Old pronuciation of "Los Angeles"

Wilson Gray wilson.gray at RCN.COM
Sat Jun 25 23:41:55 UTC 2005


On Jun 25, 2005, at 11:17 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Old pronuciation of "Los Angeles"
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> --------
>
> The 1935 film _Bordertown_ (with Paul Muni and Betet Davis - fine
> period performances) is partially set in L.A.  My attention was caught
> by the fact that a snooty villain pronounced it with a  / g /  rather
> than the now universal / J /  (if I may use that ad-hoc symbol).
>
> The quasi-Spanish origin of the pronunciation isn't the question. (The
> actor was clearly using an English pronunciation and not trying
> consciously to imitate Spanish.)
>
> To me it sounded bizarre, but I'm pretty sure I've heard it in other
> old movies. The question is how widespread was this, and when did it
> go away ?
>
> JL
>
>
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I recall that Cecil, an old family friend from down home in Texas who
"ran on the road" - the Santa Fe's "Chief" and its "Superchief" - using
the hard "g" pronunciation back in the '40's. I didn't really know what
the "proper" pronunciation was till after I had moved from St. Louis
and lived in L.A. for a while. However, the version with the hard "g"
is so familiar that I consider either pronunciation to be "correct,"
though I use /dZ/. But, once that you're in L.A., the only proper
pronunciation of San Pedro in English is "San PEE-dro" and not "San
PAY-dro."

Now, if only I could bring to justice those who say "Loss Vegas,"
however apt it may be!

-Wilson Gray



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