Trivia: Place names that you're not sure how to pronounce

[Calthrop]

An Irish one which always used to catch me out was Maynooth, pronounced Muh-nooth.

In my experience, pronunciation of Irish proper names can be fraught with surprises and errors for English folk such as myself (and presumably for Scots, among them yourself, hexagon789 ).

Older participants like me, are apt to have been in the position of first encountering place names in Ireland, in articles in the railway press about railways on that island -- reading the names, but; if like me, with effectively no family Ireland-related links; never having, then, heard them spoken. (Re Ireland's more northerly parts -- said reading happened in times before circumstances arose, in which Northern Ireland and places therein came to feature with great frequency on radio and TV news.)

An example: as a kid some sixty years ago, reading about the big junction, meeting-point of the broad-gauge Great Northern Railway of Ireland and the 3-ft.-gauge County Donegal system -- I naturally enough mentally transliterated, so as to pronounce its name as "Stra-BAYN". Discovered much later, that it's Stra-BAN. The same has gone for me, for a good many Irish places, both in the North and the Republic.

One in N.I. which continues to perplex me a little, is Omagh. I've heard it pronounced by apparently equally authoritative sources, as "Oh-MA[C]H"; and "OH-mah". Can anyone knowledgeable re this issue, provide enlightenment?

 

[hexagon789]

In my experience, pronunciation of Irish proper names can be fraught with surprises and errors for English folk such as myself (and presumably for Scots, among them yourself, hexagon789 ).

Older participants like me, are apt to have been in the position of first encountering place names in Ireland, in articles in the railway press about railways on that island -- reading the names, but; if like me, with effectively no family Ireland-related links; never having, then, heard them spoken. (Re Ireland's more northerly parts -- said reading happened in times before circumstances arose, in which Northern Ireland and places therein came to feature with great frequency on radio and TV news.)

An example: as a kid some sixty years ago, reading about the big junction, meeting-point of the broad-gauge Great Northern Railway of Ireland and the 3-ft.-gauge County Donegal system -- I naturally enough mentally transliterated, so as to pronounce its name as "Stra-BAYN". Discovered much later, that it's Stra-BAN. The same has gone for me, for a good many Irish places, both in the North and the Republic.

One in N.I. which continues to perplex me a little, is Omagh. I've heard it pronounced by apparently equally authoritative sources, as "Oh-MA[C]H"; and "OH-mah". Can anyone knowledgeable re this issue, provide enlightenment?

In my experience, pronunciation of Irish proper names can be fraught with surprises and errors for English folk such as myself (and presumably for Scots, among them yourself, hexagon789 ).

Older participants like me, are apt to have been in the position of first encountering place names in Ireland, in articles in the railway press about railways on that island -- reading the names, but; if like me, with effectively no family Ireland-related links; never having, then, heard them spoken. (Re Ireland's more northerly parts -- said reading happened in times before circumstances arose, in which Northern Ireland and places therein came to feature with great frequency on radio and TV news.)

An example: as a kid some sixty years ago, reading about the big junction, meeting-point of the broad-gauge Great Northern Railway of Ireland and the 3-ft.-gauge County Donegal system -- I naturally enough mentally transliterated, so as to pronounce its name as "Stra-BAYN". Discovered much later, that it's Stra-BAN. The same has gone for me, for a good many Irish places, both in the North and the Republic.

One in N.I. which continues to perplex me a little, is Omagh. I've heard it pronounced by apparently equally authoritative sources, as "Oh-MA[C]H"; and "OH-mah". Can anyone knowledgeable re this issue, provide enlightenment?

Funnily enough, I'm part Irish, but this doesn't seem to help in this respect! The BBC Pronuncing Dictionary of British Names (BBC PDBN for short) gives Oh-muh for Omagh, Wikipedia gives Oh-maa (broad A) as a variant.

I've never heard the name said other than on the BBC and it's always Oh-maa not the pronunciation the BBC PDBN uses. I would be though the Oh-muh pronunciation would be the local one as Irish accents don't tend to have a Broad A.

 

[PR1Berske]

My boyfriend is from Bangor, County Down, and on just checking with him, he says "O muh" as though using the relevant parts from "almost" and "murmur"

 

[hexagon789]

My boyfriend is from Bangor, County Down, and on just checking with him, he says "O muh" as though using the relevant parts from "almost" and "murmur"

That's how I would say it and how I assumed an inhabitant would say it. It also tallys with the BBC Pronuncing Dictionary.

I wonder where the alternate pronunciation comes from, I have heard it used so it's not simply a Wikipedia fabrication.

 

[Peter0124]

I really hate it when locals refer to "Bridgeton" as Brig-ton and not Bridge-ton

 

[hexagon789]

I really hate it when locals refer to "Bridgeton" as Brig-ton and not Bridge-ton

I hate when locals refer to Eaglesham as Eagle-shum

 

[Peter0124]

And I also hate when the locals pronounce 'Blan-tyre' as 'Blan-ter'

 

[hexagon789]

And I also hate when the locals pronounce 'Blan-tyre' as 'Blan-ter'

I've never heard it as that, but I can see why someone might, incorrectly, assume that was how it was said.

 

[Calthrop]

Thanks to all, for thoughts re pronunciation of the O-town in County Tyrone.

I have to wonder -- re the way of things in Northern Ireland (a part of the world which I truly like very much): might it be a "religious divide" thing -- Protestants pronouncing one way, Catholics another ?

 

[hexagon789]

Thanks to all, for thoughts re pronunciation of the O-town in County Tyrone.

I have to wonder -- re the way of things in Northern Ireland (a part of the world which I truly like very much): might it be a "religious divide" thing -- Protestants pronouncing one way, Catholics another ?

Possibly, but my point about saying Oh-muh (schwa on the end) vs Oh-mah (broad A on the end) I felt was down to Southern Englanders being unfamiliar with the pronunciation and something called the Bath-Trap split.

 

[MG11]

March
Leuchars
Cwmbran
Holborn

 

[hexagon789]

Leuchars

Lookhhh-urrrs

Good proper, guttaral ch and a nice rolled rrr

 

[hexagon789]

And I believe the L in Holborn should technically not be silent if I remember correctly.

 

[DavidGrain]

I have always pronounced Marylebone as Marry-le-bon which is how I learned to pronounce when playing Monopoly but now that I travel on Chiltern trains more I have noticed more people especially as you approach London calling it Marly-bon. However the correct pronunciation is in the name of the local parish church St Mary-le-bone, St Mary on the river Bone.

Alvechuch on the Birmingham Redditch Line is pronounced Alv'church but the recorded train announcements always have the extra syllable

Loughborough must be a nightmare to foreigner with the dreaded ough twice and prounced in two different ways.

Rugeley, I have never had any difficulty with because the g followed by an e should be pronounced as a soft g. However last year when travelling through that station I heard two locals pronouncing it with a hard g which I just could not believe because if it had a hard g it would be spelled Ruggley

 

[DavidGrain]

I have been to Omagh and I have always pronounced it Oh-ma with a short a. However Armagh on the other hand I pronounce as Ar-ma with a long a so I don't claim to be an expert but no one has ever corrected me.

 

[cactustwirly]

March
Leuchars
Cwmbran
Holborn

Cwmbran, is pronouced cumbran

 

[hexagon789]

Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, any non-Glaswegians care to take a punt?

 

[snowball]

Oh-mah with a longer A might be influenced by Omaha, USA.

 

[DavidGrain]

Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, any non-Glaswegians care to take a punt?

As in 'Up Socky, Doon Bucky and Along Argyle'
Up Sauchiehall Street, Down Buchanan Street and along Argyle Street. Yes I have done that walk.

 

[hexagon789]

As in 'Up Socky, Doon Bucky and Along Argyle'
Up Sauchiehall Street, Down Buchanan Street and along Argyle Street. Yes I have done that walk.

Yes, that Sauchiehall Street

 

[kevjs]

Wesh-am?
Is it Sal-wick or Sallick (not that my trains ever stop)?

My granddad and dad who both used to work at BNFL at Salwick used to pronounce it as Sol-wik. Was always Wesh'am for the other one too - but thats from people in Preston, no idea how the locals say it!

 

[Gwenllian2001]

Cwmbran, is pronouced cumbran

No it isn't. Cwm is pronounced with the w as in book and the a in bran is long as in. Father. In written Welsh there is a circumflex above a. Welsh pronunciation is simple if you learn the alphabet, which different to English.

 

[DavidGrain]

Actually Cwm is now an English word (borrowed from the Welsh because we are good at borrowing words from other languages) meaning a glacial valley in the mountains often in the shape of an amphitheatre and possibly containing a lake. 'w' is a vowel in Welsh and gives the '-oo-' sound in English.

 

[Busaholic]

And I believe the L in Holborn should technically not be silent if I remember correctly.

When I worked for Camden Council in the 1970s I do remember some 'locals' pronouncing the L. On the other hand, Holborn Viaduct station, whose customers were almost entirely from outside the area, was never pronounced with an L in my experience.

 

[DavidGrain]

This is one for the Welsh speakers:
Wrexham is a town in Wales which has two stations. In English the name Wrexham has a silent W. The Welsh name for the town is Wrecsam so how do you pronounce that as I am told there are no silent letters in Welsh.

 

[hexagon789]

This is one for the Welsh speakers:
Wrexham is a town in Wales which has two stations. In English the name Wrexham has a silent W. The Welsh name for the town is Wrecsam so how do you pronounce that as I am told there are no silent letters in Welsh.

Wreks-am (W sounded)

 

[MG11]

I'm baffled why people pronounce Edinburgh as Edinborough when it is spelt as though it should be pronounced Ed-in-bur

 

[midlandred]

It's Arding-lye.

Nearby is Ansty - pronounced An-stye

In Warwickshire (often photographed trains and canal) is Ansty - pronounced An-stee

Doh!

 

[hexagon789]

I'm baffled why people pronounce Edinburgh as Edinborough when it is spelt as though it should be pronounced Ed-in-bur

Edinburgh is Edin-buh-ruh. Edin-bruh is used by an increasing number of people Scots included.

 

[farleigh]

Wye is difficult for me.