# How to pronounce the names of the US states



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

The Wisconsin thread made me think of this, thinks, "Surely those in Wisconsin, don't pronounce it as I do, Wiss-konn-suhn" (short I at the end)

Arkansas I know, I think. It's just the first syllable I'm unsure of. I say "ah", but I've heard "are" and "our" as in our-kan-saw (but this attempt at phonetics is problematic in itself as US and UK pronunciation of "our" is very different, partly due to the letter R, partly due to 2 vowels, and partly due it being pronounced by some as one syllable and by others as two syllables "ow-er") 

Anyway, I say Ah-kan-saw. Is the R more prominent, perhaps arr-kan-saw? (sidebar: if Arkansaw then why not Kansaw or is kan-zass why not ar-kan-zass?) 

I have an old friend who lives in Virginia. I say ver-gin-yu. He doesn't. 
In the old westerns one heard about ver-ginny and "ol' ver-ginny" 
I've heard southern voices sound the last two vowels separately rather than making the dipthong, so Vir-gin-i-a.

And dare I ask, Massachusetts? I've heard some Amercians lose the CH and replace it with a T Massa-too-sets.

And I've saved the best one for last, in my opinion anyway, due to the French connexion: Louisiana

Is it Lewsy-Anna
Or Lew-easy-anna
Or Lew's yanna 

Kall-i-forn-eye-ay here I come!


----------



## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

I pronouce Texas "Yeeeeeee Hawwwwwwww!!"


----------



## Apatheticviews (Mar 21, 2010)

Arkansas = R-Can-Saw (There's actually a state law regarding the pronunciation)
Missouri = Miss-or-ah (not misery)
Louisiana = Lewey-Z-Anna (Like King Louis of france)
Kansas = Can-sess (completely different than Arkansas, )
California = Cal-i-forn-ya
Texas = Tex-es (like taxes with too "e"s)
Massachusetts - Mass-ah-Choo-Sets (like a train goes Choo Choo)

Keeping in mind I'm a southerner, so I tend to have longer "a"s, so regional accents are going to make it sound different. My is from Chicago and says Italians (Eye-Tal-yons) vice me (It-Tal-Yons).


----------



## MikeDT (Aug 22, 2009)

/luːˌiːziˈænə/
/ˈɑrkənsɔː/

HTH.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Apatheticviews said:


> Missouri = Miss-or-ah (not misery)


Are you sure about that one, ending with a schwa? I say mizz-oor-ee Not misery though.


----------



## Apatheticviews (Mar 21, 2010)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Are you sure about that one, ending with a schwa? I say mizz-oor-ee Not misery though.


People outside Missouri pronounce it with an E sound. People from there generally pronounce it with a Ah/Uh sound. Either can be used without issue. It's one of those regional dialect things.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Fascinating stuff actually.


----------



## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> ...Massachusetts? I've heard some Amercians lose the CH and replace it with a T Massa-too-sets.


I am only equipped to comment on this New England portion of your post and want you to know that nobody, anywhere, ever, has pronounced Massachusetts as you suggest.


----------



## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Apatheticviews said:


> Missouri = Miss-or-ah (not misery)


That's only partically correct. Generally speaking, people from northern Missouri pronounce it "Miss-OR-ee." People in southern and rural areas tend to pronounce it "Miss-or-ah."


----------



## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

I have yet to see this show but look forward to it...

https://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/map/map.html

How people speak has facinated me also.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Peak and Pine said:


> I am only equipped to comment on this New England portion of your post and want you to know that nobody, anywhere, ever, has pronounced Massachusetts as you suggest.


Oh, I didn't realise you'd met every American I'd ever met to know how they pronounce it. How very coincidental! However, huge sweeping generalisations were never my forte, that seems to be your domain.

*FACT:* I've heard some Amercians lose the CH and replace it with a T, Massa-too-sets.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

WouldaShoulda said:


> I have yet to see this show but look forward to it...
> 
> https://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/map/map.html
> 
> How people speak has facinated me also.


Oh, I shall try that & no doubt fail miserably.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

WouldaShoulda said:


> I pronouce Texas "Yeeeeeee Hawwwwwwww!!"


So, just for you, one of the greats. And this is why Slim Whitman started yodelling.
My favourite lyric in it is" 'Cos the Georgia water tastes like turpentine"


----------



## JJR512 (May 18, 2010)

When I say "Massachusetts" I have to be very careful not to pronounce it like, Mass-a-choo-shits.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

And who could forget the Bee Gees classic song. Those lads with their big shiny teeth altogether on display on our televisions presented an impressive _mass of chew sets_


----------



## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> *FACT:* I've heard some Amercians lose the CH and replace it with a T, Massa-too-sets.


You have met these people only while dreaming, or perhaps drinking.


----------



## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

JJR512 said:


> When I say "Massachusetts" I have to be very careful not to pronounce it like, Mass-a-choo-shits.


This made me laugh. BTW...I can only assume my home state of Iowa wasn't on the list because even the most pathetic rube would have a hard time screwing up I-O-W-AH. Of course, the proper way to pronounce it is: "Not Idaho and we don't grow potatoes here.":icon_smile_big:


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Peak and Pine said:


> You have met these people only while dreaming, or perhaps drinking.


I'll tell my friend Robert (Ex-US Army Provost major) in Virginia that, next time I speak to him. He's from Georgia (He was Georgia State Patrol in the 60s and 70s before he joined the army) and he doesn't have a speech impediment.

*FACT:* I've heard some Amercians lose the CH and replace it with a T, Massa-too-sets.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

TMMKC said:


> Of course, the proper way to pronounce it is: "Not Idaho and we don't grow potatoes here.":icon_smile_big:


Which reminds me of the several instances my wife had to contend with when she spent a year in high school in Clinton, Missouri

Maria, "I come from Sweden"
Various classmates, "Yea, with the mountains and the cuckoo clocks and the chocoate"
Maria, "No, that's Switzerland."
One 17 year old boy, "But that's right next to Sweden isn't it?"

Maria (to self) "oh dear, I've got a year of this ahead of me!"


----------



## Apatheticviews (Mar 21, 2010)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Which reminds me of the several instances my wife had to contend with when she spent a year in high school in Clinton, Missouri
> 
> Maria, "I come from Sweden"
> Various classmates, "Yea, with the mountains and the cuckoo clocks and the chocoate"
> ...


You mean like Austria... "We don't have Kangaroos here" signs?


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Apatheticviews said:


> You mean like Austria... "We don't have Kangaroos here" signs?


Ah, I didn't know of that one! I'll look out for them when I'm in Wien.


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

So why is Arkansas spelt differently?


----------



## Apatheticviews (Mar 21, 2010)

Howard said:


> So why is Arkansas spelt differently?


Stolen from yahoo questions:

_Kansa Indians as well as the state of Kansas was once the Kansas territory, named after the Kansa Indians. This makes much more sense than changing a pronunciation just because it is different than what the French speak.

The state name Arkansas ultimately derives from the name of an Siouan people who lived in the valley of the Arkansas River. The area was first settled by the French, who usually used the spelling Arkansa to refer to the tribe and to the village in which they lived. They used the plural, Arkansas, to refer to members of the tribe.

The French used the name in the plural to refer to the Arkansas River--la rivière des Arkansas, "the river of the Arkansas"--and the name Arkansas was then applied to the territory, and, eventually, to the state.

After the region was de-Frenched in the early nineteenth century, the pronunciation remained the French one--or, rather, an Anglicized version of the French one--which would be something like "Arkansaw." In fact, the Arkansaw spelling is the one used on the Act that created the territory. But in the end, the original Arkansas spelling is the one that prevailed, but it did so with an Anglicized version of the French pronunciation.

By the way, the state of Kansas, also named by the French for an Indian people and with the -s representing a French plural, dropped the French pronunciation entirely and adopted an English pronunciation based on the Kansas spelling, which is why the pronunciation of Kansas and Arkansas differ.
_


----------



## Shawl Lapel (Jul 5, 2010)

Vir-jin-yuh


----------



## Realalefan (Jan 12, 2009)

And then there's Connecticut. The middle "C" is silent, and the trailing "ut" is pronounced more like "eht".

If the states aren't enough of a challenge, try some of the town/borough names around New England. My favorite is Wequetequock in Stonington, CT.


----------



## Apatheticviews (Mar 21, 2010)

I'm from Bexar (pronounced Bear) county in Texas. Up the road from there is Bourne (Bernie). Lot's of weird towns running around.


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Apatheticviews said:


> Stolen from yahoo questions:
> 
> _Kansa Indians as well as the state of Kansas was once the Kansas territory, named after the Kansa Indians. This makes much more sense than changing a pronunciation just because it is different than what the French speak.
> 
> ...


Thanks Apathetic.


----------



## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

Here in NJ, it's "Joisey" or Jrrsey, depending on which part of the state you're from :icon_smile_big:. For our biggest city, Newark, you either leave out the "r" (noo-uk) or pronounce nothing but the "r" (nurrk).


----------



## JJR512 (May 18, 2010)

There's a town in Maryland named Bowie. Marylanders pronounce it like Boo-ee ("boo" as in "boo-hoo"). I pronounce it Bowie as in "David *Bowie*" because, well, that's how it's spelled. Excuse me for not being a native Marylander and not knowing how to mispronounce some of the local names.

Side note: A lot of local Marylanders pronounce David Bowie's last name the same way they pronounce the town's name. :icon_headagainstwal


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

JJR512 said:


> There's a town in Maryland named Bowie. Marylanders pronounce it like Boo-ee ("boo" as in "boo-hoo"). I pronounce it Bowie as in "David *Bowie*" because, well, that's how it's spelled. Excuse me for not being a native Marylander and not knowing how to mispronounce some of the local names.
> 
> Side note: A lot of local Marylanders pronounce David Bowie's last name the same way they pronounce the town's name. :icon_headagainstwal


I'd imagine many Americans pronounce David's name like that because that's how Jim's name and his knife are proncouned Boo-E


----------



## Apatheticviews (Mar 21, 2010)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> I'd imagine many Americans pronounce David's name like that because that's how Jim's name and his knife are proncouned Boo-E


David Bowie named himself after the knife. His real name is David Jones. As the story goes, he changed it because Davy Jones of the Monkeys was popular at the time, and Bowie didn't want to add confusion.


----------



## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

A couple of other tricky regional pronunciations that come to mind: Cairo, GA (pronounced KAY-ro; not like the city in Egypt) and Houston St. in NYC (pronounced HOUSE-tun; not like the city in TX).


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Apatheticviews said:


> David Bowie named himself after the knife. His real name is David Jones. As the story goes, he changed it because Davy Jones of the Monkeys was popular at the time, and Bowie didn't want to add confusion.


Yes I know all that. But he doesn't pronounce it Boo-ee or Bow-ee (as in bow tie) as JJR pointed out. It's Bow-ee (Bow as in ship's part)

Isn't it a pain that such a short name can be pronounced in 3 different ways!


----------



## Apatheticviews (Mar 21, 2010)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Yes I know all that. But he doesn't pronounce it Boo-ee or Bow-ee (as in bow tie) as JJR pointed out. It's Bow-ee (Bow as in ship's part)
> 
> Isn't it a pain that such a short name can be pronounced in 3 different ways!


That's what happens when an Englishman names himself after a Texan knifemaker!


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Why is Maryland pronounced Ma-ra-land and not Mary Land?


----------



## JJR512 (May 18, 2010)

Howard said:


> Why is Maryland pronounced Ma-ra-land and not Mary Land?


It's not pronounced like Mary Land because it's not spelled like Mary Land. When words are compounded people have a tendency to blur them together if it's possible to do so, and Maryland is not exception. It's quicker and easier to say Mar-a-land than Mare-ee-land. Some people also say Mare-i-land, which I think is somewhat closer to Mary Land.


----------



## JJR512 (May 18, 2010)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Yes I know all that. But he doesn't pronounce it Boo-ee or Bow-ee (as in bow tie) as JJR pointed out. It's Bow-ee (Bow as in ship's part)
> 
> Isn't it a pain that such a short name can be pronounced in 3 different ways!


Unless I misunderstand what you're saying, it seems to me that you're saying I was wrong to say that he pronounced his name with the first syllable rhyming with 'toe' or 'doe', and that he actually pronounces it to rhyme with 'how' or 'cow'.

I have a recording of David Bowie doing a duet with Bing Crosby, a Christmas song called "Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy". I have the long version of this song in which Bowie, speaking (not singing), introduces himself to Crosby, and he distinctly pronounces his own name as I said, with the first syllable rhyming with 'toe' or 'doe'. This song was recorded in 1977. Perhaps he's changed the pronunciation since then, I have no idea, but I know what I hear him say in that song.


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

You also have the states Mexico and Texas,the hispanic say "Tejas"(for Texas) and "Meh-iko"(Mexico).


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Apatheticviews said:


> That's what happens when an Englishman names himself after a Texan knifemaker!


 Indeed.


----------



## JDPynchon (Dec 9, 2009)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> I'll tell my friend Robert (Ex-US Army Provost major) in Virginia that, next time I speak to him. He's from Georgia (He was Georgia State Patrol in the 60s and 70s before he joined the army) and he doesn't have a speech impediment.
> 
> *FACT:* I've heard some Amercians lose the CH and replace it with a T, Massa-too-sets.


This certainly sounds wrong to me, but here you go:


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Thank you JDP, the US President clearly saying, what I stated earlier and what 've heard Americans say, Mass-a-to-setts. Rather than, Mass-a-chew-sets.

So Peak & Pine, waddaya godda say now boy?  Mebbe you dust dunt gedd out enuff!


----------



## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

JJR512 said:


> It's not pronounced like Mary Land because it's not spelled like Mary Land. When words are compounded people have a tendency to blur them together if it's possible to do so, and Maryland is not exception. It's quicker and easier to say Mar-a-land than Mare-ee-land. Some people also say Mare-i-land, which I think is somewhat closer to Mary Land.


I've heard people in the UK say "Mary Land" rather than the "marilyn"-like sound of Maryland as Americans say it.

They are not allowed to pick on us as long as Cholmondeley and Worcestershire are pronounced the way they are.


----------



## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

That's Baw-mer Murr-lyn, Hon!!


----------



## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

What about those cases where a place name should be anglicized (americanized) but often isn't, such as porto rico, mispronounced as puerto rico, or bona vista mispronouced as buena vista. In the last election there was a big deal made that it's nevada (a as in bat) not ne-vah-da. Like saying Paree instead of Paris.


----------



## jean-paul sartorial (Jul 28, 2010)

The two Buena Vistas I've been to are both pronounced "Bew-nah."


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Peak and Pine said:


> I am only equipped to comment on this New England portion of your post and want you to know *that nobody, anywhere, ever, has pronounced Massachusetts as you suggest*.


Well you've been awfully quiet since JDP posted the clip of the President saying Mass-a-too-sutts. Would you now care to recant your previous strong standpoint?   And admit that I was in fact right!


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Did he just say Mass a too setts?


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Howard said:


> Did he just say Mass a too setts?


Yep! And as I said before I've met other Americans who also say Mass-a-too-setts


----------



## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Howard said:


> Did he just say Mass a too setts?


He went to college there so he knows how to say it!!


----------



## JJR512 (May 18, 2010)

Obama was just so focused on making sure he got the last syllable right, so it didn't come out as "Mass-a-chew-shits" like how I say it, that he totally forgot to make sure he said the rest of it right, too.


----------



## ada8356 (Dec 14, 2007)

> And I've saved the best one for last, in my opinion anyway, due to the French connexion: Louisiana


I always pronounce it "looser-ana" :icon_smile_big:


----------



## JJR512 (May 18, 2010)

ada8356 said:


> I always pronounce it "looser-ana" :icon_smile_big:


"Looser"? What are they looser than?


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

VS said:


> I've heard people in the UK say "Mary Land" rather than the "marilyn"-like sound of Maryland as Americans say it.


DO NOT GO THERE!  Americans pronouncing Marylebone was always entertaining, as: Mary-Lee-bone when it is in fact pronounced marley-bun (Marley as in Bob) buhn (short U, not as the long U in sun but almost as a combination of a short U and the short I in bin)


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> Yep! And as I said before I've met other Americans who also say Mass-a-too-setts


But it's "chu" not "too".


----------



## Ed Reynolds (Apr 13, 2010)

Realalefan said:


> And then there's Connecticut. The middle "C" is silent, and the trailing "ut" is pronounced more like "eht".
> 
> If the states aren't enough of a challenge, try some of the town/borough names around New England. My favorite is Wequetequock in Stonington, CT.


Lets not forget the Massachusetts towns of Peabody (Pee-biddy), Qunicy (Kwin-zee, not John Quincy Adams) and Leominster (Leh-min-ster, not Leo-minster).

There is always Worcester, (WUH-stuh, not WAR-chester) MA. Not to be confused with Wooster St in New Haven (Home of Pepe's and some other place that sells pizza) Both are pronounced the same.


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I've noticed that Wyoming is spelt right,But then it sounds like the way it's spelt with the "Y" sound.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Howard said:


> But it's "chu" not "too".


I know. That's my point! It's chew but some Americans including the Prez say too.


----------



## balder (Jan 23, 2008)

And Pierre North Dakota pronounced as if it was sitting in the House of Lords!


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

balder said:


> And Pierre North Dakota pronounced as if it was sitting in the House of Lords!


What, Pierre pronounced as "doddery old fart"?


----------

