chill-LAY/chee-Lay

[Herb Stahlke]

In the wake of the earthquake in Chile I've heard pronunciations on
CNN and local ABC news that stress the second syllable.  Some speakers
have a tense high front vowel in the first syllable and some use a lax
vowel.  I don't speak Spanish, but I've had Chilean students who I
recall pronouncing the name of the country with stress on the penult.
Is this a new false foreignism?

Herb

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