City Names

[David Bowie]

Given that my name does*n't* sound like the name of the rather more famous
David Bowie,[1] i've learned to take my name being mispronounced in stride.

Still doesn't explain multiple telemarketers calling and asking for what
sounds to me like "David Botha", though.

[1] FTR, his last name is [bo.i], mine is [bu.i]. To drag this back on-topic
for the list, i've been told that there's a north-south difference on the
island containing Scotland and England (is there a name for that island) for
my last name, where in the north it's [bu.i] and in the south it's [bo.i],
but i haven't been able to verify this.

David Bowie                                       Department of English
Assistant Professor                            Brigham Young University
db.list at pmpkn.net              http://humanities.byu.edu/faculty/bowied
   The opinions stated here are not necessarily those of my employer

From: "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU>


: Although she is proud of her Sicilian heritage, my wife (the former
: Carol Guagliardo) finds some comfort in not hearing the disasters of
: her name now that she is a Preston.

: She reports some modifications that even suggested that speakers
: looked no further than the first two or three letters.

: >I believe our dear Brett Favre was born and raised in Mississippi
: >and brought his unusual pronunciation with him. Certainly, Green Bay
: >residents stumbled over the pronunciation in the early days, just as
: >other people still do.

: >French names are not the only ones with a variety of
: >mispronunciations--we don't even want to get started Spanish names!
: >As a high school student of Spanish I and II, I was shocked to hear
: >La Junta, CO, pronounced with the English J!