<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by johan rebel:
No, the word consists of two distinct syllables, "schip" and "hol". The former contains the famous Dutch G sound, the latter is pronounced as it is written, with an H. Anybody who speaks proper Dutch wil articulate both syllables clearly. A minority will stress the second syllable.
The origin of the name is unclear, but the oldest known document in which Schiphol is mentioned was written in 1477.
johan</font>
Actually, after speaking dutch for the past 20 years even I pronounce it schippol with (with the SCH of course being like LO
CH as in LOCH ness). I don't leave a gap between any part of the name.
The name came from when it was all water, it was such a danger for ships that many of them sank there, hence SCHIP (ship) HOL (old spelling, probably meaning hell or hole).