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Pronunciation Please!

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Pronunciation Please!

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(@matostj)
Posts: 27
Eminent Member
Topic starter
 

Hi!
So...after extensive search on this site and others..at least I think, lol..As I read I am not sure how to pronounce some of the words that I see! for example:

1) bananaquit- is it pronounced exactly as written?

2) Charlotte Amalie- Amalie???

3) Jost Van Dyke- J or Y?

4) Waterlemon Cay- Cay pronounced Key or Cay (just as written??)

5) Caribbean- long A or short..or just preference? How do people on the island pronounce it? (just curious on this one! 🙂

Thanks!!!!!!

 
Posted : March 14, 2010 3:52 pm
(@margy-z)
Posts: 313
Reputable Member
 

This topic should yield some fun answers. Here are mine:

1) sugar bird (:D)

2) Charlotte aMALya

3) Yost

4) Key

5) Ca-RIB-ee-an (have friends who say Care-a-BE-an, though)

 
Posted : March 14, 2010 5:38 pm
(@matostj)
Posts: 27
Eminent Member
Topic starter
 

Thanks Margy Z 🙂

I have been all over this site and a few others with mixed info...and most of the online dictionaries do not offer the online pronunciation for the words I listed. Thank you! 🙂

 
Posted : March 14, 2010 7:17 pm
(@a-davis)
Posts: 563
Honorable Member
 

i'm pretty much with margy... and you can also pronounce the bird name as written (cute, margy!).

some also say "banana keet" - there's a restaurant on tortola that goes by the same name. great spot, btw.

as for the caribbean, it depends on how it best falls in the sentence, in my experience. i've said it both ways.

 
Posted : March 14, 2010 10:49 pm
(@exit-zero)
Posts: 871
Prominent Member
 

IMHO
2 -Charlotte Ah- Ma- Lee
5 - always hear both -

 
Posted : March 14, 2010 10:53 pm
(@stjohnjulie)
Posts: 272
Reputable Member
 

I hear Amalie mostly like Exit Zero states Ah mah LEE
And although I hear Caribbean both ways, I tend to lean towards Margy Z's way.

It just really depends on where you are from. I was just thinking about this this morning. One of the senators wants to introduce legislation to have street names on St. John and I thought how that could make things more confusing because of the differences in continental accents and West Indian accents. Even common words like water and mango sound very different coming from my Midwest mouth compared to my West Indian husband.

 
Posted : March 15, 2010 6:48 am
(@stt-resident)
Posts: 3316
Famed Member
 

Charlotte Amalie - "town"!!

 
Posted : March 15, 2010 8:56 am
(@a-davis)
Posts: 563
Honorable Member
 

charlotte amalie is an actual name, and it is pronounced "SHAR-lot ah-MAH-leeya" although many pronounce it as they will and it's always recognized which makes it acceptable... but since it's someone's name i prefer to pronounce it as it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Amalie_of_Hesse-Kassel

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Charlotte+Amalie (pronounced)

 
Posted : March 15, 2010 1:18 pm
(@theislander)
Posts: 3881
Famed Member Admin
 

1) bananaquit - as written

2) Charlotte Amalie... Shar-lot -Ah-Mah-lee.... Or Sha-lit-tAh-mal-e... with a St. Thomian accent... one word 🙂

3) Jost Van Dyke.... Yost

4) Waterlemon Cay.... usually just Waterlemon.

5) usually Ca-RIB-ee-an

--Islander

 
Posted : March 15, 2010 4:15 pm
(@matostj)
Posts: 27
Eminent Member
Topic starter
 

Oh!!!!! You guys are great!!!! Thank you!!! I won't embarrass myself and tell you all how I really thought some of these words were pronounced! 🙂 Being from Boston...I will have to try hard to pronounce the 'r' in Charlotte..lol in addition to the pronouncing Amalie correctly! This really helps!!! Thanks again to all! 😉

 
Posted : March 15, 2010 7:16 pm
(@chris-at-work)
Posts: 1138
Noble Member
 

I find pronunciation improves in direct relation to the volume of rum consumed. Of course communication and comprehension tend to suffer.

 
Posted : March 16, 2010 6:34 am
(@stjohnjulie)
Posts: 272
Reputable Member
 

Ha Chris! Rum tends to turn my Midwest accent into a West Indian accent. I don't notice it, but it makes my husband smile 😀

 
Posted : March 16, 2010 6:54 am
(@chris-at-work)
Posts: 1138
Noble Member
 

stjohnjulie

LOL
Moved from the UK when I was 5, grew up in NY, college in PA and have lived in TX for 30+ so I do not really have any distinct accent. That is until I reach the "threshold" and I start sounding like Bert in Mary Poppins. Probably some return to the womb kind of thing going on according to therapist. 😉

 
Posted : March 16, 2010 9:47 pm

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