toponymic query

[Baker, John]

        As Abigail Zitin suggested, the closest specifically geographic term is endonym.  From the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names Glossary of Toponymic Terminology (vers. 4.1 Feb. 2000), http://www.ngi.be/NL/glossary/glossang-inf.htm, endonym is defined as

        >>Name of a geographical feature in one of the languages occurring in that area where the feature is situated. Examples: V_r_nas_ (not Benares); Aachen (not Aix-la-Chapel­le); Krung Thep (not Bang­kok); al-Uq_ur (not Luxor); Teverya (not Tiberias).<<

        However, endonym is not pronunciation-specific, so I think that shibboleth is still closest to what he's looking for.

        Of course, the smart-alecky response to the literal question is "if anyone, a linguist or lexicographer."

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Geoffrey Nunberg [mailto:nunberg at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 2:59 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: toponymic query



>What kind of scholar would be able to tell me the word for which the
>definition is "the special pronunciation of a proper noun, often a city
>name, used by the people who live there, separating the natives of a place
>from outsiders."?  An example is Cairo, Illinois, which is pronounced
>KAY-ROW by its citizens, and usually mispronounced "KEYE-ROW" by outsiders.