Lodz

[Kim & Rima McKinzey]

>For a while during college I took Polish lessons privately from a
>woman from Lodz.  She pronounced it [wudzh] as I perceived it.  I
>suspect the final affricate may actually be devoiced but lenis, so
>that I interpreted it as still voiced.  I remember the vowel as
>close rather than open (under the influence of the preceding [w-]?).
>I didn't hear any difference in the
>pronunciation of the name by our guide on a tour in Poland two years ago.
>
>I HEARD somewhere that while the Poles pronounce it [wudzh], its
>Yiddish-speaking inhabitants pronounced it [l)dz} (with )=open o),
>though

My mother was born in Bolyislatzve (I have never looked at a map nor
seen that written, this may be the first time I've tried to spell it)
- a little town in Poland.  Though she came to the US when she was 5,
she said the nearest big town was Lodz and pronounced the initial l
and the rest as above, i.e., ludzh.  She never spoke Polish, only
Yiddish as a child.  Since all siblings are now deceased, I can't ask
anyone for corroboration.

Rima