A good way south of the above; but I've always been tickled by two adjacent villages north of Bristol, Alveston and Olveston: locally pronounced "Olveston" and "Oolveston" respectively.
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Trivia: Place names that you're not sure how to pronounce
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A good way south of the above; but I've always been tickled by two adjacent villages north of Bristol, Alveston and Olveston: locally pronounced "Olveston" and "Oolveston" respectively.
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Hmm. My elderly relatives, who have always live in northern Wirral (Wallasey, Morton, Leasowe, Hoylake) tell me that Meols rhymes with else.
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
Bury here in lancs is both Burry and Berry
Is there a geographical distinction like with Shrewsbury, where one side of the river says it one way with the other side saying it the other? As an outsider, in both cases I could use either and say it whichever way comes into my head first!
BucksBones
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Not really. Bury in the Bury accent is sort of half way between Burry and Berry - the u is like a shortened "er" sound. If you're talking of burying something it's just the same. It rhymes with not only curry and hurry but also cherry and ferry!
Berkhamsted is interesting as it used to be pronounced Barkhamsted. In fact I have seen the spelling Barkhampstead on some old maps so perhaps it's always been contentious!
On a similar note it's probably a good job Amersham is no longer spelt "Agmondesham"!
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61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
In that case, I'll continue to alternate between the two pronunciations!
Though the football team will always rhyme with "curry" and not "cherry".
I regret to have to tell you that for years I lived even closer ...
37 418
Member
I agree - Welsh, Scottish and Irish Gaelic do not have the 'z' sound
Two that surprised me on the Tyne & Wear Metro recently (I'm assuming the announcements have the correct pronunciation). Chichester, with the 'i' pronounced as you would name the letter, not like the place in Sussex. Also Pelaw, which assumed would be pronounced Pel-law, when in fact it is Pee-law.
The automated announcement on the current trains always says 'The next station Smells.'
Burreh surely?
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
One that used to annoy me was Ardingly - which the local call Arding - ley .......
So very Posh -for what is basically a stone terminal site , - oh - and a school .....
So very Posh -for what is basically a stone terminal site , - oh - and a school .....
Always amused me that for the local council, Bury Borough, both words were pronounced the same.
It's Arding-lye.
martian boy
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Us-trad-gun-lice.
Try these:-
Maerdy
Ynyshir
Ynysybwl
Govilon
All these had railway stations at one time.
Does anyone know whether Dolwyddelan is "Dolwy-dellan" or "Dolwy-thellan"? I think "dd" in Welsh is usually pronounced "th" (see also the now-closed thread on Welsh announcements from four years ago at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/welsh-announcements.78749).
Yes, the 'dd' does become a th/f sound (voiced dental fricative if you want the proper terminology), hence as an example, Cardiff/Caerdydd.
Francis
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Ystradgynlais - Swansea Vale railway / Neath and Brecon
Y in Welsh is sometimes a short i as in bit, and sometimes the indistinct vowel sound schwa = uh roughly, as in currant or the first a in banana, or the o in memory or the first a in separate. Thought I'd better check it up:
So Maerdy = Migh-di
Unus - heer for Ynyshir where u represents the schwa sound.
Unusubool for Ynysybwl
Govilon - same as in English I would think
I'm not a Welsh speaker though I can decipher a few common signs. Also North Welsh and South Welsh have somewhat different pronunciations and grammar. So maybe a genuine Welsh speaker can correct me.
Y in Welsh is sometimes a short i as in bit, and sometimes the indistinct vowel sound schwa = uh roughly, as in currant or the first a in banana, or the o in memory or the first a in separate. Thought I'd better check it up:
- Y - has two different pronunciations. In all but the last syllable of a word it's pronounced as an "uh". When it is in the last syllable of a word it is pronounced as an 'i' - as in English 'is'. For example, the Welsh for mountain is mynydd (mun-ith); the Welsh for mountains is mynyddoedd (mun-uth-oith). Because it no longer occurs in the last syllable, the sound of the second y changes from 'i' to 'u' (also, notice the emphasis moves along to the new penultimate syllable). In single syllable words, the Y is unpredictable!
So Maerdy = Migh-di
Unus - heer for Ynyshir where u represents the schwa sound.
Unusubool for Ynysybwl
Govilon - same as in English I would think
I'm not a Welsh speaker though I can decipher a few common signs. Also North Welsh and South Welsh have somewhat different pronunciations and grammar. So maybe a genuine Welsh speaker can correct me.
QueensCurve
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No doubt someone has mentioned "Milngavie" above.
Prudhoe
The correct pronunciation is Pruddah but often people incorrectly pronounce it as Prud-hoe.
The Celia Railway announcer used to sound like they were pronouncing it as Prood-hoe until recently it has been changed to the correct pronunciation.
The correct pronunciation is Pruddah but often people incorrectly pronounce it as Prud-hoe.
The Celia Railway announcer used to sound like they were pronouncing it as Prood-hoe until recently it has been changed to the correct pronunciation.
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Iskra
Established Member
Deeton is correct local pronunciation of Deighton.
hexagon789
Veteran Member
An Irish one which always used to catch me out was Maynooth, pronounced Muh-nooth.
As an aside, reading back over this thread the arguments on how to pronounce bath are hilarious. Bath, barth, barf. Did we ever come to an agreement on that?
As an aside, reading back over this thread the arguments on how to pronounce bath are hilarious. Bath, barth, barf. Did we ever come to an agreement on that?
Dhassell
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As an aside, reading back over this thread the arguments on how to pronounce bath are hilarious. Bath, barth, barf. Did we ever come to an agreement on that?
Heh, I always pronouce it differently, Barf Spa for the station, but if I am just saying the one word 'Bath' I always say Barth. Probably just me though
hexagon789
Veteran Member
Heh, I always pronouce it differently, Barf Spa for the station, but if I am just saying the one word 'Bath' I always say Barth. Probably just me though
As a Scot I say bath to rhyme with math. That applies for Bath Spa, a bath, bathroom and Matlock Bath.
Neither.
Dolwy -thelan. (But with the 'th' sounded as in 'the' or 'though' not as in 'thin')
Howardh
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One would think there's only one way to pronounce Bury.
dorsetdesiro
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Some Americans may struggle with British names and pronunciations but not so when I visited New England. It was lovely to hear the same names, like Gloucester & Worcester, in Massachusetts pronounced exactly how it would be here.
When I toured Boston, it was too expensive to stay in the central area and it can be terrible to drive in so I stayed in the outskirts by the ring road then take the train into city.
I left the rental car in the suburb of Winchester and took the commuter train into Boston North Station. I was bit alarmed to find there were no ticket machines and no ticket office so there was no way to get a ticket apart from an electronic one from an app I didn't want to use.
Luckily the guard was very friendly and let me on the train without a ticket, no sign of an inspector also no ticket barriers at North Station.
I purchased a ticket for the return trip back to Winchester, I got this from the counter. I did not realise about the pronunciation being the same, I thought the guy at the counter may have trouble understanding me if I say Winchester in the Hampshire way so I told him "Ween-CHESTER" then he repeated my question by saying Winchester correctly in the Hampshire way! I came away feeling like a plum!
When I toured Boston, it was too expensive to stay in the central area and it can be terrible to drive in so I stayed in the outskirts by the ring road then take the train into city.
I left the rental car in the suburb of Winchester and took the commuter train into Boston North Station. I was bit alarmed to find there were no ticket machines and no ticket office so there was no way to get a ticket apart from an electronic one from an app I didn't want to use.
Luckily the guard was very friendly and let me on the train without a ticket, no sign of an inspector also no ticket barriers at North Station.
I purchased a ticket for the return trip back to Winchester, I got this from the counter. I did not realise about the pronunciation being the same, I thought the guy at the counter may have trouble understanding me if I say Winchester in the Hampshire way so I told him "Ween-CHESTER" then he repeated my question by saying Winchester correctly in the Hampshire way! I came away feeling like a plum!
onlinespotting
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Alsager pronounced all -sager by locals and north midlands but al-sager (as in Alan) by the Atos system
hexagon789
Veteran Member
Can't remember if we've had it yet, but Beaudesert in Warwickshire is pronounced bell-zer.
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