List_of_irregularly_spelled_places_in_the_United_States

List of irregularly spelled places in the United States

List of irregularly spelled places in the United States

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This list is a sublist of List of irregularly spelled English names.

List

More information Place, Pronunciation ...

Notes

  1. [n 1]
    The "s" sound generally merges with the same sound in "City."
  2. [n 2]
    In contradistinction to the surname, by convention, these rhyme with "Oliver"
  3. [n 3]
    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.
  4. [n 4]
    Cf the surnames Du Bois and De Bois, which are often /-ˈbwɑː/
  5. [n 5]
    cf. English low-lying point (without a middle syllable).
  6. [n 6]
    Eau Claire, Wisconsin is pronounced more closely to the French pronunciation: /oʊˈklɛər/ (oh-CLAIR)
  7. [n 7]
    cf. intuitive Borough of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, which is pronounced /ˈɛfrətə/
  8. [n 8]
    cf. intuitive/ˈɡælvɪstən/ for larger Galveston, Texas
  9. [n 9]
    As per traditional English town, county and nursery rhyme
  10. [N 10]
    Beginning defies traditional English rules (cf. green) But Greenwich, New Jersey is pronounced as if it were "green-witch"
  11. [N 11]
    cf. intuitive /ˈhɑːrlɪŋən/ for Harlingen, Netherlands
  12. [N 12]
    Intuitively /ˈhaɪndmən/ is sometimes used outside Eastern Kentucky
  13. [N 13]
    Named via Sam Houston after Houston, Scotland, a concatenation of "Hu's town"'
  14. [N 14]
    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.
  15. [N 15]
    Anecdotally, locals of Hurricane say that the proper pronunciation rhymes with that of the neighboring town La Verkin.
  16. [N 16]
    cf. various Waco towns
  17. [N 17]
    locally
  18. [N 18]
    with two syllables only
  19. [N 19]
    As per English town and county
  20. [N 20]
    Uncommon, rare, or dialectal pronunciation
  21. [N 21]
    cf. the obvious final syllable of Miami, Florida
  22. [N 22]
    All derived from Montpellier, France [mɔ̃pɛlje]
  23. [N 23]
    equivalent to the British English pronunciation of Moscow, Russia. Other Moscows in America are /ˈmɒskaʊ/, the American English pronunciation of the Russian city.
  24. [N 24]
    Homophone to the dining course, dessert
  25. [N 25]
    The pronunciation /nɪˈvɑːdə/, while fairly common (particularly in the eastern United States), is stigmatized locally.
  26. [N 26]
    cf. Newark, New Jersey /ˈnuːərk/, and Newark, Delaware or Newark, New York /ˈnuːɑːrk/ generally
  27. [N 27]
    Traditionally locally /ˈnwɔːrlɪnz/ with a very light /w/ is used, i.e. between the local and national.
  28. [N 28]
    Identical to the English county of Norfolk, and intuitive given the common word folk. Popular navy wordplay notwithstanding, the vowel in the last syllable is unstressed, very short, and closed, as in foot. Locals born in or after the last half of the 20th Century, who have partly or wholly adopted the American Broadcast Accent, often pronounce it /ˈnɔːrfɪk/ with the r substituted for /ɻ/
  29. [N 29]
    cf. Palestine: /ˈpælɪstaɪn/
  30. [N 30]
    cf. the regular American pronunciation of "Christian", /ˈkrɪstʃən/
  31. [N 31]
    Not intuitive /ˈpiːˈbɒdi/
  32. [N 32]
    cf. common and well-known Spanish approximations elsewhere.
  33. [N 33]
    Or intuitively per Spanish among Hispanics
  34. [N 34]
    Italian ruined city pronounced /pɒmˈpeɪ/)
  35. [N 35]
    cf. Raleigh surname and brands traditionally said like Wall
  36. [N 36]
    Locally.
  37. [N 37]
    cf. given name Sigourney: /sɪˈɡɔːrniː/
  38. [N 38]
    Same as examples in England such as London Borough of Waltham Forest. cf. greatly US well-known comparators.
  39. [N 39]
    Woburn, Bedfordshire and Woburn, Toronto are simply /ˈwoʊbərn/
  40. [N 40]
    Mispronounced as /ˈwuːstər/
  41. [N 41]
    As per traditional English town, county and sauce
  42. [N 42]
    Though the pronunciation /ˈjækəmə/ is also heard. The Native American people for whom the river, city, and county are named now prefer the spelling Yakama.

References

  1. [1]
    "Arkansas". Dictionary.com.
  2. [2]
    "Bethlehem, Bethlum or Bethleum -- there's no one way to pronounce it". March 25, 2013.
  3. [3]
    "Pumpkin Rollers in No Man's Land". Car And Driver. May 2002. Archived from the original on December 3, 2005.
  4. [4]
    Though indeed named after the country Chili, now Chile Town of chili.org
  5. [5]
    "The evolution of Demonbreun Street". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
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