Washington State journal and Adams County news. [volume] (Ritzville, Wash.) 1906-1907, 1907-05-22
HOW DO YOU SAY THEMp
Names Of Cities Pronounced Differ.
emily a. Positions Change.

Names sf Cities Pronounced Differ.
emily as Positions Change.
Prof. Hart, In his interesting article
on Oklahoma, admonished his New
England readers that 1t Is pronounced
Oak, not Oklahoma. says the Boston
Transcript. Prof. Hart did well, as
an editorial paragraph of the same Is
sue thereby noted. The same paragraph
commented on other RECOMMENDATIONS OF
places. used by their residents that are
quite different from our usage. The
editorial notes Iowa, Virginia and Ore
gon among other names not pronounced
here as at home Then there is Ohio.
which the native Jerks out "Uhluh,"
disregarding our solemn "Oh-hi-oh." We
and the gazetteers say New Orleans"
accent on the 'Or." Down there they
stress the last syllable and call 1t
"leens." Omaha Is "Omahaw." not
"Omahah." Las Vegas is LAS vayas."
Missouri Is "Mizzoura." You are more
likely to hear "Coloraydo" than "Colo-
rahdo" in that State. Spokane is as
If there was no re" in It Manitoba Is
accented on the penult, not the ultl-
mate. Quincy (Ill.) is not "Quinzy."
Galveston stresses the ives" rather
than the "Gal." Terra Hut" the ma
tives call It.
More say "Loosiana" than "Louez-
iana." Tucson" Is 'Tooson." accent on
the ultimate, and 80 on. You have per-
haps heard Of the Frenchman who
came to America to see the city Of
Winona, MIMI, attracted by its beauti-
full name. which he pronounced "Wee-
nonah." Landing at New York, he
scarcely gave any attention to the me-
tropolis. but pushed on to the west.
Chicago was seen only In changing cars,
and as the train glided along the Mis-
sissippi and approached what Is a beau
tiful city, surrounded by the rich YER
dure and romantic bluffs Of the upper
Mississippi, the Frenchman was en-.
chanted. The train slowed up before
stopping at the station, the Frenchman
half rose from his seat In feverlsh an.
ticipatlon. when the brakeman opened
the door and yelled "Weinony" The
Frenchman collapsed in his seat heart
broken, and did not leave the train at
Winona.
"What queer pronunciations!" ex-
claim my New England readers. In
decd! Here I let my neighbor, an Iowa
man, take his pen In hand and put In
type the glowing words he has often
emitted in my presence. This Is what
he says:
Eyes, I am from Iowa and I never
heard any other than the pronouncla-
ton Iowa (accent on the first syl-
lable) until I came east. Oh, yes I;
occasionally the older and more rural
people would call 1t I-o-way.' which IL
really the original Indian pronuncia.
ton. But this T-oh-a' was unknown to
Lowndes or anybody else in the Hawk
eye State. Yet no one here calls II
anything else. When I go to register
and I am asked where was born, the
solemn clerk puts 1t down ireland and
asks II have my naturalization pa
pers. Now. how do you folks get such
a pronunciation? 1t isn't found in any
cyclopedla or gazetteer that ever saw.
Nor do your own pronunciations con-
vince me. Why on earth do you say
Quincy when the syllable begins with
a c. never pronounced other than e.
or XII Why do you say 'Waltham'
and 'Wrentham' and slam out that
than roundly? Used to those pro-
nunciations and the dwelling on the
last syllable In Newburyport. ETC.,
once innocently pronounced the name Of
that Cape Cod town az 1t Is spelled.
"Barnstable,' thinking stable a. good
a word a. barn and as well worth
dwelling on, and the Office roared at
me. Why say 'Wooburn' when you
spell It Woburnl But worst of all 10
that pretty little Middlesex town, whose
name I rather liked until heard It
over and over again blared out Bill
Kicker"
am afraid my Iowan's case II Q
desperate one. But confess some sym-