List of places in the United States with counterintuitive pronunciations: A–L

This list is a sublist of List of names in English with counterintuitive pronunciations.

Place names in the United States of America

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ cf. Atlantic Ocean's Bay of Biscay /bɪˈskeɪ/
  2. ↑ The "s" sound generally merges with the same sound in "City."
  3. ↑ In contradistinction to the surname, by convention, these rhyme with "Oliver"
  4. ↑ The town of Calais in France was for centuries also pronounced /ˈkælɪs/ in English; today /kæleɪ/, with initial stress in British English and final stress in American English are the normal pronunciations.
  5. ↑ Homophone to the dining course, dessert
  6. ↑ Cf the surnames Du Bois and De Bois, which is often -/ˈbwɑː/
  7. ↑ cf. English low-lying point (without a middle syllable).
  8. ↑ cf. Scottish original place or Elgin, Texas /ˈɛlɡɪn/
  9. ↑ cf. intuitive Borough of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, which is pronounced /ˈɛfrətə/
  10. ↑ cf. intuitive/ˈɡælvɪstən/ for larger Galveston, Texas
  11. ↑ As per traditional English town, county and nursery rhyme
  12. ↑ Beginning defies traditional English rules (cf. green) But Greenwich, New Jersey is pronounced as if it were "green-witch"
  13. ↑ Intuitively /ˈhaɪndmən/ is sometimes used outside Eastern Kentucky
  14. ↑ Named via Sam Houston after Houston, Scotland, a concatenation of "Hu's town"'
  15. ↑ The last syllable is standard in the British pronunciation of hurricane, but not in American English, whereas the first syllable is counterintuitive and muted compared to hurricane in either.
  16. ↑ Anecdotally, locals of Hurricane say that the proper pronunciation rhymes with that of the neighboring town La Verkin.
  17. ↑ cf. various Waco towns
  18. ↑ locally
  19. ↑ with two syllables only
  20. ↑ As per English town and county
References
  1. ↑ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Arkansas
  2. ↑ http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=9295&page_number=4
  3. ↑ Though indeed named after the country Chili, now Chile Town of chili.org
  4. ↑ "The evolution of Demonbreun Street". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  5. ↑ cf. intuitive /ˈhɑːrlɪŋən/ for Harlingen, Netherlands

Further reading

  • Miller, G. M., ed. (1971). BBC pronouncing dictionary of British names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-431125-2.
  • Ordnance Survey of Ireland (1989). Gazetteer of Ireland. Government Publications Office. ISBN 0-7076-0076-6.
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