Once they make their first transoceanic voyage, quite a lot of Americans make a choice to visit England, at the assumption that, whatever culture surprise they could experience, no less than not one of the difficulties can be linguistic. Most effective when it’s too overdue do they discover the actual implying of the outdated line about being separated by means of a common language. Happen names, no longer simply in England however much more so throughout the entire of Nice Britain. How would you professionalnounce, as an example, Beaulieu, Rampisham, Mousehollow, Towcester, Gotham, Quernextra, Alnwick, or Frome?
There’s a great opportunity that you were given maximum of the ones mistaken, despite the fact that you’re no longer American. However as defined in the Map Males video above, bona fide Brits even have trouble with a few of them: a couple of years in the past, the deceptively instantlyforward-looking Frome got here out on most sensible of a domestic survey of essentially the most misprofessionalnounced names. In the event you’re excited by making your experience in Nice Britain somewhat much less embarrassing, whatever your countryality, the Map Males have put together a humorous information to the foundations of “proper” place-name professionalnunciation — equivalent to they exist — in addition to an explanation of the historical factors that originally made it so counterintuitive.
The evolution of the English language itself has somefactor to do with it, involving because it does “a base of Gerguyic Anglo-Saxon,” a “wholesome sprint of Previous Norse,” a “massive dollop of Norguy French,” and “only a truthfully detectable trace of Celtic.” British position names mirror its history of settlement and invasion, the outdatedest of them being Celtic in origin (the dreaded Frome, for examinationple), followed by means of Latin, then Gerguyic Anglo-Saxon (end resulting in towns with names like Norwich, whose silent W I never appear to professionalnounce silently sufficient to satisfy an Englishguy), then Norse.
After centuries and centuries of subsequent shifts in professionalnunciation without corresponding adjustments in spelling, you arrive in a countake a look at “littered with phointernetic booby means of traps.” It would all appear to be a reflection of the characteristic British anti-logic diagnosed, no longer without a be aware of satisfaction, by means of George Orwell. However traveling Americans gassed up on their according toceptions of their very own relative practicality will have to take an extended, exhausting have a look at a map of the United States a while. Having grown up in Washington State, I ask this: who amongst you dares to professionalnounce the names of cities like Marysville, Puyallup, Yakima, or Sequim?
Related content:
Welcome to Llantruthfulpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoc, the The city with the Longest Title in Europe
The Expansion of London, from the Romans to the Twenty first Century, Visualized in a Time-Lapse Animated Map
How Londinium Become London, Lutetia Become Paris, and Other Roman Towns Were given Their Modern Names
Listen the Evolution of the London Accessory Over 660 Years: From 1346 to 2006
The Whole History of the British Isles Animated: 42,000 BCE to Nowadays
The Atlas of True Names Restores Modern Towns to Their Middle Earth-ish Roots
Based totally in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and vastcasts on towns, language, and culture. His tasks come with the Substack newsletter Books on Towns and the guide The Statemuch less Town: a Stroll thru Twenty first-Century Los Angeles. Follow him at the social internetpaintings formerly referred to as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
