Oregon, etc.

[Loren A. Billings]

Someone recently wrote me and asked the following:

     "What about [mizura] state? And should we all switch?"

As a matter of fact, I have read one study that shows that residents of
Missouri are about evenly divided between the two pronunciations of this
state's name (i.e., the one above and the one ending in [i]).  Thus, there
aren't the same ingredients as _Ukraine_ and _Oreg[@]n_ (@ = schwa).
With regard to _Ukraine, of course, no one says this form in that nation's
language.  I know of no Oregonian that does not reduce the final syllable.
Thus, the Missouri argument is not valid.

--Loren