Unusual pronunciations of British names
Eric Forbis
Masterpiece Theater season, Hugh Laurie pointed out the odd pronunciation of
many British names, particularly those of the aristocracy. The examples
Laurie gave are (forgive my approximate spelling of written names):
Written as Pronounced as
-------------------------------------------------
Wodehouse Woodhouse
Wooster Wuster
Valet Valet
Mainwearing Mannering
Featheringstonehoff Fanshaw
Fotheringay Funji
Chaumondalay Chumly
Is anyone familiar with other examples?
---------
Eric Forbis forb...@student.tc.umn.edu
Tom Hatton
>In the course of his comments on the stories presented in the second
>Masterpiece Theater season, Hugh Laurie pointed out the odd pronunciation of
>many British names, particularly those of the aristocracy. The examples
>Laurie gave are (forgive my approximate spelling of written names):
>Written as Pronounced as
>-------------------------------------------------
>Wodehouse Woodhouse
>Wooster Wuster
>Valet Valet
>Mainwearing Mannering
^ no 'e', that I've seen (Manwaring, no?)
>Featheringstonehoff Fanshaw
^^^no 'ing', and I think this is the 'gh' type of 'f' sound
(Featherston-Hough)
>Fotheringay Funji
^ a hard 'g', not a 'j' sound.
>Chaumondalay Chumly
^^^^^ Chalmondley, or something along those lines, no?
>Is anyone familiar with other examples?
And, of course, Beecham; from the French surname Beauchamp.
--
Tom Hatton
hat...@cgl.ucsf.edu
(415)-476-8693
Udaya Sathuvalli 207Cox x3626
If my memory serves me right,
Towcester (as in Earl of Towcester) is pronounced Toaster.
One can doubtless cite a whole series of words that
rhyme with the aforesaid.
Talking of which, the other day I took a pop into
"The BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of Names" (I might have
the title wrong- but you get the drift, I suppose)- and looked
up the much debated "Featherstonehaugh". There were several
pronunciations listed - two of them were
Feather-stone-haw
and
Feerston-haw (allowing for errors in my transcription and the
fact that I am no Higgins)
(or something like that).
Of course, Fanshaw was also listed. It would seem that all these
varaitions are acceptable. By the same token,
Mainwaring pronounced as written is also acceptable
(according to the above ref. work or work of r. if you prefer).
Obigatory Q:
Poverty is the banana skin on the doorstep of romance.
(or something like that)
Could someone place the quote for me? Seems like one
of young Psmith's pronouncements. Of course, I could be wrong.
But on the other hand, I could also be right.
Fil Feit
>In the course of his comments on the stories presented in the second
>Masterpiece Theater season, Hugh Laurie pointed out the odd pronunciation of
>many British names, particularly those of the aristocracy. The examples
>Laurie gave are (forgive my approximate spelling of written names):
>
>Written as Pronounced as
>-------------------------------------------------
>Wodehouse Woodhouse
>Wooster Wuster
>Valet Valet
If I'm not mistaken, the name that's pronounced "Wooster" is usually spelt
"Worcester".
If I am mistaken, it's not. B-)
--f2
Sachin S Sapatnekar
[misc. discussion on British names deleted]
>Cholmondeley, according to Graham Greene. If the Swiss Cheese I use as a
>brain doesn't fail me again, as in the case of Albert Peasemarch, Ivor
>Llewellyn and Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps (Fungy-Phipps), a Mr. Cholmondeley
^^^^^^^^^
>(Chumley) appears in "A Gun For Sale".
While on the subject, "Llewellyn," according to reliable sources, is
pronounced as "Khokhyn," spoken with a hoarse throat. It's Welsh rather
than English, but hey, we're on the right isle, aren't we?
>BTW, Greene mentioned in his autobiography that he enjoyed reading Jeeves
>books...
Wonder if he was Greene with envy... :-)
Sachin
Thomas Kettenring
>forb...@student.tc.umn.edu (Eric Forbis ) writes:
>>Written as Pronounced as
>>-------------------------------------------------
That is indeed surprising...
>>Chaumondalay Chumly
> ^^^^^ Chalmondley, or something along those lines, no?
Cholmondeley, according to Graham Greene. If the Swiss Cheese I use as a
brain doesn't fail me again, as in the case of Albert Peasemarch, Ivor
Llewellyn and Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps (Fungy-Phipps), a Mr. Cholmondeley
(Chumley) appears in "A Gun For Sale".
BTW, Greene mentioned in his autobiography that he enjoyed reading Jeeves
books...
--
thomas kettenring, 3 dan, kaiserslautern, germany
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Peter Graham
>Written as Pronounced as
>-------------------------------------------------
>Wodehouse Woodhouse
>Wooster Wuster
>Valet Valet
>Mainwearing Mannering
>Featheringstonehoff Fanshaw
>Fotheringay Funji
>Chaumondalay Chumly
>Is anyone familiar with other examples?
Some pedantic corrections to the "written as"
Worcester --> Wooster
Manwaring
Featherstonehaugh --> Fanshaw
Cholmondelay --> Chumley
and of course such others as
Leicester --> Leicester
Mousehole (town on south coast) --> Mussel
St. Pancras --> Berwick .....:-)
Peter Graham, Rutgers University Libraries
Eric Forbis
>forb...@student.tc.umn.edu (Eric Forbis ) writes:
>>In the course of his comments on the stories presented in the second
>>Masterpiece Theater season, Hugh Laurie pointed out the odd pronunciation of
>>many British names, particularly those of the aristocracy. The examples
>>Laurie gave are (forgive my approximate spelling of written names):
<sigh> Stephen Fry introduced the second season. Sorry about that; don't
know what I was thinking of when I wrote the above.
>>Written as Pronounced as
>>-------------------------------------------------
[material deleted]
>>Featheringstonehoff Fanshaw
> ^^^no 'ing', and I think this is the 'gh' type of 'f' sound
> (Featherston-Hough)
Quite a stretch!
---------
Eric Forbis forb...@student.tc.umn.edu
Peter Graham
>While on the subject, "Llewellyn," according to reliable sources, is
>pronounced as "Khokhyn," spoken with a hoarse throat. It's Welsh rather
>than English, but hey, we're on the right isle, aren't we?
Well, no. More like the "Fluellen" of Henry V fame, and it's how we get
Floyd from originally Lloyd. It is not an F sound, however, the double-l;
it is one of the few sounds in any language (I am advised by a linguist)
which is formed by an asymettric tongue formation in the mouth; start to
say "th..." as in "that", only a little more plosively, then let the sound
go out the *side* of your tongue, and you get Llewellyn. You can see how
it went to F.
Peter Graham, Rutgers Univ. Libraries.
>Sachin
Eric Forbis
>In article 7293...@student.tc.umn.edu, forb...@student.tc.umn.edu (Eric
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------
>>Wodehouse Woodhouse
>>Wooster Wuster
>>Valet Valet
>>[...]
>If I'm not mistaken, the name that's pronounced "Wooster" is usually spelt
>"Worcester".
That suggests an interesting question-- is Bertie's last name spelled
"Wooster" in only the American editions of the stories?
Bertrand Worcester. Saucy chap, at large.
---------
Eric Forbis forb...@student.tc.umn.edu
Gary Bisaga
|> >If I'm not mistaken, the name that's pronounced "Wooster" is usually spelt
|> >"Worcester".
|>
|> That suggests an interesting question-- is Bertie's last name spelled
|> "Wooster" in only the American editions of the stories?
--
Gary Bisaga (gbi...@mitre.org)
Kim Khan
But the aristocracy reserves the right to spell as they
please.
Kim
Gary Bisaga
|> > In article <33...@tymix.Tymnet.COM> fil...@rael.Tymnet.COM (Fil Feit) writes:
|> > >In article 7293...@student.tc.umn.edu, forb...@student.tc.umn.edu (Eric
|> > >>
|> > >>Written as Pronounced as
|> > >>-------------------------------------------------
|> > >>Wodehouse Woodhouse
|> > >>Wooster Wuster
|> > >>Valet Valet
|> > >>[...]
|> >
|> > >If I'm not mistaken, the name that's pronounced "Wooster" is usually spelt
|> > >"Worcester".
|> >
|> > That suggests an interesting question-- is Bertie's last name spelled
|> > "Wooster" in only the American editions of the stories?
|> But the aristocracy reserves the right to spell as they
|> please.
remember the title) where Bertie was knocking on somebody's door (the beach
house belonging to the parents of a little blighter B. had picked up
on the strand as part of a plan of his) and he said his name was Wooster,
and the bloke inside asked "Is that W-O-R-C-E-S-T-E-R or W-O-O-S-T-E-R?"
American version of the book, I'd assume.
--
Gary Bisaga (gbi...@mitre.org)
Ravi Sankrit
i recall that story - and i don't think the question has to do
with it being an american edition, but rather that the man
who asked it knew some people called "wooster" (or maybe "worcester").
pgw loved poking fun at the english pronounciation of names -
ukridge's middle name is 'featherstonehaugh' and wodehouse
writes '..pronounced "faugh"'; in reality i believe it is
pronounced "fanshaw".
'...archibald moffam (pronounced "moom" to rhyme with
bluffinghame)'
and of course barmy fotheringay ("fungy") phipps
there is also, somewhere, a mapledurham pronounced "mum"
ravi
mcsd...@dct.ac.uk
Nah, it's Wooster. Alway as been, always will be, even in the UK.
> --
> Gary Bisaga (gbi...@mitre.org)
Paul J Hollander
>
>
> i recall that story - and i don't think the question has to do
> with it being an american edition, but rather that the man
> who asked it knew some people called "wooster" (or maybe "worcester").
>
> pgw loved poking fun at the english pronounciation of names -
I always liked Lord Blicester's name. And then there was Bloodleigh Court,
which cast a strange spell over everyone who visited it. 8^)
Paul Hollander phol...@iastate.edu
Behold the tortoise: he makes no progress unless he sticks his neck out.