correct pronunciation of "quahog"
Charles M. Strauss
the Cranston city line) pronouncing the 'Q' word "kwaw-hog", with the
'au' sounding like the "awe" in "shock-and-awe". So did everyone I
knew. But some (misguided) people I know insist that the 'Q' word is
pronounced "co-hog" (rhyming with 'go-dog'). Even the Wickford Quahog
Festival seems to think that the correct pronunciation is "co-hog".
The American Heritage College Dictionary waffles: it allows "kwau",
"kwo" AND "ko" (long 'o' in the last two), but the first one listed is
my "kwau". Is there any support out there for my position?
/cms
HStrom WRand Evermorphing Usenet Handle
I've heard both the "kwo" and "ko" (more of the latter) but never "kwau"
except for out-of-staters. Though, now that I think about it, "Kwa-hog"
is probably the original pronounciation given how other indian words get
pronounced.
Eric Scantlebury
"HStrom WRand Evermorphing Usenet Handle" <stro...@hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:BPOQc.1762$Y94...@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com...
My familly was born and raised in South County. Original Swamp Yankees. We
always pronounced it "Kwa-hog". With the "wa" pronounced as if you were
saying Washington.
Sportster4Eva
Ihave heard some of the ol' men in Warren call them Ko-Hawgs, but mostly
Kwaw-Hog
FWIW, I had KwawHog Chowdah for Dinnah last night !!lol
I really did!
pla
> I grew up (in Washington Park, in Providence but a mere 3 blocks from
> the Cranston city line) pronouncing the 'Q' word "kwaw-hog", with the
Well, I always heard it as "kwah-hawg", and use that
pronunciation currently.
But if you want a better test of how to correctly pronounce
it, in MA, they say "co-hog". So "kwah-hawg" wins. ;-)
- pla
Thomas Reynolds
"Charles M. Strauss" <cstr...@draper.com> wrote in message
news:969bf9bb.0408...@posting.google.com...
Edwin Ellinwood
say co-hog until some media ass-hole got it wrong.
"Thomas Reynolds" <trey...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:4113ef40$0$5908$61fe...@news.rcn.com...
Laury
"Eric Scantlebury" <escant...@physics.brown.edu> wrote in message
news:cf0e32$8al$1...@saturn.services.brown.edu...
Swamp Yankee, Warwick burbs and Olneyville... all "kwa-hog" here. Never
heard the "ko-hog" but would probably snicker if I did.
Laury
Owen Hartnett
Strauss <cstr...@draper.com> wrote:
Your position is extremely unsupported and you're about to get written
up by both the building inspector *and* the Kama Sutra.
-Owen
Boyle M. Owl
> I grew up (in Washington Park, in Providence but a mere 3 blocks from
> the Cranston city line) pronouncing the 'Q' word "kwaw-hog", with the
> 'au' sounding like the "awe" in "shock-and-awe". So did everyone I
> knew. But some (misguided) people I know insist that the 'Q' word is
> pronounced "co-hog" (rhyming with 'go-dog'). Even the Wickford Quahog
> Festival seems to think that the correct pronunciation is "co-hog".
> The American Heritage College Dictionary waffles
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ - not a real dictionary.
Not to say that the OED is the only dictionary going, but there are
far better one volume ones out there.
: it allows "kwau",
> "kwo" AND "ko" (long 'o' in the last two), but the first one listed is
> my "kwau". Is there any support out there for my position?
> /cms
You're the traditionalist. Ko'-Hog is the pretentious pronounciation
done by those that only eat them, not dig them.
Page 115 of Roger Williams's _Key into the Language of America_
"Se'qunnock | /A Horse-fish/
Poquauhock | " " (both are Quahog - BMO)
Obs. This the English call Hens, a little thick shel-fish, which the
Indians wade deepe and dive for, and after they have eaten the meat
there (in those which are good) they break out of the shell, about
halfe an inch of a black part of it. of which they make their
/Sukqauhock/, or black money, which is to them pretious.
Meteauhock | /The Periwinckle/
Of which they make their /Wompans/ or white money, of halfe the value
of their /Suckawhock/, or blacke money, of which more in the Chapter
of their Coyne."
From the introduction:
"5. Because the Life of all Language is in the Pronuntiation, I have
been at the paines and charges to Cause the Accents, Tones or sounds
to be affixed, (which some understand, according to the Greeke
Language, Acutes, Graves, Circumflexes)..."
If Roger Williams heard "ko" in there, he would have spelled it "co"
or "ko" if one reads the rest of the book. He most certainly not have
put in a "qu" there. He made painstakingly good observations,
especially for a man of his time, when most English thought the Native
Americans were *in the way*.
Quahog = Kwahog.
Q.E.D.
After reading that page, if you want to confuse and dismay the stuffed
shirt crowd, call 'em Quahocks. That's even *closer* the original
pronounciation.
--
BMO
P.S. Steamahs were called Sickissoug (grave on the second i)
Z
> I grew up (in Washington Park, in Providence but a mere 3 blocks from
> the Cranston city line) pronouncing the 'Q' word "kwaw-hog", with the
> 'au' sounding like the "awe" in "shock-and-awe". So did everyone I
In my family, it was kaw-hawg
A
> But if you want a better test of how to correctly pronounce
> it, in MA, they say "co-hog". So "kwah-hawg" wins.
LOL
I grew up in southeastern Mass. near New Bedford, and we always said
"Co-hog". I've also always heard it pronounced that way in RI... at least
in the East Bay part of RI. (Useta live in Little Compton, which is
practically part of Mass. in many ways.)
Just order "stuffies" and you'll be OK. :-)
- Anne
Dee Vee Zee
969bf9bb.0408...@posting.google.com, "Charles M. Strauss"
<cstr...@draper.com> wrote:
> I grew up (in Washington Park, in Providence but a mere 3 blocks from
> the Cranston city line) pronouncing the 'Q' word "kwaw-hog", with the
> 'au' sounding like the "awe" in "shock-and-awe".
I grew up in Woonsocket (the city where pretty much anything goes,
linguistically!), and I pronounce the word the same way you do. As I recall,
this "co-hog" thingy popped up out-of-the-blue sometime in the '70's and
before long I was hearing it everywhere.
It's interesting that you should bring up the "Q" word -- it's long bothered
me that I often hear people refer to the province of Quebec as "Kwah-bek"
instead of its true pronunciation, "Keh-bek" (Sorry, folks: that's as close
as I can get to the correct pronunciation in this imperfect medium!).
So, re quahogs and Quebec: maybe it's just a "Qu" thing? Or am I
overthinking this?
Yvette "Who'd *Kill* for a Stuffie Right about Now" Trahan
Sarasota FL
Dee Vee Zee
"Sportster4Eva" <paulie...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> FWIW, I had KwawHog Chowdah for Dinnah last night !!lol
> I really did!
Yeah, but didja make it like *I* do? None of those
milk/cream/tomato/nouvelle cuisine/assorted veggies concoctions for me!
*My* chowdah consists of salt pork, diced onions, cubed potatoes (boiled
separately, drained, then added to the chowdah), clam juice/broth, chopped
quahogs, and lemon thyme. Period. (Lemon thyme's a two'fer: not only do you
get the right herbal taste, you get a little lemon boost too!)
Yvette
Sarasota "What? I Gotta Pay *THAT* for Quahogs Here?" FL
Dee Vee Zee
<b...@entropy.tmok.com> wrote:
>> "kwo" AND "ko" (long 'o' in the last two), but the first one listed is
>> my "kwau". Is there any support out there for my position?
>> /cms
>
>
> You're the traditionalist. Ko'-Hog is the pretentious pronounciation
> done by those that only eat them, not dig them.
>
> Page 115 of Roger Williams's _Key into the Language of America_
>
> "Se'qunnock | /A Horse-fish/
> Poquauhock | " " (both are Quahog - BMO)
Thank you! I find this kind of stuff fascinating -- no irony intended. Did
you find this info on the web?
Yvette
Sarasota FL
Christopher Martin
> the 'Q' word
The explanation I got from John McNiff, ranger and historian at the
Roger Williams National Memorial, is the following:
"The common name, poquaûhock, is taken from the languages of the
Narragansett and Wampanoag Indians, and it's thought that today's
pronunciation can be traced to those origins. The Narragansetts, from
the west side of Narragansett Bay, probably pronounced the word
'po-kwa-hok.' Today's western Rhode Islanders thus pronounce it
'kwa-hog.' The Wampanoags of the East Bay called it 'po-ko-hok,' and
today, eastern Rhode Islanders likewise say 'ko-hog.'"
That makes sense for "aw" vs. "o" -- if you look at the other responses
in the thread, I think you'll see that they fall into East vs. West Bay
pronunciations. I don't know about "ko" vs. "kwo." If you folks ever
work that one out, I'll add it to the entry on the site.
<http://www.quahog.org/factsfolklore/index.php?id=43>
Christopher
-------------------------------------------------
Quahog.org: the definitive Rhode Island road trip
-------------------------------------------------
Boyle M. Owl
>>Page 115 of Roger Williams's _Key into the Language of America_
> Thank you! I find this kind of stuff fascinating -- no irony intended. Did
> you find this info on the web?
Heck no. I have the dead tree version.
You can pick up your copy at the Roger Williams National Monument off
of North Main.
's where I got mine.
--
Dan
Boyle M. Owl
>>the 'Q' word
Heh.
> "The common name, poquaűhock, is taken from the languages of the
> Narragansett and Wampanoag Indians, and it's thought that today's
> pronunciation can be traced to those origins.
Roger Williams notes /Sequnnock/ (accent on the e) also.
He doesn't note if that is Wampanoag or not.
As far as this edition's introduction goes....
"Shortly before the arrival of the Pigrims, the Narragansetts, under
their sachems, Mascus and Canonicus, had defeated the Wampanoag
Indians on the east side of Narragansett Bay and had added that tribe
and its subject tribes, such as the Pocassets and the Sakonnets to
their empire. The Massachusetts Indians under Chikataubet were also
brought under the dominion of the Narragansetts."
So this means by the time Williams came to Providence in 1636, the
Wampanoag were already "Narragansetts".
The best way to describe _A Key_ is that it's probably the first
ethnography of Native Americans. Indeed, it is striking in that
Williams, a Baptist Minister of the time, was able to be impartial,
for the most part, in the description of their lives.
It's not just a dictionary. He goes on to describe their ways of
life, business, and religion - "together with brief observations of
the customs, manners and worships, &c. of the aforsaid natives, in
peace and warre, in life and death" as it says on the coversheet of
the reprint. Published originally in London, it was meant as a guide
for people to be able to *get along* and trade with the Native Americans.
Funny how things turned out...
> The Narragansetts, from
> the west side of Narragansett Bay, probably pronounced the word
> 'po-kwa-hok.' Today's western Rhode Islanders thus pronounce it
> 'kwa-hog.' The Wampanoags of the East Bay called it 'po-ko-hok,' and
> today, eastern Rhode Islanders likewise say 'ko-hog.'"
Williams noted this that the dialects varied within a 50 mile radius,
but that it was easy enough to figure out if one thought enough.
I'll stick with Kwa-hog TYVM.
--
BMO
Christopher Martin
> So this means by the time Williams came to Providence in 1636, the
> Wampanoag were already "Narragansetts".
That may be true, but it doesn't mean that linguistic differences
disappeared merely because the Wampanoag had become a subject tribe.
After all, linguisic differences persist in Woonsocket despite the fact
that the region's French-Canadian immigrants are now Americans.
> I'll stick with Kwa-hog TYVM.
My preferred pronunciation as well.
Laury
"Dee Vee Zee" <Deli...@isnotmail.com> wrote in message
news:BD39AF61.611E%Deli...@isnotmail.com...
> It's interesting that you should bring up the "Q" word -- it's long
bothered
> me that I often hear people refer to the province of Quebec as "Kwah-bek"
> instead of its true pronunciation, "Keh-bek" (Sorry, folks: that's as
close
> as I can get to the correct pronunciation in this imperfect medium!).
My grandmother was from Quebec, and I've been there recently. I
never heard a "keh-bec" pronunciation, more like a kweh-bec. Definitely
the "kw" sound at the beginning, although I agree not the "ah". Another
word she pronounced differently was "crepes". She pronounced it
"kreps" with a rolled "r". Of course that is a sound I can't hope to
ever duplicate. I have a hard enough time with a plain "r".
Laury
Owen Hartnett
<hennypen...@cox.net> wrote:
Same here. East Bay (and Fo Riva) says Co-hog.
-Owen
Thomas Reynolds
Thomas Reynolds
A
> That makes sense for "aw" vs. "o" -- if you look at the other responses
> in the thread, I think you'll see that they fall into East vs. West Bay
> pronunciations.
Perfect, Christopher. Definitely in southeastern Mass. (which IMO is just
a big extension of the East Bay!), it always was, and is AFAIK, pronounced
"co-hog".
In Little Compton I used to buy burlap bags full of the critters from a
neighbor's son who was a quahogger, and he also said "co-hog."
- Anne
Charles M. Strauss
Sorry for the use of that dictionary. It is the default one my
company puts (free) on my bookshelf. My ex-wife got my OED (the real,
12-volume one, not the new-fangled 20-volume one). And my Webster's
2nd (the one WITHOUT "ain't") is at the beach house in Narragansett.
/cms
