Talk to TH: What's in a name?

In the June 2009 Up Front column, Editor Charles Lohrmann invites readers’ input on wacky Texas place names and locals-only lingo. Following are some of the responses. Thanks for the feedback!

I had to laugh at Texas pronunciations! I’ve been stumped over “local”-ese, as opposed to “proper” pronunciations. Here’s my contribution to confusion:

Devine    -     Deé-Vine

Tivoli-     Tie-Vó-Lee

Leaky-     Lake-Y

Pedernales-    Per-Den-Al-Es

Muenster-    Mún-Ster

Vashti-        Vásh-Tie

Megargel-    Muh-Gár-Gle

Alvord-    Ál-Void

Burnet-    Búrn-It

Buchanan    Búck-Hanon

Blanco-    Blánk-O

Knippa-    Kun-Íp-Pa

Refugio-    Re-Fúry-O

Tawakoni-    Tah-Wók-On-Ee

Kerns-        Kurns

Bedias-    Bée-Dies

Uvlade-    You-Vál-Dee

Kosse-        Kóss-Ee

Sabinal    -    Sáb-In-Ell

Sabine-    Sab-Éen

Troup-        Troop

Tehuacana-    Tew-Wók-An-Ah

I had fun reading “Signs of Texas,” and adding to the list. Thanks for the article and keep up the good work on my favorite magazine.

SUE CHANDLER

Uvalde

My first initiation years ago was newcomers calling Lubbock “Labách.”   Later, I learned that Montague has a silent syllable so it’s Montag. Lyndon Johnson was not pronouncing Pedernales wrong; it is “Perdenales.”  Since living in the Dallas area I’ve learned that Miami is Myamah and Celina is Salyna.

A visit to the Burnet area teaches you it is Burnit, durnit! Its’ always interesting!

DELLA SPIVEY

Duncanville

Enjoyed your “Signs of Texas” note. There are a few of those names I’m still hesitant to try, even after living here since 1970. The worst two are Colmesneil and Nacogdoches.

Though here in the Houston area they still pronounce San Felipe half a dozen different ways. All of the out-of-towners murder Humble (silent “h”).  Fortunately, I married a tall, lanky Texan who’s happy to interpret Seguin and Leakey for me.

Bet you’ll hear from lots of folks on this one.

BARBARA MCGAFFEY

Alvin

The Texas Almanac has a “Pronunciation Guide.” It is very complete and should be useful for new and old settlers alike! Thanks for the wonderful magazine.

CLAY L. WEST

Texas City

I’d submit Tow, Texas, on the west shore of Lake Buchanan. According to the Web site www.hillcountryportal.com/tow.html,  “tow” rhymes with “cow” and Leaky is pronounced “Lake-y.” I believe that when I grew up in the Blanco area in the 1950s it was pronounced “Blank-o,” but it seems to me that newer residents of the area give it a Spanish pronunciation.

I currently live in Comal County and I understand traditionally and frequently it is pronounced “Co-mell.”Of course, Mexia and Grand Saline are mentioned in these discussions, but what about subtleties such as Fort Worth, which was pronounced with heavy emphasis on the first syllable when I grew up. Rowlett, in Dallas County, was pronounced “Ral-ette,” with the first syllable rhyming with “Sal.” But, practically everyone there is a newcomer now and they generally say “Rao-lett,” with the first syllable rhyming with the exclamation of pain, “Ow.”

CHARLES G. TUBBS

Canyon Lake

The two New Yorkers (Yankees) were in Central Texas headed to Dallas from Houston. The sign read 5 miles to Waxahachie. The first one pronounced it as “Wauxahachie.” The second one disagreed saying it was pronounced “Waxahachie.” By now they were in town and agreed to stop to eat. They asked the server to pronounce the name of the place and to do it slowly since they had a disagreement about it. She leaned over the table and said very slowly, “Bur-ger-king.”

BILL STEPHENSON

About three years ago we moved from Knippa, Texas to Westphalia, and have pronounced Knippa many times to visitors on the phone. Knippa is pronounced “kuh-nippa.” I told them to just “say the k.” Incidentally, some citizens of Knippa went to Germany hoping to find other members of the Knippa family, but were surprised to find that in Germany, they dropped the “k.” They spelled the name as “Nippa.”

CHUCK GILL

Westphalia

How about Mexia? Lamesa?  Should sound like “la-mesa.”

LINDA CRAWFORD

Slaton

In Sachse, Texas, the “h” is silent! Loved the article! We lived in Kerrville for two glorious years and I grew up close to Palacios.

DARLENE WHITE

Dallas

I grew up in northwest Louisiana near the Texas border in a town named Joaquin. It is pronounced “waw-keen.”

CHARLOTTE DUNN

Minden, Louisiana

The best guide to Texas place name pronunciations is the Texas Towns from A to Z by Bill and Clare Bradfield (Three Forks Press, Dallas, 1996. ISBN: 0-9637629-5-8).

I am sure it is out of print but you can probably find it at one of the Web book dealers, or any large library. I use worldcatalog.com for such searches.

CHARLES STEGER

Atlanta

How about trying the pronunciation of Hostyn?

STEVE DEAN

Schulenburg

Hard to pronounce Texas names:

Ponta-        Pon-tay

Sacul-        Sack-ul; Lucas spelled backwards

Reklaw-    Wreck-law; Walker spelled backwards

These are small towns in the Piney Woods.

LINDA HARKINS

Jacksonville

Enjoyed the comments about pronunciations of Texas locations. There is actually a great resource out there. The late Dr. George M. Stokes, speech professor at Baylor University, wrote A Guide to Pronunciation of Texas Towns. His primary target audience at that time was national broadcaster who consistently butchered Lubbock into “Loo-Bach,” and other such Texas heresies.

Now—if those national sports broadcasters would stop pronouncing Baylor as “Beh-uh-ler.”

DEANA BLACKBURN

Kerrville

I so enjoyed the article about the quirky Texas names. I spent every summer with my grandparents on Lake LBJ. Recently, I was reading Willie Nelson’s and Mike Blakely’s A Tale Out of Luck. A great description of how to pronounce Pedernales was included, “Perd-n-Alice.” Until the moment I read it, after 40 years, I had never realized there was an “r” after the “d.” I could imagine a conversation that went, “Come on, you know Perd-n-Alice. That old boy Perd down by the river and that gal he’s got with him, Alice? Perd-n-Alice!”

I lived south of Hemphill in a community named Fairmount.  It was pronounced “Fairmont.” Nobody could tell me why. Between Fairmount and Hemphill was an area named Palo Gaucho. It was referred to as “Pollygotch.”

Colmesneil. Need I say more? Manchaca in Austin.

The grand dames of Tyler haven’t pronounced “r” since The War.

The older generations of Cajuns still say “Port Artoor.”

Got to love Tejas!

JULIA FREDEMAN COLLINS

Lumberton

Have you heard of the tourist couple who stopped in Mexia for a cold drink? When they asked the waitress ,“How do you pronounce the name of this place?” she replied, “Day-ree kween.”

EDWARD SLIVA

Lott

I have another name of a town with a strange pronunciation to add to your list. Stairtown (pronounced Startown) in Caldwell County was named for the Stair family.

SUSAN R. ALLEN

Luling

Regarding hard to pronounce names of towns, I was born and raised in a small farming community in southern Erath County named Duffau. Not many people get that one correct the first time. The correct pronunciation is “Duh-fo,” with a hard “o.” I enjoy your magazine!

KENT BURGAN

Mesquite

The old-timers from around here pronounce Joshua, “Joshway,” and Rio Vista is pronounced “Rye Vista.”

SANDRA FRAZIER

Joshua