Why is tucson pronounced tooson

You just don't. People pronounce it jokingly occasionally, and call the place "tuck-son" where the "o" is pretty much just a schwa , but trust me, Tucsonans got tired of that a long time ago. Whatever the origin, it's pronounced "TOOsahn" because that's the way it's pronounced. And am I not correct in saying that most Americans also do not pronounce Tucson correctly because they fail to put the emphasis on the last syllable? English, especially the American variety, is not a phonetic language, like say Latin or Spanish or Hawaiian.

It is an ad hoc collection of names and pronunciation rules borrowed from other tongues, often those of the residents who made the mistake of occupying the lands where well- funded eastern and occasionally western developers wanted to build cities. Tucson may be a Native American or Spanish place name, though it violates the phonetic pronunciation rules of the latter. I'll check further. As a rule, the American southwest and extreme southeast which is to say Florida through northern California is riddled with Spanish place names left over from early explorers.

The entirety of the United States is dominated with Native American place names, many of which have been bastardized into Anglo-Saxon spellings. It was "too-sahn" long before anyone who lives there could say what anything is; in particular, hundreds of years ago when the Pima Indians gave it the name. The spelling is Spanish, from about two hundred years ago. I am enchanted to discover, after all those cracks about "Worcester" and "Cholmondeley", that even in the US you have placenames whose pronunciation cannot possibly be guessed from their spelling.

Are there any more, please? Yes, I want them for ammunition, and I think obviously non-English-looking names like Des Moines are not quite fair. A pretty puzzle you set us. If American place names look English, well, they are. Heck, I live in Gloucester, right down the road from Deptford, not far from Greenwich.

Went to school in Runnemede. I'll try, though. Awright, it's Spanish. Oh, I give up. Perchprism "Of two cigars, pick the longest and the strongest. Since as far as I know everyone who lives there puts the emphasis on the first syllable, it is hard to see how this pronunciation can be incorrect. One of the tests of a newcomer to Colorado is his pronunciation of the town name Buena Vista. Gary Williams. I don't think you are correct in saying so.

I've never heard tu-son'. In response to Podibanda Kuruppu's question, I think that the word comes from an American Indian word in the first place and was a Spanish approximation of it and the c must have been very small and eventually disappeared from the sound. Two strrange pronunciations of what are actually Spanish words are to be found in Long Beach and Redlands, California: Junipero hu-neep'-e-ro is pronounced "Wannapero" in Long Beach, and the Zanja ditch aqueduct zahn-ha is pronounced zan-kee with a hard "a" in Redlands.

Well, there is Kansas which is like can's-ass whereas Arkansas is more like 'I-can-sow' My friends in Pennsylvania used to pronounce the state name sometimes as R-Kansas just as a joke. There is a fast-food chain that has their equivalent of a burger named " Big Carolina". Big calories we call it, but the chain had a set of ads on tv where they asked people how to pronounce "Massachusetts".

Getting a lot of mumbo-jumbo[1] their closing slogan was " Easier to say when you are hungry" massachassha I had the same problem with "Nevada" as well-- for the first two or three years I lived here, I pronounced it "Nuh-vaw-duh". I eventually managed the locally correct "Nuh-vah-duh", but it took a long time, and conscious effort.

If you're referring to the name of a city, and if it's an American city, and if most Americans pronounce the name of that American city with the emphasis on the first syllable, then how can pronouncing it that way possibly be incorrect?

Okay, then how about U. Yes, we do have one. In Massachusetts. The second largest city in the state, as a matter of fact. We also have a Gloucester. A common error is for people new to the state to pronounce Worcester and Gloucester properly "Wooster" and "Glosster" but then to fumble when they attempt to pronounce the town of Dorchester which is actually pronounced exactly as it's spelled - "Dor-chest-er".

The one out-of-towners get wrong most often is the Cape Cod town of Siasconset, pronounced "Sconset. Massachusetts alone probably has dozens of these mispronounced names. People from other lands might be interested to learn that 'Schuylkill' is not only the name of an important river, but a major expressway.

Isn't "Arkansas" is pronounced "Arkansaw"? Incidentally, the tucson post reminded me of a series of 'sixties commercials on the London Underground which tried to convince everybody that "Cockburn's port" should be pronounced "Co'burns". That would be the heavy brogue. Best not attempted by an outsider. I spelled it wrong, didn't I? Makes me want ball up that spelling award I got back in high school from Goldey-Beacom College and toss it.

If you can't nail the tough ones when it really counts, what good are you? I do know how to spell it. So what? If everybody who has lived there for the past years pronounced it "tush-on," "tush-on" it would be.

Correctly, I think. One of the less desirable parts of Leeds had a "Co'burn" High School in my youth; the intake would not have been minded to adopt a contrived or bogus pronunciation. But I sometimes wonder if it's a part of the? UK advertiser's art to select brand names which invite mispronunciation -- Nike, Nestle', Menzies, come to mind. Des Moines is actually quite regular. It's Des Plains, IL that presents problems.

Iowa has some yummy ones though, but not quite in the UK league. Rochester, MN is an interesting case this is where you find the Mayo Clinic.

There seems to be no dominent pronunciation. Rock-chester, Raw-chester, Rot-chester, and Rotch-ester are all heard. There are probably few place names in the U. I just don't think the U. I haven't been able to check an atlas, but I'm pretty sure that in the state of Washington there is the town of Sequim, pronounced Skwim.

I just plain luv it! Now, how would an Australian tourist one who hasn't seen this thread, of course passing through Tucson pronounce this name? As "TOOsahn"?

Soon after landing on these shores, I was directed by my boss to go do some maintenance on a computer in a place whose name he pronouced "Fort Wachooka". Not wishing to appear higgnerant, I hied me to an Atlas and searched, but to no avail. Damn place is "Fort Huachuka". If I'd see it written down first, I probably could have guessed the pronumciation. But the other way around I now live close to a city called Sannerzay.

San Jose to you. Well, Chillicothe OH might qualify. No, it's not. It's Fort Huachuca. It's right over there near the Chiricahua Mountains, and in a lot of ways, that's a really nice place. If you think that's a long drive, then you haven't been in the Great American West much.

Driving a few hundred miles is nothing, and driving to Fort Huachuca from Tucson isn't even enough to blink at. It's really a shame you don't live in the West anymore. The West beats the hell out of California any day. You are not correct. It even does windows. We don't do '-ahn' for '-on'. Regards, John. Now, does the same rule apply to "mortgage"? Many of my friends pronounce this last word to rhyme with "moat - gauge," which I think is incorrect. Then I better stay miles away from these towns.

Okay, I agree, everyone has told me that I am wrong, so I am sure I am. I must have just heard someone pronounce it wrong Also, wasn't there a Beatles song that mentioned Tucson, Arizona and pronounced it like everyone else does? And finally how do you pronounce Belfast? Markus -- a. Just a note - Dorchester's not a town, but part of the city of Boston. You probably have to live within a dozen miles of Boston to have a license to pronounce it "Dotchester".

Dinkin Dr. You can look it up! I pronounce it like "bell fast" but without the space, and with neutral emphasis. In what way does it matter how Mexicans pronounce it? It is a city in the USA, populated largely by midwestern retirees who promptly raised the humidity and pollen levels. Pronunciation: Tucson, etc. Thread starter Cracker Jack Start date Apr 8, I am intrigued by the way this Arizona city is pronounced. Is the c mute or is it pronounced?

There are other places in the US of A wherein the pronunciation is not what it seems; like Illinois, Arkansas, etc. I want to know the correct pronunciation through this forum. Thanks in advance. Well, having lived in its neighbor city for the last 6 years Phoenix , I can attest with all accuracy that Tucson is pronounced without the hard "c" sound - basically, the "c" is silent Hope this helps!!

Come here and enjoy the warm weather some day! Everyone's welcome! I've always heard it pronounced like 'tooson' the 'on' being prounced like Indigo Girl Member British Columbia.

WongFeiHung is correct in his pronunciation. However, I still have one question left. What is the origin of this name and pronunciation? It seems to me like French. Cracker Jack said:. Click to expand Thanks a lot Tabac and mplsray. I first wanted to hear from you before I conjecture.