Pronouncing Calgary
 

I was reminded of this this afternoon, watching the Sabres play the Flames.

I grew up in Western NY, so interaction with Canadians was frequent. As a US person, I always pronounced the city name as CAL-gur-y. However, I have heard some people (mostly Canadians) pronounce it (cal-GAR-y).

I say 'mostly Canadians', because it seems most of the population of the US couldn't locate Canada on a map, much less Calgary ("What state is that in?"). :)

Cal-ger-y is how I would say it.

I have also had people ask 'Is SIN a province in China' in the USA. :rolleyes:

Being born and raised in Alberta I can advise that most Albertans pronounce it in two syllables as follows:

"Cal-gry"

"Cowtown" is also acceptable.

Agreed.

My Alberta friends appear to say Cal-Gree,.

That's probably the best written written phonetic pronunciation I've seen. I was born in Calgary and lived here all my life, that's how I say it.

Lived here for over 40 years...

Cal-Gree, Cal-Gur-EE, and Cal-Gar-EE are all acceptable and used.

I would agree with others that the 2 syllable pronunciation is most common these days.

^ LOL!

Well, this is pretty much as I expected.

So where the heck does that Cal-GAR-ee (accent on the second syllable) come from? I've heard it more than once, maybe even on CBC.

(and don't get me started on NEW-fund-land vs. New-FOUND-land). :)

Neu-fun-land

Newf'n-LAND :p

OK, that's a third one.


Hmmph! Newfies!

Went to junior high and high school in Edmontonchuk (though I understand the Ukrainian presence has been somewhat diluted since) and lived in Calgary for about five years, and that's how I've always pronounced it @:-)

Maybe I wasn't paying attention, but don't recall the long EEEE at the end (been passing though Texas for last 25 years or so, and have about couple of years left before moving on).

While we're discussing Canadian city pronunciations, I am of the firm belief that Toronto is down to a single syllable in most cases: "Traw." Home of the Traw Maple Leafs and the Traw Blue Jays.

At MOST it is "TRON-na."

If someone actually calls it "Toe-ron-toe" you know they're a tourist.

I've always pronounced it as T'ronno, as does my coworker who is actually from there.