Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Wog words again
BBC has gained some new NPR stations for its World Service feed, so they're inviting American listeners to check in with pictures of landscape and weather reports. BBC always has trouble with Wog Words but the announcer was doing pretty well with Vernal, Utah and Buffalo, NY. He blew it just now with a report from a Spokane listener. The name came out in Spanish! Spo-Kah-Nay.
Related: In place names that have unexpected local pronunciations, stress pattern is the most common oddity. In America the local version is typically more spondaic, more equal, than the outsider version. In Britain the local is usually more unequal, leading in the extreme to omitted syllables. (Cholmondeley = Chumley.)
There are exceptions. Recently a BBC newsreader was interviewing rock singer Chrissie Hynde, who was born in Akron. The newsreader, perhaps recognizing the usual American pattern, pronounced it in spondaic form: Ack Ron. Hynde didn't stop to correct it, but did exaggerate the proper trochaic ACKrn several times thereafter. Nice. (Sidenote: I found myself surprisedly appreciating Hynde's attitude toward life. Firmly leftist but completely factual. Where leftism is delusional, Hynde made a point of opposing the delusions.) 
Labels: Language update
¶ 4:02 AM
