How to pronounce Willamette

[YeastWhisperer]

Willamatte is one of the most frequently mispronounced hop cultivar names in the United States; therefore, I suspect that the cultivar name is mispronounced frequently in the UK as well. Willamette is a Native American word. The syllables in Willamette are Wil-lam-ette, not Will-a-mette. Willamette is named after the valley in which hops are grown in the state of Oregon.

[boingy]

Thanks for that. You probably don't want to hear that I misread the spelling the first time I saw it and so have been thinking of it as William-ette, as in the boy's name, ever since. So I stand corrected, although the distinction between your two pronunciations is not coming across as very significant for me. Not an easy thing to communicate in writing.

[themadhippy]

on the subject of correct pronunciation shall we start with aluminium

[Haydnexport]

and 'nappy's'

[Sadfield]

Someone has just opened an aluminum can of worms.

[Goosey]

on the subject of correct pronunciation shall we start with aluminium

I wish (again) we had a 'like' button on here

[far9410]

I call em bill!

[MTW]

Willamatte is one of the most frequently mispronounced hop cultivar names in the United States; therefore, I suspect that the cultivar name is mispronounced frequently in the UK as well. Willamette is a Native American word. The syllables in Willamette are Wil-lam-ette, not Will-a-mette. Willamette is named after the valley in which hops are grown in the state of Oregon.

Well we can agree it's not Willamatte, anyway! (and no one mention 'irony' - that's another kettle of fish!)

[YeastWhisperer]

and 'nappy's'

Nappy isn't any better than diaper. Nappy has a different meaning in American English. It's used to describe an African American's hair texture.

[YeastWhisperer]

on the subject of correct pronunciation shall we start with aluminium

I can top that one. Baltimore, Maryland used to have its own working class dialect and accent. I say, "used to" because heavy migration into Central Maryland over the last five decades as well as upward movement class-wise has seriously diluted local culture (I had to shed the dialect and mask the accent of my childhood in order to get ahead). Linguists have determined that the accent was influenced by old Cockney. However, I do not see any resemblance other than the long Cockney "O." The Baltimore long "O" and long "U" refuse to die.

Anyway, Maryland was far less transient when my parents were growing up. They did not use "aluminum" or "aluminium." They pronounced the word "alumium," and they were not the only people around me who pronounced the word that way. My parents used a lot of other local dialect words that do not appear in Webster's dictionary as well.

The video linked below is an over-the-top exaggeration of the old Baltimore accent and dialect ("down'nee" is a local contraction for "down to the"). Other than how she pronounces the word "fire," which sounds like "farrer" when someone from my parent's generation pronounced it, the girl is not remotely close to being correct. Her accent is too southern. On the other hand, the guy pulls off an exaggerated version of the old Baltimore accent up until the point where he attempts to place an order for a bushel of crabs. That accent is more old tidewater Maryland than it is old Baltmore, Maryland.

Enjoy (the video is funny if you live in Maryland)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-MHVxLXvVQ

[Jackthehat]

Languages are constantly changing, evolving and developing so prescriptive approaches are ultimately based on what is generally accepted within a given community of speakers.

Mind you, it was only last year that I found out that I had been pronouncing Maryland 'wrongly' all my life.

[Wonkydonkey]

Shall we have a correct, pronunciation of all those strange hops that I get my mouth twisted around.

[MTW]

Just tried two Azacca pales.

A-zacca?
a-zacca?
A-zar-ka?...

TomAto-tomato

[Goulders]

and 'nappy's'

Or "nappies" rather than nappy is :-p

[phil.dadd]

I struggled with motueka for a while. According to my NZ resident sister, its something like Mot-chew-ee-ka.