two random thoughts, which DO both have to do with morphology but are really just ordinary thoughts

[fox]

1.  if Williamstown were in England, it would very likely be pronounced something like "Wemston".

2.  a place -- a list, a community, a fandom, whatever -- that seems (against its will or not) to foster more than its share of wank could, i think you'll agree, accurately be called a "wankubator".

Comments

[corvidae9.livejournal.com]

I do believe that "wankubator" is likely next to "somnorexia" as one of my new favorite words!! :D

[sheltiesong.livejournal.com]

*snicker*

We have our share of that in Massachusetts. :)

Worcester = Wuhster
Leominster = Lemon-ster
Peabody = Peeb'dy (NEVER EVER EVER 'PeeBODY')
Leicester - Lesster

[axiom_of_stripe]

hee! i like "wankubator". we need a word for that, after all.

as for wemston, i'm with sheltie and the boston accent -- you pro'ly don't need all of those sounds in the middle of the word, do you? :)

[osymandias.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, the pronunciation seems to have deviated somewhat, but still doesn't come close to what you'd expect. So Worcester (and, of course, Worcestershire) would be pronounced 'Wooster', And Leominster 'Lemster'. Leicester seems to have stayed the same.

Of course, you've missed out the two most obvious strange pronunciations:

Magdalen: 'Maudlin'
Caius: 'Keys'

On the other hand, there's a town in Cornwall called Boscastle, and pronounced, strangely, Boscastle. Whenever I see it, though, I get the urge to pronounce it 'Bo'xle' to correspond with 'Forecastle'.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

the "oo" in Wooster is pronounced, in the US, like the "oo" in "book". is it not around here? i know y'all don't talk about "Wooster"shire -- is the vowel in the city different from the vowel in the county? if not, and you pronounce both with the "book" vowel, then i submit sheltiesong spelled it "Wuhster" to avoid anyone thinking she meant it to be pronounced with the vowel of "food". :-)

[osymandias.livejournal.com]

It's the 'book' one I was going for. If I knew the IPA I'd have written it properly, but I don't. I read the 'uh' as in... well, 'uh', which possibly confused me.