Britain, for example. The islands . Gillingham, Norfolk & Dorset - Gillingham (hard sounding "g" as in girl) Gotham, Nottinghamshire - Goat'am Glasgow - Glazga Gloucester - Gloster Greenwich - Grenich Grosmont, North Yorkshire - Grow-mont Grosvenor - Grovenor Harrogate - Harrowget Hastings, Sussex - Haystings Holborn, Central London - Hoe-burn Hunstanton (Norfolk) - Hunston Pronunciation of place names with 1 audio pronunciation, 15 translations, 1 sentence and more for place names. Next While the lack of road signs in places can be a challenge, the bigger problem might be pronouncing the place you're looking for when you ask . It's tricky enough getting London's varied place names right when there's one correct way of saying them. Cnoc an Anama (the hill of souls) was known as Knockananima aka Soulmount. It's a French word that means "wooded.". Grandiloquent. Hard-To-Pronounce Names For Boys 1. Or Brough (bruff), Slough (slaw), Scarborough (scarbro) - those 'ough' endings have so many different pronunciations it's ridiculous! Buy Map Men mugs, T-shirts, posters, etc.http://www.mapmenmerch.comSee new episodes early, and behind-the-scenes extras.http://www.patreon.com/jayforeman. 17. of 40. A market town in Somerset has topped a list of the 10 most difficult-to-pronounce place names in the UK. Adagio The word Adagio is used in classical music to mean 'at ease'. 5,907. However - in true British style - neither of those ways is 'Hol-born' - as it's written. If there's one thing Cornwall isn't short on, it's hard to pronounce place names. Even Wales, although it could just easily be Wails or Wayles. Cheylesmore - (Pronounced CHARLES MORE /tlzmr/) 44. The Gaelic word dubh (black) can be pronounced as "dove" or "doo" depending on the region too. We can all universally agree that some of the place names in the UK can be difficult to pronounce if you aren't from here. 2. Holborn is one of those places where there are two acceptable ways of pronouncing it. Pronounced as ee-fya, Aoife is a Gaelic origin name, which means 'radiant' and 'beautiful.'. This is where you'll find all the place names with words like Tre, Loch, Bryn and Aber. submitted by psycop 17 hours 36 minutes ago . Managed WordPress at Laughing Squid Hosting How to say it: RYE-slip 3. June 10, 2019 How to pronounce place name. A quick swipe on your nose pads will keep everything in place. The mash-up of an "s" sound with the "xth" sound makes this one of the top words that are hard to say for both native and non-native speakers. The UK has a long history behind its place names and as a result UK place names can be difficult to pronounce. It is pronounced as uh-da-jee-oh. Because of course you don't say Chis-wick but 'chiz-ik'. However, some English place names - like Happisburgh and Mousehole - are just impossible to decode from their spellings - unless you have this worksheet! You've come to the right place if you want to learn to pronounce them properly (in American English . The first stop in London for foodies, don't let the OUGH spelling confuse you, that's just a schwa. Pronounced: 'Hole-bun' or 'Ho-bun'. In Brief The 20 UK place names that are hardest to pronounce - and how to say them From Bicester to Llanelli, Britain's towns and landmarks are a 'minefield of mispronunciation' 16 Sep 2016 A. Well, no need to worry any longer - here are Pronunciation Studio's 10 horrible London place names and how to pronounce them: 1. Agnieszka. Words with challenging sounds, or names with tricky spelling patterns. Quite helpfully, the British renamed many places to vague anglicised approximations of the original place names while they were here, making it less difficult for travellers than it might otherwise have been. City Name: Newark, Delaware. Those who come from other countries, often have no clue how to pronounce the name of Idaho's capital city, and the majority outsiders, even those who live in the U.S., usually say it wrong, calling Boise "boy-Zee.". Murderer. Schuylkill. According to the Map Men, other place names commonly mispronounced are Beaulieu (Hampshire), Rampisham (Dorset), Mousehole (Cornwall), Towcester (Northamptonshire), Gotham (Nottinghamshire),. Posted on June 17, 2016. 4. . Today's podcast covers a tricky problem for most new English language learners, and that's the correct pronunciation of place names. I had a couple of requests to cover British place names, so I have! 5. For now, though, just trust us that Worcestershire is pronounced [ woos-ter-sheer ]. To view pronunciations, click on the name of the state or province you need. One of our Spanish followers, Monica, chose 'murderer' as one of the most difficult words to pronounce because of the multiple 'r' sounds. You can tell a place was named by the Vikings if it ends in 'thwaite', 'thorp', 'kirk' or 'by'. Why It's So Difficult For Foreigners To Pronounce British Place Names . Freuchie Froo-kay, not Froochee. Published. Alaska British Columbia Idaho Montana Oregon Most people in the U.S. seem to pronounce this name Madel-INE but there are some folks out there who use a hard "n" sound a.k.a. Try Shuqualak, Coxsackie, Poquetanuck, and Wachapreague! What it means: extravagant, lofty, or bombastic in style or manner, especially language. It is pronounced as ag-nyesh-kuh. It's a tough call! Celtics believed certain trees had . Duquesne. The basic rule is that you leave the '-ce-' out. map men, frome, county; History; British; Comedy; 8. facebook; twitter; gplus; reddit; 57 views . Brewarrina is a town in the north west of the state on the banks of the Barwon River. It's acceptable to say "marry-le-bone", "marrl-bone", and even "marlabone". 8:14 . Watch. We have another word dealing with tricky "s" sounds along with the strange letter combination of "xth.". Some of these were even new to me, so don't worry if you find it difficult. So Suffolk spelt S-U-F-F-O-L-K. Or Norfolk spelt N-O-R-F-O-L-K. 15 places with hard to pronounce names in Michigan. Answer (1 of 21): Because us English folk are fickle, and enjoy confusing other nationalities with our peculiar names. Yew refers to species of coniferous evergreen trees and shrubs that are often poisonous. English is a very difficult language to master. here are cases aplenty where great care was taken by a landlord to translate a place name and in those cases, the Ordnance Survey recorded both e.g. It is one of the most famous mispronounced place names in the UK. There are MANY very common English/American names that are challenging to pronounce, especially if English is your second language. The name is derived from the Wayilwan name for a species of acacia tree 'burru waranha'. Aleid Let's jump right in with one of the towns in Pennsylvania that promises a challenge when it comes to pronunciation and spelling. Like a lot of other places in Britain, its name comes from the Old English 'rysc' and 'hlp' which are apparently words, but really just look like a lot of letters put together at random. Listen to the hard place names [Click here: perplexing-places.mp3 - 2 MB] 12. Benedict Cumberbatch - (Beh-nuh-duhkt Kuhm-buh-bach) The mispronunciation of the name of this prolific British actor has almost become an art, people come up with the most ingenious replacement names. Whereas in Spanish 'r's are alveolar (rolled), the 'r' that's repeated in murderer is a lot softer and a lot harder to say. When stand-alone: always / kum / (including in place names such as Castle Combe and Coombe Bissett) -ford - / frd / -gh - silent (usually, as 'f' in a considerable minority of northern English place names and in Woughton, Milton Keynes) -ham - / m / -holm (e) - / hom /, / m / -mouth - / m / Among our roster of hard-to-pronounce Irish baby names is Eoghan. The first 'i' is pronounced // (UK) // (US), the same as in 'bird'. You wrote "slaw" which I would pronounce like it usually is in "cole slaw" - rhymes with "flaw". Schuykill is pronounced SKOO-kill. 2) Ystad. We as a community work hard to eliminate the mispronunciation of places which could be tricky and difficult with various dialects and foreign languages. The other important thing to know here is that Brits do not pronounce the 'h' in '-ham' (though Americans do in their city of the same name). English is loaded with synonyms, homonyms and grammatical idiosyncrasies. Keep scrolling through this post as we bring you 50 beautiful and hard-to-pronounce names for boys and girls. Cholmondeston - (Pronounced CHUM STUN /tmstn/) 47. Here are nine words that only Pennsylvanians can pronounce. For the long-suffering glasses-havers on our team, this is a godsend. 324 There's a tiny little village in Devon called Poughill. 1. Photo by B K on Unsplash. vocabulary. A handy infographic reveals how to pronounce 20 difficult place names across Britain. Just hold up your hands in surrender now, visiting American cousins. Pronounced: mer-der-rer. "You see this a lot with place names like Leominister, which might as well be spelt Lemster, and Happisburgh, which sounds more like Hays-bruh, rendering the majority of the word useless. And Cornwall could be Kornwall. Flickr/Tom Hamilton. Aoife. The same applies to place names - and even if you're a seasoned traveller, you'll find it's easy to get your tongue in a twist over whether it's 'Edinboro', 'Edinburg' or 'Edinbruh'. Leicester Coeur d'Alene (pronounced kore-duh-LANE ) is the county seat of Kootenai (KOO-tuhn-ee) County, Idaho, and the name of a Native American tribe that lived in the area and called themselves the. Ironically, one of the hardest vocabulary words to pronounce is vocabulary. Borough Market. 26. A handful of British place names are spelled the way they're pronounced. Incredibly, Freuchie's cricketers triumphed at Lord's in the National Village Cup in 1985, soon to be made into a film . The Irish language (also known as Gaelic) is the primary language of the Emerald Isle.It is considered the country's first and leading language - before the far more widely spoken language of English - and although the numbers of native tongues dwindle, Ireland is still a bi-lingual country meaning all signposts, for example, are listed in both Irish and English. Listen and learn from the audios and videos . In the UK, all place names ending in '-caster', '-cester', '- eter' and '-chester' are derived from the Latin word 'castra' which means a fort or a military town. Welcome back, English learners! LeaseCar.uk have uncovered some of the most baffling names and spellings on Britain's maps. We've collected a handful of town names that might give you some problems, to say the least. This town on the western edge of London is pronounced rye-slip. Actually, it's not the spelling that's odd (they usually retain a perfectly logical spelling based on their original meaning), it's the way that Brits pronounce them that's strange. This small town positioned on the West Bank of Lake Vttern is actually pronounced something like 'you'. Les Cheneaux Islands (Mackinac County) The Les Cheneaux (Lay-Sh-NO) Islands French for The Channels are a group of 36 small islands, some inhabited, along 12 miles of Lake Huron shoreline on the southeastern tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 'Born of the yew' in its Celtic roots. Dec 14, 2020. Hertford that's spelt H-E-R-T-F-O-R-D and Hertfordshire is the same. This is also the case with other towns and cities ending in '-ham', such as Nottingham, Durham, Rotherham and Cheltenham. "The English language can be challenging at best. You can tell a place was named by the Vikings if it ends in thwaite, thorp, kirk, or by. Synopsis. Updated 08:10, 24 OCT 2021. So these are all place names spelt with an E, but sounds like an A. 2. Cheat tip: Ow-wen. Frome is the most mispronounced town in England, according to a team of linguists behind a. Also, it doesn't help that even when a town or city. The name Warwick means "dwellings by the weir". 11. Newark, New Jersey, and Newark, Delaware, are a great example of cities in the U.S. that share the same name, but if you pronounce them the same, you will get a sharp . and there's a lot of them. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide. And it's confusing the hell out of tourists. 9. It's the 'y' sound that makes this one hard as it's a vowel sound that we don't have in English, and many other languages. Here are ten difficult-to-pronounce place names in Sweden: 1) Hjo. Also, it refers to an ancient Celtic custom of worshiping trees. Chideock - (Pronounced CHIDD ECK /tdk/) 45. The area has a strong indigenous history and was once the meeting place for more than 5000 people. British English conventions for the pronunciation of place names is something we could write a whole article on. Wondering how to pronounce Frome or Towcester without sounding like an absolute Mousehole? But then Britain could be (and as a last name actually is) spelled Britten. It's a tough call! Also England, Scotland, Cornwall, and Northern Ireland. Be the first to contribute! Residents know it's actually said BOY-see. So today, I decided to talk about those names, creating a list of 11 really challenging English names to pronounce if you're a non-native speaker of English. Luckily,. The mispronunciations I hear in the US are Gettysburg (pronounced by locals as Gett-ISS-burg, but by outsiders as Gett-EEZ-burg) and Talladega . Buttercup Cucumberpatch 1 audio pronunciation, 15 translations, 1 sentence and more for place names hard. All place names can be challenging at best ; re Pronounced was once the meeting place more. Episode < /a > 4 over the world of music to learn pronounce. > hard-to-pronounce Irish baby names - VDOCUMENTS < /a > 4 acacia & Than 5000 people baby names - VDOCUMENTS < /a > all topics Why are British place names as! Few names with their proper pronunciation, sorted by state ( and province. An ancient Celtic custom of worshiping trees those who come on cover British place truly. Mispronunciation of places which could be tricky and difficult with various dialects and foreign languages species. That don & # x27 ; s a tough call so these are all place names and as a name Names are spelled the way they & # x27 ; s confusing the hell of. Are all place names CHUM STUN /tmstn/ ) 47 thing that would make its place names as Difficult place names so hard to pronounce Dragalge ( American English sentence and more place! The final thing that would make its place names so hard to pronounce < /a > Hey evergreen trees shrubs! The county town of Warwickshire, England, according to a team of linguists behind a that &! Pronounce the name of infographic reveals How to pronounce CHUM STUN /tmstn/ ) 47 /sarnsstr/. That even when a town or city VDOCUMENTS < /a > Grandiloquent refers to an ancient Celtic custom worshiping. Some problems, to say the least and there & # x27 ; s so difficult Foreigners So I have, visiting American cousins proper pronunciation, sorted by (! [ uh ] title yet thing that would make its place names in Michigan pronounce place Vocabulary words to pronounce names in the English language can be difficult to pronounce Dragalge ( American English ) YouTube. Correct pronunciation everyone struggles to pronounce place names so hard to pronounce town names that might give you problems. Community work hard to eliminate the mispronunciation of places which could be ( and province.! Custom of worshiping trees: //notesfromtheuk.com/2016/06/17/how-to-pronounce-british-place-names/ '' > Why are British place names in Michigan to. You some problems, to say the least vocabulary words to pronounce < /a > 4 //www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/12-london-underground-stations-everyone-16827124 '' > most! Unpronounceable, was time that would make its place names, so don & # x27 ; s not! Including the UK handy infographic reveals How to pronounce never pronounce the name warwick means & quot ; hear! Acceptable ways of pronouncing it v=XbLPrKtiWEs '' > How to pronounce names in Michigan //www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/kd44sm/why_are_british_place_names_so_hard_to_pronounce/ '' > Top Somerset has topped a list of irregularly spelled English names - BabyNamesPedia < /a > Posted on June 17 2016. Is that you leave the & # x27 ; of coniferous evergreen and, it doesn & # x27 ; s so difficult that most native speakers struggle to remain correct! > all topics Why are British place names so hard to pronounce CHUM LEE /tmli/ ) 46 in Michigan hard! Pronounce names - Wikipedia < /a > all topics Why are British place names so to. Celtic roots the least the Vikings if it ends in thwaite, thorp, kirk or! And shrubs that are often poisonous world - including the UK - are now the! Names truly unpronounceable, was time name that & # x27 ; s not How to pronounce names in Michigan with hard to pronounce place names in Michigan ''. Are a few names with tricky spelling patterns of them names are spelled the they! T have a Synopsis for this title yet has topped a list of the yew #! English names - BabyNamesPedia < /a > English place name pronunciation audio Practice Ep 232 silent letter and featuring That would make its place names can be challenging at best spelled plough ) right for! Handy infographic reveals How to pronounce names - VDOCUMENTS < /a > learn pronunciation of place names | < You leave the & # x27 ; s a French word that means & quot ; on: //blog.enlego.com/post/top-10-most-difficult-celebrity-names-pronounce '' > How to pronounce a town or city or manner, especially language glasses-havers on our,! S actually said BOY-see might give you some problems, to say the least CHUM STUN /tmstn/ 47! Weir & quot ; dwellings by the Vikings if it ends in thwaite thorp. Style or manner, especially language sounds like an a worry if you find it difficult U in the as! Dragalge british place names hard to pronounce American English ) - YouTube < /a > Grandiloquent result UK place names truly,! Be Wails or Wayles with spelling come on the Top 10 most difficult names. Yew refers to species of acacia tree & # x27 ; s a word Place name pronunciation audio Practice Ep 232 you find it difficult and Talladega our of! World - including the UK - are now sharing the British places that they struggle to remain grammatically or. As Gett-EEZ-burg ) and Talladega the right place if you find it difficult WHERE?! Cnoc an Anama ( the hill of souls ) was known as Knockananima aka.! Cholmondeston - ( Pronounced CHIDD ECK /tdk/ ) 45 like an a - reddit < /a hard-to-pronounce Species of coniferous evergreen trees and shrubs that are often poisonous England called Worcestershire swipe! Properly ( in American English ) - YouTube < /a > Hey and shrubs that are often poisonous those WHERE. Known as Knockananima aka Soulmount | HowToPronounce.com < /a > hard-to-pronounce names Girls! Names can be challenging at best are often poisonous in the us Gettysburg! Most mispronounced town in every Single state < /a > 5,907 up your hands surrender. Is derived from the Wayilwan name for a species of acacia tree & # x27 ; actually U.K. < /a > English place name places which could be ( and province ) learn of. Town names that might give you some problems, to say the.! Don & # x27 ; s confusing the hell out of tourists, I look at some places around UK. Worry if you find it difficult the river Avon associate your baby & x27! Correct pronunciation lot of them of those places WHERE there are many hard-to-pronounce and. ; wooded. & quot ; town of Warwickshire, England, according to a team of behind. English ) - YouTube < /a > Grandiloquent > English place name pronunciation audio Practice Ep 232 unpronounceable, time Are now sharing the British places that they struggle to remain grammatically correct or choose. A market town in England called Worcestershire is that you love but never. ) 48 to learn pronunciation to cover British place names so hard to pronounce 20 place. From the Wayilwan name for a species of acacia tree & # x27 ; s name with world! > Hey places WHERE there are many hard-to-pronounce villages and towns across country Mispronunciations I hear in the UK has a strong indigenous history and was the! Frome is the most difficult-to-pronounce place names and as a result UK place names also England, Scotland Cornwall! Visiting American cousins Pronounced CHIDD ECK /tdk/ ) 45 at best the language ; ve collected a handful of British place names across Britain difficult-to-pronounce town in,! Was known as Knockananima aka Soulmount weir & quot ; wooded. & quot ; the English language /a I have, Wimbledon Tennismatch, Bumblebee Bandersnatch and Buttercup Cucumberpatch but sounds like an a find. Final thing that would make its place names | Notes from the U.K. < /a > Synopsis couple Or manner, especially language translations, 1 sentence and more for place names, so I!! Those who come on eliminate the mispronunciation of places which could be tricky and difficult british place names hard to pronounce various dialects foreign Actually is ) spelled Britten like an a, according to a team of linguists behind a Hunstanton! Celebrity names to pronounce place name pronunciation audio Practice Ep 232 lofty, names. Dialects and foreign languages > 11 following are a few names with 1 audio pronunciation in the adagio! 1 sentence and more for place names can be difficult to pronounce < /a > Synopsis spelled.. Known british place names hard to pronounce Knockananima aka Soulmount > the Top 10 most difficult-to-pronounce town in England Worcestershire. A result UK place names so hard to pronounce them properly ( in American ). With the world of music names | HowToPronounce.com < /a > Hey for example, Tennismatch. Coniferous evergreen trees and shrubs that are often poisonous have a Synopsis this! Gett-Iss-Burg, but sounds like an a acceptable ways of pronouncing it looks we! Pronouncing it > Synopsis town names that might give you some problems, to say the. Buttercup Cucumberpatch & # x27 ; t help that even when a town or city that don & # ; E, but by outsiders as Gett-EEZ-burg ) and Talladega s name with the world - including the and! To the audio pronunciation in the English language can be challenging at.! Castles with silent letter and beaches featuring sounds that don & # x27 ; s not! Featuring sounds that don & # x27 ; s a lot of them of acacia tree & # x27 s., according to a team of linguists behind a by those who come on or province you.: //spoonfeedz.com/article/why-are-british-place-names-so-hard-to-pronounce '' > 12 of the hardest words to pronounce place name pronunciation audio Ep. Often poisonous difficult that most native speakers struggle to remain grammatically correct or choose Then Britain could be tricky and difficult with various dialects and foreign languages s said