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

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bramling

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Alnwick seems to be odd one out here.

Most people seem to pronounce the river name as something close to A-lan or A-luhn, with the stress on the first syllable but barely a gap between the two syllables (IPA /ˈæl(ə)n/). Alnmouth follows this, but is definitely 'mouth' and not 'muth' (IPA /ˈæl(ə)nmaʊθ/).

So Alan-mouth without a gap between the two would be locally correct?

One does wonder how Annick was arrived at since it’s so different!
 
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transmanche

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So Alan-mouth without a gap between the two would be locally correct?
Certainly seems to be the preferred pronunciation locally. (But with the second a in Alan really shortened to a brief a or uh - about half as long as you might use for the boys' name.)

One does wonder how Annick was arrived at since it’s so different!
Indeed. Especially as there is also a village elsewhere in Northumberland called 'Anick'.
 

mirodo

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Certainly seems to be the preferred pronunciation locally. (But with the second a in Alan really shortened to a brief a or uh - about half as long as you might use for the boys' name.)

Indeed. Especially as there is also a village elsewhere in Northumberland called 'Anick'.

Yes, it's more Al'n-mouth.
 

Shimbleshanks

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We always used to call Beaumaris on Anglesey Bow-Marr-Is when I lived there, not Bow-Mare-Ee, or at any rate my parents and all my acquaintances did. Interesting mix of French and Welsh/English rendering...
 

hexagon789

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I would say these are correct. In one of Michael Portillo's Train Journey programmes where he visits, he pronounces it in the way quoted (I imagine that the pronnunciation wold have been researched?).

I assume they research it, as he usually gets even the less obvious names correct and you assume that they brief him accordingly
 

QueensCurve

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Can you name any place names in the UK that:

(a) you're not sure how to pronounce
(b) you struggle to pronounce correctly
(c) are often mispronounced
(d) you've heard being pronounced in more than one way
(e) are pronounced differently from how they are written

Two places on the Cambrian line spring to mind here. Machynlleth is "Ma-hunc-leth" but to an English person it looks as if it is "Ma-chin-leth", and Pwllheli is "Pwathelly" but a lot of English people think it's Pwelly or Pfwelly.

Not sure you have the Welsh quite right there.

Has anyone mentioned Milngavie?
 

bobbyrail

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We always used to call Beaumaris on Anglesey Bow-Marr-Is when I lived there, not Bow-Mare-Ee, or at any rate my parents and all my acquaintances did. Interesting mix of French and Welsh/English rendering...

My Welsh father (from the south) has always called it "Bow-Marris" without the later hyphen, maybe its because he's from the south?
 

AndrewE

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My Welsh father (from the south) has always called it "Bow-Marris" without the later hyphen, maybe its because he's from the south?
The locals I know pronounce it Byou-morris, sometimes Byou-maris. but maybe they have Deeside influences!
 

krus_aragon

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Re. Beaumaris:

Bow-marris is a pronunciation most often used by visitors, or people moving/retiring to the area.

Byou-marris is the pronunciation used by most locals, though with an Anglesey accent it can drift toward Byou-marras instead. (c.f. the modern Welsh spelling of Biwmares.)

Anyone that says Bow-maree is either very mis-informed, or taking the mick!
 

61653 HTAFC

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Is there anywhere with the "-holm-" in there where the "l" is pronounced? Pretty much everywhere I can think of, it's silent: Holmfirth, the River Holme, Bransholme near Hull...
 

hexagon789

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Is there anywhere with the "-holm-" in there where the "l" is pronounced? Pretty much everywhere I can think of, it's silent: Holmfirth, the River Holme, Bransholme near Hull...

Can't think of one off the top of my head. With Langholm in Dumfriesshire the "h" in "-holm" is also silent, giving the pronnunciation of Lang-um.
 

yorkie

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Marylebone (London) is one - Marylebone is sometimes pronounced like this - Marlebone or
Marylebone: Marilibone.

I'm not sure what the correct pronunciation is on this one.
It's easy: Marleybone. Take the Bakerloo line; those announcements are correct.
 

DavidGrain

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It's easy: Marleybone. Take the Bakerloo line; those announcements are correct.

So how would you pronounce the name of the local church St Mary-le-bone? Wikipedia (which I agree is not always correct) gives the RP pronunciation as MARRY-le-bn.
 

hexagon789

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I've heard it said as "Thee-at" by Ffestiniog Railway staff. A lovely peaceful location, especially in the evening. One day I might be tempted to pitch a tent around there for the night!

You know what it is? Previous poster missed the double L, which changes the pronnunciation and which I failed to notice until now.

It would be roughly Thee-atht but the double 'l' I'm given to understand isn't quite as clear cut as that, a difficult sound to approximate in English
 

bramling

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You know what it is? Previous poster missed the double L, which changes the pronnunciation and which I failed to notice until now.

It would be roughly Thee-atht but the double 'l' I'm given to understand isn't quite as clear cut as that, a difficult sound to approximate in English

I suppose anything along the right lines is good enough. It wouldn't be the only place-name in that area where people come up with some very wild pronunciations! Morfa Mawddach also seems to catch people out, I suppose visitors there are spoiled with such easy names as Barmouth and Fairbourne...
 

hexagon789

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I suppose anything along the right lines is good enough. It wouldn't be the only place-name in that area where people come up with some very wild pronunciations! Morfa Mawddach also seems to catch people out, I suppose visitors there are spoiled with such easy names as Barmouth and Fairbourne...

With Morfa Mawddach you're testing my knowledge of Welsh orthography! ;)

More-va mou-thack or something like it?

Barmouth is beautifully easy in comparison! :lol:
 

bramling

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With Morfa Mawddach you're testing my knowledge of Welsh orthography! ;)

More-va mou-thack or something like it?

Barmouth is beautifully easy in comparison! :lol:

Simply from hearing locals, Mawddach is either

more-va mou-thack

or

more-va mou-thuck.

Heard some cringeworth attempts though, like more-far more-da-cchh. Ouch!
 
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