pronunciation of British towns in Cornwall
 

So as not to sound like a stupid tourist, I would like to know the correct pronunciation of some of the towns that we'll be visiting. Can you give me the phonetic spellings of the following if they aren't pronounced as they look? Clovelly, Bude, Tintagel, Padstow, Hartland Quay, Bodmin Parkway, Barnstaple.

Thanks for your help!

Can't help you with the pronunciation since I'm not so sure myself. There are better experts here for that. However I have a trip report that includes quite a few of the towns listed. You might want to glance through it.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34841198

K4 - All of these are pronounced phonetically. The reason most Americans (I presume that's where you are from) raise an eyebrow here sometimes is because they stress the wrong syllables. With all these names, and most place names, stress the first syllable, with the following exceptions (it's English so there are always exceptions):

Clovelly - 2nd syllable, ie CloVELLy
Tintagel - 2nd syllable, TinTAGel (soft g).

Enjoy the West Country.

Those are no problem - it's places like Mousehole that catch folks out!

A fun little website where you can actually hear the words spoken is: http://www.howjsay.com/

It doesn't have all the words, but a fair share of them.

For what it's worth, Barnstaple isn't quite pronounced as written; it's more "baarrnstubble" (all running into each other), not than "Barn_Staple"...

Worth asking though, I still have to smile when I recall some US visitors asking for "War Sester Shire Sauce" :)

Kinda like when Brits come over here and try to properly pronouce the name "Baltimore"

How does one pronounce Baltimore other than Balmer?

((I))

Dukey - We do pronounce Baltimore correctly. You pronounce it with an American accent. It is the Anglicized version of a place in Ireland from where Lord Baltimore, who founded the Maryland colony, took his name. Google is my friend.

Quay is "key"

It's not on your list but isn't St. Ives "sint" rather than saint?

Of all the English accents, the Cornish have the closest to Americans.

Dark "l"s and "r"s, softening "t"s and "th" to "d"s, pronouncing the "r"s after vowels and having "o"s approaching "a" in sound. (When you say "hot" I hear "hat")

Bodmin is nearer to "Badmin"

St Ives is pronounced Sknives (the k is silent).

As a South-Easterner it can take a few seconds to work out if a Cornish person (with a thick accent) is or isn't American, other than the lack of big hair and white trainers, that is.

"Kinda like when Brits come over here and try to properly pronouce the name "Baltimore"

SPLIT INFINITIVE ALERT!!!

Hey, I know all about Baltimore - I've seen Hairspay ;)

Nah, that is a rotten site ;-)

I put in Mousehole and they pronounced it Mouse Hole as in the dwelling-place of a rodent.

Bude is pronounced using the U, as in 'you'.

It is not pronounced Bood.

Pronunciation doesn't really matter, so long as people can understand what you are getting at.
What can be confusing and you see it often on this forum is when Americans drop part of a place-name in London, for instance.

It's unlikely that somebody would be given directioins to Trafalgar, but if somebody asked for Liverpool Station, they might well be given directions to Euston.
It's the same with Buckingham.

>>I put in Mousehole and they pronounced it Mouse Hole as in the dwelling-place of a rodent.<<

I told you it was a fun little website. :-D :-D

BTW, I checked some of the usual howlers, e.g. Leicester, Worcester, Cholmondeley, and Cockburn, and they all seemed to be correct, albeit with an American accent. I never thought to check Mousehole, though.

Well done, Josser. :-)

It can't cope with Marazion at all! Nearest it could get was Marion.

stfc, please get your little buns right over here and we'll all stand around and listen to you pronounce "Baltimore" correctly....but you have to do it at either Mount Vernon Square or perhaps in Highlandtown..we'll see if another Boston Tea Party ensues as a result.

(and they wonder why you guys lost the war...)

Now we can all have fun checking for errors.

They do have a button on the bottom of the page for reporting errors, so let's give them some feedback. BTW, the company is registered in Australia, so perhaps I was wrong in calling it an American accent.

Dukey - thank you for the invitation. How do you know my buns are little? Buns - that's a curious American usage. I am sure that I would be welcomed with all the generosity and hospitality I experience every time I visit the US. No doubt your Baltimorean ladies would swoon over my wonderful 'English accent'.

Sadly I must defer the visit as I am once more soon to go to a hot and dusty place to work alongside your brave servicemen in a different war I fear we have all lost. Maybe another time.

We could play for hours.
I just tried Featherstonehaugh and it got it right

Josser, try Mousehole again. ;-)

Launceston is another interesting Cornish one that ain't said how it sounds (whereas the Launceston in Tasmania IS said how it sounds - but that's Aussies for you!).

Bude and Bodmin Parkway are pronounced the way they look.

HAHtl'nd Key.

PADs-toe.

BARnst'p'l.

I tried Mousehole again.
That's brilliant.
Did you contact them?

You should have heard what we did with Goonhavern.

Josser, yes, I used the error reporting button on the bottom of the page, but all credit goes to you for spotting the error.

We exchanged a few emails, and the howjsay people are very responsive, with a wonderful sense of humour. I quoted your reply: "I just tried Featherstonehaugh and it got it right." They answered back: "Phew! Good to know we passed the Featherstonehaugh test!" :-)

H. V. Morton said that Mousehole was pronounced Muzzle. True?

I didn't know there was a universal "American accent". IME pronuciations vary widely around the US. Many Americans who come to New England have trouble pronouncing some of our towns and cities. Worcester, Gloucester, and Leicester in Massachusetts are pronounced fairly like those towns with the same name in England. However, our Ipswich and Harwich are pronounced as they look, unlike those two towns in England. (I have had some trouble with towns down south, but listening to locals helped me get a sort of apporoximation.)

I was born in Ipswich, Suffolk and I have visited Ipswich in Massachusetts, nice beach btw.
They are both pronounced the same.

I also used to live in Ipswich, Suffolk. With Ipswich, the "w" is sounded, while with Harwich and Norwich it is silent. I have also lived in Aldeburgh, which some non-locals, never mind foreigners, have difficulty pronouncing.

Miss Prism and Heimdall, thanks for setting me straight. After visiting Norwich and Harwich in England, I made an incorrect generalization while looking at the map. I apologize to all Ipswich natives.

Sorry and thanks! (I like learning new things!)