Ok. I don't claim to know the answer here, but the person who is INSISTENT on a pronounciation and is a know-it-all, believes her way is correct. Anyone able to tell me how you say "VIA VENETO?"

Is it...Via VEN-eto.
Or:
Via ven-ETO.

Where's the emphasis?
Hoping to bask in self-satisfaction here.

(PS - Stayed at the Westin Excelsior last Christmas right on Via Veneto, so shame on me for not remembering how to say it.)

Thanks!

It is pronounced as it is written.

I have never heard anyone in Rome pronounce it as Via VenEEEEEEEEEEEEto but rather as Via <b>VEN</b>e(h)to

VEN-eto, according to my venetian Professor, with emphasis on the first syllable

Hi T,

VEN eh toe

Syllables are inflected as in Medici.

agree w/ Ira; VEN-eh-toe. We walked doen the length of it in january.

thereadbaron, hope you don't mind if I sidetrack a titch...

...sandi, will you top your trip report, I have been trying to find it and the search engine isn't pulling it up for me. thx.

TTT

Emphasis on first syllable. VEN-eto

Interesting. I'm glad I wasn't in on that bet -- I would have lost. I've always just assumed that it was Via Ven-EE-toe, but I have no idea why.

Me too, Patrick! So glad I haven't spoken it aloud in many circles where anyone would know the difference.

Ira: The problem is that a lot of people mispronounce Medici.

The same way they apparently mispronounce buschetta and Italian!

&gt;I've always just assumed that it was Via Ven-EE-toe, but I have no idea why. &lt;

It sounds more Italian.

In the same way that people mispronounce Med EEE chee.

Interestingly, we found that in Florence it is &quot;SAN severo&quot;, while in Naples it is &quot;Chan che VERO&quot;.

Other examples of common mispronunciation:
BRINdisi (not BrinDIsi)
GEnova (not GeNOva)
PAdova (not PaDOva)
but it's
VeROna.
Common pronunciation rule in Italian states that accent normally falls on the penultimate syllable, but there are some exceptions.

And how about CA-pri.

Ira, I guess that is it -- it SOUNDS more Italian.
Can you imagine pronouncing Danny Devito as Danny DEH-veh-toe?

OK, thereadbaron-- time to fess up.

Who was right? You, or the know-it-all?

LOL, Patrick!!

Darnit! I lost the bet. Drats.

MED-ici, or Med-ICI?

I am a geography whiz (if I say so myself.) But my pronunciations are often wrong. (Maybe because I'm from Brooklyn and we say things funny anyways.)

Thanks Fodorites for correcting my Italian!