Learn to speak Wisconsin

Joseph Salmons jsalmons at WISC.EDU
Sat Sep 8 11:49:44 UTC 2007


Well, as Wisconsin's own Mr. Verb pointed out (on a tip from Ben
Zimmer) at the beginning of the week, Miss Pronouncer is a valuable
resource in many ways -- covering not just place names of Indian
origin (mostly Algonquian), but also names of political and sports
figures, place names of immigrant-language heritage (illustrated in
the list), you name it.

But it's marred by a nasty attitude about regional speech: The
website says, as Ben noted, "And by the way, please slap anyone who
says WESconsin!" She and her friends have got a lot of slapping to
do, given what I hear every day.

Joe

On Sep 7, 2007, at 9:10 PM, Beverly Flanigan wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Learn to speak Wisconsin
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
>
> These pronunciations are no problem for us Minnesotans; we have an
> abundance of Native Indian place names ourselves (Ojibwe and Dakota
> Sioux).
>
> At 09:53 PM 9/7/2007, you wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Learn to speak Wisconsin
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----------
>>
>> The below from the Chicago Tribune
>>
>>
>> Learn to speak Wisconsin
>> Posted by Toni Salama at 8 a.m. CDT
>>
>> Some Wisconsin place names are downright intimidating. If they're not
>> out-and-out tongue-twisters, their spelling can stump even the most
>> lingually gifted among us.
>>
>> I guess you have to expect that in a state whose very name,
>> Wisconsin, is
>> the English spelling of a French version of an Indian name for the
>> river
>> that runs through the center of the state.
>>
>> To the rescue comes MissPronouncer.com, where a click on Wisconsin
>> place
>> names is rewarded with audio of the correct pronunciation.
>>
>> Among the trickiest problems solved:
>>
>> Ashwaubenon
>> Chequamegon
>> Kaukauna
>> Kinnickinnic
>> Menomonie
>> Mequon
>> Oconomowoc
>> Prairie du Chien
>> St. Nazianz
>> Trempealeau
>> Weyauwega
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
>> See truespel.com - and the 4  truespel books plus "Occasional
>> Poems" at
>> authorhouse.com.
>>
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>
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