which has morphed into usage I suggest.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: ScouseBoy on Tuesday 02 August 11 18:31 BST (UK)
As a Scot I have got used to the English pronounciation of the word LOCH as LOCK. 
It is understandable that they just can't produce the correct CH sound.
But I can't understand why they tend to miss the second R from LIBRARY and the first R from FEBRUARY.
Can anyone explain it?
Sy
    It needs to be acknowledged that  the residents of some Scottish towns and cities have excellent diction  and excellent pronunciation.    Inverness, some people say,  has an excellent record  on clarity and diction.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: liverbird09 on Tuesday 02 August 11 20:33 BST (UK)
A few districts on Merseyside:
Aigburth.......pronounced Egbuth
Gateacre........Gataka
Meols.......Melz

I love to hear the different accents around the UK....of course, some are easier on the ear than others.  ;)

Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: ScouseBoy on Tuesday 02 August 11 21:16 BST (UK)
Some southerners get Maghull wrong, have you noticed?   They say it as two words  Mag  Hull.   Instead of  Ma gull.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Viktoria on Tuesday 02 August 11 21:34 BST (UK)
OOOer! I started something didn`t I?
I was drawing attention to the missing out of the x in sixth and the second f in fifth which I`ve only heard southerners do.

I agree that February nowadays has lost its second R  and also Wednesday has become Wensdy, it used to be Wed-n-sday and I suppose before that Wed nes day.
Language is a living changing   thing and  the different accents add colour but some seem more pleasing than others don`t they. Rural accents seem more attractive.

Up here ---- people generally say book, cook, look etc with a long o sound and it is considered "posh" to say them with a short o but the long o is how it used to be hundreds of years ago so who is correct? Personally -as long as the grammar is correct I say " vive la difference".
  To get back to the original topic--Holcombe is locally pronounced as Hokum.               Viktoria.                                     
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: LindaJ1959 on Tuesday 02 August 11 21:51 BST (UK)
Some southerners get Maghull wrong, have you noticed?   They say it as two words  Mag  Hull.   Instead of  Ma gull.

Not only southerners! Most people who don't live in the area mispronounce it until corrected. I live in Maghull, so I know!

 :)

Linda
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Skoosh on Tuesday 02 August 11 22:14 BST (UK)
Strange how folks south of the border have the greatest difficulty with the word "deteriorated".
Skoosh.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Seoras on Tuesday 02 August 11 22:45 BST (UK)
Mousehole in Cornwall ...... Mouzle
Fowey same place ......... Foy
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Ermintrude46 on Wednesday 03 August 11 20:22 BST (UK)
Rahnd my nek of the woods Greenwich is sed as Gren-itch, Deptford as Det-fd and Lewisham as Loo-sham  ;D
Ermy
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Skoosh on Wednesday 03 August 11 20:28 BST (UK)
Kilconquhar = kinyucher.
Strathaven = straiven.
Milngavie = mulguy.
Greenock = greenock.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Seoras on Wednesday 03 August 11 20:47 BST (UK)
I have been wondering how to pronounce Kilconquhar Shoosh,up till now I thought I had family from Kill-con-queue-haar ;D
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Skoosh on Thursday 04 August 11 08:08 BST (UK)
Ah'm still workin on Seoras!      Skoosh.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: sams mam on Thursday 01 September 11 21:51 BST (UK)
Leighlin Bridge in Co Carlow Ireland is pronounced Loughlin Bridge.
The village of Old Leighlin is also called Old Loughlin.

Sams Mam
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: BashLad on Thursday 01 September 11 23:07 BST (UK)
Near me in lancashire we have -

Oswaldtwistle or rather ozzultwisle. The BBC never get this one right.
Salmesbury is Sa(r)msbry (Northerners need the R - Southerners just say A  ;D).
Blackburn, contrary to what outsiders may think, is not said both halves equally. It's not Black-burn it's Blackb'n.
Places with shaw in tend to be shuh like lanshuhbridge (laneshawbridge) and crawshuhbooth (crawshawbooth).
Colne is Cone to people in Blackburn and Accrington but people in Burnley and Colne actually say the L. Somehow. Too close to yorkshire there I think.
Todmorden is Todmuhden not Tod-more-den.
Keighley is Keithley.

I'll confirm Rawtenstall is Rottenstall (or to the young Ro'enstall) and Bury has the same U as burn. Hereabouts we bury the dead and eat berries. They don't have the same sound.
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: pinot on Friday 02 September 11 00:05 BST (UK)
    A few jolly limericks on the subject:

There was a young fellow named Cholmondeley,
    Whose bride was so mellow and colmondeley
    That the best man, Colquhoun,
    An inane young bolqufoun,
    Could only stand still and stare dolmondeley.

    The bridegroom's first cousin, young Belvoir,
    Whose dad was a Lancashire welvoir,
    Arrived with George Bohun
    At just about nohun
    When excitement was mounting to felvoir.

    The vicar - his surname was Beauchamp -
    Of marriage endeavoured to teauchamp,
    While the bridesmaid, Miss Marjoribanks,
    Played one or two harjoripranks;
    But the shoe that she threw failed to reauchamp.

    An adventurous pirate named Menzies
    Simultaneously boarded two denzies.
    The Rover, Sir Ralph,
    Said, "Do you think that's salph?
    You don't want to damage your thenzies."

    The Baron of Fawsley, Lord St John,
    Had a fine buckskin coat with a frt john.
    He said, "It was guthven
    Me by Viscount Ruthven,
    Who thinks I'm a cowboy, or t john."

                                      Pinot  :)
   
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Skoosh on Friday 02 September 11 08:23 BST (UK)
Very Good Pinot!
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: IMBER on Friday 02 September 11 09:27 BST (UK)

Greenock = greenock.

Well said!
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: Siamese Girl on Friday 02 September 11 15:17 BST (UK)
Harrietsham in Kent is pronounced Harsham

Is it?  I've lived 5 minutes down the road from it for 20 years, and I've never heard it pronounced as such  ???

I was a bit mystified by that as well and had a sudden moment of panic. Being born in Kent but not of Kentish stock I was worried that I might have have been calling it Harrietsham all these years and had secretly become a laughing stock  :o

Another Kentish one - Wrotham (Rootam)

Carole
Title: Re: Place names ~ Pronunciation, Accents, and problems
Post by: FosseWay on Saturday 03 September 11 17:12 BST (UK)
A variant on the Cholmondeley limerick:

A young man called Cholmondeley Colquhoun
Kept as a pet a babquhoun.
His mother said, "Cholmondeley,
Do you think it quite colmondeley
To feed your babquhoun with a spquhoun?"